Progress and produce

After many successive posts about sailing, I have something to report on the work front! (I'll bet you all were wondering if I did anything BUT sailing.)

Tarik, the Cuso International Jamaica Program Director, came to Montego Bay from Kingston last week and we had a series of successful meetings. Turns out, we have two very real new placements developing here in Montego Bay.  One is with an existing partner, and we would focus on helping them build their volunteering capacity, and another is with a brand new partner that seems very much on the same page as we are in terms of community development.

This new placement is especially exiting, because it will allow us to work with community members directly.  We have schemed and plotted several ways to do this, but they haven't worked out up until now.  But, as you can guess, being able to work "on the ground," so to speak, is an important way to reach people and communities that are experiencing poverty and violence. Asking people who live in communities what they want for their communities, for their families and for themselves, and then helping them realize those goals is very meaningful work for everyone involved, (even if it is also really slow, difficult and frustrating at times). So I am excited that our meetings went so well, and, fingers crossed, I'll be able to share more on who these partners are and what volunteers will be doing with them once details are finalized.

On other news, things are blooming here and mango season has arrived!

There are Tommy mangoes, Julie mangoes, Bombay mangoes, and whole bunch of other kinds that I don't even know yet. You can by one on the street for about a dollar Cdn, less if it is a little one, and then you can get a bag for the same amount. If you're lucky, there is a mango tree nearby somewhere and you can pick them right off the tree!

Sometimes we still eat papaya. (This pic's for you, Erika, I was testing camera settings - not bad, eh?)

Also, Jamaican hills have taken on a vaguely Canadian look these days, with beautiful red trees dotting the landscape.  These stunning trees are known as Poinciana, or Flamboyant, or what I've heard most often in Jamaica, 'flame trees'. They are originally from Madagascar, but have taken to the island and are really, really pretty.

Once the blooms start to fall there is a glorious red carpet underneath the tree.

I walk up and down this hill regularly to get to town.

And, just in case anyone is going into withdrawal, a boat picture for you.

This is Captain Phil, being hoisted up the mast so that he can fix screws that were wiggling loose and preventing the jib from being raised.  I did the winching to get him up (and gently let him down again) but there is no way you'd catch me way up there!