Tag Archives: Cuso

African Gardens in August Town

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A fellow volunteer, DouDou Kalala, is working in the community of August Town. I previously visited this area with DouDou and did a bit of work for them by way of an article.   DouDou has achieved some major successes in this community just east of the University of West Indies. For example, they recently installed a “suspended wall garden”, called African Gardens, which will bear vegetables such as pak choi, peppers, corn and tomatoes.

“I thought this initiative could benefit the community, because they are also growing their own food, and I think that is important,” Kalala told the Jamaica Observer (read the article here). His colleague, Michael-Edward James, also told the Observer: “We want to build on the social capital in the community by helping to reduce crime and violence. The main reason for this is to help the community to build within. We believe this will help the community a lot, because the community is currently trying to find ways to reduce some of the plastic material which cause pollution.”

It is a pleasure to see what can happen when the energy of us volunteers successfully merges with that of the communities in which we are working. Positive, sustainable and concrete outcomes such as this are what Cuso is all about. Congratulations DouDou!

Call-back workshopping

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On Thursday and Friday of last week, all but one of Cuso’s Jamaica volunteers gathered in Ocho Rios for a ‘call-back’ workshop. The intent was to share our experiences and expertise and do a little morale building. We are a diverse group with a lot of different focuses, talents and backgrounds, so it is always interesting to get us all together, sharing about our time here in Jamaica. We opened the workshop with presentations from Tarik, who told us about Cuso’s plans for Jamaica and the larger Latin American and Caribbean region. Lots is going on right now, especially as CIDA plans the disbursement of its next funding envelope. The focus continues to be youth and gender and economic sustainability. (Indeed, there is no doubt of Canada’s commitment to Jamaica- Stephen Harper recently welcomed Portia on a five-day visit, although it was cut short by Sandy.)

We also heard fascinating presentations from each volunteer, detailing what they do at their placements. There are 15 of us right now spread out among six organizations. Other workshops included stress management techniques, and some less serious topics, including a “Best of Jamaica” guessing game and some team-building exercises that had us making sandcastles, hunting down drink garnishes and running relay races. So much fun! We ended both nights with dinners all together, the first at a restaurant where they cook the food in front of you (Odain was our server, a young Jamaican with all the jokes), the second at an outdoor restaurant that had everyone sitting on a pier. It was a gorgeous setting, overlooking the ocean, lit by candles and enhanced by delicious food.

The next day was time to travel home, but not before Wendy and I got a swim out to the reef in. We are all back at work today, hopefully refreshed and with boosted morale and belief in our team and what we are all doing here.

Kerrie and Bernice wait to check in.


Odain prepares our dinner- chicken, seafood, beef and tuna.

Lovely ladies Shalini, Brianna, Anna and Julia

Odain- he had dirty jokes for us.

Brianna enjoying the chilled towels we received upon arrival.

Tarik presenting on Cuso’s Latin American and Caribbean activities.

Lots of fascinating presentations. This one from Doudou.

Baha Men in JA???

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I am so disoriented. I am sitting in the lobby of an all-inclusive resort in Ocho Rios. Listening to salsa music. And the Baha Men song “Gin and Coconut Water” just played.

All the volunteers, except Erin (sad:() are here for a ‘call-back’ workshop. We have had lots of fun and informative sessions, the most useful of which was about grant-writing. I am so grateful to my fellow volunteers for lending their opinions and expertise. It will be very helpful as YOU goes for an EU grant in the next few weeks. We also heard about stress management techniques and all the activities that Cuso is engaged in here in the Latin American/Caribbean region. So much going on. I will write more about those efforts in another post.

But now I will try to describe what it is like to be a volunteer and resident of Kingston at an all-inclusive that caters to the European and North American markets. It is sterile, safe and pleasant. Almost generic, except for the random green, gold and red colours painted on some furniture and on a sculpture on the beach. The staff are also all Jamaican and say “Yeah mon” copiously. They also call us “mi lady” and “sir”- not sure what the purpose of this is, but to me it emphasizes the uncomfortable link to colonialism. It is so strange to be catered to and seen as a guest here. I have been to several all-inclusives in Cuba and Dominical Republic and always feel slight wrong about it all. This is not to say that I don’t feel grateful to be here. It is beautiful and comfortable. And I just went for a long swim out to the reef in a gentle rain. But knowing how people struggle here with poverty and how they live day-to-day, it is a strange feeling to be here as a member of the consumptive crowd- one that fuels people’s livelyhoods.

Anyway, I am still forming my thoughts and reactions to the whole experience. All I know now is that it was enjoyable, educational and I appreciate all my fellow Cuso volunteers and staff more now. We are headed back to Kingston this afternoon.