TEAM EKIPE

Here are the baseball cards I printed out for the youth in our village

The Sandlot 2: Island Ball

Seriously this script is already written. Somebody pass this photo on to their producer friends and we'll get this started.

The Hot Season

That's how hot it is

For my birthday, I went to a fellow volunteers site for a fundraiser she was hosting for her village.

Krissy couldn't come because there was a training starting in our village that she had to be around for.

I jumped in to the back of a camion (a big open trailered truck) with 20 of the new volunteers from 20B. A number of older volunteers from our group and some others also came along. It was a hot grey, rainy day, with lots of wind. There was a cyclone in the Northern most islands of Vanuatu which created heavy windy stormy conditions down here in South-Central Vanuatu.

We drove around to the North side of Efate close to our training village Emua and piled into two small boats for my first real excursion off the island of Efate.

A short 20 min ride later and we were across to Nguna

We jumped out into the choppy waves on shore and grabbed our bags in the steady drizzle. The thirty of us climbed up a giant hill, we climbed and climbed and climbed and when we got to the top, we realized we weren't at the top yet. Eventually we all reached the village ontop even the 72 year old volunteer who was a trooper the whole trip.

At Dominique's house we all unloaded played some frisbee, some Scrabble, some Cranium. We ate steaks and chicken wings for dinner, drank kava, a string band played that night, we all danced with the mamas and kids in the village.

The older volunteers set up camp down below the village at a clearing that was just 75 ft. from a huge cliff. The cliff dropped down to the GIANT boulders some 900 ft below. Big crashing waves and water as far as the eye could see.

In all it was a great birthday, fun, wonderful, inspiring.

Halloween was pretty great. Krissy and I had one of our friends, another Peace Corps Volunteer staying over cause there was a training in our village. So we got some candies from Jeff Rice and Krissy's family and we told the kids to come over when it was klosap dark for trick or treating. Halloween is An American Holiday, we explained, where kids get lollies if they dress up in costume and yell TRICK OR TREAT! Well, klosap dark can mean both afternoon and 4:30 in the fucking morning. So at a knock on our door before the sun had risen, I got out of bed to see what the hell was going on I opened a window and saw four kids dressed not in costumes, but in kastom (custom dress) which basically means some leaves strapped to various parts of their bodies. I started laughing my ass off as I went to get candy. Krissy told them that "You have to singout something, remember?" So in unison all the kids yelled AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH (A kastom war cry). To which we laughed our asses off again. I then opened the door and gave them each one measly little candy pumpkin. We laughed at how they probably went home thinking "This holiday sucks, you have to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn, put on your whole kastom dress, and all you get is one measly little candy?"

Longside Work:






We met with the newly elected water/health Committee in Ekipe and have begun plans to secure water for the village. Our engineering/mechanical genius friend Phil (also a PC Volunteer in a neighboring Village) came down to go look at the water source. We didn't really know what this would entail, but 5 hours later we had hiked through heavy bush and up and down big hills. Our guides walked in front of us and cleared new paths with their machetes. When we reached the swampy mud pits that enveloped our legs up to our knees Krissy made fun of me for wearing socks and shoes when everyone else was wearing sandals. Instant Karma struck when shorty thereafter everyone with parts of their feet exposed was attacked by big black biting ants. These little fuckers bite hard, it hurts like a bee sting, and then itches tremendously for about a week. It doesn't get better, at all for an entire week. Krissy got eleven bites in all.






After getting to the source, we came up with some plans for getting water piped from up there to the village, and have now all begun the preliminary work towards that project. We surveyed all the pipe that is currently laid throughout the village and talked to some agencies regarding funding. The village has a lot of the materials necessary to start building, so in a couple weeks we will be going up and starting to build the dam and fixtures ontap.





My sports project:


I have begun Ultimate Frisbee training with the youth in our village, to fire them up and get em motivated I've told them that this youth group in Vila has already challenged them to a game. In fact I have also set up a workshop to teach Ultimate to the youth group on Dec. 1st where I will tell them that the Ekipe team is challenging them to a game. Hopefully the Aussie volunteer at this org will be able to get a team up and playing regularly. so that the first scrimmage will be good.


