Followers of this blog may be confused to have found it deleted recently.This was done in error, when Scott attempted to create his own blog.

Lois has left St. Lucia for medical reasons, and is in the US receiving treatment which is not available in the Caribbean, (dental surgery.)Her extended treatment plan will prevent her from returning to her post. Peace Corps calls this "Medical Separation."

Scott will stay and complete his service in St. Lucia.Much of the material about the couple's first year as Peace Corps Volunteers, which was originally written and posted by Lois, is still available on Scott's blog, but edited to appear as if Scott had been on his own.

The couple is divorcing.

Posts from today forward will be his alone.

Lois has returned to the states, having separated from the Peace Corps, so the posts from this point on will be about Scott's remaining service, of which about 15 months remain. Fortunately, continuing alone is permitted, and our country director was very supportive of my hope to remain here and complete my time.

Summer is upon us, but it definitely beats the rain and chill of New England, which I visited for two weeks to attend my son's wedding in New Hampshire. Bless his heart, he asked me to be his Best Man!

In one week, NCPD is hosting a two day camp for 100 children with disabilities. I'll expand on this post then and add as many photos as I think people will be able to tolerate seeing.

After the camp is done, besides breathing a sigh of relief, I'll be focusing on creating income-producing projects for people with disabilities. The World Health Organization estimates that 20% of persons with disabilities in developing countries are poor, and that statistic certainly seems to hold true for St. Lucia. But no matter how poor are the people with disabilities we visit, they always - I mean, always - insist on giving us a treat of some kind, whether an avocado, orange, or something equally available to them but which they could sell at the market instead. Their generosity, in the face of their poverty, is incredibly touching.

Our jobs:

Lois works in the local schools, tutoring primary grade students in math and reading. (Here, "primary" means grades K-6.) She also organizes teacher training workshops and is helping to establish a health center for at-risk youth in our village.

(Above: A first-grade classroom where Lois tutors.)

(Above: Lois' before-school Math Club for grade 3-4 students.)

(Above: Lois leads a workshop for primary school teachers.)

Scott works for the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), where he is :

1. helping to plan a summer camp for 100 children with disabilities,

2. helping to set up income-producing activities for persons with disabilities, less than 20% of whom in St. Lucia earn an income,

3. equipping the NCPD office with physical therapy equipment so therapy can be provided for free to indigent clients.

(Above: Scott helps with a sports competition between students at the four special needs schools in St Lucia.)

( Above: Workshop for family caregivers of people with disabilities, sponsored by Scott's organization, the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities. )

One recent activity of Scott's has been the Disability Awareness Project.

He assembled a Disability Awareness Kit, which will be used in grades K-3 to help children learn about various types of physical disabilities. The hope is that the children will become more sensitive to people who have physical disabilities.

(Above: Disability Awareness Kit, featuring the Mercer Mayer book, A Very Special Critter.

In St Lucia, there are few children with physical disabilities in the schools, even though the law ensures that every child is entitled to an education. Like many things in St. Lucia, there is a big gap between the ideal and the reality. There are four special needs schools on the island for children with mental disabilities or who are developmentally delayed, but each has a waiting list. As a result, children with disabilities usually stay at home.

Scott came up with the idea for the awareness program when he saw curriculum for it on the Anti-Defamation League website. Its components are a simple lesson plan for grades K-2, a wheelchair, crutches, ear plugs, a blindfold and glasses with wax paper lenses, and a book by Mercer Mayer called A Very Special Critter.

Scott set out collecting the items for the awareness kit, things he could find in Castries, (the capital city, where the NCPD office is located,) but he couldn't find a copy of the children's book because it is out of print.

Lois located a used copy on Amazon.com and ordered it. Almost as an afterthought, she decided to send an e-mail to the bookseller, Donna Sullivan in Massachusetts (our home state) to let her know that the book she sold us would be going to St Lucia to be used by a Peace Corps volunteer, and we gave her this blog address.

