15/6/84

It's been a busy two weeks. The ‘usual' but also I've been occupied with computerizing our data at the M.I.U. The reason for the computerization is that I'm trying to make the operation of the unit as simple as possible. The programs I'm writing make it easy to enter the data. Then the program will take care of the rest. It will also keep the data in a manageable form and easy to access. Hopefully, it will make things easier…. 

Lots of correspondence from home. Deb's side has been sending wedding pictures and descriptions of their big event. Mom and Dad Hein might even come visit in October. My side has been keeping us posted on my sister's progress into pregnancy and also kept us up to date on Mindy's father-in-law. Overall, lots of talk about our return to the states as we finish this 2-year odyssey (or oddity). Lots of plans need to be made yet, but it's still too far into the future for anything other than speculation.

Along the same line, we found out that Deb is getting a replacement. What a surprise! Therefore, our agonizing over an extension possibility is now moot. We already wrote to Irene Tarach (a Chicagoan) and she should be arriving in St Vincent on July 21st if I have my dates correct. This young lady is an ‘83 grad. I didn't catch where she has been working. Deb's initial excitement has changed to anxiety because now she wants everything ‘ready’ for Irene's arrival. [We’ll be painting the physio dept. over Carnival weekend]. That arrival will signal the beginning of the end for us and once again we're forced to confront our destiny.

I don't know where we'll go or what we will do. All I know is that we have to somehow try to transfer our ‘education’ in this place to something ‘real’ in the states.Jjust as we had to transfer our U.S. culture into a Vincentian situation. The challenge is to scale up our experience here and make the changes in ourselves (which might be temporary if only tied to St. V) into lasting ones. I'm certainly more militant in that I see U.S. foreign policy as completely misguided and much too militaristic (precipitated by the Grenada situation and fixed by Mr Reagan's military aid to St Vincent in the form of guns, ammunition and training which, by the way is being used against the population and fast turning St Vincent into a fascist state). (see I told you I was militant). But I'm equally determined to use myself as a humanizing force in America. That will be ‘small scale’, certainly. but I now am clearly aware of how dehumanizing a lot of what we do can be. Gads, it's much too convoluted and lengthy to go into now. But we as Americans tend to ignore the basic rights of being human i.e. self Self-determination, self-sufficiency, etc. We want too many things our way or not at all. I'm going to try to be open to other avenues. Next week we go to Grenada and Trinidad which should be interesting as well as (hopefully) restful. It puts a crimp in my schedule but I think I'll be able to get out my monthly report before the Carnival weekend cranks up.