Connecting Routes: Birth by Candlelight
SAMOA - THE GAMBIA - CANADA
Here’s to “Connecting Routes” ~ a space to spotlight a common theme in my travels that offers snapshots from one place to another, like the tantalizing tease of a tasting menu or a shortlist of your next dream vacation!
Top Three Places for Exploring Lands that have Birthed
The first baby I delivered was in Surama, a rural Amerindian village of 200 people within the Rupununi rainforest of Guyana. As a university student poised with only passion (and panic) in my pocket, I distinctly remember sitting on the steps of the little hut (aka ‘health post’) reading and re-reading the pages of “Where There is No Doctor” - praying that this baby wouldn’t have a cord around its neck. I was on a three month volunteer stint with Youth Challenge International and while we were catalyzing the building of a guesthouse, I spent much of my free time within the walls of this little health post. So in the darkness of the night, when the knock finally came that she was in labour, we lit the kerosene lamp and dashed over to the health centre next door.
At that time, Guyanese women traditionally birthed at home, leaning on their hammocks. After building trust with the women of the village, this was the first baby to be born within their health centre - a humble hut we had doused in Dettol and where candlelight and kerosene lamps lit our way to welcome this wee one. That he arrived after sunrise on Guyanese Independence Day was noteworthy. I remember sharing my sentiments with this teenage mom that his timing (and perhaps his purpose on the planet) might be influenced by this serendipity.
How do we digest the nuances of a birth? Whether for an individual, an opportunity, or a land, these beginnings are often the ends of another era and have nuances of the new chapter that lays ahead.
This week, the North American continent marked the National day of both Canada and the USA. More than free time, fireworks and festivities, big ticket notions such as independence and freedom are on tap to talk about. Indeed, the diversities of the herstories and histories can easily lend themselves to tougher, deeper convos that question the very many privileges we may enjoy.
I think back to what Surama showcased. That little guesthouse we created, birthed into the Surama Ecolodge. The resiliency of the women (in spite their marginalization) helped me birth the empowerment platform BELIEF (Becoming Educated Leaders Inspired by Exemplary Females). As for the son that she’d birthed on Independence day, well, after our little chat she announced that she was naming him Liberty!
With this lens on observing lands that have followed different trajectories from where they may have been birthed, these country pairings remind us that like siblings who share genetic make ups, past their pretty faces, there are juxtapositions to be noted.
Samoa: Only 70 kms away from American Samoa, one can imagine that there’s a lot of same-same ness that’s similarly scintillating. Both are steeped in the Fa’a-Samo way of living. While logistics and foreign affiliations are different, from birth, the importance of family, tribes and communal living is taught as a central tenet.
The Gambia: In contrast to the bigger sibling that seemed to have swallowed it, Senegal gives off a bustling urban feel, while the remote village vibe of The Gambia made me think. It’s easy to see why folks actually take the time to talk to one another here – survival still depends on it. Without traffic lights how else do they communicate? Being to being: with their windows down, hands draped over the doors, eye contact and a lot of psst psst. No wonder then, that there are high chances of finding and honouring connections here.
Canada: The metaphor of the tossed salad compared to the USA’s melting pot continues to challenge us on our policies, preferences and particularly how to envision and embody a pluralistic society. Moving from photocopy to uncertainty can be one way. And as we celebrated July 1st and July 4th this week, what better time to think of birth, beginnings, and our own next step on the journey, eh?
May we use this birth of ours, individually and collectively, to walk towards the Light,