Dear Fam,
I hope that each of you had a very peaceful and joyful Christmas and will have a happy new year.
My new (and opperative) email address is rachelanna@anbell.net
I have not been able to get into my hotmail account, so if you send something there, I may not get it.
I hope to be getting my cell phone and phone number back this weekend
or on Monday
I love you all!
Take care!
Much thanks,
Rachel
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope and pray that each and every one of you are realizing your heritage as His children.
We are the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father-Mother God, which makes all of us brothers and sisters.
Take care.
Respect.
Dear beloved Friends and Family,
There is a photographer in my sector, and he has taken several pictures of the group that I trained with. There is also a company called ofoto.com, where anyone can store and share photos online. he has about 5 albums posted so whoever would like to can veiw them. here is the link:
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=d3p8ym5.12cxv72h&x=1&y=-t75jke
You will be asked to sign in and have an account, but it is free and the only way (that I know of) to see these albums. Another nice feature is that for future pictures that I take with my camera, if anyone wanted a print, they could request one and have it sent to their home.
For regular viewing, my website will also have photo albums.
I have much to share with all of you but that will have to be another time 🙂
Have a sweet, blessed, and joyful day!
Take care,
Rachel
Here is the one he took of me and colored green for some reason. 🙂
Dear Friends and Family,
You remember how I told you about the Old Harbour Bay Gully Clean-Up Project that was attempted for September 20th, and how it was such a disappointment from what I had hoped? Well I have news for you!!
The Blackwood Gardens Citizen’s Association has taken initiative and a pro-active stance on the projects to be done. Now, in Old Harbour Bay (a small town on the south side of the Island, in the center, west of Kingston) we have quite a few problems with flooding and drains. Running through Old Harbour Bay, we have two natural gullies and then we have some cemented drains, ranging from 2 to 6 feet deep. In the “housing scheme” where I live-Blackwood Gardens-we have some of these cemented drains. The problem, however, has been that these drains were FILLED with “standing water,” which of course can breed mosquitos.
Sometimes it seems like the process takes forever, and then sometimes, things can happen very quickly. Maybe I should say, every so often I get surprised.
In the Blackwood Gardens Citizen’s Association meetings, it was said that the drains need to be cleaned. It may seem normal to those of you in America, but it was quite a surprise to me to stumble upon some men one day actually working on and clearing the main drains in the scheme.
I later heard that the Association was planning a work day for the upcoming Jamaican holiday called Hero’s Day, October 20th (this past Monday). When it came to decide what time we would start work, the people actually had said… 5:00 AM! I couldn’t believe it! Others said, “As soon as the light comes, I will be there” basically so the work could start before the sun gets hot. (For a people that are routinely about an hour late, this was a thrill–for the mere fact that it showed great commitment.)
Let me tell you that the entire day was a hit. Workers came, food was served, and progress was made. I was on the road walking towards the site before six, but was the first and only person out. Shortly, I was joined by a few others, and work began shortly after that.
Do you remember about how I had applied to a company and they donated several boxes of boots and bags, and how we bought gloves for the Sept 20 gully clean up? I had total about 30 pairs of boots and 30 pairs of PVC gloves. For Sept 20th, we used about 8 pairs of gloves, no boots. On October 20th, we used about 25 pairs of gloves and boots. I was thrilled. Today, Thursday, October 23, the last pair of boots that was used on that day and long (to the elbow) PVC gloves were returned. We still have one pair of short (just past the wrist) PVC gloves that must be returned. The day was a success and work was cut short by the rain, which meant that I had time to sort out the boots and gloves while others helped and or watched.
Rain, here in Jamaica, stops, or tries to stop work and activity. It doesn’t stop me, because I love the rain, but Jamaicans have a thing about keeping as clean as possible, so often they won’t go out in the rain. Sadly though, walking in the rain without an umbrella is considered unprofessional. I think it is too bad, because as I said, I love the rain.
As I am writing this, I am trying to think of when I will be able to go back to the person’s house where the boots and gloves are being stored so that I can help air them out and finish cleaning them up. hmmmm….
anyway, I ended up working for about 12 hours that day, from 6 am to 6, including going out to collect stray pairs of boots and gloves.
Different topic: With the Old Harbour Development Committee, I have been working intensely last week and this week on trying to collect the agreement forms for advertisements for the magasine OHDAC is publishing, the $ for the ads, and sometimes even still distributing the letters and agreement forms and then also collecting them. I am also charged with sensitizing the citizens about the Community Expo that will be happening IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! For something that would normally take a year in the States to plan, we are trying for 3 MONTHS! anyway, so far we have 27 confirmed ads, soon to be about 30, maybe even 35, and about 25 confirmed booths, maybe soon to be about 30. Our booths range from government agencies to bussiness and private sector, to CBOs, NGOs, food court, and who knows what else. these are busy times I tell you, busy times.
With that, I must go. I love you all, have a blessed day, and “tek care”!! :-)))
With much love, Rachel
Dear blessed Friends and Family,
I promised you some time ago that I would send my one month report for September so here it is.
