Author: DawnO

hello!
it’s been a long time since i’ve gotten the chance to blog. i was tempted to call robO a blog-hog but it is much easier for him to blog, given that he has internet access at work.

i thought i would fill you in on a typical day here in Georgetown.

i would never have called myself a morning person in Canada, but here in Guyana i am a classic morning person (and i love it). each morning we are woken up about 6:15 by a variety of things:dogs barking, the bright sunlight, sweat-inducing heat, the neighbour sweeping the cement or ‘cutting the grass’ outside with a machette, etc. i have been jumping out of bed and doing a morning yoga practice.
we’ve got enough time to have a nice breakfast and an icy shower, and robO even irons his shirts before we head to work.

it takes 5-7 minutes for us both to cycle to work, avoiding crazy drivers and mini-buses along the way. it’s been the rainy season, so sometimes it’s pouring when we are ready to leave. in our initial months here we would have rushed out with our raincoats and umbrellas to be sure to arrive at work on time. but now, we’ve adopted a few of the Guyanese strategies and we wait until the downpour has tapered before we leave. rain is a very reasonable and acceptable excuse for being late for anything here.

we get home from work anytime between 3:00 and 4:45, depending on the day. i have been loving trying new recipes and cooking Guyanese food for supper. after a really fast clean up (a futile attempt to deter mice and ants), we’re ready for our evening activities.

mondays i have been teaching a beginner yoga class for fellow volunteers. robO goes to no-ga, a rum and discussion group. thursday nights we go to sign language class, also run by our volunteer friends. other nights are spent reading under the mosquito net, watching illegally copied movies on our laptop, going for drinks with friends, or trying to learn some spanish.

when we stay home in the evenings, i’m embarassed to say that we have a bedtime of 8:30. there are many reasons for this: it’s pitch black at 6pm, so it seems later than it really is, the sun and heat are exhausting, most of the time we are under the mosquito net anyway…
one of my favorite parts of our week is saturday mornings when we go to the market and grocery store. the grocery stores are sort of like what we are used to at home except for the high prices for imported american foods and the lack of organization and order. i’ve learned that if i see something i want i should buy it right away because who knows if it can be found anywhere in Georgetown the next day.

the market was overwhelming at first, but we’ve definitely gotten the hang of it. there is some bartering involved, and it’s always interesting to see what fruits are going to be in season (and therefore super cheap) each week. this week we got 7 mangoes for $200 (about 1 US dollar).

now for a brief mouse update. up to this weekend, we had caught 4 mice in a trap and found 2 mysteriously dead in our kitchen. though we had not seen any evidence of more rodents, we bought a pack of poison ‘in case’. over the course of 2 days ALL of the poison pellets had disappeared, including when we used them as bait on the trap. yesterday i bought that sticky paper, and we set up an elaborate triple threat: poison as bait on the trap, surrounded by sticky paper. within 5 minutes we had caught a mouse on the sticky paper. the celebrations didn’t last long when we realized that we would have to deal with disposal! luckily our neighbour was willing to assist. today we have so far been outsmarted, though we have each seen the enemy (rob actually saw it jump over one sticky paper trap). Aarggggh.

stay tuned for an update on my renovation project!

just a quick update to share some really exciting news.

i found out yesterday that the Guyanese Canadian Cultural Association (who i was connected with by my great OT friend andrea) has agreed to fund 100% of the cost of my accessibility renovations to the Palms Geriatric Home! i was crying from joy yesterday that by the time i leave guyana, the residents of this home will be able to access their bathrooms and dining areas safely. this was the best christmas present i could have ever hoped for. stay tuned for before and after pictures and updates.

in other news, we trapped mrs. jingles and baby jingles in our mousetrap last night (at the same time!! i know – we’re pretty efficient). we have concerns that there may be another junior jingles, so we’ll be baiting the trap yet again tonight.

we’re looking forward to seeing christmas pictures and hearing stories of your holidays.
love dawnO

happy holidays from Guyana!

as many of you know, robO and i take turns twice a month planning ‘superdates’ for eachother. last sunday, robO surprised me with what i rate as the best superdate to date!

i got up in the morning and went for a jog while rob made us one of our favorite breakfasts of hashbrowns with veggies, cheese, and spices. we relaxed, reading in the sunshine, until 1:00, when he had organized for us to go to a Guyanese woman’s house to learn how to make curry, roti, and gluten free bread options. it was definitely my best day here so far.
cecilia (our host chef) cooks curries and roti every day, and she was comfortable experimenting with gluten free ingredients.

the curries here are really amazing, and she showed us how to make a restaurant quality potato curry that i think we’ll be able to replicate at home. get ready for some dinner parties once we’re home!

