Serious Ting

Serious Ting is a publication by and for the Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean community, including Peace Corps Volunteers, Peace Corps Staff, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and host-country nationals.  Serious Ting is dedicated to publishing submissions that are productive in nature, enhance communication within the Peace Corps community, represent the diversity of our experiences and/or reflect a spirit of creativity. 

Serious Ting relies on contributions from Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean Volunteers, Staff and host-country nationals.  Articles can be on any topic, creative, journalistic or informative.  Below is the article that I submitted for the next issue of Serious Ting discussing my involvement with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Rugby Union Football Club.

I was always very active; I swam competitively, I cycled, and I played rugby.  So when I found out I was going to be serving in the Caribbean, I figured I would get back into swimming.  However, those dreams were dashed when I learned I would be living in the interior, in a rural farming village in the Marriaqua Valley, making it rather difficult to get to the sea to swim. I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue cycling, for various reasons, most notably I would not have a bike and the roads are narrow and dangerous.  And I certainly didn’t think I would be playing rugby.  So I continued my service for about a year without doing much activity.  That was until a chance meeting and a fleeting conversation between a fellow volunteer and the girlfriend of a rugby player. 

This serendipitous meeting has led me to form some of the greatest relationships, mold my fondest (and one of the most unforgettable!) memories, provide the opportunity to experience many new adventures and help to make a positive impact in the lives of many kids.  What initially started as something to occupy my time and get back into shape has quickly evolved into one of my proudest achievements and the reason I have extended my service in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

When I first came on the scene to the SVG Rugby Union Football Club (SVGRUFC) it was nothing more than a few (approximately 5 guys and one or two women) gathering around to pass the ball and play a pick up game of touch rugby.  Over the course of the past year, a committed group of both players and non-players have been meeting regularly to re-direct SVGRUFC.  This group facilitated the election of the new Executive Board, which is dedicated and focused on re-establishing rugby in St. Vincent as the force it once was.  This includes focusing on increasing awareness and interest in rugby and in particular, in the youth.  The executive has been working feverishly to restore rugby in St. Vincent to its former glory and has thus far significantly boosted attendance at training sessions, raised funds for a school rugby programme which has attracted many new youth players, conducted monthly community outreach programmes aimed at increasing exposure of the SVGRUFC while positively contributing to the betterment of society and promoting environmentalism and volunteerism, as well as organized a summer youth rugby camp to be held during the month of August 2013.

Over the years, the idea that rugby is a white man’s sport has been all but nearly shattered. What started as a chiefly expat group of rugby enthusiasts has evolved into an almost exclusively Vincentian group of men and women interested in the sport of rugby and all that it stands for.  Since its inception in 1998, the SVGRUFC has celebrated many successes in the regional and international levels.  This includes victories in prominent tournaments beating teams such as St. Lucia, Barbados and Trinidad.  These accomplishments were shared by the men’s, women’s and U19 teams at the time.  Unfortunately, the last few years have seen a decrease in interest and prominence of the SVGRUFC; the SVGRUFC was all but lost and forgotten.

Aside from all the stressful but necessary administrative duties of writing grants, proposals, and reports and trying to make the necessary contacts at various national organizations that I have been involved with since joining the Executive team, I have also had the opportunity to be involved in so many new and wonderful experiences.  My fondest memories from joining SVGRUFC are not playing rugby, but rather our many fundraising and community outreach events.  Fortunately, through our countless themed-dinner (I have now learned how to make sushi) fundraisers, I will now have a career in waitressing to fallback should my engineering degree not work out. Organizing and executing a dinner fundraiser is a lot of work, it’s tiring and stressful, but seeing the many new supporters of SVGRUFC enjoying their food and raising much appreciated money to fund our youth programme and summer camp is well worth it.  We even manage to have a little fun along the way.

Our most successful endeavor in rebranding SVGRUFC has been our monthly community outreach events.  These include beach clean ups in communities throughout St. Vincent and donations and visits to the Nursing and Community Home and the Mental Health Institute.  These events help to increase awareness of the SVGRUFC through the positive media attention these events create, while contributing to the ever-important promotion of environmentalism and volunteerism among our team and the greater community.  The beach clean ups are particularly fun.  While our primary goal is to clean the beach and/or community, it is always followed by a cook up to which every one contributes something to the pot, a beach rugby game, and bathing in the sea.

I have had the pleasure of meeting people in many capacities throughout St. Vincent, all as a result of joining SVGRUFC, several of which have become close friends. I can check off “sailing” from my bucket list, after the team traveled to St. Lucia by sailboat to play a “friendly” game.  And that “unforgettable” memory I referenced earlier: that would be spending an evening in the emergency room having my lip stitched back together, after an unfortunate collision with the biggest and strongest man on the team.  I will be forever grateful for that chance meeting that has ultimately given me the opportunity to continue my service, forge forever friendships, travel and experience many new adventures and give back to St. Vincent in an unlikely and unexpected way.

So This One Time..

