Early Robertsport reflections

Here in Robertsport we’ve had a torrential amount of water that has been falling from the heavens – although what exactly I expected, coming to a country whose primary environmental descriptor is ‘rainforest’ in the rainy season, I couldn’t tell you. I feel like I’m back in Bangladesh in the monsoon season in 2004 during which the flood waters adversely affected the lives and livelihoods of 36 million people. We in the Strongheart House end up chasing leaks in our roof with buckets, mopping water up from the walls and floors and throwing it back outside or watching the ocean come closer from our balcony. The haze of gray blends the ocean to the sky, blurring the horizon.

When we aren’t fighting the elements, life continues at a happy pace as the Fellows and Program Guides get settled into the program and become familiar with each other. As many of the Fellows have just arrived, and some others are still coming in the next few weeks, the program isn’t rigorous, it has plenty of time for playing games, singing songs, and (when it isn’t raining) kicking around a soccer ball or splashing around in the ocean.

I’m leading two learning circles – Global Studies and Conflict Resolution, although I think the first is going better than the latter as of yet.