‘roti’ is a type of bread that’s sort of like a cross between a tortilla and indian naan bread. it’s really great to dip into sauces or gravies, or it can be made with chickpea or potato filling. yum. the ingredients of it are really simple (flour and water), but it’s the preparation that looks pretty tricky. they are usually made on a ‘roti pan’ on the stove top, and we learned how to ‘clap’ them to make them light and separate the layers after they’re cooked.

Check out the roti clap video here Hi | Low


now for the coolest part… we learned how to make ‘cassava bread’, which is gluten free and made from the cassava root (sort of like a potato). after peeling and grating the cassava, we had to wring out the excess fluid and let the cassava (now a flour-like consistency) dry in the sun.

we then pressed it together on the griddle, and it magically formed into a pancake type product. once cooked on either side it tastes a little like a dense bread. we don’t have any pictures of the finished product because i think robO devoured it all too fast! we’re thrilled that he’s now got a ‘bread’ type option here, and that it is only one ingredient (we didn’t even add water to mix it!!).

the real test will be when we try to make these things without Cecilia…

in other good news, robO is at work right now installing the INTERNET on all of the computers!
yesterday i got approval from the medical director at the hospital to start my cardiac education groups, and today i got approval from the ministry of labor to start making some changes in the public geriatic home to make it more accessible. now i’m going to start trying to fundraise to pay for the changes that need to happen (ramps, handrails, grab bars). if you’re feeling in the holiday spirit and would like to donate, my aim is high – just over 2000 US dollars – to allow these geriatric residents to access their bathrooms and dining areas safely and independently.
and maybe the best news of all, we successfully trapped our house mouse. now we’re working on our other house pets – mosquitos, lizards, ants, and the odd cockroach. we’re enjoying our pet bat because he eats the mosquitos.

we’ve got lots of other pictures to share, so i think rob’s going to blog again this week. on the weekend we’re doing a road (and boat) trip to visit another volunteer who is in a different region. we’re looking forward to getting out of the city again.

take care,
dawnO

hello!

so now i’m 3 weeks into my job, and i was very concerned at the start, but i’ve settled in and am excited to share what i’ve been up to.
now, it’s important to note that i am one of only 3 occupational therapists in the country of Guyana (the other 2 are also VSO volunteers). there is really no awareness in the country for rehab in general, but there is really no knowledge of OT. even the rehab assistants who have had specialized training in OT do VERY basic physio exercises with most patients and rarely ever link any activities to function.

i’ve had a part in deciding what my role is here in the next 5 months. the difficult thing is that it would be really easy to start treating individual clients and make a difference that way, but we’re looking for sustainable development.

so, i have 3 main roles while here:
1. i am trying to set up group rehab programs for:
a) patients in the hospital wards (who currently receive no rehab and no discharge planning)
b) clients in a public geriatric home
c) clients in a private geriatric home
2. inservicing with rehab assistants in different areas, including patient lift and transfer techniques and arthritis: joint protection
3. trying to enhance the use of OT intervention and adaptive equipment with 2 stroke clinics

you may read these objectives and think they sound pretty manageable, but the Guyanese culture is very limiting. the wards have anywhere from 30-40 people in them, who lay in bed 24 hours a day (there aren’t even chairs beside the beds). the nurses and rehab assistants don’t get paid very much, and so many of them work more than one job or go to school full time in addition to working, so it’s really common to come to work and sleep, or not even come to work at all. the facilities and equipment are unbelievable – no accessibility, no maintenance or repairs. i have seen some things here that i never would have imagined actually go on in a health care system anywhere. i don’t really want this to be sensational and depressing, so i’ll stop here.

i have some big plans, and feel like i’ve made some headway in a few areas. i’m going to be inservicing doctors and nurses at the hospital and trying to set up a cardiac rehab group there. i went to the private geriatric home (where there are 52 residents and ONE staff member) and did some interventions that i feel have made an impact already. i will also be training rehab assistants to run and continue these groups after we leave.

i’ll keep you updated on my progress. Until then, send positive OT vibes my way, and if you have any great ideas or motivational messages, send them along!

Hello!

RobO and I just had an amazingly refreshing weekend, so I thought I would share what we’ve been up to.

Saturday we got awesome news!! Our parents (both sets!) are going to meet us in Isla de Marguarita (an island off the coast of Venezuela) right after we are finished our placement in Guyana! We will be finishing our placement around Easter (April 9th) and plan to say our goodbyes here, then spend a few days in Trinidad and Tobago before meeting our parents on April 21st! It will be a great treat before we start our backpacking adventures in Peru and Ecuador.

On Sunday a few of us went on a day trip to a place called Marudi Creek. Rob and I were itching to get out of the city for at least a day, so we packed a picnic and caught a minibus out to the creek.