I haven’t really updated my blog in a while, and until I can properly sit down (Between attending various shows and activities for Carnival and writing proposals and sponsorship letters) I just wanted to share some stories about some encounters I have had.  But be sure to check back after Vincy Mas (July 9^th) because I will have a lot to say (carnival rundown and many new updates!)!

I think for the most part, most people know that I abhor nearly all bugs, especially spiders, centipedes, cockroaches, and the various new creepy crawly things I have encountered here that I have given names (ex: spawn of satan) because I am unsure of their proper name, not that it matters, because chances are you wouldn't know what it was anyways.

This story pertains exclusively to cockroaches.

A little while back, I had taken a break from rugby.  Therefore my cleats (known here as Studs) sat unused for a few weeks in my spare bedroom.  When I finally returned to rugby, I put the cleats in a plastic bag, put them in my bag and off I went.  When I reached the playing field, I took out my cleats and thought nothing other than putting them on to get ready to play.  So I'm sitting down and I put my right shoe on.  It felt a little funny, my small toe was all squished, but I thought since they were new (I had only worn them a few times) that they still needed to be broken in. I got up and tried walking over from the bleachers to the playing field. But after only a little while it was too uncomfortable, so I went back to figure out what was poking my toe.  When I took my shoe off a cockroach came flying out! And it was still alive! I screamed, naturally, and made a fool of myself in front of a bunch of the rugby guys.  From now on, I always shake out my shoes and clothes before I put anything on.

As if that wasn’t bad enough.  Not too long ago, I was sleeping.  I have a bug net, but sometimes I leave one corner tied up so that it’s easy to get in and out, since the bugs usually aren’t too bothersome. Well this particular night I was sleeping and was rudely awoken around 3am by something ramming into my shoulder.  By what, you ask? None other than a ginormous FLYING cockroach.  Did you even know that they fly?  Yes some do.  The big ones.  So I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get this flying cockroach out of my bug net.  It’s always really difficult to get bugs that get trapped inside the net, out. Especially when you are screaming and trying to hit them from 5 feet away.  They get stuck in the folds in the net and in the corners. It took a long while to get back to sleep after that.

I honestly don’t know what I would do without my bug net.  Some volunteers don’t hang theirs up.  Though, a lot of volunteers don’t live in the bush like I do, so I don’t think they have as many bug issues.  My house is completely surrounded by tall bush and various fruit trees. My bug net is like my security blanket.  I wouldn’t be able to sleep without it. Between the beetles, crickets, cockroaches, and other random bugs, who knows what would happen.

Updates (coming soon...)

I have so many new and exciting things to share with you, but no time to sit down and write all my thoughts down.  However, I promise to give you some updates by the end of the week :-)

for now:

 rugby beach clean

 rugby girls

me at my good friend's baby's christening

 at black point

 sarah and i, enjoying a night out in vincy!

we mashin up the place; but really we were posing for like 10 minutes until we realized the camera was recording video haha

 :-)

 enjoying some pre carnival activities

 not sure exactly if this is Kiss Me Falls or Hells Gate.  either way we had to climb through some thick bush to find it.

 the water was so cold and clear.

 on top the falls

enjoying the falls (there were three waterfalls in a row) and it was a perfect day

 near Rabacca, country side.

 St. Vincent, land so beautiful

picturesque

The Fishbowl Effect

I feel it's appropriate that my 100th blog post is about the one phenomenon that has been such a cornerstone of my Peace Corps experience.

The Fishbowl Effect: n, a feeling of (or reality) where your every move is watched, carefully observed, scrutinized, and judged. 

This is something that you are warned about prior to Peace Corps and something you will experience throughout the duration of your service.  It will never cease.  And after more than two years living in my community I am always surprised at the level of fishbowlery going on around me.

For example, there are people who shout my name from near and far, whom I am pretty sure I have never met, and if I have, I’ve never actually held a legitimate conversation with them.  But alas, they know me. Will I ever know the amount of people that know me?  Probably not.  I have been approached by people from and in communities other than my own who ask if am such and such person.  9 times out of 10 I am that person.  Only rarely am I confused for another Peace Corps Volunteer.

As one of the only “Whiteys” in my community, I stick out, I get it.  My movements are easily spotted.  I may or may not walk the same road every day at almost the same time, fine.  But boy does word travel fast. My every coming and going is noted. If I travel to some event in another community, when I reach home, I am asked how that event was?  Someone always sees me at said event and tells everyone. If neighbors have not seen me for a few days (a weekend), they automatically assume I went back home. Why would I go home and not tell any one?  Why would I go back home and leave all my laundry on the clothesline? “Strangers” offer me rides, and know exactly which gap to drop me, without me having to tell them.  Any time I go to the local club, come home late (or early), it does not go unnoticed. Every guest is questioned. God forbid I wear short pants (which judging by most standards here, are really not that short!); they are always pointed out to me. If I am seen with a “black man”, questions arise.

