Swearing In – Peace Corps Volunteers

 

We are now Peace Corps Volunteers! After 10 weeks as ‘trainees’, the oath of office was administered to 26 Americans by Chargé d'Affaires Elizabeth Martinez of the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica. It was a truly memorable event; our new school principals were there too. The Honourable Robert Pickersgill, MP, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change delivered the keynote address. We are now truly in our new HOME – a rural town in St. James Parish about 30 minutes from Montego Bay. We have been warmly welcomed by the community, and feel so lucky to have made it through the training and to begin our 2 years of service.

PC Jamaica Group 85 Education Volunteers and our instructors

 

Steve and Irene with our new School Principals



Chargé d'Affaires
 Elizabeth Martinez

The Honourable
Robert Pickersgill, MP,
Minister of Water, Land,
 Environment and Climate Change

The work we will do is multi-fold. The first priority is Literacy Education. In Primary Schools in Jamaica, the Grade 4 Literacy Test is critical – if students can’t pass this exam, they will not enter an academic high school after grade 6. We’ve learned a lot about teaching Standard Jamaican English (SJE) – not American English, and we will be doing ‘pull-out’ sessions (small group tutoring) with students who need extra help with reading, writing and comprehension.

We all are expected to find secondary projects. Irene probably already has found a role in helping to set up parenting education for families of kids in her school. My project might get me involved with technology supporting primary education for literacy and numeracy. Digicel, the local cellular company supports many schools with great tools; however, access to working computers, internet, and software is very limited in rural areas. More ‘lieta’ about my nerdy stuff.

Some friends have asked about our living arrangements. When we applied for PC, we were prepared for living in huts in Africa (or similar) – well, although some volunteers certainly still have that type of assignment, the ‘new PC’ is keeping up with the times. We do have a small apartment in the lower level of a wonderful house in this very rural community; we have electricity (although use oil lamps as backup), and Jamaica has 98% cellular coverage, so internet access is mostly by cellular. We do have a mosquito net over our bed -- it's one of the PC issued items that has been very useful.

It is rare to have hot water, although piped water is common (with rooftop tanks as backup during drought and when power goes off) – but hot water is very rare…luckily the temps are tropical: we haven’t had hot showers since we left Miami in early March, 2014. We do our laundry by hand in an outdoor tub, and hang it on a line to dry. We cook on a stove fuelled from a 30 lb. propane tank in our own kitchen. We are at 175 metres above sea level (575 feet) so we are a likkle cooler than our home in St. Thomas - and we're up on a hill so we get a nice cooling breeze (the last 100 metres is a steep climb home after school each day).

We spent part of almost every day of our training learning Patwa, the Jamaican language, and also a lot about culture and norms. We understand a likkle bit, but our accent still sounds Jamerican for sure.

Painting Irene's new classroom and Parenting Center

Today is Labour Day in Jamaica – it is a national holiday, but the idea is to LABOUR for a good cause. We both went to Irene’s school where we painted the room which will be her classroom and Parenting Center – a warm yellow and she will paint a mural of big tree on one wall. I also worked pulling out old fence posts and wire to make room for a new outdoor reading area.

 

Labour Day at Irene's school

Our dietary focus has been on healthy foods. We’re quite used to Jamaican food – goat, Ackee and saltfish, fresh fish, fried chicken with rice & peas, and manish water (goat head soup) or chicken foot soup. However, with lots of exercise, my pants are now loose (had to punch a new hole in my belt), and my one blazer jacket hasn’t fit as well in years. Tonight, as a ‘reward’ for labours, I poured the first glass of Scotch Whiskey I’ve had since March.

 

We can receive mail through the Jamaican Post Office. If you want to send us a ‘care package’ please ask us for the mailing address. There is a process in place that allows us to receive most packages duty free – although you still have to fill out a customs form when you mail it from your local Post Office in the USA.

New Peace Corps Volunteers!

 

We enjoy seeing your comments on this site and on Facebook too. Thanks for following us on our 2-year adventure. Walk Good! Steve and Irene.