Family and Friends,

I'm exactly four months into my magical journey here in St. Lucia and the dust is finally beginning to settle. Our three-month integration plan is nearing completion and the shortlist of where my efforts will be focused is getting narrower. There have been serious frustrations and setbacks, but none all that unexpected. It didn't take long to realize that accomplishing what I'd like to down here just isn't going to be easy.

So just what the heck am I doing down here?!? Well, for the most part I'm still asking myself that very question, but my answer is becoming more concrete as I realize where my skills and expertise (though minimal) will be most beneficial.

I've signed on to teach two days a week at the Primary School (grades 3-6) in the village focusing on the environment and business. I'm going to restart the Environmental Club at the school and teach the children about their personal responsibilities. A Behavioral Change Communication type project, I guess. As for the business aspect, I'll be starting a school co-op that will give the kids an opportunity to start saving money for the future. The goal in a sense is for the kids to have enough funds when they graduate from grade 6 that they'll be able to buy uniforms, books and supplies for Secondary School on their own. I'm really excited about this and hope that it can spread to the children's parents and beyond.

Anse-la-Raye is famous for their Friday Night Fish Fry, so I've been put in charge of overhauling the Vendors Association. There has been some serious mismanagement of late, so we put together a makeshift executive board last Tuesday (my meeting ended abruptly when the power went out in the entire village). I'll be overseeing a month-long training for the vendors that will focus on culinary training and cash-management issues. Should be interesting and a good experience in working with small-business owners in my village. I'll be using my 'fratastic' skills at taking this street party to a whole new level over the next two years.

Lastly, I'm working on a micro-enterprise 'field book' that caters to business owners in St. Lucia and the Caribbean. Most of the small-business owners have absolutely no training at all in very simple issues (working capital vs. fixed capital, interest rates, currency exchange rates, etc.). I'm envisioning a manual that, in layman's terms, can be a tool these owners can use on their own. This is something that will take a substantial amount of time over a very long time period, but nice to work on when nothing else is going on.

If I get one of these things accomplished, it will be a huge success. Working with the St. Lucia folk is much more difficult then I'd thought it was going to be. The future looks bright, but for the most part my productivity revolves around playing marbles with the local school kids and talking politics with people in the village. The country is gearing up for elections on Monday, an event that takes place once every five years. It should be a very interesting time watcing the democratic process unfold next week.

I've done a rather poor job keepings up to date on the events over the last few months, so here are a few side notes: -I hosted a party last Friday for the LSU-Arkansas game, attended by ten volunteers and a few of the locals. There are Razorback cozies, wristbands and pompoms scattered across the island.

-I've been told that things really start to slow down in St. Lucia during the month of December...I didn't think things could be any more slower.

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Nicholas A. Klinger

Peace Corps Volunteer

St. Lucia, West Indies

"Fools are we, that hates the gate to peace"

The Last Stop, Dave Matthews Band