Chikungunya

It just sounds bad doesn't it? It from an African dialect meaning bent over because those with it are often crippled over in pain. It is a mosquito borne disease that is affecting the entire Caribbean.. and now me too.



Camelback water bag beside me so I can hydrate without moving

First I can't say enough about my husband, Brent, who has been an amazing nurse, 24/7. He has jerry-rigged water supply system so I don't get dehydrated. Sought out "bush doctors" for local remedies and been my Motrin supplier every 4 hours even if that is 3:00 a.m. He has made me litres of juice, brought me ice cream in bed and gone out to buy yogurt. He has turned the shower on and waited with me to help open the shampoo and help me step out. Just all around awesome.

I think symptoms started last week, my colleague Myriam is also realizing this as we are now both sick at the same time after initial mild symptoms. For me it was a very painful jaw, for her a fever. The sore jaw had happened to me once before and my dentists the Marinovich's had given me a deprogrammer for sleeping. It needs to be run under warm water to become pliable and with no running hot water it was a nuisance to remember to heat up water before bed. So most nights it didn't happen. When my jaw hurt, I attributed it to my lack of diligence and started wearing it nightly. Only the pain intensified so that bending over sent pain through my jaw.

Sunday we were supposed to go with Meena on a snorkeling expedition. Sadly Meena's grandmother

passed away and the trip was cancelled. I had commented to Brent that with my jaw being so sore it was probably a good thing as snorkeling would have been difficult. We did head out to Magazine beach and when I was there my shoulder started to hurt. At first just a little and the water felt nice on it. However as I was snorkeling I realized it was becoming quite painful and with no fins on I needed my arms to help me. I struggled to shore with Brent close behind and called it a day, instead reading on the beach.

By the time we got home I wasn't feeling well and just after lunch I realized I had a fever and a rash. I also had one finger and one toe with joint pain- weird, but enough to make me realize it was

Chikungunya. I laid down and Brent immediately went across the street for the local remedy made from young papaya leaves. Our sweet neighbours got the leaves and juiced them for us as we have no blender. The juice looks magical. It is a beautiful green colour that reminds me of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. However like Oz looks are deceiving. It is so bitter! Buckleys has nothing on papaya leaves. I spent the rest of the day in bed with little boys coming in to put butterfly kisses on my head.

Day two was not pleasant. My fever hovered just under 102 and now all my joints ached. Even the ones at the bottom of my toes. My knees did not like moving and
my shoulder went from painful to excruciating. Brent would have to haul me painfully upright because I couldn't bear weight on my wrists. You are supposed to move around so every hour or so I would get out of bed and do a little shuffle around the house, maybe get some juice and back into bed. No crawling into bed though, there is only one way I can get in and out. Every once and a while I would forget but my knees didn't and I would have to sit down and try to lower myself onto the bed. If Brent was around he would help.

A colleague had said going to the bathroom was the worst because your hands are so sore you can't pull down your unmentionables. I could do this, what I couldn't do was twist to reach the toilette paper behind me! Luckily the other bathroom has it in front of you, so now I shuffle down the hall!

Today I can type- slowly, but it is doable. Mainly because you don't need to curl your fingers. I still can't light a match or anything that would require fine motor skills. I am even almost dressed. Jammy bottom and a T-shirt! The bush doctors recommend the beach to soak in the ocean. That seems like a herculean effort to put a swimsuit on.

Brent ran into Paula today who also had "the Chikun", as most people call it. She recommended boiling water and immersing turmeric in it. We bought turmeric root last week because others had told us about using it. She said it was for the joint pain. So I drank the turmeric juice, don't notice much difference. However the papaya leaves took care of my rash in less than 24 hours, so maybe I just need to give it some time.

OK super tired now. Brent will add in some pictures including one of me in bed. Owen must have told be three times yesterday "Mom, you are really rocking that hairstyle". Gotta love kids and what they think will help you feel better!

Note: If bad things happen in threes our neighbourhood is done. Just noticed the Cuban doctors coming home- they live two stories below us. She is in a full leg cast. He had to carry her down all those stairs! I won't be seeing her for about 6-8 weeks!

Worth Reading

When Ivan struck Grenada one of the biggest cultural losses was it's national library in St. George. The library has been closed for 10 years now, meaning a whole generation of children has never been to a library.

