US Navy

Last month Haley and I partnered with the US Navy to complete a community outreach project. The Navy was in Castries Harbor to deliver various goods, and they contacted Peace Corps. It was decided that they would spend a day with about 15 boys from the Boys Training Center, a residential center for boys that have committed crimes in the community and are too young to incarcerate and for boys that have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect.

Each boy was paired with a Sailor who gave them a tour of their ship, The USS Oak HIll (LSD 51) while speaking with them about discipline and the importance of having goals for your future. The boys then ate lunch on the ship before boys and sailors returned to the Boys Training Center for a football (soccer) match.

Needless to say, the boys had a good time beating the Navy guys in football!

I was very happy with how the day turned out. These boys tend to lack positive male role models, especially ones that will take the time to spend a day just with them. You could tell it was a day they will remember for the rest of their life.

I also found it very fulfilling to work with the Navy, the captain and chaplain of the ship were nearly begging for more community outreach opportunities and plan to contact Peace Corps in any future visits to the island. It was very refreshing to see them excited to be involved and thankful for the opportunity to do a little bit of humanitarian work. It made me proud to say that I have had a cousin serve in the US Navy. Below is a post from an editorial on the US Navy's website.



http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=46307
Oak Hill Sailors Complete Community Outreach in St. Lucia
Story Number: NNS090619-12
Release Date: 6/19/2009 5:07:00 PM

From USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) Southern Partnership Station 2009 Public Affairs

USS OAK HILL, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) recently completed its first port visit in Castries, St. Lucia, since departing for its three-month Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2009 deployment.

More than 300 Sailors and Marines, as well as several foreign liaison naval officers (LNOs) from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, made an impact on the island by participating in community relations (COMREL) and Project Handclasp projects.

As part of Project Handclasp, the crew delivered 37 pallets of sanitary and medical supplies, textbooks and toys to local medical agencies, schools and orphanages.

Oak Hill Chaplain Lt. Robert Bailey said, "It was a chance to give back to the local community and show the true Navy spirit."

"Projects like this display that the Navy is about partnership and friendship," said Bailey. "Whenever we have the opportunity to help others, it gives them a more personal representation of what the Navy is and not what the media tells them."

The crew also had the opportunity to spend time with and mentor approximately 15 boys from the Boys Training Center under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security in Massade, Gros Islet. The crew welcomed the boys aboard for a ship's tour and lunch, then joined the boys back at the center for a game of soccer.

"The COMREL went extremely well," added Bailey. "Having the opportunity to meet with the children, we were able to show them that they can make a change in their lives."

"Wherever the Navy goes, we are American ambassadors," said Capt. Brad Williamson, the commander of the SPS 2009 mission. "Whether we are participating in Project Handclasp or community relations projects, we are not just representing the Navy but everyone back home as well."

Oak Hill is participating in the combined multinational naval and amphibious operational exercise with maritime forces from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.

Oak Hill is also supporting the multinational amphibious exercise known as Southern Exchange 2009.

COMING HOME IN JULY!

I am coming home to visit from July 22nd to August 8th, WOOHOO!!! I am counting down the days already. I can't wait to see everyone. Austin buddies, I have not forgotten you July 30th - August 3rd!!! Get ready for some Barton Springs!!! I would says, lets go to Campbell's Hole, but I here the rivers are pretty dried up this year. I miss you guys!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ME!!!

I have 'unofficially, received funding for a project I am working on here in excess of $6000 USD!!! AND, this is just the beginning. The company, JQ Charles also says they are interested in providing financial support to roll out the Why Try Program in all secondary schools ISLAND WIDE!! GOIN NATIONAL BABY!!! Now, the first phase is our pilot of the program in all District II schools; that's 4 schools. This will be during the 2009 - 2010 school year. After I complete a project analysis and submit my report to them, they will decided if they are going to, 'officially', provide support to the remaining secondary schools across the nation!!! Pretty cool, huh?
You might be wondering about when my Peace Corps service will end then. Well, if all goes as planned and nothing changes (which who knows how likely that is) I may apply to extend my service for the sustainability of the project.

Senior Games 2009... Cane RACES!!!

Monday was a Holiday in St. Lucia and some of the other volunteers and I went to the Senior Games. They had everything from 100 meter dashes (more like 100 meter trots) to 1,500 meter speed walk (which lasted 20 minutes) to cane racing. Yes, I said it... CANE RACES!!! I swear the guy that one this race wasn't a real cane user! He was totally faking it! I half expected him to twirl his cane around as he walked upright over the finish line. We had a volunteer, Diane participate in the Senior Races, too. She placed in the top 5. GO DIANE!!

Anyway, we carried on Andy and Eric's tradition from last year and placed quarter bets on who would win, who would loose, and who wouldn't finish the race!! If you guest the looser and your looser couldn't make it over the finish line, your winning pot got doubled. I walked away up 15 quarters! Woohoo!! It was great fun; an event I will definitely be attending next year. I have pictures of the stadium and everything in my slide show. Check it out!

Also, I trust I don’t have to explain why I posted this… silly… cheer leading video. Just watch it… Need I say more? ;-) OKAY, i couldn't get the video to load... will update later

Turtle Watching

 

I went turtle watching two times, only a day apart, last month. This is a picture of me with a Leatherback Turtle. This particular turtle's shell measured about 5 feet 2 inches long! They were marvelous to see. I got to see 4 turtles over the course of two nights. The first night we saw only one turtle and that wasn't until about 4am. We walked up and down the longest Beach in St. Lucia for hours before stumbling upon the turtle in the middle of laying her eggs. The second night we saw 3 turtles, all between 9 and 10pm! You just never know when they will come up to lay. From March to the end of April, 100s of mama turtles come to lay their eggs in the sand. They dig a hole about 3 feet deep and lay approximately 100 eggs or so. Of those 100, anywhere from 1/4 - 3/4 will be fertile eggs. Another fun fact is that these turtles swim back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, but they always lay their eggs on the exact same beach from which they were born! I thought that was kinda cool. Anyway, you can check out more pictures in my slide show, but we slept on the beach and the next morning we made bakes. Bakes are these yummy fried biscuts that taste great with slat fish inside. Anyway, I plan to go back to Grand Anse Beach soon to see the turtles hatching. They hatch in the months of May and June.