Donna responded with great enthusiasm, asking if she could donate some books to our local school! A few months later, Donna's box of books arrived, and what a wonderful assortment she sent! Beautifully illustrated books, many featuring children of color, or tropical settings. Donna's books are the most popular read-alouds in the school library in our village.

(Above: Students at Babonneau Primary School enjoying Donna Sullivan's donated books.)

So, thanks to the generosity of one woman in Massachusetts who went out of her way to do a kind deed for people she had never met, and for children in another country, Scott's Disability Awareness program for the NCPD is ready to roll, and the children at Babonneau Primary School have about 20 beautiful new books to read. We could never have orchestrated this cultural exchange.

In Peace Corps work, so many projects fizzle, so many meetings get cancelled, so many ideas just don't take hold, but this is one example of what CAN go right in Peace Corps.

Here are some of our favorite photos...so far. There is no particular theme. Each one is just a view of life in St. Lucia which caught our eye on a particular day. Please enjoy each one, and share your comments or questions at the end of the post. Thanks!

Here is the St. Lucia we might have imagined before we were sent here as Peace Corps Volunteers.

Here is one view of the St. Lucia we know as Peace Corps Volunteers. (This is a photo I took in the village where a fellow PCV lives- just a short walk from her house.)

I hope these contrasting images might start to answer the question many people have asked us about our assignment : "Why would they need Peace Corps Volunteers in St. Lucia?"

The short answer is: St. Lucia is a "developing" nation. St. Lucia has been requesting volunteers since the early days of Peace Corps in 1961. Today, St. Lucia, still officially a third-world nation, exhibits "uneven development. " This means that, in almost every area of life here, sophisticated economic and social development co-exists with dire poverty. Sometimes the contrasts are striking, sometimes subtle. Here are a few examples:

Here are two things seen everywhere in St. Lucia - Digicel and the cutlass (machete.)

Every Friday, this woman brings her produce to Castries Market, a huge marketplace in the capital city, near the waterfont where the cruise ships pull in. Her storefront is simply a spot of cement under the Digicel phone booth. She's using her cutlass, the traditional all-purpose tool used by farmers, handymen and housewives alike, to open a coconut. (Lois wants her own cutlass, but is still overcoming her fear of them.)

This view of Castries Market shows a few St. Lucian contrasts: the makeshift vegetable stands next to the six- level parking garage and the late-model SUV. The man in the foreground is dressed conservatively, except for his headwear, which is a cap covering his long dreadlocked hair. He is probably a Rastafarian who honors his religion's tradition by not cutting his hair, while he holds down a job in the city.

Here is a home in our neighborhood.

Here is another home in our neighborhood.

This is the mall near the resorts at the north end of the island. Many tourists shop here, but from our observations, many more local people shop here.

Here is the Super J grocery store in the mall. For many families, (including the professional family we stayed with during our training) this supermarket is the source of most of the food they eat every day.

Some families may shop for dinner here....

...or here.

We are very fortunate to live near Pam, who grows all kinds of vegetables and herbs to sell at the Castries Market, about 20 minutes away from here. We can buy her vegetables right from the source.

All of the food here on our kitchen counter came from Pam's garden, except for the grapefruits and avocados, which fell from the trees just outside our apartment.

We often take the bus to the Super J to buy groceries, but we also walk to this shop...

...or to this one.

Here's an example of a bit of unspoiled coastline in the south of St.Lucia, where we hiked recently with some other volunteers . . .

. . . unspoiled except for the trash that washes up on the shore...

There is no recycling (that we know of) in St. Lucia. There is a huge selection of sugary drinks sold in plastic bottles and aluminum cans, though.

Musical entertainment in St. Lucia often takes the form of amplified music - frequently karaoke or American country western, pumped from HUGE speakers in (or sitting on the porch outside of) the ubiquitous rum shops ....

. . . but musical entertainment can also come in the form of steel pan bands like this one, practicing for a recent performance- the opening of a new public building.

Question: What's wrong with this picture- the goat .....or the cruise ship and catamaran?

Answer: Nothing's wrong with this picture, it's just strange and wonderful St.Lucia!

