2006.09.13: September 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Jamaica: Blogs - Jamaica: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer Name:Caitlin writes: Taximen in Jamaica

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Jamaica: Peace Corps Jamaica : The Peace Corps in Jamaica: 2006.09.13: September 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Jamaica: Blogs - Jamaica: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer Name:Caitlin writes: Taximen in Jamaica

By Admin1 (admin) (ppp-70-250-74-101.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net - 70.250.74.101) on Friday, November 24, 2006 - 9:48 am: Edit Post

Peace Corps Volunteer Name:Caitlin writes: Taximen in Jamaica

Peace Corps Volunteer Name:Caitlin writes:  Taximen in Jamaica

"Transportation in rural Jamaica is not a simple matter. On some routes the taxis are few and far between or they are all 'robots' (illegal) taxis so they don't run when cops are out on the road, which happens in spurts. Taxis don't just transport people, they often transport goods as well. Say you are in a main town, and want to send some medicine to your mom who lives in a small community, then you would buy the meds and bring them to a taxi that runs into your mom's area for him to deliver for you. For this service you pay at least what you would pay to transport yourself. The benefit is you don't have to pay to go there and come back."

Peace Corps Volunteer Name:Caitlin writes: Taximen in Jamaica

Baby Mama Bag

Transportation in rural Jamaica is not a simple matter. On some routes the taxis are few and far between or they are all 'robots' (illegal) taxis so they don't run when cops are out on the road, which happens in spurts. Taxis don't just transport people, they often transport goods as well. Say you are in a main town, and want to send some medicine to your mom who lives in a small community, then you would buy the meds and bring them to a taxi that runs into your mom's area for him to deliver for you. For this service you pay at least what you would pay to transport yourself. The benefit is you don't have to pay to go there and come back.

Given all this, taximen have access to the majority of people in the community, including young women and children. It's a common joke here that a taximan has pickney in every district along his route. But it's not really a joke, as many of them do.

This morning I was running a little late, so when I saw a taxi coming up towards my district I rushed to the road to get in. He picked me up but said he had to 'drop something' before going to Santa Cruz. Cool, whatever. He puts the bag to be dropped in my lap, and I sneaked a peak. It contains juice, formula and pampers. It's a baby mama bag.

He picks up a old lady next, but she needs to stop at the post office before leaving town to pick up her pension check. Next is a young man who needs us to go into his yard so he can get a bag. All this time we are traveling in the opposite direction of where I'm trying to get to. Two last passengers are picked up and at last we start down the mountain, smalled up 4 adults plus a baby in the backseat.

The driver stops about a quarter of the way to Santa Cruz, to 'drop' something. A woman with an infant comes out of the house, but she does not look happy. Her hair is a mess with a comb sticking out of it, her shirt and skirt are tight and dirty and the infant looks positively sticky. She starts to yell at him about how long it took, baby nah have no pampas, nah have no feedin, how come yah nah send no cash money fi 'im, etc. A fight ensues and the taximan throws the bag in a rainpuddle then turns and walks away.

All of us in the taxi pretend like nothing happened. Like a man screaming at the mother of his child and throwing away the things for the child in front of the screeching infant is a normal occurrence. Perhaps that's the problem, it is normal.

Being a mother in Jamaica tends to be a humiliating experience. As men make women pregnant but are often with a next woman by the time the baby is born, the baby's mother has to beg and bargain with additional sex to get the things required to care for her baby. With such a high unemployment rate, many women will sleep with taximen because they think, 'at least this one has money for the pickney'. Taximen often have many women, and babies, without caring for them all, or just providing free transportation.

I'm not saying all taximen are like this, there are some very nice people out there, but I've known a number of them that leave much to be desired in the ethics department. That said, I've learned here that what American's consider sexually ethical isn't universal (obviously) and that society can function with a marriage rate of 20% or less. All of this is often juxtaposed on top of people being 'Christian', a term which has become more ambiguous in my mind since arriving here. I know for a fact that the taximan in reference is a 'