Post Shell Beach and back to work!

Well, here’s our news since we got back from our adventures in Shell Beach. We were invited by our landlady, Miss P to go to the annual Hat Show in the Jubilee Gardens which is near the VSO Office. They’re small gardens and very colourful. The people call Georgetown the Garden City but these are the only gardens which are as we would know them in England. Although there are beautiful flowering trees everywhere. Very few people have gardens but they have their private space which is often in the form of a yard and, if there are any plants, they are in pots, very often without flowers – ferns etc. Our house is perhaps the exception with its lawn and flowering plants. Anyway, I digress, we went along for 4pm, looked around the gardens and then the show started. There were about 8 – 10 women in each category starting with children in the elegant and original categories. It was like an Easter Bonnet Parade and took us back to the 1950s as the ladies and girls paraded around the bandstand with the police band playing ‘sensible’ music in the middle. The highlight was when Miss Cecilia Harding at 84 years of age danced around the bandstand to everyone’s amusement. Aunt Cecilia as we like to call her!!!

The following week we invited all the VSOs around to our house for an Afternoon Tea with home made scones, bread and cakes. It was a lovely day. It started at around 4pm and we waited until the sun came over the yardarm as it does here at 6pm and then we had a little tipple – Banks Beer – the local brew and Rum and anything! A great time was had by all. Everyone gives a party at some time. Ours was to celebrate our anniversary, St George’s Day and the birth and death of Shakespeare all of which occurred on 23rd April.

Last week we went on a business trip to Vreed-en-Hoop which is just across the Demerara River to the West of Georgetown. We went to visit several schools and, yet again, saw first hand the challenges that schools have to face on a day today basis. However, the Nursery Schools seem to be an oasis of calm with their excellent display and generally very delightful schools – but they get every afternoon off to prepare. I suppose the strange thing about this trip was going to work and coming back on the launch across the river.

The following weekend was another National Holiday but there was no day off as it is on a Saturday. It was Indian Arrival Day which commemorates the Indian indentured labourers arriving in Guyana in 1838 to work in the sugar plantations. We treated ourselves by going to the Meridien Pegasus Hotel which is right next door to where we work – the only really “posh” hotel in Georgetown – and having one beer. At £1 a bottle, one is all we can afford on our salaries of £105 a month. We then went to the Horticultural show next door which, as our friend Meg says, is a bit like the Southport Flower Show. We had afternoon tea (a treat from the past with ladies with hats) and bought a few plants to decorate our veranda. We have quite a collection now! In the evening we went to the Arrival Day Concert in the Cultural centre which was almost 3 hours of Indian song and dance with some additional items from other ethnic groups. It was unbelievably colourful and a great experience. The next afternoon we went to the National Park to join in the Indian Family Fun Day.

Just a word about Sundays! I get up at about 5-45am to make the bread for the week and off to church on our bikes. It’s a great community. One week there was no priest so the women lay ministers did a service. Who says we can’t have women priests? Sundays are like Sundays here. Wherever you go at any time of day you can hear the services, usually evangelical with loud sermons and stirring music. It’s very uplifting.

I seemed destined to work in schools called St Mary’s. From my own school in the sixties – St Mary’s College to my last school where I was Headteacher in Croydon and now to a school in Brickdam, Georgetown – St Mary’s High - where I am helping out with some advice. Mary must be looking over me! (and then, of course, there’s my own Mary - she’s always looking over me!!!!)

Work is getting very hectic for both Mary and I. I am still busy with the Education Management Course for Headteachers, travelling around, meeting trainers and advising as well as getting together with large groups of trainees (Heads, Deputies and Senior Staff) to talk about Leadership and Management. In addition, I am giving management advice to schools where it is needed. I have been asked to prepare a series of 8 TV programmes on Leadership and Management and hope to go live in September. There’s never a dull moment. Mary and Meg have got several projects going at the same time from training on SEN in nursery schools to planning large 3 day SEN workshops to be held in Georgetown for teachers across all the regions. She’s also planning work to train teachers for after school clubs linked to a feeding programme for children. What busy little bees we are!