(Above: checking in at the Miami airport with our fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees))

From the time we left the Miami airport on August 27, 2008 with our group of 37 other volunteers, to our first glimpses of St. Lucia from the plane's window, throughout our seven-week training in the capital city, Castries, by Peace Corps staff and local experts, to living with our host family, to being officially sworn in and now living in our own apartment, we have been moved by the amount of money and time that Peace Corps (i.e. the US taxpayer) has invested in us, and by the warm welcome that the people of St.Lucia have given us.

(Above right: our first view of St. Lucia)

We knew that the people of St.Lucia had invited Peace Corps volunteers here, as they had been doing since 1961. Once we arrived, it became obvious to us that we are appreciated. Almost every single person we greet in our community and even on the streets of Castries smiles back and says, "Good morning, " (or afternoon, or night.... ) and then "How do you love St. Lucia?"

"You OK?" follows every greeting. Offers of assistance, advice, concern - and even food - are a constant.

(right: one of the places in Castries where you can catch a bus (minivan))

So we have been trying to understand exactly what we will actually be doing here to fulfill our commitment to Peace Corps and to the people who requested our help.

The mission of Peace Corps has three simple goals:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

The "trained men and women" are the people of St. Lucia who will hopefully benefit from working with us and, as a result, will be able to continue our projects after we are gone.

(right: swearing-in ceremony, October 22, 2008)

In the first three months after swearing-in (which is called our "integration and adjustment period") we have been getting to know people as we work at our jobs part time and go about our daily routines - buying food, meeting people in our community, finding our way around on the public transportation system, going to meetings, church, public events, accepting invitations, signing up for work projects.

Everything we do helps us to get ideas for projects, and helps us to gain trust and credibility in the community.

Scott, a former lawyer with a passion for volunteering in adaptive sports for people with mental or physical handicaps, was invited to help St. Lucia's National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities to help improve the functioning of its organization.

Lois , with 23 years experience as an elementary school teacher whose favorite subject was math, was invited to work in one of St. Lucia's eight district education offices within the Ministry of Education to "improve math learning and teaching methods. "

Peace Corps Volunteers are expected to be available seven days a week. After our adjustment period, we can ask for time off (which we earn at the rate of two days per month) but because weekends are considered work days (we're considered to be on duty 24/7), weekends also count as leave time. It's not that we work around the clock, though. We work when there is something to do (which there usually is), and we get our personal chores done when there's not. In between, we get together with other volunteers to explore St. Lucia. We plan on spending more and more of our free time with the St. Lucian friends we're making.

Here are some of the things we've been doing since our swearing-in :

Lois goes to primary schools in neighboring communities three days a week to play math games with students, co-teach math lessons with interested teachers, and work with small groups of students on their math skills.

(above, right: La Guerre Primary School, grades K-6)

She also works at the local district office of the Ministry of Education two days a week coordinating a new teacher-created test project and planning teacher workshops in math education.

Students in St. Lucia complete their secondary school education with Form 5 (grade 11 .) After that, they can be hired as teachers themselves. Some teachers seek further education, but teacher training is not required.

(Below, right: a pre-school teacher with her students who called the Peace Corps office asking for help to make her school more attractive to parents. Lois stops by to sing songs with the kids, or chat with the teacher about learning games. As she was leaving this day, she met one of the mothers coming with a basket of vegetables for the teacher).

(Above: a daycare parent brings vegetables to the pre-school)

(Above: children from Babonneau RC (Roman Catholic) Primary School in costume for a Christmas concert)

Lois was invited to attend a Christmas concert sponsored by her host organization, the District Education Office. The concert was held at a Catholic church. There is no separation of church and state here.

(Below, right: we - Scott did most of the cooking - prepared a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at our apartment for the family with whom we'd lived during our seven week training period)

(Above: our host family; mom was ill that day)

Lois learned a little about the system of assessment in the primary schools from the son of our landlord (right, with and his cousin) who were happy to show off their report cards below when we offered popsicles for improved grades.

