Volunteer Stories - Kate
I Lost My Mind (and heart) in the Rupununi
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My past ten weeks in Yupukari have been wonderful. It has been a whirlwind experience that I could never have anticipated. I was here long enough to fall in love with the community; some highlights were catching caiman, bathing in the flooded savannah with the kids, and attempting to learn Makushi along the way.
Suzanne, Jenn, Maia and myself helped create the after school literacy program in "The Treehouse" at the Yupukari Public Library. We used digital cameras, voice recorders, Gmail, and the Internet as our base. Although the Treehouse is a classroom setting, the resources were able address a range of learning styles.
From this starting point much more was able to happen this summer and so many opportunities for us as a group and individually to explore this community. A few of the kids that came by the Treehouse program were interested in learning the program Google Sketch Up. I had the opportunity to work with a select group to facilitate the designing of the Nursery School Playground, which is well underway as a community-uniting project. With the digital cameras and voice recorders, we quickly realized that everything can be made into a book, for example, "Yupukari 123s" and "Farming in the Rupununi." These are unique books because they are created by the villagers and the content is all local village life. This allowed us to get to know the villagers better because they took us around and explained their life in depth. Hopefully we will be able to publish these books and put them back into the schools and libraries.
Some other highlights were traveling around to different locations like Salipenta, Katoka, and Karanambu. It became evident that more literacy resources and a similar program to the Treehouse is needed in many other communities. Although we are leaving now, we worked closely with the librarians in order to hand off the after school program. The program will change drastically and someday, the Treehouse will become a centre for distance education or some form of a non-traditional education.
Before arriving, Alice had discussed a "sharing of culture" between the volunteers and the villagers and I wondered what I had to offer. This has been a worthwhile adventure, and so if you are deciding whether to volunteer, here are a few things that you should know.
Caiman House belongs to the community, even though it is home to Alice, her family, and Mike. Alice appreciates all types of characters and accepts you for who you are. One of my initial fears coming down was whether I would let her down and what her expectations were of me. Working with her was quite an experience and I think we both grew from it. She gave me confidence, support, and pushed me to look deeper. The project ground work was prepared for us by Alice and Mike and we just had to arrive, be energetic, and be willing to adapt.
This place is just like everywhere else except bigger bugs . so many, in fact, you could make a book about it. Although the social network often operates dysfunctionally, the health post is rudimentary, and the saying "blood runs thicker than water" is predominant in this village, the villagers are just people, like you and me, coping and surviving in the element in which they were born. Caiman House is primarily a field station for wildlife research, there is also a public library, which although in a state of change, has so much potential to function as a much-needed community center for Yupukari. The library takes on the role of bringing families together and provides many resources for children and adults. It provides a place to go and something to do. The Internet is a lifeline in this community.
After observing the community for a couple of weeks, it became apparent that the education system is totally inefficient and literacy should be the focus all day, everyday in the classrooms. To be helpful here it would be great if you could contribute books and many forms of technology (movies, cameras, and laptops). You also need to be here long enough to understand the steps of learning, be perceptive and compassionate, and be able to throw away your sense of time and scheduling, because life here does not run by the clock, the book or any other formal idea.
With all of this being said, the Makushi culture is warm and welcoming. I love the people in Yupukari. We need people who want to preserve it and not exploit it. Look at the "Local Culture" link on the Public Library page to hear cultural stories read by Madeline Francis, and the translated versions of the stories by Marva Rogers and Dominic Ernest. I believe that Makushi can be written, recorded, and spoken in a way that does not exploit this way of life further than it already has been.
This volunteer abroad opportunity is unique and there are so many ways you could help out. Figure out what you can bring, and how you think you could help (even though it may change once you arrive) and come down to meet the amazing people here.