Exploring Kwamalasamutu

Originally published at http://teamsuriname.wordpress.com

My teammates introduced you to the village of Kwamala in the previous post, and I would like to repeat, that that was one very small plane! The view from Paramaribo to Kwamalasamutu was breathtaking. For two hours we flew over the northern portion of the Amazon that few are lucky to see. Our Peace Corps friend, Joe, said that the trees were so tightly spaced and numerous that they resemble broccoli, and I have to agree.  

Once safely on the ground on the grassy airstrip, our mixed group of 8, from Peace Corps, the Ministry of Education, UNICEF, Columbia University, and Tufts University went to have our formal meeting and introduction to the Granman, the head of Kwamalasamutu. Conversations flew back and forth in English, Triol, Sranan Tongo, and Dutch, aided by local residents who served as translators. We were introduced to the Granman and stated our reasons for being there. After being given his support, and being introduced to a Captain, a figurehead of the political structure, we walked around the alternately sandy and grassy village, looking at the houses, school, clinics and market structures. We walked by the shaman clinic and learned that people typically go to the “modern” clinic first, and the shaman clinic second if the first’s treatment does not stick. Local medicine, using age-old extracts, herbs, and treatments from the forest, is a distinctive part of the indigenous culture in Kwamala.