Recent shootings
Our work

Well… It’s been awhile. The only thing we’ve posted since December was something that we actually wrote at the beginning of January. You never really know what’s going to happen next, I guess, in anything – but development even moreso.

In case you didn’t read it in the NYTimes, see it on BBC, or catch it anywhere else, there were some shootings in the country. One man, a longtime gangster, seems to be at the heart of it. The first shooting took place in a village near the capital city, where some other volunteers had lived during their 2-month training prior to service. When that happened, people in our region were temporarily relocated, in response to rumors and government action; so the two of us got to travel over and then down a river, stay with some other volunteers… where, shortly after we left to return to our own site, the second shooting happened. The other volunteers were okay, if a bit shaken. For a while, anything could have happened, but things seem to have quieted down for now.

Out where we are, we have no concerns at all. We’re in a fairly remote area; some escaping criminals actually came here a couple years ago, and found out the hard way that there’s basically one way in and out of the place, making for an easy roadblock and quick capture (well, they were all killed actually, because the police here don’t like escapees and criminals, so it wasn’t so much a capture as a body removal). People laugh about it, and I don’t think that too many more criminals will think that this is a great place to go after that.

Out biggest concern, really, is that something else bad will be done by this gangster guy, somewhere else, and that this will lead to our organization pulling out of the entire country. If that had happened even back in December or January, it would have been bad but not too awful – we’re discouraged from launching too many projects too quickly, so that overzealous volunteers don’t get wrapped up in all sorts of silliness; and our social and emotional bonds weren’t as strong then, either. Now, however, we’re involved in a lot of things, and emotionally it would pretty much crush us if we were pulled out. Professionally and personally, it would be really hard to leave now.

Don’t get me wrong: We’d be on the first plane back out to whichever country the organization found for us next, because we’re pretty serious about this. Some see this work as a 2-year break from “real life” (whatever that is), or a place to rest between college and vocation. For us, this is part of our vocation.

So, what have we been up to, aside from dodging bullets, taking our first vacation (Carnival!), and celebrating the holidays? Ironically, as I write this we’re on break from school – two-and-a-half weeks for Easter-time, between the 2nd and 3rd terms of the year. But it wasn’t just Easter on Sunday; it was Phagwah, the Hindu New Year, on Saturday, and You-man-Nabi, the birth and death of the Prophet Mohammad (may peace be upon him), on that Thursday prior. So, 3 packed days. I won’t bore you with details, but if you want to know about Phagwah (a particularly fun time), Wikipedia it; or just imagine the two of us getting doused in powder of all colors, sprayed with cologne til we started to get dizzy, and sprayed with colored water.

Things we learned over the most recent holidays:

Easter is not on Sunday. It’s actually on Monday, which is why it’s called Easter Monday, and the proper way to celebrate it is to go to the beach and fly kites. (All in all, certainly no more silly than hunting for candy & eggs that a benevolent giant bunny left.)

Jesus Christ was not, actually, the first person to fly a kite. He was the second. Lord Shiva was the first. But, he still loses, because no one celebrates Shiva’s anything with kite-flying.

Mohammad (may peace be upon him) died on the same day he was born. Different year, same date. Weird, huh?

If your kite goes up in the air and then immediate crashes to the ground, it’s missing something. A tail. If it has a tail, but still shakes a lot up in the air, the tail should be longer. This can be accomplished by tying your superbig handkerchief to the end of the tail.

A Muslim man is a father once his wife gives birth. A Muslim woman is a mother once she gives birth… to a son. No son, no motherhood. The man who told me this was standing right next to his wife of 25 or 30 years, who had given birth to three daughters and no sons. I’m going back to that village tomorrow, and I will check him for bruises or lacerations.

Phagwah is pretty much the best holiday. Unlike Christmas Eve, where you must drink, and Old Year’s (New Year’s Eve), where you must go to church, everything is optional on Phagwah. You can go to church, but if you do you’ll dance and chase people with powder. You can drink, but if you do you’ll dance and chase people with powder. In fact, you can even go to market (Saturday is still the regional market day, even if it’s Phagwah), but if you do… well, you know.

A 5’ tall kite can, in fact, be flown, and by just one person. A 7’ kite is only good for posing next to in pictures.



Yes, we’re doing work, despite our overburdened social schedule and endless list of holidays (three major faiths in one small country make for a lot of holidays). I’m giving computer classes for teachers and computer owners (there are a good number in the area, 20 or so) over the holidays. I’m working at building up the computer lab, shoring up some of the problems, making it stronger. I have a pledge for internet setup from a private donor, who’s also involved in making sports easily accessible to all people in the village Polder (collection of 4 villages, remember?). I’m also looking at some entrepreneurs in the area: Box kites sold for $2000 apiece (compared to $300-400 for a normal kite) this Easter, so I’m going to find out how they’re made and encourage some kids to make and sell them next year. There’s a small gym nearby that’s currently being privately used by 4 young men – I want to introduce a business model to them for running a gym, fee systems, so that they can move from being boys with weights to men running a rec facility.

She’s moving forward with a network of libraries in the primary schools – students checked out 180 books in one day from the pilot site, and parents are complaining that their kids make them read to them at night, so this is good. I know that we have some more books coming in from the states, thanks to our family, friends, and hometowns. Her Easter lesson will give all the primary kids in one village access to computers over the course of a week. She’s also looking at building up a family-friendly area near the local hospital – repairing, replacing, and adding to old playground equipment, adding in benches and shade for parents, etc. She’s also looking to revamp her approach with the schools next year, to be working more closely with teachers, modeling and working with them to improve teaching methods, disciplining, etc.

Finally, we have a summer lesson scheduled, taking place over 4 weeks, and are also working with some other volunteers across the country to run some workshops on a variety of issues.

So… that’s that. I went to my first baryat (I probably slaughtered that word), which is where basically all the men from the village of the groom show up at the wedding and drink outside. They never go in and watch the wedding; they just hang around and socialize with each other. Interesting Hindu tradition. I’m not sure whether it’s terrible or amazing. Hindu weddings in India often have a thousand people in attendance; here it’s fewer due to the lower population, but still – you don’t worry about invitation or lists, so much, and aside from 7-curry for everyone, you have no obligation (the men bring their own booze), so it’s pretty interesting all in all. By the end of April, we’ll have attended somewhere around 6 or 7 weddings, which is about how many we’ll have missed back in the States.

Alright. Enjoy spring up north – dry season finally came to the country (we skipped the last one), rice will soon be reaped, our dog will be able to dance on command, and all will be right with the world.