The Countdown Begins....

It’s Monday. Today marks exactly one week until I leave Suriname. In fact, by this time next Monday I’ll have landed in Trinidad and hopped a plane to Tobago.

But before then I have a lot to do….quickly, here’s what I’ve been up to the last little while:

1) My fellow Canadian Crossroaders and I planned and hosted a farewell party to celebrate Canadian Crossroads International (ie CCI) in Suriname. This is the last year CCI will be working in Suriname so we are officially the last people who will come to work here on behalf of CCI. Our Adyosi Fesa (that’s Sranan Tonga for Farewell Celebration) was a big success. We reunited many old Crossroaders, bringing back lots of fond memories (and landing us many invites for dinner at their homes in the process), we had nearly 70 people come out and help us celebrate and we did Suriname proud by putting on quite a nice Javanese feast at a local restaurant called Jawa. Thanks to the Honourary Canadian Consul, Anton Smit, who generously sponsored our beverages for the evening, our guests were well taken care of in terms of beer, cola and sap (fruit juice). I had the honour of being the MC for the evening. I thank Julie, Berwyn and Corina for giving me the honour. I am proud to report I did most of it in Dutch….which also meant I provided the comic relief for the evening…actually people were very kind and even told me my dutch was pretty good. I was VERY proud of myself. It was a bittersweet night for me as well in that I had the opportunity to mend fences with my former host family. So I’m leaving Suriname with no hard feelings and no bad karma. It definitely felt good to wipe the slate clean.

2) I took my last trip in Suriname. I went to Galibi to see the seaturtles come to nest. It's one of a few places in the world where seaturtles come to nest. It was in a word AMAZING. I promise to write a longer travelogue about that very soon. I need some time to do it properly…I have a feeling that might not be until after I return home to Canada….but I promise it will be worth the return visit to read about down the road. Which reminds me, I also have a travelogue about JawJaw (the village in the interior that I went to visit)…that’s also a travelogue worth coming back for. I can tell you this about Galibi, the turtles are even bigger than you imagine them to be and more powerful and fast too!! Like I said, AMAZING....and once again, thanks to Berwyn, I have photos to share....just as soon as we can squeeze in a photo swap.

3) I’ve been busy wrapping up my work projects. I have spent the last (nearly) 6 months here in Suriname working at the Nationaal AIDS Programma (ie NAP) as a Marketing and Communications Advisor. In that time I have:
- written a communications strategy for a new National HIV Coordination Mechanism (which is the new structure being put in place to tackle HIV/AIDS in Suriname – I felt it was quite an honour to be the person to get to write the communications strategy for it!)
- written an overall communications strategy for the NAP
- done a media training workshop for youth complete with a video and manual (I had the pleasure of doing this project with Corina who FYI is a journalist so we have proven PR people and journalists can work together..ha ha!)
- consulted on a campaign about Female Condoms (FYI I think every lady out there should try them…I was surprised to learn all the pros to female condoms vs. male condoms)
- helped develop a website for People Living with HIV in Suriname
- and generally brought my sunshiny disposition to the NAP and once again left my Tricia mark on the people around me.

This is my office building (its a new building....and it's air conditioned...thank GOD!)

And some of my coworkers (taken at our Christmas Angel Gift Exchange)

Here is my desk at NAP I share a space with 6 others.

Working at the NAP has been an absolute pleasure and more than what I have been able to do while I’m here, I’m most pleased with what I’ve learned both about the world of HIV/AIDS and about the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with these last 6 months. Besides, where else can you work and get an inner-office email like this one:

Beste mensen,
Hebben jullie de dildo en vagina al gereserveerd voor het weekend van 9, 10 en 11 maart?
Anders wil ik het reserveren voor dat weekend voor de BVL die een workshop zal organiseren.
Groet Mariska.

For my non-dutchies...the rough translation of this is: Has anyone reserved the dildo and vagina for March 9-11? If not I want to reserve it for that weekend for a workshop. Thanks, Mariska.

Yup, not every day you get an email asking about reserving the dildo and vagina for the weekend!!

I have made some terrific friends at NAP and I’m very sad to be leaving. They have welcomed me and taught me so much and most importantly, have made me feel at home here. I am truly going to miss my friends and coworkers at the Nationaal AIDS Programma, where it feels more like one big family than a workplace…and that really is something special.