It’s been a bit like work, work, work in the last few weeks but there are exciting things on the horizon – the most pressing of which for Mary and Meg is to go to Windies Sports Bar at 10am this morning to watch the FA cup. This afternoon we are having Guyanese cooking lessons and tomorrow we have been invited along with all the VSOs to a Pool and Barbecue Party at the residence of the British High Commissioner! Watch this space!

Photos are from the Georgetown Botanical Gardens which are about 10 minutes walk from our house. The middle one - the water lilly is the national flower of Guyana and you see them everywhere, in dykes, ditches, rivers and canals. They last for about one day but there are always others to replace them. The seed pod, on the left is almost as spectacular and looks like a giant sieve. On the right is the Georgetown Kissing Bridge.

If you want to see more pictures of what we've been up to during this period, click on the picture below to go to the web link.

From Shell Beach to Arrival Day 2007

Feed the Poor Charity Cruise or The Guyanese letting their hair down big time!

Having been on a boat for so long we couldn’t decide whether to go on the day cruise we had booked for charity on Sunday. We weren’t expecting a cruise liner as it showed on the picture, but a little better than the Bartica ferry would have been appreciated.

We did go and arrived at 9am as the boat arrived. It took two hours to unload the lorries, all 8 of them. Moving backwards and forwards to adjust the weight of the ship, they left one at a time over some makeshift planks. We got on at 11am, left at 11-30am and by 11-45am we realised we had made a big mistake!. It was to be 6 hours of boozing, singing, rapping and dirty dancing.

We should have known when the crowds were controlled getting on the boat by policemen with semi automatics. It was the Guyanese enjoying themselves at their best. It was good natured and everyone was well behaved but it got livelier as the drink took hold. The standard measure being sold was a full bottle, whether it was beer or rum!

We went to a place where we could get off, called Fort Island, in the Essequibo River. It was a Dutch fort about 2 hundred years old. Later as we passed through the place where the lorries had been earlier where all the dirty dancing was going on, I felt a woman’s backside writhing against mine. Quite pleasant but when she turned round and saw it was me, she screamed the boat down!!!!

The great Shell Beach Easter Adventure

Our big adventure was over Easter. On the Wednesday we set off to go to Shell Beach to see the turtles lay their eggs. It was to be a 24 hour journey by minibus and sea going speedboat because the 90 mile beach in the North West of Guyana, a few miles from the Venezuelan border, is only accessible by sea and river as the Atlantic is on one side and thick rain forest on the other. What a challenge it became.

We left at 6am to go to the central market – Stabroek – and caught a speedboat across the Demerara River (sugar fame) to Vreed-en-Hoop where we got a minibus to Parika only to catch another speedboat across the Essesquibo River, mentioned earlier. I have been on this one before in full work gear and brief case and it goes unbelievably fast, there is no cover except tarps and you get very wet. They hold 10 and you have to sit in the boat according to your weight. Getting on and off for those not so nimble can be a challenge. This one took 45 minutes and yes, we did get very wet. We dried off on the next 90 minute minibus journey to Charity and the estuary of another river. Here we got provisions (bananas) and I used the public loo made of rusty corrugated iron, which hung over the river and you can guess what happened after that. But when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go!

We left in the “Da Generation X” speedboat for 15 passengers at 12-30. This was to take us all the way to Shell Beach in about 3 and half hours (remember that!). Fine, we went to the Ocean and it was decided it was too rough. We were pleased because it was incredibly fast, choppy and we had lost contact with out bottoms and the sea and our soggy underwear all merged into one. We turned south into the rain forest. Beautiful, hanging trees, dangling roots nine foot long, birds, eerie, windy, beautiful water lilies everywhere (the National Flower) and generally enchanting. We set off at high speed and the wash was 6 foot high and the boat threw us from side to side as we twisted and turned without every slowing down – a very skilled driver. After a while, we arrived at a bridge and Maruca – an Amerindian (local inhabitants) village which was real rain forest Guyana. We were a novelty as we walked through the village but no one spoke. It started raining and the dirt main street changed into a river. We waited; it didn’t abate, so we set off again.