Now, just let me explain the concept of the minibus. These are 15 passenger vans that scream around Guyana picking up and dropping off passengers. They are privately owned and there are regular routes that they run, but there are no set stops – you just waive to the bus from the side of the road to pick you up and let the driver know where you’re getting off. Most of them have some sort of ridiculous sound system blaring bad music, and they will honk, weave, essentially do anything to get the most number of passengers the fastest.
The minibuses going to out of town locations will wait at the market until the bus is filled before they will take off. So, one could be waiting any period of time for enough people to fill the bus to get going.

Because there were 6 of us, we filled our minibus really quickly. We were dropped off at the Creek (about 45 mins away when travelling 160kms and weaving in and out of traffic and livestock), and knew that it may be tricky to catch a bus back into town because the buses would all be full driving by. One of our fellow volunteers made a deal with our minibus driver for him to come back to retrieve us with an empty bus at the end of the day. I have to admit, I was extremely skeptical that the driver would come back for us, and was even tempted to get on another bus that came by, but we were pleasantly surprised that our driver kept his word.

Anyway, Marudi Creek was an amazingly relaxing and refreshing place to spend a Sunday. There is a blackwater creek for swimming (black water because of the minerals), table tennis, beach volleyball, and little huts to relax and read in.

Note: I am fully aware that you are interested in hearing how my volunteer work has been going, but have chosen to save those adventures for a later blog. Stay tuned!

hello!

we’ve learned and experienced so much in Guyana in our first week here that i thought i would fill you in on some of the highlights…

– the weather – it’s about 30 degrees every day, which feels like 40 degrees because of the humidity. in the sun everyone sweats uncontrolably, in the evenings it is comfortably hot, and there’s always a breeze coming in off the ocean, which is much appreciated!! in the air conditioned rooms it is freezing cold. i think i’m the only person in this country who actually avoids air conditioning!

– danger – i’m sure if you do any research you will read about how dangerous Georgetown is. in real life, there are many dangerous areas, but now that we know what areas to avoid, they say we should be ok. there are all kinds of stray dogs hanging around all the time (much like i’ve heard thailand is like), so i’m always cautious about them. also, Georgetown is actually below sea level, so along all of the roadways and sidewalks there are trenches to collect the water. it would be really easy to accidently step into one of these, and rumor has it they pulled out a six foot anaconda from one!

– culture – even though Guyana is in South America, it is considered to be a Caribbean country (likely because it’s english speaking). so, it feels very Jamaican here. their big sport is cricket, and Guyana is hosting part of the World Cup of cricket, starting april 2007!

– transportation – vehicles drive on the left side of the street here, so we are forever looking the wrong way. actually, it is important to look in both directions as people tend to drive really crazy here. people take ‘minibuses’ around town, which are like 15 passenger vans, originally decorated by the owners, that drive specific routes. there are also cabs that have a set rate for anywhere in georgetown, and many people ride bicycles.

– ‘just now’ – everything (except the vehicles!) moves very slowly here. people use the expression ‘just now’, which can mean anywhere from one minute from now to a month from now. they say in our placements that we really need to push to get an actual timeline or nothing ever will get done.

– food – in one word – yum! it is a mix of indian, caribbean, and amazing fresh fruits and veggies. their staples are rice, yams, plantains, and they have lots of curries. we’re really excited to get out to the market and try out some of the fruits we’ve never heard of. we can get almost everything that we could buy at home, though some of it is really expensive. rob says the award winning rum, made right here in Georgetown, is the best he’s ever had, and he’s only tried the cheap stuff so far!

feel free to ask us questions if you’re wondering about anything else. of course we’ll update you with more of what we’ve been up to and pictures as we go along! and, send us email! we’ve got lots of internet access and are looking forward to hearing about what’s new with you and what’s going on back home.

~dawnO

hello!
we’re in georgetown, safe and sound. it’s been a long day of travelling – we had a 7 hour layover in toronto (tara met us and it was great because the time flew by), then we caught the red eye to trinidad. i was sitting beside an overweight guy who was spilling over to my seat, and he had obvious sleep apnea, so he would wake himself up with gasping, choking, snores every couple of minutes.
anyway, all is well. it’s not too hot yet here, but it’s only 7:30 in the morning and it’s gotten significantly hotter just in the hour or so we’ve been here.
the drive from the airport into the city reminded me so much of the philippines. as we were driving there would be a random farm animal (cow, donkey, rooster, dog) just hanging out on the highway. our driver would honk and swerve around it without even slowing down!
we’re staying in a guesthouse until the 20th (we think). they’ve given us today off to sleep and get settled, and tomorrow we start our training.
a big thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement in our preparation for coming here!
we’ll post pics and more stories soon!