Beverley Ponders the Experience

I have been home a week now and am having some difficulties adjusting back into my old life.My heart is full of love and joy for my family, especially my darling baby grandson Kalin 

Beating the drums because his Baba is home

...but at the same time I feel a deep sadness at having left my wonderful freshman students at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital School of Nursing  in Guyana.

When I left for home last Friday, the class gave me a poem that I would like to share.

“ Slowly the leaves of memory will fall

I will pick them up and gather them all

Because today, tomorrow and ‘ till my life is thru

I will always cherish this friendship and you”

Thank you Ariel, Vikram( Vicky), Niravana( Nir), Shellon (Gravendande), Kenishia (Neshia), Bibi, Hakeema (Keema), Marissa, Lisa, Keisha, Lavetta (Lovie), Zoanna ( Zoey), Vansessa, Jonice (Jon), Michelle, Telisha, Nikita (Nikki) and ALeea (Leea) 

"Don't go.  Send Rev. John instead."  I know they didn't mean it.

I will always remember you and our shared learning experiences. Please continue to fight for your dreams.

Thank you also Rev. John for inviting me to be part of your very important work not only with the students but also with the children at St. Anne’s Orphanage who clearly adore you. 

My visits with the children and Sister Leonie filled me with admiration for the courage of these little children and for the love and dedication of those who care for them.

Sister Leonie says. "Great having you around Beverly."

Out and About in three weeks...

This drinking water stream outside Linden
inspired my un-inspiring sermon from Amos,
"Let justice roll down like waters and honesty like an ever flowing stream. "

to a $2.50 market lunch

Enjoying the beauty of a resort

the sweat of the Cane Factory at Wales

Some Reflections

The greatest difficulty for the first time volunteer is getting information about  Guyana, that you can trust. It would be helpful if volunteers received a little on safety, customs, clothing restrictions, food etc. that apply to the area where they will be spending most of their time. Being a volunteer is very different from being a family member visitor and there are marked differences between the concerns of male and females as well as age related concerns.

My expectation of myself was to be useful and not a nuisance. However, not really understanding the cultural norms and expectations, I initially felt very insecure. Although I have traveled extensively on my own both in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia, the difference in coming to Guyana was determining what information was true and what was media or protects ourselves against lawsuits hype. If you are a young perky woman and males shout rude remarks from passing cars, your danger alert is much different than when you are an older unperky woman, struggling along the road side careful to not trip over chunks of broken pavement. Both situations can be potentially dangerous but  for a quick mugging the older person is an easier target. So strategies for personal safety are different . I found it difficult to determine how to keep myself independent yet safe.

So I arrived a nervous wreck. Lucky John!  The first week was tough getting settled, heat, humidity, and the brightness of the sun made me feel out of sync time-wise. At breakfast time it seemed to me that it was noon because the sky was so bright. I had a couple days of feeling “punk “ off and on  but John graciously gave me the air conditioned computer room ( there are no computers—they mysteriously disappeared) for my tutorials. I got accustomed to the climate differences quite quickly.

Accommodations were rustic but being born and raised in western Canada, ( western Canadian women are tough) the living conditions were similar to those that I have experienced in my cabin in the bush in Northern Manitoba /Ontario. I love it there in spite of the limitations. At my cabin, there is now a shower that sometimes trickles a little water on you but it beats bathing in polluted lakes thanks to the granite industry. Granite countertops anyone? Bugs and critters are your neighbors and unfortunately, here in Guyana, I had to kill three of my cockroach neighbors, Marvin, David and Jack. I have my standards and they were just getting too friendly. John said I didn’t have to drown them in insect repellent. To each his own.

We ate at the hospital most times. The food was tasty but sometimes I needed more protein. I really enjoyed our trips outside the city. We visited a sugar cane factory and saw the most beautiful bauxite mine. I couldn't resist giving one of the hospital glamour girls a shot about the potential for lung disorders due to working in the factory without a mask. John dragged me away from her while I was screaming and ranting. Administrators are the same the world over I guess. So are old broads.!

I didn’t go into the jungle, no time and it really wasn’t a priority for me. I’ve been to the jungle in Brazil and I really wanted to see how people live in Georgetown. The city is a tragic postcard of colonial rule. It was like looking at the wrinkly face of an old woman and failing to see the beauty and gentleness in her eyes and the strength of her aging spirit. Colonial times must have been spectacular from an architectural perspective. All the buildings are  wooden with intricate wood designs and inlay. Unfortunately, most of them are rotting away but they still retain a certain beauty. There are still beautiful churches and  Hindu temples that are colorful and well maintained . When you consider the shameful history of the country , the energy of the people is short of miraculous. When “ nothing ever gets done” or when things “change without rhyme nor reason” its hard to remember that this is a society in which people have an inheritance of slavery and oppression. Consequently, there is still a somewhat fragile infrastructure and as a result there is dirt and garbage everywhere-----.But, the sun shines, people smile and the music is joyful and uplifting.

I met some really nice people. The security guard at the hospital grounds loved reading romance novels and some days we chatted about romance and real life. She felt badly because she was working and couldn’t go walking with me and she felt it wasn’t safe for me to walk alone. I walked around the hospital area and felt o.k. When I asked my students about walking alone, one of them very politely said to me” But Mam, look at your hair, nobody has hair that color.” We laughed and joked about store colored hair.

So I tagged along after John. He was thrilled, I’m sure, especially after we had a talk about stride length differences between a 6 foot male and a 5ft 5inch female. Fortunately, being a physio I had the “facts” at my finger tips. I’m leaving out the part that I’m a dreamer who like to look at absolutely everything as I walk around.

The course for the freshman nursing students is excellent and John works 24/7 to make everything work for the students. I found the approach to sometimes be very doc oriented and Tony is a hard act to follow. But it all worked well for me because we focused on a team approach with emphasis on nursing goals. I found the exam a day very different from what I was used to as a PBL tutor but I understand the need in Guyana for continuity across programs. I tried a few tricks with my students which seemed to work well for us. After tutorial and before going into the exam room, we did some breathing exercises and then I told them to grab a brain and turn it on as they went through the door to do the exam. A small joke but  they laughed and rolled their eyes. Maybe it  worked  because they did well in the tests even if the questions hadn’t been fully explored in the tutorial session.

 I was very impressed by the student’s desire and the sacrifices they made to learn. Their ability to quickly synthesize information and apply it to the problems was outstanding. It was a far cry from some students I had at home who would file a complaint if a tutor gave them a grade of an A instead of an A+ even though they had tried to pass off work done in another course .

The amount of work John puts into organizing ,planning and designing the course is incredible. The creative way he present ethical issues to the students so that concepts are presented and discussed in an atmosphere of fun is impressive. I learned a lot.

The last two weeks past very quickly and before I knew it, it was time to go home.

Epilogue
Years ago, a Physio pal told me that the only reason for our lives was to help each other along life’s journey. Thank you very much ,John, for giving me the chance to not just “talk the talk” but also to “walk the walk” even though my steps were very small and the distance traveled very short.

"Some tastes remain on the tongue a long time."

All the best to everyone.

Beverley