Here is a continuation of my husband’s trip to Guyana last summer:
The second day, more people came. That brought the total number of people attending the workshop to ten. I was told this was much less than the number of people that said they would come, but it was still a record number of people attending a training class in the community. I spent a little time to go over the initiation phase with the newcomers just as I did on the first day. They worked together to start making the shampoo while the first day attendees finished the shampoo they had started with a day before. The second group did not finish the shampoo making as expected, but was able to observe the second day process from the first group. One of the second group attendees took the partially finished shampoo home to finish it on his own time.
We all made Crabwood oil cream and lotion after lunch. Again, I divided the people into two groups. One started with making lotion while the other group made cream. Once each group had completed their assignment, they cleaned their mixing container and were eagerly ready for a new assignment in the later afternoon. The group who made lotion earlier was working together to make cream and vice versa. Each person took turns handling the weighing of the chemicals, heating and mixing. This actual hands-on batch making experience is very important; each person not only observed and felt the congealing phenomenon in an emulsion system twice, they were able to observe the other group’s process in re-confirming their learning.
We completed the training on the second day in the late afternoon. Each person who participated in this workshop had the opportunity to make a batch of shampoo, (second group completed the first phase only), and a batch of cream and a batch of lotion. Each took some sample of what they made home; and each could proudly proclaim “I made these’ as Annie did with her cream and lotion at the seminar. I gave each lady who came for the training a baseball cap and a Blistex lip balm as to represent their “certification of completion”.
I was supposed to be in Georgetown, on Friday but stayed in the forest for one more day. I visited the shells beach after lunch. It was the first time I was physically out of Greg’s home in about a week. We visited a family in the beach community. This family is responsible for protecting the leatherback turtles as they came in laying eggs on the beach each year. Interestingly, we met a young volunteer from Germany who has been living with this family for about four months in helping this community building an internet site to reach out to the outside world about their mission.
I wished I had more time to visit other families in the Three Brother Community; especially those that came for the workshop.
On Monday August 29, 2011, I said goodbye to Georgetown, Guyana; – a beautiful country with many waters – and returned home in the United States. It was a great experience for me to work with people in a community so far away. I pray for this beautiful country, the community people, and the success of their new businesses.
maylanskincare 