National library

Mt. Zion Full Gospel Revival Ministry Int. is changing this. They have open a tiny library on the second storey of a building on the main street. My fellow volunteer from Cuso, Linda helped me find my way. You go down a little alleyway and then up a set of stairs! Like most things in Grenada there are no signs.

Now the reason Linda knows where it is, is because she is volunteering there on Saturday's. This is pretty amazing because she is doing youth engagement work 5 days a week and then with her limited free time she puts in a full day at the library! Right now it is only open after school Mon, Wed & Friday, and then from 9-3 on Saturday, but they have plans to expand hours once they are more known.

My boys in the children's library

People can't believe the books are free to take and return. When we were there a father and son came in to return books and the little guy made a beeline for the children's section. Just like any library! Right now there is one room for adults and one room for children which has a barber shop in the middle!

They could definitely use books. There website has a donate button, but also we are having friends and family come from the Quinte and Carleton Place area. If you had some good books -especially if you have some good books about or by African or Caribbean people like The Book of Negroes or Maya Angelou we should be able to pack a few.

Also just spread the word to anyone who you know is taking a cruise or staying at a resort here. To pack one or two children's books will take up no space in a suitcase and will do a world of good here! Brent can meet people and pick them up, or better still take them to the library so they can make the donation themselves and see the good they are doing.



Lots of room to grow with more books!

I know I have a few librarians following our adventures so any idea you have to help out this library would be most welcome!

Remember this is the only library in the entire country!! Anything you can do will help give access to something we consider a right- reading!

Buses In Grenada- a dichotomy

Buses in Grenada are nothing like back home. At home we have standardized buses which would have the following characteristics:

• standardized buses with identifiable colours and branding
• drivers with uniforms and visible ID
• a token or coin collection method in which you deposit your - or better still a monthly bus pass
• a relatively quiet environment
• transfers so you can go the entire way on one ticket
• standard routes
• strict adherence to highway rules

Students waiting at the bus station

Here the buses do have numbers and set routes. They will deviate from those routes however if someone needs to take a detour to get closer to where they are going.


I learned that there are slow buses and fast buses. The teachers at NEWLO saw me arrive on a fast bus, which was akin to riding a rollercoaster with a rasta soundtrack blaring in your ears. They advised me that any bus the students were on I should get off, as those were the fast drivers. This proved true as Sister MaryAnn and Brother Saul helped me get a bus back to St. George and it was indeed slower, calmer and I could carry on a conversation with them without feeling the need to pray every minute or two!



buses leaving the station

The buses have a driver and a wing man (conductor). The wing man slides open the rear door (while the vehicle is moving) to let people in and out. He also collects all the fares. It is quiet a different system but it seems to work relatively well. You can seat about 15-18 people in the bus (including the driver and wing man), I don't think about how many it should legally hold. Actually I doubt there is a law, since drinking and driving is not illegal... something else I try not to think about.

Bus with an awesome wing man

There is a central station in St. George where all the connections are made. It is $4 ECD to NEWLO and it would be another $2.50ECD to get the bus back to our house. Right now the tunnel that connects Carnage to the downtown is closed so I walk about a kilometer and Brent picks me up near the shipping yard at the round-about. It would only be about another 1.3 km but up hill and with a backpack, dress and truthfully pretty good shoes, it would take about 30 minutes.

Like anywhere there are good drivers and scary ones and today heading to Pink Gin Beach we saw a pretty awesome wing man. Two little children got off the bus unaccompanied, and the wing man walked them across the busy street before jumping back in with his passengers. I definitely approve!

Monday's my favourite NEWLO Day

On Monday's and Friday's there is a general assembly in the school courtyard. It starts out with the singing of the National Anthem and then spirituals. I wanted to share this video of the trainees singing. It starts off slow, but picks up about half way through. I love the transition to Amazing Grace. I think many of you will too!

 

 

Mrs. O'Fera, Mr. Kingsley & (I believe) Brother Saul are leading the singing

Rain Day = Snow Day in Grenada!

Today the storms were so heavy that they washed out parts of roads and sent rocks falling onto roads. At noon the Executive Director sent the staff and students home for a rain day! I'll try to take some pictures of the damage, but when you are driving it is not safe to stop and take pictures.