(Above: primary school report book. The student's reports for each term are written in one book which follows him or her throughout the seven years of primary school. I asked my friends what would happen if they lost their report books, and they answered gravely, "Oh, we would have to start all over in Kindergarten")

We enjoyed a huge Thanksgiving feast with 35 other Peace Corps Volunteers, PC staff, and local friends at one volunteer's home. We all traveled by bus with our pot-luck dishes. Before the game, a few volunteers played football. (Scott even caught a touchdown pass).

(Above: PCVs made sure that football was part of our American Thanksgiving)

(Above: Lois - shaking a palm frond - was the lone cheerleader)

We got together with some volunteers from Japan, who hosted an event to introduce Japanese culture to the people of St. Lucia. Lois is collaborating with one of the Japanese volunteers who also works in the schools, on a math assessment project. Scott is collaborating with another Japanese volunteer, a physical therapist, to provide therapy to disabled persons.

(Above: St. Lucians, American PC volunteers and Japanese volunteers learn a dance together at Castries Town Hall. Note portrait of Queen Elizabeth overseeing it all!)

BELOW: Lois (right,) exploring the fishing village of Dennery with some of our fellow PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) Ashley, Elaine, and Karen.

Scott's work with the office of the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) has included writing a proposed personnel manual, helping (along with Jason, another PCV who, unlike Scott, actually has IT skills) to revise and update NCPD's website, working to obtain physical therapy equipment so treatment can be provided at NCPD's two offices, and helping prioritize and plan NCPD's activities for the coming year. Two ambitious projects that he's planning for 2009 are (1) conducting an island-wide survey of every person with a disability to better assess their needs (no such survey has ever been done) and (2) an island-wide athletic meet similar to Special Olympics but to include persons with physical disabilities to coincide with the December 2009 International Day of the Disabled. (Above: an awareness guide prepared by NCPD)

He also teaches a short story writing class at the local secondary school to help tudents prepare for the writing portion of their upcoming national exams.

(Above: Lois participating in a school clean-up day at Babonneau Primary School, where she has joined the school's Clean Up Committee)

9 December 2008

The number one question friends and family have been asking us is,

"Where do you live?"

So- here is our house, (above.) We live in the apartment in the back, where the little balcony is. Our landlord's family lives in the large part of the house, to the left, out of the picture. The cute cottage in front is rented to a young couple who owns a car, and sometimes they give us rides to Castries, which is otherwise a 30-minute bus ride.

Here is the view from our front door, ( above) which has a screen door (custom-made by our wonderful landlord.) We are more comfortable than we ever expected to be. We are safe, unless you count the danger of ripe coconuts, avocados, golden apples (which are not like the apples we know at all) and grapefruits falling from the trees in our yard while we're hanging laundry to dry.

Our living room (above) is a big open area with the kitchen at one end . We have cable TV, with all the acronyms (NBC, BBC, CNN.....) reliable electricity and running water, a new fridge, microwave, gas stove (which runs on bottled gas) and even a water heating device in the shower. We share a washing machine with our landlords.

We bought an electric coffee maker and a blender when we got here. (The blender is mostly for grinding coffee beans, but we also use it to make smoothies.) After about five weeks, our DSL line was installed. Our apartment rents for $800 EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars) which is equivalent to about $320 US. Peace Corps pays the rent, and we pay the water, electricity, gas, cable and internet out of our living allowance, which, for two of us, is about $600 US equivalent per month. We each have a cell phone, and our service is a group plan, so for $10 EC ($2.50 US) per month each, we can call all the other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs ) for free. Calls to the US cost us about $1 US per minute. We use Skype on the computer (2 US cents per minute) to make calls to the US.

(above) This is the guest room.

The bathroom is two steps below the level of the living room, as are the bedrooms.

I picked these flowers all around our house. I've been weeding the landlord's flower garden and looking around for more plants to put there, but I need to learn about the soil and growing conditions here. I have a compost pile going already, which puzzles our landlords. They keep telling me to put the "waste" in the rubbish. There is virtually no recycling in St. Lucia, and it is killing us to throw away plastic bottles.