This time the water was coming from the wash, the clouds and the seriously dripping trees. We could not have been wetter if we had been in a Launderette machine and so we dispensed with the tarps and enjoyed the scenery. Until, when we got to the 99 turns river (so called because it was built by local slaves in the 18th Century to join the Waini River with another leading to the ocean and it literally had 99 bends). It was very shallow and it was not unknown for passengers to have to get out and push. There was no-one for many miles except the eagles above and the stork idly looking on wondering what these crazy white humans were doing.

Then the pump silted up and we went so slowly we could have swum faster. The day was getting on and dark comes at 6-10pm sharp and we weren’t going to make it either way. Unlike the Norfolk Broads there was no friendly pub to moor up against! Then we had a spurt, off again at great speed and crack!!!!!! The propeller hit a root and sheared off a blade. Boats like to go round and round in those circumstances but our driver, who was very skilled but a little fool-hardy, carried on without telling us. It was only when we realised there was a problem that we got him to stop and we did, in VSO terms, a needs analysis. Yes it would be dark in an hour, Yes the boat was going about 2 miles an hour, no there was nowhere to stop or get help, yes, we only had one torch and when it gets dark, it’s really dark.

We voted to turn round and go back which we did slowly and carefully and eventually arrived back at Maruca 8 hours after we had left. We stayed in a small boarding house only accessible by river. There were 15 of us and the landlady managed to put us all up in bunk beds, sleeping on the floor, in hammocks etc. Then the real adventure started. We came back from having our tuna sandwich and our friend Allende (who is Spanish) was exclaiming “It’s impossible, it’s impossible! I have arachnophobia. I can’t sleep with the spiders. I can’t sleep with the tarantula (pronounced the Spanish way tarantoola) and to our surprise, right above her head in the open eaves, there it was!!! Baby but nevertheless hairy and menacing and about 5” wide. No amount of spray and shooing would convince Allende whose hysteria was considerable. Mary was just hiding away because she knew the open eaves could invite the spider over to her bed as well. Allende finally slept after donning her iPod, closing her eyes and being tucked in all round in her net. The spider was never seen again.

They suggested we get up at 5am for a 5-30 start. Mary was not best pleased but was outvoted and we were down at the river before it got light. There was no electricity anyway so it didn’t make any difference. We waited and waited and the boat appeared “Just now” the Guyanese expression for any time from 1 minute to several days. At 7-30am we set off with a mended prop but still a dodgy pump. After several hours we were going slowly again and phut phut the fuel ran out. Oh dear! We flagged down a boat and siphoned some off, paid him and we were back on our way. This time, it went well and we finally reached the ocean in the top end of Shell Beach and then we found out how fast this boat could really go – zooooooooooom, splash, bump, serious bump, throw up in the air bump, but we all managed to hold on and eventually spotted our camp at 2-30pm. It was like the film South Pacific and the sailors’ entry into BaliHi. Thin logs were placed horizontally on the beach and as we arrived we were pulled up on the logs by about 12 jolly Amerindians who gave us a wonderful welcome, even if 24 hours late!

It was worth the wait. It was like a desert island with the beach being made entirely of crushed shells with no sand. We had tents, there was food cooked in the open and it was an experience we have never had before. The downside were the latrines where the mosquitoes peculiar to Shell Beach bit hard and left blisters, the well which produced water the colour of hot chocolate and the same temperature. But we were treated really well and it was a great adventure. We went turtle watching in the dark at 8pm and others went in the night but no-one saw any and we were probably too early in the season.

The boat left the next day at 10am and was an uneventful, if not bumpy and extremely wet journey. Well, that’s except for the springing of a leak in the Atlantic. We noticed

it when the Guyanese passengers started bailing out. We had to wait for a boat and when one passed (there were very few) and probably a banana boat, all the young passengers had to get off and women and old men (I put myself in that category) stayed on board. The Guyanese continued to bail out whilst the captain bunged the hole with a cork (pronounce “cark”) and away we went, arriving back at Charity after having spent exactly 24 hours on that speed boat (remember the three and a half hours earlier)!!!!!!

We did enjoy it really and it was the greatest

adventure of our lives

The skirts and the hair (or lack of it!)

Well, two little things have happened to both of us recently. Firstly, Mary has managed to rip two skirts on her bicycle and so she now wears trousers but, as work has a strict dress code, she was short of clothes. We were given the name of a dressmaker by our landlady. she came round and measured Mary up. We chose the material from town and for the princely cost of £4 a garment she had 3 tops and 3 skirts made. The outfits turned out to be quite good especially as we had spent a long time choosing the fabric.