Apparently we are in the midst of a tropical depression. One frustration is not having the same kind of weather mapping that is available in Canada. We can get static photos of the general Caribbean, but when your island is so small and covered in orange storm it is hard to figure out if you are at the start, middle or end of the storm!!

You learn quickly to always carry an umbrella even if you think it won't rain, you don't want to chance getting caught in a sudden downpour.

To give an idea of what the rain has been like here is a photo of the storm drain when it is not over flowing. To see what it looks like in a storm click here.

Brent (6 foot 2 inches) in the drain

Beside our house

The junction point

A stray dog also gives a sense of scale

It's raining, it's POURING

A Welcome visit from Cuso

Me, Sister Margaret & Roberta

This week our Program Manager, Roberta Ellis, came to visit us (Myriam, Linda and I) in Grenada. I know we were all grateful for her visit. I was probably the luckiest because I had only been working one week and then got the opportunity to receive some needed support.

There are always challenges when you have three or more parties communicating. Add in Magic Jack, Skype and a few thousand miles and there are bound to be miscommunications. My placement at NEWLO was exactly as expected, although I was not quite prepared for what they were doing with so little! <Remember- try to round up some old computers and laptops for the staff and students. The sea barrel will leave in October!>

PAM was a bit different. Cuso's philosophy is that you are there to build capacity not to do direct line work. So I was surprised that I would be instructing the girls there in a personal development program. Even more surprised to learn I was to be in Grenville, which is not a far distance-  but a long journey from St. George, each week. When I checked in with Roberta she was concerned as this was not her understanding of the placement either.

We had a really good brainstorming session (even though she was getting over Chikungunga) about what I should be doing and how I could be doing that work. Her approach is - it is all about the girls and how do we get the best outcomes for them? I couldn't agree more, and once we had a meeting with PAM to clarify expectations I think we are going to do amazing things as a team of learner & child centered professionals!

The next night all the volunteers got together for dinner at Coconuts. It was "nice" to know that the other volunteers were also facing situations that they weren't expecting. Roberta is just an amazing woman who so deeply cares about improving the outcomes for youth in the Caribbean that I think we could not get a more articulate and capable advocate for moving forward positively in all of our placements.

I really hope Roberta comes back to Grenada, she is so amazing to be around. I am almost afraid of what she would be like when she is at 100% not 50%!! But I say bring it on. We need more powerful black women transforming the world- forget Oprah, we should be following Roberta!

Staff meetings- a common start

Every morning NEWLO has a staff meeting.

It is a time for prayer and for sharing information. One teacher will bring in an inspirational quote or parable and share it with the rest of the staff. The room is set up with chairs all along the edge of the room and a large table in the middle at which no one sits.

I really love this common start, it gets all of us on the same page. Even though many Grenadians are very soft spoken and I often struggle to hear them, it is energizing to be with your co-workers.

I usually arrive early and take a corner seat. On Monday this was my view out of the staff room. The staff meetings remind me of the sail boat in the distance. With a sure captain and wind in your sails you can go anywhere! I have lots of faith that NEWLO can go anywhere, if they had the resources that they need. Right now they have the captain, but they are sailing against the wind not with it. We can help turn that ship into to wind by donating computers we aren't using to NEWLO.

Please get in touch with me to donate in either Ottawa, Toronto or Quinte. srylott@gmail.com

Oasis

After supper this evening Aiden wanted to go for a walk, and I was wiped from teaching a health class, so a walk sounded like a good pick-me-up.

In Grenada you never walk side-by-side. That would result in your untimely death so you walk like goats in a line. At Lagoon Road there is a sidewalk which is almost wide enough for two people so we were able to walk and talk as we headed toward Port Louis. (Which is about a five minute walk from home.) I was not really expecting to be able to get in, I thought we would be told it was private property at the gate house.

Instead we found a wide road- eureka! Paved with cobble stones and with absolutely no traffic. You get so accustomed to walking single file it is hard to give yourself permission to walk on the road. So we tentatively walked down the road, past a bakery and down to the main buildings. It turns out the entire port is full of wide, really wide walk ways where the whole family could have walked together!

And it was quiet. You don't really notice how loud your surroundings are until you get somewhere quiet. It was so peaceful that Aiden and I agreed we would have to come up more often to take a break from the city. Check out how beautiful it is!

