When I first sat down to carve a wooden spoon I had no idea that it would ever get me anywhere – much less get other people anywhere. Well, never underestimate the power of an idea whose time has come. Today I walked up the road in Accompong expecting to get the usual grumpy “hey, make something agwaan white man” when to my surprise people were thanking me. That right, eat your heart out Peace Corps Jamaica, I am probably the only PCV on the island this month to get a thanks, and you it felt good. Don’t get me wrong. People ridiculed me as well, but they always do that. That is the norm for me now.
There was a big bus load of white people (sorry – caucasion people) that came up from some Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation project down in the flats, and I just arrived after Dowdy had sold two spoons to some of these guests. There is one next guy in town that sold some of his jewelry as well – he started making necklesses after he noticed Dowdy was selling off his wooden spoons. So I have this little business that I helped create and it is spawning all these different business ideas in the town that all revolve around the whole craft idiom. The good part of this story is that Dowdy and Lawrence both bought me a few beers out of gratitude, so I got a little tipsy this afternoon.
There has been another older guy in town making spoons – a guy named Wait, a.k.a. Roundhead, a.k.a. Bongo – I am not too sure what his real name is but I trust that he has one. Well, I found him down at Dowdy’s one Sunday afternoon carving on a spoon of his own, and yesterday I saw him walking down the street and he had made four. Like I said – when somebody makes money in this town it doesn’t go unnoticed. Since nobody really makes any money at all – when somebody makes any money, it doesn’t go unnoticed. So now there is actually something going on. It is interesting to see how an idea can really change a place so easily. I really haven’t done much. I just gave an idea to the right person at the right time, and bingo, community development at its best. People really can develop themselves if they are getting a reward from the change that they made. I am concentrating on this marketing partnership to be the foundation that will allow ideas like this one stay strong and continue to grow into a better livelihood for people. Go to www.cockpitrepublic.com. It should be a registered company in the next week or so. It is not me that came up with the name, but I have enjoyed developing the idea quite a bit. I know that I can sometimes sound a bit bitter in my reports here on what is going on, but seeing this little idea has given me a positive feeling about my sacrifice. It is really great to see somebody feel a renewed sense of hope and motivation to improve their own life, and know that you had something to do with it. I guess that is why I joined the Peace Corps, and it is now the reason that I believe that the US Peace Corps is the best investment of US tax dollars in the for of foriegn aid. From the time I have been here I have seen a lot of projects that have not produced any sustainable development, both here in Accompong and all over the island. I will even go as far to say that most of the projects I have seen USAID’s name on have been nothing short of an embarrasment. But the idea of the Peace Corps is an expample of a sound inspiration- something that works. That is all I have wanted to do from the time I have been here - to just do something or start something that works, because lets face it. In Jamaica and the rest of the developing world- for whatever reason…most things don’t…work.
