Ants in Hammocks

Once again I must blab about how wonderful our Friday night discussion was. The subject for that night was the elimination of prejudice, a subject chosen in the hopes of discussing some of the tribal issues of the country and community. We did not succeed in doing this but we did succeed in having a very interesting discussion. Racism is not really a problem here so the discussion revolved mainly around religious prejudice. We also discussed if it was possible to completely eliminate prejudice and how important it was. Another one of our objectives for that evening was to make people conscious of certain "unconscious" prejudices they may have. Nothing was said on that topic for a while and we trudged through a slow discussion of what our role was and how we could eliminate prejudice until one of the boys there, who hadn't said anything all night said, "Well, I think I'm prejudiced against gay people". It was a very frank comment, not meant to offend or attack but simply something he had obviously been thinking about and genuinely wanted to discuss. Unfortunately, our group that evening was composed entirely of boys and the discussion turned down a road we did not want it to go down, so we ended the evening and decided to discuss more on that subject the next week when we had some Writings to guide us.
We began our weekend with a lovely French breakfast in town in the morning and in the afternoon we drove out to the villages and started work. The best part of all was a new junior youth group starting in Wagi Pasi. When I arrived, the mother of the camp came up to me and introduced herself (something not commonly done by women here), said "I went to school in Suriname, I can read in Dutch but I want to learn French. May I please be in the junior youth group?" I was surprised and explained my uncertainty about the youth's openness if their mother were to be in the group. She laughed and said "Don't worry, I will be a kid too. I want to play the games and draw! And I know your mother is far away so I will also be your mother." Sure enough, she participated in the games, read very well, and encouraged her children. A good lesson in flexibility and open-mindedness.
I then began a new children's class at a camp down the road. The children were extremely well behaved and very bright. We finished a few minutes early so I sat down with some of the older kids and talked with them. I asked who went to school and they said everyone except for one of the girls sitting next to me. She immediately got up and left and the kids laughed and explained that she had gone to school up until this year when her mom stopped taking her, then they all giggled and said in a hushed voice..."Her mom drinks too much alcohol; the other day she tried to fight with a man." I almost started crying. I explained that it was not nice to talk about other people like that and that they should help the other girl learn if she couldn't go to school. I found the girl, Lucie, crying behind a tree. She didn't say anything but I offered a hug and we just stood behind the tree for a few minutes. That is by far the most challenging part of being here... the emotional suffering that the majority of children endure, be it from physical abuse, verbal abuse, or neglect. There is so little we can do except persevere with the work we are doing in the hopes of creating a change in this generation.

We spent the night at Alieni's again. Thankfully, this time there was no partying until 3 am but I was still not granted a good rest since a pesky ant (or ants) had found its way into my hammock and bit me all night!!!!


(5 hammocks in one hut! It was a tight squeeze but lots of fun!)


(Victoria and Denissa's hammocks)


I was extremely thankful when dawn came. We set out for a different and bigger creek. Unfortunately it was farther away and by the time we had washed and made our way back we were all sweaty again. I guess we'll have to develop a system for not exerting too much energy on the walk back...or not dry off after washing.
I finished the Book 2 in the morning and had another session with the Book 3 group after lunch. When Denissa and Victoria left for their classes I sat down with our host for a lovely meal of rice and chicken and they had a good time laughing about the fact that I can't cook.
We finally got home around 7 but could not fight the desire we women sometimes get for chocolate, so we dashed to the "libre-service" (corner store) and purchased a wide variety of chocolates to hold us through the night. We then sat down to watch a movie...the first movie Den and I have watched since arriving here! It was a very strange feeling to be sitting in front of the TV so long!

Lesson Learned:
The concept of hospitality has evaporated in many parts of the world. It is part of the disease of materialism and selfishness that is engulfing the West. It never ceases to amaze me how people who have almost nothing will happily open their homes to you and with a smile offer you food and drink. People are quick to point out the parts of this culture that have to change but there are also some things we can learn from it.