Giant yacht from British Virgin Islands

Lowering the Grenadian Flag at dusk

Cute stores with wide sidewalks

Harbour Masters Quarters

Another giant yacht from BVI

Welcome to the neighbourhood!

Up behind our local bar, on a steep driveway is a small blue house. The gentleman who lives there came down to welcome us to the community by bringing us these beautiful mangos

Huge mangos!

Two weeks less a day

Today will be almost two weeks since we moved to Grenada so I wanted to reflect on what I am learning.

First off all islands in the Caribbean are not the same. I had been to Cuba and the Dominican Republic which have very similar geography. Grenada is nothing like those islands. The steep rising mountains, and sharp jutted ocean cliffs could not be farther from Cuba's flat coasts and interior. It has been a hard adjustment as my deepest fear has always been driving off a cliff into a body of water, and here that is an ever present danger. Certainly not a fear I expected to face, I don't think I will ever overcome it, but I will get more used to living with fear.

The bar/restaurant/propane/construction store across the street

Next don't judge a book by its cover. I'm going to guess conservatively that in our 1.5 km street there are ten "bars", which in Canada is a dangerous kind of place. Here though, there is a booming micro-economy. Every street has bars, bakeries and mini convenience stores, they are in peoples homes and because of that there is a sense of community investment. Everyone sustains each others business.

Sometimes little is best. We are so used to buying sliced whole wheat bread that we have been buying it at the grocery store. However we have two bakeries in our neighbourhood; one, even I could hit with a baseball if I threw it properly and one three doors down from the boys school. We've decided we would rather give our neighbours our money than IGA or Foodlands. Yes it is white bread, but I am soaking beans and will make a big pot of seasoned beans and rice and we can get fibre and nutrients that way.

Education is not free- not in Canada, not anywhere. So everyday I see the most beautiful children in their school uniforms heading off to school; and everyday Brent sees children in shorts and T-shirts on stoops or in the streets. It costs a lot of money to send any child to school. Here there are school uniforms which will easily run a parent $100-$200ECD. Then there are supplies pencil, pens, paint for art, notebooks... just like Canada. Only you can't get a note book for $0.33 at Walmart, they are about $2.50 ECD each. To put this in perspective minimum wage for a domestic worker in Grenada is $400 ECD a month!! School is just too expensive if you have more than one child, just to put them into a regular school would be more than a months wages.

Families are large here. While trying to find things in common with my PAM students, I discovered that all of them had a minimum of five siblings. One young lady had 11 brothers and three sisters! Most were more balanced than that but still very large families. If you think contraception is expensive in Canada, it is astronomical in Grenada. It is either not available at all or so cost prohibitive that birth control is not an option for most women.

Last thing is I now have a love/hate relationships with the roosters here. I love how beautiful they are and seeing them strutting around the yard, but really some of them have a messed up internal clock. One little dude thinks 4:00 is wake up time... if only I could figure out which one...

The Best Day of Aiden's Life

Meena's house from our porch (red roof)

Meena is our neighbour who has been on vacation from her job as a hostess for CaribCat, well the boats are out of dry dock and Meena invited us to join her for a 4 hour snorkeling tour. Meena moved to Canada when she was three with her parents and spent 13 year there before coming back to the island to stay permanently.

This is the low season so we have had time to get to know her but as the season starts she could be working three cruises a day. She is absolutely the perfect person to host a cruise, fun, engaging and an amazing skin diver!

Margret and Dave from Carrying Place

We headed out to snorkel at Flamingo Bay, on the "small cat" that seats about 40. We first plunked ourselves down on the nside of the cat but then realized we should move to the shade. We joined another couple who were staying at the Raddison, who live in Carrying Place! This is a small town just outside of Trenton where we work! Of all the cruises what are the chances of sitting next to a couple from just down the road? Definitely a small world.

Unfortunately the skies turned from beautiful blue to grey and rainy so the snorkeling was a bit more challenging as visibility was limited but we still saw lots of beautiful fish. The reef also had some beautiful fan like coral. Next we moved to the sculpture garden. It is truly amazing. Huge. You definitely want a guide or you would miss some of the sculptures. I recommend MEENA!!

Fort George

Meena in the water

Rainbow at Flamingo Bay

Aiden

Owen

Mermaid

Christ of the Deep

School of Jack Fish

Typewriter sculpture

Captain

Our Meena

Coming into Carnage at dusk