Much Love,
Rachel McVey
ps–please, please inform me if you would rather not be on this mailing list. just email me at rachelannamcvey@hotmail.com. I know it isn’t fun to get mail that you don’t read…I hold no grudges.
For all those are enjoying hearing about what I am doing, and those that write me back, I love hearing from you and how you are doing.
So, on with the report!
In the month of September, I
Attended and contributed to the Community Development Committee (CDC) meetings in each of the six communities that I work with in the Old Harbour DA (Old Harbour, Old Harbour Bay, Bartons, Brown
Dear All,
Last week Monday (Sept. 15), I heard that Saturday coming would be International (Coastal) Clean-Up Day, and so I got it into my head that this was a good excuse to start the cleaning up the gully in Old Harbour Bay–or rather to get the community to help me do so.
In that week, I wrote letters to certain companies for funding, boots, gloves, bags, and the pick up of the trash at the end, emailed or faxed the letters out, went to Kingston for 24 hours (to go to church and to a ladies function at the Ambassador’s house), the Peace Corps office, copied off 250 flyers total, delivered those flyers and talked to community members for about six hours on both Thursday and Friday evenings. On Thursday while in Kingston, I learned that the boots, gloves, and funding had come through and all the companies I wrote to were going to help with the project.
My days started around 6:00 a.m. and I finally came in for dinner at 10:30/11:00 especially on Thursday and Friday! I had talked to SO MANY people that I really thought that we would have a good number coming to the event.
Well the day came, but no one really showed up. We (eight of us including staff and children) relocated (ironically) to the fishing beach. A few community members joined the effort and by the end, 10 heavy bags were sitting on the beach waiting for later pickup. We would have filled more, but many of the bags had to be double or triple bagged that they wouldn’t fall apart later on. After we did what we could do at the fishing beach, and because all of us were thoroughly hungry, we transported ourselves, back to the school where lunch for 50 was being prepared.
As our group, now about 20 waited patiently, we were entertained by Karen Whittle, school teacher and graduate from UWI in social work, also my housemate and best friend here. Karen demonstrated her leadership skills and love of children while giving a spur-of-the-moment vocabulary lesson for children and adults alike.
Lunch came, we ate, gathered up our things and went home to rest.
Some of the lessons that I learned from this experience were:
As you can see, I learned a great deal about my community and hopefully the next gully clean-up will be better attended and initiated and organized more by community members.
As you can see, I have been very busy, and maybe this was a lesson designed by a higher power as the DAC (the organization that I work for) prepares for the upcoming Expo on November 5th. 🙂 All is well :-).
I hope that all is going well with all of you, and that each of you is remembering that you are God’s child–whole, complete, satisfied, and that He supplies you with infinite wisdom, joy, and energy.
Much love to you all,
Rachel
Dear All,
Really quick, get a pen because here is my NEW mailing address for LETTERS ONLY:
Rachel McVey
Lot 57 Blackwood Gardens
Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine
Jamaica, West Indies
Packages have to still go to the 8 Worthington Ave address via good ol’ US post.
My cell number, if anyone is interested in calling me, is 876-889-2937. I strongly suggest buying a phone card, because it is much, much cheaper than any other way to call.
I love you all!!!
rachel 🙂
Dear Friends and Family,
I have had several requests to hear what books I am reading, and about what my free time looks like, etc.
Books: I am currently reading a little pamphlet (50 pages) that the SDC (Social Development Committee) put out called Planning Community Projects. It is part of a series of seven. The booklet is very useful and helpful in understanding what the process is and how to engage with the community when embarking on a project. I have renewed my effort to read Science and Health on a regular basis.
Finally, when packages from home arrive, included are the famed Harry Potter books that I have not read yet. One idea is that maybe I’ll set up a reading club where we read the books outloud. this would be quite challenging though, because many Jamaican children–even though they love school–don’t read very much (it seems). This might be all the more reason for the club, but I am saying that their attention span is very short, so I would need to find some students that are very special.
Restaurants: Most restaurants in the immediate community where I live are kind of “country style” and pretty much serve all the same thing. Of course there is variance, but ususal dishes are fried chicken, BBQ Chicken, Jerk Chicken, chicken foot soup, and oxtail (meat from the cow tail). Of course, white rice cooked with red beans and coconut milk is a staple with almost every meal. Jamaican salad is very similar to cole slaw (carrots and cabbage) except for less mayonayse. I eat at restaurants sometimes, but I admit that other times, I’ll go for just having a “spice bun” or a raison bread bun or maybe a cheese bun–bread with chedder cheese in the middle–kind of like jelly donuts.