I also taught kickball this week which will help in getting kids accustomed to baseball rules for when we start doing that. Elijah kicked 3 Home Run's in 3 at bats (at kicks?)

Left to Right: Elijah, Terrenson, and Keven

Me and Seth, (another volunteer and Cubs fan(bastard)) are working on this sports project together. We will be doing youth development camps the next few months teaching sports and teamwork, following that we will be doing some league management and event planning workshops where we will hopefully build capacity of individuals in the rural communities to run and take ownership of these leagues. We're hopeful that this will have a number of positive effects:


Provide something to keep youth from drifting to the urban center of Port Vila by providing something exciting to do on the other side of the island,


Teach local youth leaders skills such as fundraising, promotion, and planning which can be used in lots of different avenues,


build up sports infrastructure on Efate to increase the level of play in a number of different games,


provide local opportunities for fundraising and potential tourist draws through tournaments and games,


Draw funding for infrastructure development on North Efate


We will also be having the teams engage in workshops and trainings in first aid, waste management, and others as well as doing service projects related to these areas for their communities.


I will be sending out some materials on how you can help us secure equipment and funding necessary for these projects in the future, so stay tuned and start thinking about all your old little league and high school teams that might have old bats, gloves, Catcher's gear, helmets, shoes, etc. that they'd be willing to donate. The biggest problem will probably be shipping costs but we have some strategies we'll be developing in regards to that as well.





Alright, well that's it for now.


Peace in the Middle East

Perched precariously

Got a message from my guy Nick, went like this:

"Javi-

got your last couple of emails. sounds as though things are....i don't know, consistent? i still have a pretty hazy idea of how things go for you out there. specific questions on my part are probably key to understanding just what the fuck goes on in your lives at this point.

how can you even begin to paint a picture, anyway?

so, here are a few, if you have the time:

-what did you eat for breakfast?

-what do you wear on your feet?

-name 3 people, besides krissy, whom you spoke with throughout your day today?

-what time did you go to bed?

-wear did you go poop today?"

So here's my day in the life:

First there are actually two different styles of life here. Out in the village and here in Vila. They are totally different so if I just told you based on what I did today it would not accurately reflect my life here. So Each question will have a Vila answer and a village answer.

-what did you eat for breakfast?
Today like many days I did not eat breakfast, when I'm in Vila I gorge myself on unhealthy food. at around 11am (woke up at 7) I ate a Heaven Bar (Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Bar) Afta, I went to AU BON MARCHE (the local supermarket) and paid 300 vatu for a small (not small) dish of Spaghetti bolognese. In addition I ate a Tootsie roll and a Tootsie pop that Jeff Rice sent, I also ate some Big League Chew, and a handful of M & M's

village: On a normal day I usually wake up between 8-9am. well after the sun has risen. I get up from our mattress on the floor and emerge from my mosquito net covered in sweat (even though its the cold season). A slight breeze cools me down on my walk to the smolhaos (outhouse). Then I come back and spread some Peanut butter and Jelly on three Breakfast Crackers A uniquely South Pacific creation. White hearty cracker with a slghtly sweet taste. Usually there are a couple bananas involved since we almost always have a bundle of one of the many varieties in our house.

-what do you wear on your feet?
Great Question
I brought three pairs of footwear with me to Vanuatu.
Their fates:
1. My good Teva all purpose-sandals. These are sturdy velcro that I used for hiking, running, swimming, and everything else. Their drawbacks- they gave me blisters on various parts of my feet. In Vanuatu blisters are dangerous because every open sore gets infected, I've been pretty hearty and have only had 1 infected sore (on my hand). Most volunteers get many more. Maybe one per week? [Here's one from my favorite Alabaman]
The TEVA's got so worn out in 6 months that their straps came out of the bottom leather part. I recently found superglue and have repaired them, I probably will not be able to run or swim in them any more however.
2. Flip Flops: My pair of relatively cheap sandals with no straps just the normal slip ons were my favorite footwear because they did not give me blisters. One of them ripped at the fibrous toe part and is awaiting creative repair on my part.
3. Merrill Running/Hiking shoes: I bought these on our honeymoon last year in Utah.
In a long tradition of leaving things places I left them on a bus and made a Ni-Vanuatu bus driver very happy.

