Farming

Told you I'd have more time to blog :-p

The town I'm living in is one predominantly made up of farmers, a perfect place for the Green Initiative to begin our specified learning. Each of the Green Initiative members were invited to serve under even more specific titles such as Agroforestry (me), agrobuisness/tourism, environmental education and so forth. While these sub-titles are not as important as the overall sector title, it is interesting to see how each of our skill sets drive us to ask questions and give answers. Some of us ask questions applicable to the worth of a crop or the sale of it while others ask about ground cover, crop rotation and pest control. Our trainer Anika and our other teachers are not actually educated in any environmental fields, their true strengths are facilitation and of course, being Jamaican. Anika will always find an answer for us if she doesn't know it, but she knows everyone in town who holds information we can use and so she invites them to our training sessions regularly. It's useful to watch Anika work and teach as our overall purpose is to be a facilitator ourselves so that the success and sustainability of a project doesn't land on our shoulders. We've been told it may take up to 2 years just to get our project off the ground, and for Americans this can be frustrating. We're encouraged to find alternative outlets such as tutoring in schools or starting a youth program outside of our assigned organization so that boredom and frustration does not get the best of us.

Yesterday (Friday morning) Pat and I shadowed a farmer, a man hosting a fellow volunteer. The front and side of his house is lined with thick greenery, some flowers for show but also tomato plants, mint and parsley, cho-cho vines, guava trees and various seedlings being prepared to replant in the fields. For confidentiality I'll call this man Mr. Gill. Mr. Gill received us warmly, put on a pair of tall rubber boots and grabbed his machet (machete, but it looks like a short dull sword). He led us behind his house, past a hutch of hens and down a sloping clay path. We were immediately plunged into lush greenery as he pointed out his coffee plants, the difference between banana and plantain plants, guava trees and so forth. The first field we passed was his by law, he owned it and he farmed it. The adjacent plot was not his nor was he the one farming it- this one had grapefruit, guava, mango and other fruit trees. We snaked down the path as it got skinnier and wetter, hearing the soothing sounds of the 'river' (more like a small stream at this time' down below. As we got closer and then crossed the stream, Mr. Gill pointed out the high water mark where the water would be around october-december, a good 7-10 ft from the current level. We continued walking to his next plot, government owned but citizen farmed. We asked the legal process involved and he replied that there is none, he had pointed out his third plot to us earlier as we descended the mountain, a square of banana trees a bit higher than where we stood, up the opposite slope, this too was government land.
Mr. Gill plants with no particular rhyme or reason, so he says. He has a few cabbage growing beneath some banana trees, gungu peas in a patch below that and somehow, he points out, a ganja plant found its way in among a patch of red peas. Someone probably smoked there and dropped some seeds. Mr. Gill uses chemicals to combat pests when it is needed, we did not ask how often or how much as we did not want to seem offensive or like we know better. He also slashes and burns to control weed and invasives growth however, the majority of his current plots are completely covered in plant growth, the only exception being a month old patch of banana and pine (pineapple) which was recently sown. He says that this is his biggest concern if a big rain were to come, it would wash everything away, however with the amount of growth just a month brought, I imagine he'll be safe until October.
Mr. Gill does not farm for the money, he is a carpenter and mason by trade and giggled when I commented that he is a man of many skills. He pointed out baby beans and a new cho-cho vine like they were his children, adopting a slightly higher pitch and a loving tone when indicating their wherabouts, letting out a little giggle saying 'see da baby cho-cho der? Jus climbin up the mango tree *hehe*' What a proud daddy.

My life shifts when I return home, my young host mom sent her son away with his dad for the long weekend and she is feeling happily liberated. I see her more as a friend than a mother for sure, which is great but kind of has me more reserved since she plunges herself into social situations while I stand quietly, knowing that the boys are looking me up and down as they yell 'hey whitey!'... Shameaka told me to call back 'wa'gwaan black man!' I tried it on her brother last night and his crew laughed and left me alone so I suppose I'll try that one out again. The color thing doesn't bother me as much as the stares from the men like I'm a prize or a piece of meat. American men at least pretend to be your friend, even if they want to take you home. I'll never complain about indecent American boys again I promise you that.

Sham and I are heading down the mountain today into 'town' ie Kingston. Should be a fun use of a day most of my co-trainees are at the 7th day Adventist church. HA, they'll be there from 7-4 if their host families are super religious. I'll be celebrating my holy day in nature if all goes to plan.

until next time, peace and love to you all <3