Aruba 2

My first letter from Aruba was written in a hurry. I'll try to be a little more structured this time.

I have received a BF Full Grant to visit the Caribbean, and I hope that my travel letters can inspire other Y'smen from clubs which have paid the minimum 5 USD per member to BF to apply for a Full Grant before November 1st.

My trip was originally scheduled to be for weeks in October/November, but as it would be unpractical for my teaching practice as well as for my school asking for a four week leave in that period, I have applied for and got one year's unpaid leave.

So when I am down here, I have extended my stay to ten weeks. These six extra weeks have got nothing to do with Y'smen, neither economically or in any other way. And they come in between my Y's men's visits. I'll keep you informed as I move along.

I started on Aruba as KLM have direct flights from Amsterdam. Aruba segregated from the Dutch Antilles in 1986 and has autonomy within the Dutch Kingdom. The small island has about 70.000 inhabitants and is situated 30 kilometers north of Venezuela on 12 degrees northern latitude.

Big brother (or sister?) Curacao is perhaps better known. Wednesday September 4th we had a meeting in Aruba YMC. It was supposed to start at 7.30 p.m. When I arrived on time, only the president was there. I didn't expect a welcoming committee and a red carpet, but may be a few more members. At 8.p.m. we were still only two, and I started realizing that tonight's guest speaker probably wasn't as attractive as I thought. But at 8.30 p.m. a total of 10 members had shown up, quite good according to local conditions.

Unfortunately they had not been able to provide a slide projector so they had to make do with my words. I spoke about y'sdom in Norway, Stavanger and Hinna to attentive listeners, and there were quite a number of questions afterwards, just like at home. In particular I had to elaborate more on the fact that many of our clubs are closely linked to church congregations.

They were happy they did not have to sell Christmas trees at our weather conditions (and temperatures). While we sell Christmas trees and art, barbeques, raffles and car wash were the main sources of income to Aruba YMC. The yearly contribution to the local YMCA was normally between 1500 and 2000 USD. (Their money is Aruban Florins).

Aruba YMC normally meet at the Y, and the club has strong relations to the Y. I was able to have a chat with Ron Serrant, the secretary general (from Trinidad by the way). He shares his time evenly between the YMCAs in San Nicolaas and Oranjestad. There are 11 full time employees, and the yearly budget is around 300.000 USD.

After school care, sports and courses for adults is basically what they do. Aruba YMC were pioneers in after school care. They were supported first by the gov. when they started. When they had developed a concept that functioned well, the gov. copied it and offered it to the parents with subventions. So the number of kids at the Y was reduced dramatically, but according to Ron, the Y has always been good at facing new challenges.

As a teacher I have not surprisingly visited a school. I was invited by the principal and inspector who both were Y'smen. I was positively surprised even if their working conditions not were the easiest. The parents who could afford it, sent their children to private schools. The majority went to Catholic schools, and the gov. schools had to deal with the rest who could not get a place elsewhere. To their group, several immigrants belonged, both legal and illegal - with language problems as the main consequence. Pupils with behavioral problems also ended up in the gov. schools, and the school I visited had pupils from all over the island. But they had some extra resources to fight the problems with, and politeness was more seen here than at home.

Teaching starts in Papiamento, the local language, but gradually Dutch takes over, a language not in daily use by any of the pupils, and accordingly not very popular.

From Aruba I take a side trip to the Dominican Republic, and my next Y stop will be Trinidad September 18th.

Y'sly

Arne Augedal