I now have four replacement pairs
Their current condition:
1. I bought a pair of flip flops for 150 Vatu ($1.50) These are the same kind as most of the locals wear. So I bought them to see how long a pair of $1.50 sandals would last me. The answer is one week. They too are awaiting creative repair.

2. Replacement Sandals pair number 2. I spent a little bit more and these have been adequate footwear for the past three weeks or so. Except when they get wet, then they are slippery and my feet slide off them and onto the muddy rocks, gravel, coral, or whatever I happen to be standing in at the time. Obviously these are unsuitable for swimming.

3. NEW SANDALS! Krissy's parents sent a pair in their most recent package, I am trying them out for the first time today. They seem to work out fine, but they are a little tight, so we'll see about blisters.

4. NEW SHOES! One of the guys in our group went home for his sisters wedding so I ordered a pair of Merrill water shoes and had them sent to his house. He brought them back a few weeks ago and I have been running in them and using them for swimming (You have to wear footwear when you swim or your feet will get cut on coral.) They are good but give me blisters on my Achilles Heels. And I have to wear socks as a result which sucks in this country.

-name 3 people, besides krissy, whom you spoke with throughout your day today?
In Vila most of the people I talk to here are other volunteers but here's three I spoke with today

Annie Api: Our counterpart and Village Health Worker and Neighbor in Ekipe was sitting outside the Mama's Market downtown with her daughter JoAnna. We talked about when Krissy and I would be coming back in to the village.

Michael Jones: An old guy who's in the Peace Corps with his wife. I did a Blues radio show with him last night and will be trying to get my own show when we move to Vila next year.

Margot: A Volunteer from group 18B who just left for home. Stuff with her site didn't work out and she terminated her service a few months early. She was one of the few volunteers left in John Roberts group. After his death and Margot leaving, they have 7 volunteers left from that group. They will be completing their service at the end of November.

Ekipe:

On any random day most of the people I talk to in the village will be kids. Here's three peeps that I usually talk to.

Manu: Our friend Manuel is one of the yungfala (young single guys) in our village. I usually see him at least once a day cause he lives near the phone (there's only one) and he likes to play frisbee with us.

Joy and JoAnna: Two neighbor girls

who like to come over and play games with us.

Small John: A hyper kid who always comes over to play games and look at us. (That would be a piece of metal stabbed through some leaves and stuck into his visor. FLASS!)

-what time did you go to bed?
In Vila:
I went to bed last night at about 2am after a night of dancing at CLUB VOODOO. Where they set the bar on fire any time you order the special FLAMING VOODOO DOLL shot. I fell asleep trying to watch Eragon and woke up today at 11:45 am the latest I have ever slept in Vanuatu.

In the Village:
I usually go to bed around 10:00 and depending on my brain usually go to sleep before the first roosters crow. Sometimes I stay up for the second roosters crow. And once or twice I've been awake all the way through to the Third Roosters crow which precedes sunrise by about 10 min.

-where did you go poop today?
Today I pooped in the Peace Corps office. There is a real toilet here, with a plastic seat and it flushes, so I was very happy to do so.

In the Village: I don't poop. I've trained my body to take a crap once a week. But when I have to I use our Smalhaos. Which is a bunch of sticks with leaves as walls, a tarp as a door. The toilet is a large cement slab that forms up ino a bowl shape. On the sides of the ground you can see where dirt has fallen into the pit and the toilet looks precarious as if the whole thing could fall in at any moment. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

First Projects

Blog Oct. 17

Sorry. I read Brandon’s comment and realized that I haven’t actually told you all what I’m doing, or what it’s like here. I guess that’s the point of this thing.

