New Year in Paramaribo 5

In fact Suriname is described as one of the most ethnically diverse places on earth.
In addition to the original Amerindian population- estimated at 2%- there are people of African, Indian and Indonesian (formerly Dutch East India) descent, originally brought to work as slaves, and later indentured labourers, on the plantations of Dutch Guiana. There is a  distinct Maroon population, descended from those who fled slavery and established their own plantations and independence within the interior.
The names of Chinese owned businesses are distinctly visible across Paramaribo, in food, distribution, construction and manufacture.
There is a small European population, mainly Dutch.

Like Guyana, a significant proportion of Surinamese people leave the country, mainly to work in the USA, Canada and the Netherlands.
Currently the Suriname diaspora in the Netherlands, with direct origins here, numbers 0.25 million, compared with the total population of 0.43 million living in Suriname.

Since independence, the country has had a chequered history politically, with coups, including a "telephone coup", and a civil war. The current President, Desi Bouterse, former army officer and military dictator, was elected in 2010. Immune from prosecution, he still has charges to answer of involvement in killings in 1982 and was convicted of drug smuggling in the Netherlands.

This information in no way spoiled our brief tourist-style visit to the capital.
Happily,  the Guyana dollar -Suriname dollar exchange rate, and the fact that the cost of living is significantly lower in Suriname- (Paramaribo is 832/950- Georgetown, Guyana is 392/950- and London is 22/950 on the Xpatulator Cost of Living Index)- meant that we could enjoy eating out in comfort, a rare treat for volunteers managing on a basic allowance.

Our accommodation in Paramaribo was offered by a local teacher, who is friends with a Dutch teacher who visits regularly. The Dutch teacher is a colleague of my volunteer friend. (This picture gives a flavour of the ethnic mix in Paramaribo.) Together, we spent a morning visiting and taking a few gifts to a charitable home for children and adults with severe and complex needs: the only place of its kind in the country, it supports 30 people and has 200 on its waiting list. Later we discussed the gap between need and provision and also the nature of the care given, which was clearly very loving and gentle, but without generous and highly qualified staffing levels, could not offer proper therapies or education which would extend and enrich the quality of life for each person.