Nelson Chan

st. vincent

i spent july of 2006 with a close friend of mine who is a photographer and currently, peace corps. volunteer, on the island of st. vincent (svg) in the eastern caribbean. the peace corps. has had a presence there for 45 years now.

ryan brooks is a youth community development volunteer, which is one of the positions with the broadest of job descriptions. when i was visiting, ryan spent the weeks helping a children's hospital/orphanage, teaching basic computer skills to villagers, and organizing summer activities for kids who are out of school for the summer.

i stayed in south rivers, a remote farming village where he is stationed, on the windward side of the island. st. vincent's main source of income is the farming and trading of bananas. this is changing however, since st. vincent is only contributing to about 3% of the world's banana trade. they are currently trying to progress to an economy based on tourism like its smaller grenadine islands.

svg is constructing a new international airport that will hopefully bring in more tourists. apart from the central government's efforts to build new attractions and clean the land to be more visitor friendly, the volunteers are creating a cultural dialog with the island's natives involving ideas of human rights, the prevention of alcoholism, and the spreading of deadly diseases such as hiv/aids. these cultural exchanges are happening on the very basic levels of personal interaction which is essential to change in the long run.

  
  
one of ryan's ways to promote cultural exchange among each other.
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
ring pong possibly has fetal alcohol syndrome. a few years old, his weight is nothing compared to the boys his age.
  
cricket is a sure sign of a county and culure touched by colonialism.
     
  
   
  
this was a showing of pirates of the caribbean bootlegged. this a way for villagers to see newly released movies without traveling to the capital, kingstown.
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
it is a couple of miles from the village to the main road. a great way to get from a to b is to hitch a ride on a banana truck.
  
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
three weeks after being smashed in the face with a bottle, glass was still being picked out of his face.
  
     
  
four weeks before this photo was taken, sil had a stroke. an hour after this photo was taken, sil had her baptism.
   
  
     
  
this man is the only person in SVG trying to preserve the future of sea turtles, which are a delicacy in the caribbean.
   
  
pronounced eye-feel, a descendent of the native caribbean people.
     
  
many of these kids are abandoned and left to st. benedict's. birth defects, malnutrition, and fetal alcohol syndrome plague their lives, but they enjoy simplicities in life like bubbles, a quiet walk outside, or being read to.
  
  
     
  
adam is albino, autistic, and possibly has fetal alcohol syndrome, which is a problem unknown to most in st. vincent.
  
  
     
  
a dog as a pet being taken care of as done in countries such as america is very rare. dogs are mainly village strays that scavenge for a meal.
   
kevin has been confined to a simple four walled room. he may suffer from severe fetal alcohol syndrome and can be very distructive to people he comes in contact with. he often has paper or string to keep him occupied, a sign of autism.
  
     
  
   
a burnt down strong rum distillery. strong rum is the drink of choice here. it is 84% alcohol and not allowed to exit the island.
   
rex was the only survivor from a litter of a dog in south rivers that hangs around ryan's house.
     
  
   
rex died three weeks after we initially met.