The other thing that I didn’t mention was that Jamaicans love dumplings: flour and water kneaded into flattened balls about 2 inches in diameter and 1/2 an inch thick. These are then fried or boiled and are believed to give you “strong back”. They are very dense to say the least! In addition to rice and dumplings, ground provisions such as potatoes and yams, and fried green bananas give lots more starch options. The local fish fare is, well,… let me just say that I don’t like so much the way that Jamaicans cook fish. They overdo the cooking and the fish is very, very dried out when it reaches your plate. Also, Jamaicans don’t debone the fish that they cook, so when you are eating it, you have a lot of bones to pick out and sift through. The same is true for the soup mentioned earlier, chicken foot soup–a whole lot of small bones and joint parts are left on the plate when you are done :).
The restaurants around here are often the style that you pay at the counter and then pick up your food when it is ready and then sit and eat. I think that you only get to have waiters and waitresses as you get closer to Kingston, such as in Spanish Town (maybe).
Free time: When I am not in the office or at community meetings, I might be here in the lab, but ususally you will find me at home, cooking (or watching and helping others cook), eating, dishes, laundry, talking with Karen, writing in my journal, or sleeping :). Usually the sleeping part doesn’t start until sometimes as late as 12 or 1, which is not so good, but hopefully as my service progresses, I will be better at claiming more time for myself for earlier bedtimes. I might as well keep dreaming though, because I don’t think it will relax that much.
A Jamaican’s perception of my work: Well, I haven’t asked anybody really how they feel about social development, but there are those that work along side me in various fields, and then there are those who ask what I do and I tell them and they say “Oh, okay.” My schpeel continues and I tell them why I need their help and participation in this work of community development.
Last night I went to two community meetings–one with 8 people from a rural community pretty far up north (Ginger Ridge), and the other in Spring Village (not so rural) with 48 attendees. The very act of showing up at these meetings shows that they care about the work that the SDC/DAC is doing.
I work with a team that is very smart, proactive, and upbeat. Everytime I go to these meetings, I watch in awe at their ability to field questions and facilitate the development of the community. I am really glad that I don’t have to build this structure, but that it is already in place and all we need now is community participation and involvement.
I have to go for now, but I will keep you updated and I thank all of you that keep me updated with what you are up to as well 🙂
Much, much love,
Rachel :)!
Hello dear friends and family,
Well, here it is Monday afternoon :). I had wanted to write you more last week but always the lab was down and I was busy anyway…The graduation ceremony was very nice. I am hoping that at some point some of the people here with digital cameras will have some of their pictures posted and then I might be able to share them with you and everyone else :).
After the ceremony, I got home to O.H.B. at about midnight (of course having been driven home by friends). On Saturday, Karen (my the lady I am living with) and I spent all day from about 8 or 9 am until 11 or 12 midnight working, moving furniture around and moving me in. I didn’t think that she would go for it, but she didn’t mind at all–she said that every once in a while she gets the urge and has to or wants to move furniture around. It was a lot of fun and I love my room. The rest of the house still needs a whole lot of work to clean up and put things away.
Today, I went to both offices of the agencies that I am working for. The first half of the day went very slowly with a very boring meeting at the Ministry of Health (from 10:00-1:00). When I looked at my watch, I couldn’t believe that it was that late! Anyway, I finally made my way out of that office and onto the SDC/DAC office. SDC is Social development Commission, and the DAC is Development Area Committee. I feel like I would like the Ministry of Health’s support and backup, but it is hard for me to know how I fit in with what they need/what I should be doing for them. However, I do see me fitting in very well with the SDC and DAC, and all the other development committees and CBOs (Community Based Organizations).
Well, I have been here a long time and it is time for me to go home now. Much, much love to all of you, and I hope that you are (all) doing well :)!
to all the Principia staff–my best wishes as the new school year starts.
the weather here–the rainy season has started, albeit, slowly, with rain every few days. At this moment, since it rained today, the breeze is slightly cool, but not enough to want longsleeves.Yesturday was hot, humid, and sticky. (but hot was maybe in high 80’s) I don’t think that it ever gets to a hundred here, but it can be very hot in the mornings–this morning included.
much love,Rachel
Just some more notes:
A friend asked me will I be able to travel around the island some or will I be so busy that I am stuck and I am not sure. Yes, volunteers do travel around the island from time to time and especially to visit other PCV’s sites, but I am not sure if I will. we are only allowed a certain amount of time for vacation and by the time that I (hopefully) go home for association and other family business, and come back and ….I don’t know, maybe if my family comes to visit me, then we’ll travel together and see the sites. ? 🙂 ?Who knows?
Another question was if in my work if I would be in an office or out in the field with people and the answer is probably a little of the first and a whole lot of the second.
The third question was about language, and the language that is spoken here is Patios (pronounced Pat-wa–Jamaicans even spell the word different because it is pronounced differently than the French.)so one common phrase in Patios is “Mi soon come,” meaning, I’ll be back soon.
Jamaicans often drop the letter “S” before words and the h from the “th” sound. I have probably said this before, but one of my favorite phrases is “Everyting kris!” it means that you couldn’t be happier, and that you are completely satisfied, everything is perfect. the “kris” comes from crisp, clean.
love you all, see ya!