Secondly, I went to the barbers as my hair was getting quite long. I should have been warned by the fact that the 3 men before me all came out bald despite it taking 20 minutes each and lots of razor blades. I told the man what I wanted and showed him a picture. We agreed a price and away he went. After the first swish of his razor, he said” is that alright, Sir!” Well, I’ve never had a number one before and now I have. There was no point in arguing as half of it was already gone before he asked me. Mary said it was “awful and “horrible” but others quite like it and it’s certainly practical for the heat!

Guyana Cricket Fever

Guyana has World Cup Cricket Fever. The Super 8’s were held here prior to the quarter finals and finals on the islands. Eeverything was spruced up. Grass was cut, litter picked and everything beautifed and manicured. It was a huge national effort that has made Georgetown lovely.

We went to see one of the first matches at the new Providence Stadium which was completed at the 11th hour. It was a great affair with excellent transport, free flags and a wonderful atmosphere. The West Indies were playing at home against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, it was obvious the West Indies were not going to make it from pretty early in to the match. Sri Lanka batted first and achieved well over 200 runs after 50 overs. The Windies in the afternoon were not able to meet that, although they had a spurt in the middle around the 22nd over when the crowd got really excited. But it was short lived and they couldn’t match the Sri Lankan score. We sat on the grass mound and it was about the only match that had been a sell out with all 14,000 seats being occupied.

That was a few weeks ago and yesterday we watched (on TV) the match between England and the West Indies. Neither had a lot to lose in Championship terms but the prize money would have been good. We watched it on and off throughout the day as we did our jobs and shopping. By five, I had to go out but became glued to the game (yes me - one who didn't even know the rules!) The Windies had batted in the morning with a very respectable 300 afte 50 overs and England were on a knife edge to beat that. It got down to 30 runs needed for 20 balls and then 14 for 14 balls and then Pietersen was out! Would it be a repeat of a previous game when they lost by 5 runs?

No! 20 year old bowler, Stuart Broad, with his opening batsman father in the stands, scored 5 with, finishing off the game with a jubilant 4 destroying the West Indies hopes. Lara looked sad as he had played his last game for the Windies!

Perhaps, I'm not really a convert, but maybe a draw would have been kinder!

If you want the full results of the game, CLICK HERE

The Fall and Rise of the Sacred Heart Church, Georgetown

We go to church on Sundays at 8am to the Ursuline convent which is a lovely brick built church (rare) which has been adopted by the Parish of the Sacred Heart whose wooden church was burnt down on Christmas Eve. It seems apprpriate that we have adopted this as our church because my first Church in Darwen where I was born was the Sacred Heart. (My mother would be proud of me).

They are having problems rebuilding it because the Bishop does not appear to be in favour of it. But they say they will have a church on that site by next Christmas Eve even if it is in a tent. What a spirit! They sell cross buns and cakes to pay for it. A long project. They say it was a really beautiful church and one of the oldest in the country. The site now lies bare after the parishioners cleaned it up ready for the rebuild they long for.

Since then, I have met the Headteacher of the Sacred Heart School which it seems was also burnt down at the same time. They are having a terrible time in temporary accomodation. Every weekend, the hall is used for parties and dances and when they get back on Monday, the school is in a terrible state. How disheartening! Is there anyone out there who can help?

After church a few come round to us for coffee and biscuits – it’s becoming a tradition as we are nearest to the church.

Talking Hands Concert

Not long after we arrived we went to a Talking hands concert run by two of the VSOs – Rachael and Miranda. It was a wonderful affair with groups of children and adults singing, dancing and doing sketches all supported by sign language for the deaf. It was really interesting. Well done to the two girls.

Since that time we have met quite a lot of the teachers and Headteachers of the Special schools and Mary will be visiting them soon with our colleague and friend Meg.

