Walking Across the Cuspate Mountains

Hello Everyone,

Wow, I have not written a blog entry for quite a long while.  I apologize for not keeping people posted about my happenings in the Peace Corps for the past few months.  To be honest, I’ve had a difficult stretch of time since I’ve last written an entry.  A few unfavorable things have transpired over the past couple months which could definitely be categorized as “low points” on the Peace Corps Volunteer ‘rollercoaster ride’ experience.  Actually, I started writing a blog entry in the middle of April but I put it off due to being extremely busy with work initiatives and also being in the middle of a few tough situations that I’ll explain.  Ridiculously, some unpleasant things even happened to me after I decided to put off writing the blog in April which resulted in delaying the blog entry even further in time.  I am FINALLY getting back to doing a blog entry in late June.

As I alluded to in the opening paragraph, a couple unfortunate things have happened to me over the past few months.  I had a major transgression committed against me in the beginning of April which caught me completely off guard.  I was informed by the Peace Corps Safety and Security Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean to not give explicit details in a public forum of the occurrence but I will say that I felt very betrayed and disappointed.  Perhaps many people that visit this blog who know my mom (the majority of the readers of this blog probably fall into this category) already have knowledge about what happened to me in early April since my mother has a scary talent of spreading news faster than some dangerous plagues ;) …but I am still going to honor the Safety and Security people and I will not divulge specific information about the situation.  I did not sustain any bodily harm from this set of circumstances and I am currently doing just fine. 

I need to express my immense appreciation to the Blessed Sacrament community in Madison WI, my family, the Castle Bruce villagers, and to fellow Peace Corps volunteers for their support through the circumstances.  Honestly, the love, kindness, and support bestowed upon me from the people in my village, my hometown community, and the Peace Corps individuals allowed me to grow stronger as a person through this tough situation.  I feel very blessed as many people demonstrated extreme levels of generosity towards me.   Thank you all so very much.

Besides having a safety and security issue in April, another hapless occurrence that materialized for me is that I became quite sick throughout almost the entire month of May.  Initially, I was having allergy-like symptoms which are quite common so I didn’t change any of my daily habits of working, exercising, or socializing.  Since I’ve been in Dominica, I have had a few instances where I have had little bouts with being sick but generally I’ve been extremely healthy.  I chalk the fact of being very healthy up to regular exercise, solid amounts of sleep, and a balanced diet that incorporates the consumption of lots of fresh fruits and bush teas.  Despite living a healthy lifestyle, my feeling of being sick perpetuated itself into some very intense symptoms. 

Now, I will be the first to admit that I can be a little stubborn when I start feeling sick.  I really never like the idea of “resting” or “staying home” from work even if I am not feeling well.  For years people have always attempted to advise me to slow down or rest when I get sick but I usually just ignore them.  In this particular instance, I continued to grind through being sick rather than taking the wise guidance of people who work with me to recuperate.  Well, during one morning in mid-May, I felt absolutely terrible when I showed up to the office.  The fever, headaches, and flu symptoms were becoming too much for me to feel even slightly productive.  I couldn’t deal with my intensified symptoms so I told the people who I work with that I was going to go home and finally rest.  A few people from my office came over immediately after I departed to my house to bring me to the village health center.  People describe me as fairly stubborn when it comes to visiting doctors just as how I am stubborn about taking it easy when I get sick.  As I was sitting in the humid Caribbean weather shivering with a sweatshirt and sweatpants on, the people from my office forced a reluctant me to the health center.  They saw the condition I was in and no matter how I tried to convince them that I would be just fine, they still brought me to see a doctor. 

When I arrived at the health center, the nurse immediately took my temperature.  I had a 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit fever.  After a few minutes, my temperature was checked again and it was still 104.1 degrees.  This fact sent the health center staff members into a panic.  They stuffed me into an emergency vehicle and brought me to the hospital in the capital city of Roseau.  After surviving a sleepless night with a fever between 104.0 to 104.8 degrees and a nurse applying ice packs to my body every fifteen minutes, the Peace Corps Medical Director for the Eastern Caribbean chose to medically evacuate me to better medical facilities in St. Lucia.  The Peace Corps Medical Director decided to bring me to him rather than fly himself to me as he knows many of the doctors on the island of St. Lucia since that is where his office is located. 

After fantastic medical care for about a week in St. Lucia, my high temperature subsided and I could eat solid food again.  I was discharged from the hospital on a Friday but the Peace Corps medical staff wanted to keep me around until at least Monday so they put me up in a classy hotel in a touristy area of St. Lucia.  The doctors diagnosed me with something called Dengue fever which is a virus that mosquitoes spread within tropical climates.   

Now, it’s time for an update about the positive stuff.   :)

A few weeks after recuperating successfully from the bout with Dengue fever, my Peace Corps class had a mid-service training program scheduled in St. Lucia.  The Eastern Caribbean is a unique Peace Corps location relative to other countries where Peace Corps volunteers serve as our class is split up among several island countries.  Unless a volunteer decided to visit other volunteers on their respective islands, we do not get to see each other throughout the year.  The mid-service training was a phenomenal way for all the volunteers from my class who are on different islands to catch up with each other.  Each volunteer had to deliver a presentation to the rest of our class and the Eastern Caribbean Peace Corps officials about our volunteer work thus far.  It was wonderful to see all the successful endeavors that have been completed by our class throughout our first year.  Besides formal training sessions and presentations, we were all able to reconnect with each other too.  Even though many of us keep up through different social networking websites, it was great to see each other in person.

