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.

Coffee

When I came to Suriname, I brought a coffee press, expecting that the bounty of the mountains of Columbia and the awful lot of coffee in Brazil would spill over to the neighboring countries. Imagine my profound disappointment when I learned that the only brew to be found came in the form of instant coffee (hereafter referred to as “mud”) imported from Europe. Imagine my delight when, after much searching, I discovered real Surinamese coffee and found to my amazement that it was cheaper than instant mud!

Though I know the difference between mud and coffee, I am by no means a connoisseur. The test of the quality of Surinamese brew came when my sister, who is very much a connoisseur, came to Suriname. She approved. To conserve funds and cooking gas, I limit coffee mornings to two days a week, but every Wednesday and Saturday I am religiously more hyper than normal.

The popularity of mud demonstrates an unfortunate point about Suriname. Obsession with the former colonial power often hurts the economy by reducing the demand for better, cheaper local products in favor of European things. While as an economist I admit that what you buy is a matter of personal choice, I stand on my soapbox twice a week and declare with mug aloft that real coffee tastes better. The only advantage of mud is the difficulty of finding a coffee maker for the interior, as we have no electricity most of the time. For the Surinamese, an objective step back and a larger perspective, perhaps over a good cup of coffee, could do some good.

The River Congress

During the past week, the Gaanman summoned the chiefs of the Tapanahony to a major conference on gold mining rights. The problems of illegal gold mining by Brazilians have escalated recently, including pollution of the river with mercury used in irresponsible but easy refining, and rampant murder in the gold bush. To make matters worse, some chiefs have been taking bribes to protect the illegal activities. The event, centered in my village, is headline national news, and the Minister of Regional Development came to express his commitment to expel the illegal miners by force. As a result of the four-day conference, several chiefs were punished on charges of corruption, and continuing deliberation on what to do next is the principle subject of conversation.

In an earlier generation, the Ndjuka would meet every year for a congress known as “the River” to discuss issues and problems affecting all the villages. This was a unifying concept, and all the traditional leaders were held accountable in decisions made by the River. The congress dissolved, as common issues became national issues or disappeared. Perhaps this minor crisis will reestablish an old tradition.

Uh Oh.

To balance out the rainy seasons from December to February and from April to June, the Surinamese rain forest experiences a short dry season during March. This year, however, rain continues to fall heavily every day, and the water level is the highest that I have ever seen…and it steadily is rising. Considering the devastating floods we have had in the last few years, this does not bode well.

To curb the effects of certain disaster, I appealed to Red Cross to help me do something to prepare the people for the coming deluge. Unfortunately, part of the city already had flooded and Red Cross headquarters was a meter under water.

The water has since receded, but the weather patterns do not look good for when the really heavy rains start falling next month.

Site Development

Deciding where new volunteers just out of the States will spend two very important years of their lives is heady work. As my river is a little hard to get to, Peace Corps has been using volunteers for future site development for our area. Peace Corps debated placing any volunteers on the Tapanahony, as it is expensive, but by using us instead of sending people from the city, we have been able to cut costs and improve the quality of future sites. If all goes well, four new volunteers will be assigned to the region in May.

Since we live out here and have first-hand knowledge of what makes a positive volunteer experience, we have balanced Peace Corps’s concerns of security and cost-effectiveness with volunteer priorities of good potential projects and a decent place to live. As a result of negotiation, two volunteers will go to a large village that has wanted volunteers for a long time, but that Peace Corps had not considered viable.

It has been a lot of work serving as a liaison between Peace Corps and the prospective villages. I have spent days at a time in the future sites, making a network of contacts, selecting houses for volunteers from a variety of options, taking notes to recommend what the new volunteers should consider purchasing, distributing building materials to the different villages, arranging for transportation of materials that went to the wrong villages, resolving cost concerns addressed by those transporting the material, and of course taking lots of pictures so the new volunteers can see where they will live. Plus, having accompanied staff on several site development trips, we now can make suggestions to improve the process throughout the country.

Knowing the multitude of challenges volunteers face in the uncertainty of a completely new environment, we are more than happy to spend some time ensuring a good experience for our future colleagues.