So here’s one problem. I’ve adjusted.
Things that before surprised, amazed, astonished me; They’re normalized, I’m used to them. So my point is, if you think of questions that you want to ask please ask away. I’ll answer them as best I can.

Longside work:
Krissy and I have been at site for 2 months. It seems like a lot longer. Peace Corps Volunteers are supposed to enculture themselves into their communities for the first 3 months. We’re not really supposed to start working on projects until after three months, but yeah, that’s not gonna happen. First of all we’ll only be in Ekipe for 1 year as opposed to most other volunteers who’ll be at their sites for 2 years. And on top of it Krissy is an ass-kickin, driven, goal oriented worker. I’ve never seen anyone like it, so trying to convince her to hold off and wait is a futile effort.
After about 2 weeks we started a Community Census and Needs Assessment. These are tools to help us learn the village and also to help the village learn about themselves. The Village Health Worker, Krissy, and I went around to all the families in the village. Krissy designed a cartoon visual aid to represent all the possible projects that we could help with in our time in Ekipe. 95% of the Village was united in selecting water projects as the primary need for the village. So we have our work cut out for us. The census told us that there are around 350 people in the village. Over 40% of whom are under the age of 12.
Last weekend Krissy and I ran our first collaborative project. It was pretty cool to work on something so closely and directly. We always discussed theoretically how good of a team we make, Krissy working in Health and I in Education and Youth. But this is the first time we have ever fully teamed up with equal responsibility. I helped a little bit with her Captain Condom program in LaX,
and she has given me lots of guidance and support for various projects I was heading up, but teaming up directly was exciting and encouraging. The project is called PACA- Participatory Analysis for Community Action and it’s a Peace Corps standard. Kind of a preliminary workshop to get your community prepped and open to work together towards Sustainable Development.
So we got together on our third try, two previous attempts were met with cancellations due to our Chief not being in town, and not enough people showing up. One of the bubu’s (grandpa’s) in the village helped us get people to the workshop in a creative way. He pulled out a scimitar, yes a scimitar, a pointy Arabic sword, not a bush knife/ machete (which would’ve been normal) and walked around to the houses shouting
“YU! YU KAM LO WAN WOKSOP HIA, YU NO STAP WITIM PIKININI, YU NO STAP MEKEM KAEKAE, YU KAM NAO” (Which translated means: Hey you get your ass over here to this workshop, quit playing with kids and making food, come here now)
So shortly thereafter we began our games and icebreakers which everyone loved. The laughing and clapping and cheering quickly caused our workshop population to triple. Over all we probably had about 60 people attend at least some of the workshop.
We presented our findings from the census and the needs assessment and led 4 projects: Community Mapping, Seasonal Calendar, Village Timeline, and Resource Appraisal. The villagers were enthusiastic and supportive, and the workshop was a great success.

From the workshop, all of us in Ekipe came to a clear understanding about what our needs are. Everyone wants us to help secure safe, regular access to piped drinking water.
In addition I have been asked by the chief to storian with some of the olfalas in our village and create a Village History book that each church can get a copy of.
These are two of the projects that are focused solely on our village. There are a number of others with a different scope and focus. Next week the village Health Worker Training for our province is being held in Ekipe, and I am teaching the new group of trainees in 20B how to run a Camp BILD and Camp GLOW (Boys in Leadership Development and Girls Leading Our World).

So, are you sorry you asked? There’s a lot more, but I’ll update other projects as I can.
This blog is going to be updated infrequently but thoroughly each time.
Hope this clears up a little bit what kind of stuff we’re working on.
Love
Javi and Krissy

Supposed to be.