Getting around in Georgetown

Getting around is easy, if a little scary! The fastest way is by minibus if you can’t afford a taxi. There are hundreds of them on about 15 different routes. They travel at breakneck speed, ignore all other road users, skid around pigs, goats and horses without slowing down and play the loudest reggae / rap music you can imagine, But having said all that they are very efficient. They stop wherever you want and drop you off in front of your house. If they miss it, passengers tell them to back up and they do. A boy (the conductor) touts for business and shouts at you as you pass and holds a wad of thousands of dollars of notes in his hand. It’s safer to sit in the middle. You never have to wait more than 30 seconds for a bus as they are everywhere. Taxis have a fixed price (about 70p) and are equally efficient and safer but the quality of car leaves much to be desired. If you get one without a cracked windscreen you are doing really well. These are to be used only occasionally on a poor VSO’s salary.

It's all in a day's work!

Sorry you have all had to wait so long for the next newsletter but we really have been incredibly busy. Who would have thought so? It’s a relatively stressless life but there are always things to do. The biggest of which is work!!! We don’t get school holidays and so going back to work on Easter Tuesday was a shock. Some would say about time” but we are at the time of our lives when we are starting to slow down.

Well, what has happened since we were last in touch? A lot. Our jobs are on a national level and involve lots of travelling throughout the country which we have already started. Travelling to the regions is very difficult because Guyana (Land of Many Waters) has rivers and waterfalls all over the place. The Essequibo River which I have crossed to go to a region has an island in it which is bigger than Barbados. Mary is working with a colleague and fellow VSO, Meg on Special Needs and Literacy. They are supporting schools in this area and will be doing workshops for teachers. We have already visited several regions - Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 and Georgetown for either work or travel.

We get up at 6am as it gets light and it takes us one and a half hours to get ready – shower, breakfast, packed lunches, all the usual stuff, but it takes twice as long because of the heat and humidity and avoiding the mosquitoes who are winning at the moment. At any time we have about 50 old and new bites on our bodies but, thank goodness they are not reacting on us as much as they did at first. The “malaria” mosquito is mainly by night and the “dengue fever” one with the striped legs is during the day. Then it’s off on our bikes to work. We cycle for about 20 minutes through Queenstown where we live and to the National Park. Going through the park is great because there are foals and runners and other interesting early morning sights. We then turn right up to the sea wall and meet with the Atlantic and the last half mile we have the sea and its light breezes on our right. We arrive at NCERD, passed the Meridien Pegasus Hotel, where the cricketers stayed about three minutes before work starts. More about the cricket later. Everyone is very precise about arriving and leaving and lunchtime. It’s a pleasant office. The whole place is about the size of a small secondary school and like everything else in Guyana, is made entirely of wood. – a resource of which they have a lot. Our reverse journey home is just as interesting. We meet many dogs, goats, cows on the road, chickens and whatever is around. We arrive home about five. It’s dark at six and by the time we have cooked, eaten, done, some washing, checked emails, watched the news, we either watch a DVD which means we would be in bed as late as 9-30 or if we are particularly tired we might be tucked up under our mosquito net by 8-30am. It’s a good life so far and we make the best of the weekends and we’ve had a few National Holidays which we have taken advantage of.

We are into a routine. Survival shopping on a Friday, having taken our washing to “the lady that does” and fruit from the local fruit man a minute’s walk from the house. Survival is the local supermarket. It sells most things at a price. Food is expensive here and cleaning materials extortionate. Most people go to the market but that can be a bit of a challenge so we only get vegetables there. Anything from abroad, which is most things cost an arm and a leg. I don’t know how locals survive. We are not doing very well on our allowance and are digging deep into our own pockets but that is our choice. We used to have a Primera to take the shopping home. Now it’s my bicycle and that is a sight to be seen with bits on the back and front and my rucksack – a hazardous journey to say the least but cheaper than taxi and less dangerous than the minibus.

It's all going very well as life is so much more simple here!

Work Work Work!

After 12 months or more of preparation, the big day came when we would finally go to work. Well, I suppose, that's what we are here for but it was still a shock and very exciting at the same time.

We decided to take a taxi, Mary Stephen and Meg ($260 - 70p) for the first day but after that it would be walking or bicycles. We were there in 5 minutes and quite early so we sat in reception. We were met by our line manager, who showed us to our office. After a while we were given folders with the plan for our induction which lasts about five weeks. An hour later we were given a tour of the place. We work in NCERD - National Centre for Educational Research Development. It deals for all INSET, Curriculum and Assessment needs for the whole of Guyana. Mary will be working with others on Literacy and Stephen will be reviewing and updating the National Management Certificate - the Guyanese equivalent of NPQH. It's a bit like the Guyanese QCA.