While I had some unfortunate occurrences like being sick and I attended a weeklong, training seminar on another island, I was still able to develop and assist with a few successful opportunities during the past few months. 

I’ll quickly update you all on a few of the initiatives I have put effort into during my time lapse between blog posts.  The East Dominica Children’s Federation, ChildFund Caribbean, and I collaborated to conceptualize and manage a program for youth called “Survivor Superstar.”  I mentioned this endeavor a few blog entries ago but since it was written a long time ago, many people possibly may not remember it.  Anyway, the program was quite successful!  It ran every Tuesday and Thursday from 4pm to 7pm for seven straight weeks in my village’s secondary school.  The target age group of the youth was between the ages of 11-24 years of age.  Area youth groups assisted in the development process of this program as they were intrigued with the idea of learning the proper ways to deal with natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and landslides.  Two nearby community youth groups were very adamant about being taught these important skills since their areas have endured recent deaths due to natural disasters.  The lack of trained individuals in these areas prompted the youth groups to request this program from the East Dominica Children’s Federation and ChildFund Caribbean.  One of the main goals of this program was to equip the youth with the knowledge and skills necessary to deal with an unfortunate, deplorable occasion of a natural disaster by giving trained professionals a platform to teach the children the important topics.  This endeavor may lead the young participants to future employment opportunities within the emergency rescuer profession or within other industries that may require this unique set of skills.  Each participant who successfully completed the course received a safety guide certification during a commencement ceremony.       

The attendance by the young adults from the entire east coast area of Dominica was absolutely outstanding.  Also, the attendees have been very active and vocal through the program which has prompted East Dominica Children’s Federation and ChildFund Caribbean staff members to pursue further education in these areas for the youth.  This may lead to official certifications for certain individuals.

Each session averaged between 75 – 80 highly enthusiastic attendees.  Each invited facilitator gave vivid presentations on the topics covered.  The topics from the program included:  First Aid/CPR, fire safety, knot tying, teamwork skills, Dietary guides, natural disaster preparedness, prepping for a natural disaster, communication skills, and basic firefighting. 

I’ll mention just one more activity.  As part of a program which has been implemented for several months, the Dominica Cricket Association, West Indies Cricket Board and I continued working with young cricketers from the east coast.  I’ve written about our past activities in other blog posts.  Over forty students from the Kalinago Territory were transported to the capital city of Roseau to the West Indies v. Australia International Cricket Test Match where they received the opportunity to scrimmage other primary school students from different parts of the island during the lunch break of the match.  Besides free transportation, the children were also given complimentary seats, cricket uniforms, food, and beverages while at the park.  The children, many of who would not have had the chance to travel to the cricket match due to their family financial situations, all thoroughly enjoyed themselves throughout the day.

When I reminisce upon this past year, it feels like events and instances in my life have gone by very quickly.  I’ve had the privilege to create beautiful moments with many admirable people while I have been living in Dominica.  My first year as a volunteer has been filled with building life-changing relationships, creating successful endeavors, and realizing personal growth.  It’s difficult for me to fathom that I only have less than a year remaining of service.

Even though I have recently been in a few tough situations, I look forward with confidence and determination that this second year of my service will be even more successful than my first year.  Feelings of self-assuredness stroll through my mind when I think about how well I know the “Nature Isle” of the Eastern Caribbean.  I feel as though I’m an “expert” (even though I know I’m just a novice) at living on this island since I’ve been through so many experiences living on it plus I’ve been just about everywhere one could travel to in Dominica. 

I’ve had these beliefs of “feeling like an expert about Dominica” for a while but the new class of Peace Corps volunteers’ arrival on the island solidified these thoughts within my mind.  As I looked to the veteran Peace Corps volunteers for guidance who were on island for a year before my class arrived, this new class has looked to my class and me for similar direction about what being a Peace Corps volunteer on Dominica is all about.  It feels really great to be able to assist them with their transition from living in the United States to making the necessary adjustments as a resident on the island of Dominica.  The new volunteers all are very cool people and I am for sure excited to get to know them better throughout this upcoming year.

Lastly, I would really appreciate it if the readers of this blog could say a prayer for my Uncle Gery (my mom’s brother) since he was recently diagnosed with a very serious case of cancer.  He has started treatment already and he will need all the support and encouragement to fight through this.  I wish I could be there to support him in person but I can only be there currently for him in spirit and through thinking positive thoughts about him.  Stay strong, Uncle Gery and I love you.

Thanks again for all your support and I hope you’re all doing well!

Joe

P.S.  Congratulations to two of my closest friends, Dan Morgan and Allison Becker on their engagement!  Love you both and I am excited for the wedding!

P.P.S.  Congratulations to Jamie Campbell, another one of my closest friends, for landing a fantastic job with a major law firm.  Well done!

P.P.P.S.  Finally, congratulations to my brother Jeff and me for winning our fantasy basketball league by defeating such formidable rivals/opponent team managers as Chris Vergeront, Mike Vergeront, and Karl Richters.  :D