Tom Greenwood

Good Morning ! I have reached the end of term 2. Seems like only yesterday when Dan and I got back from Christmas holidays. I have just finished exams with all my classes so now I’m depressed because the marks were awful. There’s one or two in each class who do well but all the others are rubbish! I can’t feel too much of a failure though because all the other teachers get the same results. It’s purely that the kids have a different attitude to school than in England. What’s the point of staying in school when you can drop out and work on a tractor for G$1000 per day?! I guess they just don’t see the bigger picture. Term ends on Wednesday next week. I will have to write schemes for next term between ... read more

Another update from the jungle. Guyana just celebrated its republic day in the form of many street carnivals around the country. The festival is the biggest in Guyana and is called Mashramani. I have been lucky enough to help in organising the event, in making the costumes and dance in the carnival. I helped with the Presidents Youth Award costume that consisted of a 3m long dove and 30 volunteers dressed in bright colours dancing up the street. The day, Saturday 23rd February, started with the most horrendous tractor journey to Kumaka. I had to share this tractor with a dove, 20 people and a singing bird. I swear I almost fell off the side so many times. We arrived in Kumaka at 9.30 when the parade was supposed to start at 9! I was told ... read more

I’ve made it to the half way point of my year! The first half really does seem like no time at all and the next half feels like it will fly by. Since I last wrote, the big news is my secondary project: The Basketball Court. I am so close to completing it and I am confident it will be finished in a week. I have set the foundations, now all is left is the cementing. The whole village is interested in what I’m doing and I always seem to have help at hand. I can’t wait to get everyone playing! The cricket and football are back. So many people crowd around the ball field either watching or playing. I thin this must coincide with the rainy season, as it has been very wet over the ... read more

Projections is the newsletter sent out to all PT volunteers around the world. Tom told me about him and Dan being on the front cover this month, so I got hold of a copy from PT. The photo is Tom and Dan jumping into the creek while being the P and T from Project Trust.... read more

I got this email from Project Trust. Tom had previously spoken to us about this. I have been in touch with PT to make sure that they don't decide to move Tom to a different project as this would not please him at all. -------------------------------------------------- I don’t know whether Tom explained to you about Dan’s “disappearance” shortly after my visit to Wauna and his turning-up in Paramakatoi with his girlfriend for over 2 weeks. While Dan was put on a warning and sent back to Wauna, he subsequently came down to Georgetown without permission again last weekend. Kala, the rep in Guyana, has now told us that she no longer wishes to be responsible for Dan and we are therefore repatriating him. We are at the moment organising a flight back around the 23rd March. This ... read more

I got the following email from Project Trust recently: -------------------------------------------------- Project Trust has to announce with much regret the death of Pamela McCarroll, one of our volunteers in Guyana. Pamela’s family have been informed and our thoughts are with them, her friends and fellow volunteers at this difficult time. Pamela, 18, was the daughter of Mr and Dr McCarroll from Beith in Ayrshire. She was at St. Columba’s School in Renfrewshire, and was planning to go to university to study medicine. We understand that Pamela was out walking with a friend. There are several high hills in the vicinity and we understand that she slipped and fell to the bottom of a cliff. We believe she died instantly. Pamela McCarroll went to Guyana in September 2007, to spend a year at St Ignatius School near Lethem ... read more

Hi everyone. This is my fourth update on life in Wauna. Since I last wrote, I haven’t actually spent that much time in Wauna. I’ve been on my Christmas holidays! Myself along with 16 other volunteers spent two weeks in Tobago, one the beach, diving and relaxing away from school and Guyana. It took some persuasion that I was actually a white tourist on a sun, sea and sand holiday. It took the Tobagans some persuasion that we were volunteers from Guyana so we didn’t have so much money to spend on souvenirs! After Tobago, Iain (a volunteer) and I stopped off in Port of Spain, Trinidad to revel in the Western life whilst we had the chance! A holiday like that made it very difficult to fit back into life in Wauna. But after a ... read more

HAPPY CHRISTMAS ! Thank you for the pictures, my wall is getting pretty full already! We have got our tinsel up in the house but we cannot find anywhere to buy a tree… The shops have now stopped playing Brazilian music constantly. They now throw in some edited Christmas tunes with a big bass line, strange. Dan and I are still patiently waiting for snow ! Our “search” will take us to Trinidad at Christmas where we plan to do lots of diving and sunbathing. Then at New Years, I’m staying in Georgetown (Guyana’s capital). One of the teachers at Wauna is going to show me how to celebrate New Years in Guyana! More recently, I have been getting much more involved in community life. I have just taken up a Saturday job, it’s voluntary! There’s ... read more

Good afternoon ! I’m still alive and well said thanks for asking. And I’m still having the best year of my life! Two months on time is getting so fast weeks go by in seconds! Dan and I are getting along really well. We don’t think to ourselves, we just say out-loud our thoughts to each other ! We are starting to find our place in the community. People shout “Sir!” to us not only when we pass them but when they just see us ! We have made some very close friends Kezia, Davina, Andrew - all are teachers and also some pupils. With the pupils we play a lot of Frisbee or football whereas with the teachers we talk, joke, have barbecues and eat dinner. The only problem socially is that Wauna is so ... read more

Here is Tom's first letter !!! 7/09/2007 Arrived in Wauna 1/09/2007. The journey took 2 hours - half over continuous jungle in a plane, half in a Toyota Hiace along the very off-road track between Mabaruma and Wauna ! The house is on stilts, brand new, bright green and made of concrete. It was infested with Marabunta, AKA 2inch wasps AKA killer bees. We got some local kids to help spray insecticide then hit down the nests - EXCITING ! We have a massive lounge/kitchen and 2 bedrooms with double beds ! Our toilet doesn’t flush and the shower doesn't work ! We have to collect rain water in a 5 litre bucket to drink - it rains every day at 12ish midday. Rudy, the headmaster, lives in the school compound with his family. The compound ... read more