Crocodiles and hummingbirds
on Kate in Guyana (Guyana), 21/Dec/2009 20:05, 34 days ago
This weekend some VSOs have been staying over in Georgetown en route for Christmas trips overseas - it is good to catch up on the news from volunteers who are out in the hinterland - their perspective is very different. I think I am quite glad to be in Georgetown as I think the isolation would be too much.On Saturday I was walking along the sea wall and saw some people parked up in an isolate spot cutting meat from crocodiles - they were about 5 feet long. I didn't speak to them but I gather that catching crocs for meat is illegal although the tail is seen as a special delicacy. They would be catching them up the river, not in the sea.Yesterday I made a Christmas tree - just from a tree branch and some improvised decorations but I enjoyed doing it. It is strange to be getting that organised on the same day as spotting hummingbirds near the swimming pool. They were bright green, black and white - they are like massive bees around the flowers - working around one bush then zipping off to the next.Tomorrow I'm off on a trip out to go to the reopening of a special school which is about an hour and a half journey away. It's rather a long way to go and I think we will not have much time with the two teachers as they are running a Christmas party for the children in the afternoon as well. They have 25 children there, some with hearing impairment and some with learning difficulties. At least I'll be able to practise my sign language. We have a new Ugandan volunteer who works in education for the deaf - I'm hoping we can support each other in thinking about what we can do and how we can make our work sustainable.