* I remember reading a recommendation from a friend who had served in the Peace Corps. She suggested that you bring a lot of good books with you. That the most important thing you could bring was really good books. Initially to read, and then, to trade with other Peace Corps Volunteers. At the time this caused my right eyebrow to raise slightly. My left traveled in the opposite direction. The corner of my mouth went up a little bit and I found myself with a disapproving sneer upon my face. I thought: "You're supposed to be helping people with AIDS, and helping without AIDS from getting it. You're supposed to be forming friendships that will make people reconsider their hasty judgment of Americans, and learning new languages. What do you need books for when you have the Arabian Sea, why do you need books when there are monkeys 100 yards from your hut, why do you need books when there are a bunch of kids playing soccer over there. I mean, Jesus, look at them, they're playing barefoot, with a coconut for a ball!
Well…I have now been in the Peace Corps for about 5 months. I've finished 16 books. I don't know what the average American's book reading rate per month is, but I know mine, and it certainly is not 3/month. Granted, back home I read comic books almost exclusively (magazines too), but the only time in my life I could say I've read three books in one month (adult books, not the Hardy Boys when I was 13, or the BabySitters Club when I was 12(for shame, how did I ever turn out straight?) was in college where a crazy prof. who didn't show up for class for the first two months (But inexplicably kept leaving notes on the door every Tuesday and Thursday that she would not be in that day) finally showed up with half the semester gone & told us that we would not be adjusting the syllabus and we would have to read all the books as well as write reviews for them. And the only reason I read the books and did the work, instead of bitch and moan, and complain about the workload was because I had already flunked English 150 and was re-taking it to replace the F (that and the books she assigned were really good (the best of which was The Things They Carried-Tim O'Brien).
Anyway. Now…now 3 books a month is the rate at which I read books. My average over 5 months. Yeah so my point is sorry for the sneer. The Peace Corps isn't what I thought it'd be. Well that's not true. All those things I expected my friend was neglecting while reading books? Turns out you do all those things by dinner time. Then the sun goes down, and unless you're ok with going to sleep at 7:56pm, you gotta do something. No electricity, equals books. In one of the more frustrating Catch 22's I've faced, the supply of books is extremely limited during the one time in my life where I've become an avid reader. So when we Peace Corps Vanuatu volunteers see a book that we'd like to read we immediately snatch it and hide it away from the other volunteers so that no one else can take it first. We've actually had books stolen out of mailboxes by other volunteers. Desperate for entertainment.

*I had another friend who was in the Peace Corps. She put me on her email list and I got monthly updates accompanied by plaintive requests to send her stuff- anything, postcards, letters, packages, emails, anything. At the time I was bartending to make up for the deficiencies in my Americorps living allowance & a guy who came in to the bar who also knew this girl, and was also on her email list would occasionally bring her up in those notorious bartender- drinker conversations that fill bad jokes and propel crime-noir from one scene to the next. Usually he would kind of dismissively roll his eyes and suggest that she wasn't worth his attention. But one night (maybe he had one extra Vodka-Red Bull, or an extra shot of Sambuca) all this pent up anger that had apparently been building in him overflowed and was released in my presence. He ranted that she was an insensitive-uncultured priss, she was supposed to be over there helping people, learning from them, loving them, spreading international peace and goodwill, yet all she could do was send emails about how much partying she was doing, and how people smelled bad, and how she had to piss and shit in a hole in the ground, and "oh its so hard being me". Spittle flicking out he slurred "Duh dumbfuck, that's why it's the Third World and none of us want to go there! You chose to go there to help, so the least you could do is not bitch about how awful it is. I didn't sign up for your fucking email list to be told how awful it is from your unique perspective. The least you could do is provide some inspiration in my boring day at work, but no, instead I get some pile of shit saying how it sucks to eat beans and rice for every meal." Ok, well, I'm paraphrasing, and he was drunk, and this was two years ago, but that was the spirit of it…So I'll try to stop talking about all the stuff that I miss, and how bad people smell.

P.S. I would really love a pepperoni pizza and a Spotted Cow. If anyone could send these via email, I think they would still be safe to eat in three weeks. (I'd eat them even if they weren't safe.)

P.P.S. So I guess the whole point of these stories is that conceptions of what Peace Corps is "supposed to be" just really doesn't jive with "the reality on the ground." So throw out your hopelessly misguided notions and accept my words as gospel.