First 3 weeks in Aishalton

Hello from Aishalton......




It’s been a while since I posted any text on my blog (3 weeks or so), but frankly I’ve been doing far too much to have time to sit down and document what’s gone on. I’ll try to give you a brief summary of what’s happened so far...

The day after my last post we (Dave, Gary the PTV in Shurinab and I) ended up going to Kumu Fall’s instead of Moco Moco Fall’s as we were told it was easier to reach.... not the case. We hired a normal taxi driver that turned out to drive like a manic rally driver through the dirt tracks, ditches, pot holes and deep puddles. Half an hour in our car got stuck doing down a steep hill where there was a big puddle. The next 20 minutes we spent trekking through a jungle path to reach the base of the Falls, this hike through the jungle was so different to any I think I’ve done before. Walking shin deep in warm murky water, breathing in the thick jungle air with the rich green rain forest vegetation strangling our view to only up and down the path is a memory that will not soon fade. I dared not take any pictures of our walk as slipping and sliding in the mud was a common occurrence.

At the base of the falls a Banab (traditional marquee with palm-tree roofing) had been built and there we two guys: Benjamin and Peter who owned the land round Kumu Falls.

For $1000 Guyanese dollars each they offered to guide us up through the jungle to the falls. The walk was about 5 minutes to the first of 4 levels the falls had. We spent time at each one except the last level which was too difficult to reach. Seeing the waterfalls was a spectacular sight but my most enjoyable part of that day was the evening, where Benjamin and the three of us went fishing with a stick and line and cut some coconuts down. We gutted the fish and roasted it on the fire. The fish weren’t big enough to provide dinner but they were a nice evening snack to have with our refreshing coconut water. Night fell and we decided to head back home

Getting back to the taxi, which we had left, was a bit sketchy due to fear of snakes/ other scary insects and animals that may be lurking in the water that we were blindly treading through. Fortunately none of us were bitten.... not so fortunately, the taxi we had left did not start for about 5 mins, putting bought in all our minds about getting home that evening!



School Grounds at Shulinab

The following morning the three of us got up and dressed for a 5 o’ clock departure but in the typical Guyanese fashion our ride didn’t arrive till just after 7. Two VSO workers at the ministry where coming as well meaning the jeep with 4 in the back was pretty cramped. Shulinab was 2 hours away from Lethem where we dropped of Gary who had been with us in Lethem recovering from some nasty sunburns on his shoulders. Shulinab is a small village, of about 200 people, surrounded by the Kanuk Mountains (blue mountains). The housing the PTV’s are staying in is a small traditional house that is very habitable, would I believe be much nicer to live in than the government built, tin roofed flat that we’ve got down in Aishalton.

The view at sunset from a hill showing the surroundings we
drove through to get to Aishalton

The second part of our journey lead us out and away from the mountains that surrounded Shulinab, entering the flat and forever stretching savannas. As we drove I looked out to pan flat landscape with nothing obtruding but for the odd palm tree here and there.... and no people or settlements....anywhere. This gave me a real sense of detachment from the hustle and bustle of modern western life. We drove for the next 3 hours passing no one. I decided that I liked this. Dadanawa Ranch (what used to be the largest cattle ranch in the world) was reached 5 mins or so after an eventful crossing of the Rupununi River by pontoon which I wish I had been brave enough to photograph. From Dadanawa to Aishalton the drive was about 1 hour.

washing outside our flat, our
water tank was overflowing

We were dropped off at our flat on arrival, where Sir Adrian the head for the past 11 years greeted us and let us in (He retired last week :( ). The government built teacher’s quarters were completed 3 years ago and are a stark contrast to the traditional housing that occupies the majority of the village. Its tin roofing and western design seem strange in such a remote Amerindian Village. Compared to most the other PTV flats in other parts of Guyana we have it pretty cushy. Even though the house is fairly clean and habitable I am a little disappointed that we couldn’t live in the traditional Wapishan mud huts with thatched roofing. The initial idea when the flats were built was to supply electricity and running water. Currently we have running water as our water tank is full but we’ve been told that we’ll soon be without as dry season is starting. As for electricity....well I’m not hopeful. Dave and I have made our house a home pretty fast (thanks mum for forcing me to pack all those photo’s, laminated print outs and flags) filling wall space has been a challenge. Our neighbours are all really nice in the government built block, we have:

Sir Arial and Miss Gale- Sir Arial is acting head atm and teaches DT and Miss Gale is second in charge, she teaches Social Studies. They have two children, the oldest who is about 4/5 and is called Matt.

