What can I say? Today we spent several hours talking, well, listening to other people talking mostly. There was a Bible study that was supposed to last for 40 minutes that went for 90, personal introductions supposed to go for 90 that went for 120 and basic expectations and planning that went for 60 instead of the planned 30. One of the tasks was to tell us where we were going to be on placement and with whom. That was all a bit of a waste of time as none of us have any idea where any of these places are and mostly only a vague idea of who the people are.
It turns out we will each get an urban placement of two weeks and a rural placement of two weeks. The last week is spent writing a report about our experience. The disappointing thing is that with one exception we are all going to be within shouting range of Georgetown and none of us will get anywhere near the hinterland. I have begun to develop a very strong impression that the church group we are with is more interested in its own survival than it is in mission to the indigenous people. Never mind, we survived the morning amid muttered grumblings and after lunch we went visiting.
The first visit was to a drug rehabilitation centre run by the Salvation Army. The Captain in charge was a formidable woman from Haiti who spoke extremely well, but she was scary. I sure wouldn’t want to get her upset! There were about 30 men at the centre and quite a number of them told us their stories and answered our questions. They ranged from poor and uneducated to highly educated and every one of their stories spoke of things lost – families, friends, hopes and dreams. It costs $US250 to put a man through a programme lasting 6 months and the centre can deal with 300 in a year. They have a 70% success rate after 3 years out of the programme – I’m no expert but that sounds pretty good! The men have to have a sponsor to come on the programme but there is nothing keeping them there but their own desire to get clean. There is no front gate, and no locks on the doors. Quite a number of the workers there are former clients. I was really impressed with what I saw there. One of the successful clients writes poetry and has some of his work on YouTube. Well worth a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WhFGGjVHzY
From the rehab centre we went on to see the tallest wooden building in the world – St George’s Cathedral. It is beautifully kept and it was a most pleasant interlude. Having wandered around there and taken a few photos we then took a speedboat ride across the Demerara River. The ferry ride – that’s what it really is – takes about 10 minutes. There are seats for 30 people and the ferry doesn’t leave until it’s full. Everyone gets a life jacket and you have to put it on and buckle it – they check, and yell at people who don’t comply. The river is a dirty brown – very tidal and it empties directly into the Atlantic Ocean. If you look at a map we were maybe 1-2km from the mouth of the river. I think the thing that stuck me most was how run down everything looked. The best word for it is ‘tired.’ I’ll post the photos tomorrow. We wandered around on the other side of the river, called the West Bank, for a little while before catching the ferry back and heading back to the hotel.
The evening was our own but everyone was so tired that we rapidly dispersed to our rooms to sleep.
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