The building is about the size of a small secondary school but has many departments - more about that later. We are working in the Curriculum Department where all the curriculum is designed, mainly numeracy and literacy. Maths is taught to the whole country at the same time via radio and they have their own studios there. It is quite a job to get the radio programmes out on time and produce and distribute all of the supporting materials for teachers.

Our second day, we were given the day off because we were moving into our houses, although a little late. It was very helpful and allowed us to get straight. On the third day, we met with the Director who gave us an overview of NCERD and the Ministry of Education and the educational system in general. He told us where we would fit in.

For the rest of the day we were left to our own devices and so read up on various documents. We finish at 3-30 on Fridays to allow us to do some shopping. Our normal working hours are 8.00am until 4.30pm with an hour for lunch. There is a snack bar on site. We have 6 weeks paid holiday and there are 15 Bank Holidays on top. We already had one of them on Mashramani Day and we have another on Monday (today) which is a Hindu Thanksgiving Day for the Harvest (Phagwah Day) when everyone throws water and paint at you.

More on the House Move later.

The NCERD cat has just had a kitten

The VSO Office

Drinks at the reception in Celinas

We're here at last

Saturday 24th February 2007

Well, we have finally arrived in Georgetown, Guyana!!!!
We had a great journey although quite long and arrived at the Rima Guest House at 10-30pm, 2-30M GB time after travelling for 18 hours. We were given a very warm welcome by Gillian who had a meal waiting for us. The food at the guest house has been fantastic.
It has been the most amazing 11 days, almost surreal!!! We have met so many people and seen so much in such a short time. It all seems to run into one!! It seems like we have been in Georgetown for weeks.

Six of us came out together and we have got on really well as a group. We already knew Meg from training in Birmingham and knew of Peter who is from Montana USA. Allende came from Madrid in Spain doing a seven month placement doing disability awareness.

We started off with 8 days of training during which we met the Minister for Overseas Development in his office and the British High Commissioner at the High Commission. We had medical training from the malaria doctor and most of the sessions were conducted by other VSOs. We also had a lot about Guyana – politics, education, disability, culture etc. etc.

The social life has been manic. We are constantly having receptions or around to people’s houses or finally on 28th February 2007 the Guyanese celebrated Mashramani commonly known as Mash - the nearest equivalent would be the Notting Hill Carnival. It commemorates Republic Day – 37 years ago. Independence was 40 years ago.

It was very vibrant, exciting and colourful but also NOISY – well seriously noisy. The beat of the music went right through you and pounded your chest!!!! Unfortunately it was also our first serious rain. It has been dry up until now and the heat has been bearable. The party went on regardless and lasted all day and most of the night. This is the largest crowd we have seen so far in Georgetown.

Last weekend we visited another volunteer, Cheryl in Region 7 Corriverton. It’s quite different from Georgetown being a smaller rural area. We traveled by taxi, ferry and minibus and the journey took about six hours. It’s very common for volunteers to visit each other as part of their social life, although this was part of our course. We were made very welcome and even had the opportunity to swim in the sea which was like swimming in hot chocolate! The water was safe but brown because of the silt from the Oronoco River. It wasn’t just warm but hot.

In the evening, we lit a bonfire and had soup and drinks under the clear sky with an amazing view of the stars. The new moon is upside down here! We visited the local market and saw an amazing array of fruit and veg and it is going to take us some time to recognize the names and tastes of them all. We are looking forward to trying some new Guyanese Recipes and several volunteers have offered to share their favourites with us. The chicken killing and plucking machine was not for the faint-hearted. One of the volunteers, Janis is married to Peter who works in the sugar industry. They live on the sugar estate and he took us around the old factory and showed us the beginnings of the new one they are building. All the labour and all of the parts come from China.

And now to the important issues – WORK!!