Sometimes it can be quite frustrating.  Actually at first it was really annoying. No matter what I did or didn’t do, it was discussed and scrutinized.  I generally do not care what people think of me, but as a representative of the United States and all that Peace Corps embodies, reputation is exceedingly important. This was drilled into our brains from day one of training. We are at work 24/7. We never stop representing our country and our program. It is important for many reasons in addition to being an ambassador, but also for safety.  Our reputation determines the level of acceptance and willingness to work with us from our community and its members.

         For the most part I welcome it.  It means I always have some one looking out for me.  Unlike the U.S. where you can rot in your house for days before someone notices the smell or cares enough to make a call, my neighbors question my whereabouts every time I come or go. They run shady characters from my yard. They give me fruits. It makes me feel cared for; makes me feel important. I feel like a celebrity when I walk down the road.  School children, from schools that I have never taught at, know me and come running to give me hugs, pet my skin or feel my “doll baby” hair. People who don’t know me, want to get to know me.

SVG Rugby

        Although the never-ending saga relating to my tooth, due to the rugby injury I sustained last July continues to suck, there are many positive events that have occurred recently!  First and foremost, the SVG RUFC has a new executive board.  Prior to the election of the new executive board, a committed group of players and non-players have been meeting regularly to re-direct SVGRUFC.  This group has certainly facilitated the election of the new EBoard, which is dedicated and focused on re-establishing rugby in St. Vincent as the force it once was.  This includes focusing on increasing awareness and interest in rugby and in particular, in the youth.  We have initiated a school and youth programme, whereby a coach goes into schools to teach rugby fundamentals during P.E. classes, as well as run after school rugby programmes.  So far, the coach along with myself and one other past-coach are coaching in 5 schools. In addition to these schools, there are number of other interested schools that are awaiting a schedule. There are other current rugby players that have initiated youth teams in their villages as well.

         The new EBoard has been particularly focused on increasing awareness of SVGRUFC through monthly community outreach events.  These events include beach cleans, donations and visits to the mental institute and the poor home. We have also been conducting fundraising events to raise funds for our youth programme and summer camp. These events have also led to a number of positive media publicity, including a video featuring our beach cleans. Check them out here and here!

       Just recently, the SVGRUFC was an invited guest on the Peace Corps Radio Show.  The radio show is conducted twice a month and showcases the various projects that Peace Corps Volunteers are involved in.   This was a very positive experience, despite the fact that I am terrified of public speaking.  With me, I brought the youth coach to highlight the school and youth programme.  Together, we covered topics ranging from the history of rugby in SVG, what we are up to now, the school programme, the summer camp, and our community outreach programme.

         Since the Annual General Meeting was held in April 2013, the new EBoard has been extremely busy.  First we amended our constitution to refocus our efforts and ensure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.  Next, we have been very busy meeting with pertinent ministries and organizations to get our name back out there, to help us re-focus, and to gain support and guidance and possibly sponsorship. Specifically, we have had successful meetings with the National Sports Council and National Olympic Committee to help aid us in our pursuit of increasing interest in SVGRUFC through our various initiatives, most notably the school and youth programme and the summer camp. While, I haven’t been attending most of the meetings on account of my other job, school!, I have been writing most of the documents including the constitution, letters for meeting requests, sponsorship, grant applications, proposals, budgets, etc. 

         In conjunction with our school and youth programme, we are well underway in the planning stages of a summer youth rugby camp.  The camp will be a month long and will consist of four one-week long camps to be held in villages throughout the island, so as to ensure the opportunity reaches as many youth as possible.  It can be quite difficult (expensive) to send children to Kingstown, the capital, everyday to attend camps.  We, therefore, thought it was best to bring the camp to those children who might not be able to attend otherwise. We are also hoping to have a guest coach, whom I have worked with when I was in university, come and help out! The month-long camp will culminate in a tournament and fun day, where we hope to choose an U19 team.

         Aside from all the administrative work that has been taking place, the team itself has seen an increased turn out at training sessions.  When I first started training with the SVGRUFC, there would be approximately 5 people and each time it would be a different set of people.  Now we are consistently seeing approximately 20 people at training sessions.  Though, the attendance by the women’s team is still significantly lacking.

We recently traveled, by sailboat!, to St. Lucia for a friendly game.  Both the men’s and women’s 7 a-side teams played.  We had a lot of fun, and more importantly learned what we (especially the women’s team) need to work on.

          Next up, there is a men’s 10 a-side competition in St. Lucia in July.

         I think that about sums up what SVGRUFC is up to.  Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SVGNationalRugbyUnionTeam and check out our videos here and here! CHECK OUT OUR BRAND NEW WEBSITE (which I designed/created)! Also we could really use some equipment to help with our youth programme and summer camp.  If you would be willing to donate equipment or money please email us at svgrufc@gmail.com! Thanks :-)

 The team after one of our most successful (dirtiest) beach cleans.  41 bags of garbage!

 Me just before our first match in St. Lucia (injury-(minus a few scrapes-their grass was awful) free)

 The Men's team in St. Lucia April 2013

 The Women's Team in St. Lucia April 2013

Members of the St. Lucia and St. Vincent Men's and Women's Teams

The Crew during our Fundraising Event-Sushi Night in Bequia