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Location of our permanent
site in Guyana. (Our training site, Laluni Creek, is located approximately
where the number 2 is printed just south of Georgetown.)
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Before I can tell you about Mabaruma, I should tell you how
to get there from Georgetown. Your choices are a harrowing 28-hour ferry ride,
part of which is on the open Atlantic Ocean OR a 45-minute flight aboard a
12-seater, single-engine plane soaring through the clouds above an endless
expanse of pristine rainforest. Luckily for us, Peace Corps strongly encourages
the latter option. Here are some pictures from the trip out:
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Clockwise from upper
left: Kathrina smiling serenely, the pilot piloting professionally, and the
aircraft awaiting our ascension.
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A quick look at the
emergency instruction card revealed an unexpected nod to diversity, which
apparently includes white people, black people, and Star Trek characters.
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Taking off from Mabaruma
in a single-engine plane!
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This is Georgetown from
the air. The Demerara River is flowing from the left into the Atlantic Ocean,
and Georgetown appears as an orderly grid that belies the riot of sights and
sounds enlivening the city below.
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Here is the regional
airport in Mabaruma. All of it. It’s only a ten-minute taxi ride from our
apartment…
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The village of Mabaruma is stretched out along a single road
that winds upward from a bend in the Aruka River to the top of a hill, and then
follows the ridge line into the interior. From our hilltop vantage point we can
see many other hills rolling out into the distance like waves on the open
ocean. Several of the closer ones are inhabited and have been largely cleared
of trees. Additionally, the grass is kept close-cropped as a strategy to deny
cover for snakes, many of which are poisonous. Snakebites are common and many
people tell stories about someone they know personally, who has died because
they didn’t receive treatment in time. Other than the handful of inhabited
hilltops, there is only unbroken tropical forest to be seen stretching off to
the horizon. When it rains, the mist hangs in the trees and hills like a
diaphanous curtain hiding the mysteries that surely lie within.
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One of the many hills
visible from the hilltop village of Mabaruma. Unbroken tropical forest reaches
as far as the eye can see.
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The houses located at the bottom of the hill near the
river’s edge have been constructed on swampy ground, much of which is covered
in standing water that is several inches to a couple of feet deep. These homes
are built on stilts and are only accessible from the road via raised wooden
walkways. Many of these properties are encircled by moats that drain some of
the excess water away from the house.
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Series of wooden
walkways leading from the road to buildings constructed on stilts to raise them
above the water and swampy ground.
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This property is
surrounded by a moat to keep the land around the house relatively dry.
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Located directly on the river is the Kumaka Market, where a
series of shops offers a variety of goods, and, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, is
home to a produce market. Many of the fruits and vegetables for sale here were
new to us when we arrived in Guyana.
One of these is carila, a green or greenish-white vegetable
about the size of a pickle but with pointy ends and a warty appearance. It’s
very bitter, especially if you don’t know the complicated steps needed to
prepare the vegetable properly. However, locals will tell you that carila is
healthy, because it bitters the blood. What exactly that means and why it’s
desirable are still a mystery to me.
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Carila, a common
Guyanese vegetable lauded for its ability to bitter up the blood.
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Pumpkin is also common in Guyana. Rather than the bright
orange, seed-filled, carving material we have in the States, Guyanese pumpkins
are speckled and dark green and contain many fewer seeds. Pumpkin is commonly
used to prepare main courses, such as pumpkin curry, which is delicious when
paired with a type of bread called roti!
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Plantains and pumpkins,
two common foodstuffs in the Guyanese diet.
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The market’s location right next to the river means that the
ground is wet. Very wet. The red dirt “road” is actually more of a slippery
obstacle course that we have to navigate while accumulating shopping bags full
of food and household items. Being that we’re so close to the Venezuelan
border, it’s not uncommon at the market to catch snippets of Spanish being
spoken over the selection of Caribbean music and Christian rock songs blaring
from speakers mounted outside some of the more permanent shops.
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A view of the heart of
Kumaka Market.
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A selection of fresh
produce is available on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The umbrella in this picture is
leaning on pumpkin, which is typically sold as individual slices rather than as
an entire vegetable. Also visible are plantains, shallots, pawpaw (papaya), and
pears (avocado).
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Boats coming into
Kumaka Market with a fresh supply of wares. Larger deliveries occur once every
two weeks.
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Bringing plantains to
market.
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Watch where you step, the
mud is ankle-deep in places…
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As you walk up the hill from the market, you will come to a
fork in the road. Taking a left at this junction will carry you past a string
of small settlements that roughly parallels the river. Going to the right at
the fork will take you to Mabaruma. The heart of Mabaruma is called the
Compound, which is essentially the business district. The police station,
regional administration buildings, department of education offices, the hospital
where I work, and our residence can all be found in the Compound. Rubber trees
line both sides of the avenue and provide much-needed shade when the blazing
equatorial sun peaks out from behind the clouds. (It’s rained every day since
we’ve been here- sometimes more, sometimes less, but we’ve been able to count
on a little moisture every day.) Further along the road is Mabaruma Township, the
more residential section of the village. You know you’ve entered the Township
only because there are no more rubber trees along the road. At the far end of
the Township are the primary school where Kathrina works and the road that
branches off to the airport. Walking to this distant location all the way on
the other side of town will take you a good fifteen minutes on foot. Still
further out past the school is Mabaruma Settlement, which, in some sense,
represents the suburbs of the village.
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This is Mabaruma
Regional Hospital where I work. (My office is located right above the entrance
on the right hand side under the word, “Hospital.”) The Guyanese medical system
is arranged in a hierarchy. The smallest health care facilities are called
health posts and are designed to cover routine medical care. Our training
village, Laluni, has a health post. Regional hospitals are at the other end of
the spectrum. There is only one hospital in the entire country that is bigger
than the regional hospitals and that is the national referral hospital in
Georgetown, the capital.
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This is the main road
running through Mabaruma. To the left is a corner of the regional
administration building, where the government of Region 1 has its offices. The
large trees with thick lower trunks are rubber trees, which line the road from
one end of the Compound to the other.
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This is the Mabaruma
police station, and it’s located almost directly across the street from where
we live!
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Furthest from the river
is Mabaruma Settlement. You could think of it as the suburbs, where people move
to get away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area! What lies beyond
the settlement is, at this point, still a deep mystery…
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