We have met our employers and signed our work agreement. We are not employed by VSO but NCERD (National Centre for Educational Resource Development). It is like a national teachers’ centre. VSO looks after our interests but all our professional dealings will now be with the Ministry of Education. There will be 5 VSOs doing different things. Mary is concerned with Literacy and Stephen with Educational Management. At the moment there is an outline of our job description but there seems to be scope to develop it as we discover the needs. Hopefully there will be opportunity to travel to the regions. We have been asked to do this.

We have been given a house but will not move into it until 28th Feb and according to the other volunteers and what we have seen from the outside, it is pretty impressive. We will hope for the best. We know it has three bedrooms and this bodes well for visitors. All the houses we have seen so far have been fine. The first one to move in was Allende who had a very nice house but no water and she couldn’t get in to her bathroom so she had to return to the guest house again. Travel is easy but scary. There are thousands of taxis and they have a fixed price. The minibuses (buses) are even more scary with the addition of ear splitting music. In fact, music is the order of the day here until 3am and from every direction. But we have so far slept better than we have in months.


It would be great to hear all of your news.

Lots of love

Stephen and Mary

The final days before departure

So sorry that I haven’t written for such a long time but you would understand if you had followed us around for the last few weeks before we set off to foreign parts. In fact, I am writing this in Guyana. It is the first time we have had to breathe for well over a month. It is Sunday morning and we have just been to church.

In the last month we have been preparing, letting the house, selling the cars and dealing with those million things you have to do before you go away for a long time. Most of all we spent 15 days enjoying ourselves and saying goodbye. Thanks to everyone for meeting up with us and your warm best wishes.

The big news however is that just ten days before we were due to leave we had a phone call from VSO with the devastating news that our placements in Linden, Guyana had fallen through and that we may not be going. We were told that they were working on new placements but they would be in the capital, Georgetown. This was a big blow as we envisaged ourselves, having done all the preparation, with no house, cars, phones, jobs or money. The lodgers were moving in just a few days after we left and where would we live?

We had 6 nail biting days and we told very few people about it as it would have just complicated the goodbyes. But where one door closes another opens and just four days before we were due to leave, our placements at NCERD, Georgetown were confirmed. Wow! That was a close shave!!!! And less than 96 hours later we boarded the plane and now that’s history!

Guyana Videos

I have placed two videos of Guyana in the sidebar (to the right and down). They give you some kind of idea of where we are going and what it will be like. I hope you enjoy them.

The first is a song from a Guyanan who clearly loves his country!

The second goes a bit more into detail about Guyanan life.

We have now just over three weeks to go and an awful lot to do. We've completed all of our courses. I have just completed the last one in Harborne Hall on Organisational Development. We are both ready to get on with the job now. However, there's still loads to do. The house has been changed around ready for letting. Does anyone want to buy a car????

We still don't have anywhere to live but I'm sure that will be sorted soon. I hope it has a little more than the one above.

The countdown has started

It all seemed quite safe and exciting before Christmas. There was always that annual festival in the way. "Oh, we don't need to start thinking about it until the New Year" we'd say. But now it's all over and we are already ten days into that new year, all of a sudden it has started to get real. Less than 5 weeks to go! We went off to Harborne Hall in Birmingham again for yet another five day course. This time it was much more up our street - teacher training. It was really about training tecniques from beginning to end and was a great insight into what we might be doing. Again we met up with old friends and made some new ones.

Since we've been back, Mary's gone back to work and we have had to start thinking seriously about how we are going to manage this great change in our lives. Well, the best way, of course is to make lots of lists. We have a list for everything from who we want to see before we go to how we are going to deal with the cars. List time is now over and the action needs to start. We've been to the storage people and we will now start dismantling the house or, at least, deciding what is going to go and what will stay.

Our home will never look like this again so we took a video of it just in case we get homesick. That will probably finish us off. The medical MOT seems to be never ending from eyes to teeth and malaria to rabies. Anyway it's nearly all done now.

The big thing is we now have our flights. Yes, 11am on 13th February we will fly to Bridgetown, Barbados and then on to Georgetown, Guyana where we should arrive at 8pm their time or midnight our time. We will then have a few days in country training and then it's off to work. Preparation over and reality descends!

If you want to know more about Guyana, go to the website. That's where all the information will be when we finally get there. Feel free to comment or get in touch. It would be great to hear from you.

Stephen