Miss Alison- Teaches at the Aishalton Primary School the other side of the village. she has a son called Raul who is 9 and a daughter who is a few years younger. Alison is a very good cook and has been showing us how to make a few dishes on the weekends.
Chris and Kristen- They are the Peace Corp Vols who have been out in Aishalton for 1 and ½ years. They are both lovely people and have always lent a helping hand, whether that been lending us a Keresine lamp and pillows or inviting us to various social gatherings. Kristen has tried to revive the Aishalton Resources Centre for teachers and Chris works at the hospital.

Sir Adrian and Paula- Sir Adrian is a really organised guy who is going to be missed as the head of Aishalton Secondary School and discipline issues are going to increase without his stern hand. Having said that I’m sure we’ll manage it can’t be too hard to run a school... Right DAD??? Haha. Paula makes us bread for a small fee which I like. She I’m told weaves cotton hammocks, so I may see if she can make me one.

Getting thrown straight into teaching has been really tough and a very very steep learning curve, the days are long and tiring but I wouldn’t change the unique situation which I’ve been placed in for anything.

I’ll run you through a typical school day:

5:00- Stumble out of bed, fall into some form of sports attire and head to school

5:30- Having gathered together the children in my house (Kikoi- Harpy Eagle in Wapishan) who are staying in the dorms. We walk to either the Sports Ground or the Creek for Athletics or Swimming practice where we are usually met by people from Kikoi who live in the village.

6:45- Sport finished and I walk the dorms kids back to school and then head home myself.

7:00-8:00- Bucket shower to save water and then cook up some breakfast, usually consisting of porridge.

8:00- Head into school to do some lesson planning before school starts

8:30- School starts with a quick 5 minute assembly and roll-call

School Assembly

2 lessons (70mins long)

11:00- Lunch break

12:00- quick assembly and afternoon roll-call

2 more lessons

2:30- Lessons finish

End of Day assembly

2:45- End of school

3:00- sports Ground or the Creek for Athletics or Swimming practice where we are usually met by people from Kikoi who live in the village.

4:30- end of sport and I walk the dorm kids back to the dormitory.

It gets dark by about 6:15 so Dave and I usually try and cook and plan lessons for the next day before then as trying to do these tasks with a kerosene lamp is pretty hard. On Monday nights from 6:30-8:oo pm I volunteer to monitor the internet at Burning Hills, looking after the pay book ect... other than that we spend our time either, chilling in our hammocks out the back of our house, or appreciating a beer or two with some of the guys up at Burning Hills or the Tushao’s (village chief’s) bar; a western comfort I’m glad I’ve still got!

It's always nice to feel apreciated!!!

You may think after reading of my typical school day, that this gap year is shaping up to be ‘all work and no play’ so to speak. This I can assure you is not the case. Yes, the school days are long and I quite often find my-self slumping into my hammock come end of school energy sapped from a full day’s work,  but the weekends provide plenty of opportunities to explore, to meet people, and to let our hair down. We’ve been learning from some of the locals how to cook some nice Guyanese food, Attending village events, going to manors (a mixture of ‘self help’ and a lash up), and going to a couple of parties.




Trip to the Petroglyph's near Aishalton


 All of this I could talk about for another 1600 words, and I probably will at some point, but not quite yet. Hopefully this piece will provide this of you who haven’t heard from me directly for a while, sufficient information of what I’ve been up to recently. Once things here settle down, I’m sure I’ll have more time to chat to more of you guys back home. I hope you don’t attribute my lack of communication to a lack of willingness to keep you informed.

Hope your all well

Sam :) (oh.. if you’ve read this and found lots of mistakes, sorry.. i haven’t checked it thoroughly)