Everytings Irie Mun

I just wanted to tell everyone I miss you and can't wait to see you when I visit in July!!!!

I cant wait to tell you all about the work I have been doing here, the beach, hiking, turtle watching, steel pan, and of course the guy I have been dating for the past 5 months. That is pretty much my life here in St. Lucia; Peace Corps work, beachin' it, hiking, Steel Pan lessons, boyfriend, and the general hangin' out!

Oh and by the way. I went with Lloyd the other day to visit his brother. He has this huge cashew nut tree by his house and they decided to roast some cashews. I had heard previous horror stories from volunteers already about eating cashews in st. lucia. The general consensus is "Don't eat the freshly roasted cashews, you will get a rash from the oils." Now not only is the cashew nut my favorite nut (next to the pistachio of course) but the boys also had their doubts about this 'mystery rash.' They were absolutely certain that you only get this rash if you eat the cashew if they are not roasted completely, because then all the oils dont come off the nut.

What do I have today... A cashew nut rash on my wrist. BOO!
However, I must say, the cashews were really yummy. It was definitely worth the mild irritation!

LOVE!

No Strike Will Put Me Out of Work!

From April 27th, 2009

This is a journal entry that I meant to include in my blog about a month ago.

Today the teachers Union has another meeting with the Ministry. We will know shortly if the strike will continue. If it continues all public school children will be out of school for an indefinite period of time (until the Ministry agrees to increase the teachers salary by 7.5%).

Luckily for me and our kids, my IPP at Compre is a Seventh Day Adventist Church member. SDA members are usually discouraged from participating in strikes or any other potentially volatile political action. This includes any political action that involves slander or smear tactics; that is not to say that this dispute involves any such misconduct. In fact, the only details I really know are: a. The Ministry promised to increase the teachers’ salary by 7.5% during the strike that occurred last year; and b. Teachers did not receive their increase, as promised. Nonetheless, my community partner, although she is permitted to be part of this particular union, will still be attending school. Thankfully, this allows us to still work on the many things we set out to complete this term.

At the beginning of the term, the counselor at Compre and I created a schedule for the final term through to September when school starts again. We plan to design and facilitate a Peer Mentoring Workshop in order to train and prepare the 20 new Castries Comprehensive Peer Mentors. Peer Mentors assist new students in their adjustment to the school, especially Form 1 students, educate their peers on healthy life style choices, and are expected to be role models that provide mentoring and counsel to fellow peers.
We are also organizing a workshop for the new Prefects. Prefects are well behaved students that are selected for the purpose of managing a classroom when a teacher is absent. The Ministry of Education does not have substitute teachers on staff in the same way we do in the States. Instead, a student Prefect takes charge of the class. Their workshop will focus on school rules, class room management and conflict resolution. Then, of course, we are continuing the “Why Try?” Program. Why Try is a program that works with at-risk students to help them attain unlearned social skills necessary for positive growth and achievement. It was developed by Social Workers in the States, WooHoo!

Currently, Castries Comprehensive and Sir Ira Simmons have a total of 27 ‘at-risk’ students that are regularly attending “Why Try?” groups every week. Securing funding for additional groups for the 2009 – 2010 school year has also been in the works. I completed a rough draft of a proposal in February, and the District II counselor is still preparing the final product, which will then be sent to two different funding sources. The hope is to run a ‘formal pilot’ of the program in each of the four District II schools. Positive results will then be used to secure funding for the implementation of “Why Try?” island-wide. Even though the program has been running in Vaux Fort, the success of the program has not been empirically measured. I measured the students’ base-line level at Compre and Sir Ira but the program has not been run in a methodical way, neither under optimal conditions; obtaining all the necessary materials has been a challenge.

We will be measuring the success by collecting and analyzing the following data:
- group member, parent, and teacher surveys will help us to establish a base
line and monitor changes of particular behaviors, characteristics and basic
social functioning.
- Changes in attendance, suspension, detention, and drop-out rates
- Grades and CXC pass rates
- Observed progress in group

Additionally, some people have been asking me “What makes at kid at-risk?” In general, many different factors can put a child ‘at-risk’ in life. However, the term always needs to be considered within the context of which you are working. For example, children born in poverty are considered at-risk because they are less likely to receive a quality education, they may get involved with drugs or crime due to the different stressors of poverty, and they are more likely to be malnourished and/or go untreated for different health problems. That is just listing a few. For the purposes of “Why Try?” at-risk school children are those children that are at-risk for not completing school successfully. Since we are wanting to make the pilot as empirical as possible we will need to be specific in defining how we intend to identify at-risk children. For our use, a child is considered to be at-risk if they meet 1 or more of the following criteria:
- Poor grades in over half of the students subjects
- Having ever been suspended from school
- Poor school attendance or truancy
- Low self-esteem, as determined by teacher and counselor
- Having more than 1 school detention
- More than 1 referral to the principal’s office
- Inability to concentrate or follow instruction in the classroom, as
determined by teacher
- Scores low on social-skills survey
- Cannot identify at-least 3 adults that are supportive of them