Newbies

A year ago I stepped out of the plane and tasted the sweet, heavy air in Suriname. It was very exciting to breathe in South America for the first time, and the sage advice of the veteran volunteers made lasting impressions on all of us as we rapidly learned to live in a new environment.

A brand new batch of naïve Americans are flying in tonight. The obvious temptation for all of us who have lived here for a year is to lord our knowledge of our local cultures and life in the jungle over the new impressionables. Once again, a broader perspective could do some good.

My family lived in Ethiopia for eight years. After one year my parents felt that they knew something of the Ethiopian culture. After two years, we discovered that the year before we really had had no idea of the depth of the culture. After four years we felt less sure of our command of Ethiopian ways of life, and after eight years, still learning in our last few months, we had to admit that we had merely scratched the surface of all there was to discover.

There was a story we read on the last day of staging that veteran volunteers always seem to forget. A young woman from a culture in which everyone wore yellow tinted glasses went to live in a culture in which everyone wore blue tinted glasses. Through years of interaction and adoption of a new way of life, she successfully learned to see from the perspective of the new culture. Upon returning home, she explained the profound nature of her experience, concluding that while she was there she truly learned to see as they do, in green.

All the Peace Corps volunteers in Suriname are newbies, including those who have been here for two years. My advice to those arriving tonight is to take what other volunteers say with a grain of salt and to accept that when they leave they will still be learning.

Geography in the Jungle

The catchphrase of Diitabiki’s local FM station is “You are listening to Radio Pakaati, the only station there is!” It’s true; there is only one on the Tapanahony. Baa Yotie, who runs the station came to my house one day with English books on African history with hopes that I would help translate the stories to make a radio program. Fortunately, I know something of African history. Our search for the bigger picture drew us to maps and the encyclopedia that came on my computer. Here we made an important discovery.

The encyclopedia contains profiles for every country of the world (except Montenegro and Kosovo, as I bought my computer in 2004). Baa Yotie was amazed at the wealth of information, and since then we have worked two to three hours every day, often six days a week, on the countries of the world, their geography, their people, and their history.

Skimming articles in one language and simultaneously translating them into another is no easy task. After a bit of practice, I rarely need to pause to read sections in English before deciding what is most important and translating it into Aucan. After longer sessions I catch myself thinking in Aucan. That’s scary.

Baa Yotie has been struck by the pervasiveness of wars and calculated unjust acts by powerful leaders in nearly every country we have studied. When I offered to focus more on culture and less on history, Baa Yotie remarked that it is important to hear of the wars and evil actions that have occurred in history, for then people might think twice about committing the same mistakes. Sounds Hillsdalian to me.

Perspective is narrowed by isolation. This principle has encouraged me to maintain a long-term outlook during my Peace Corps service. The reverse, however, is also true. Exposure to a bigger picture provides a more accurate understanding of both the world and yourself.

About a week ago, Baa Yotie told me that another thing the Ndjuka need to learn is how, when you save up for something, you can use what money you have to make more. Fortunately I know something of economics.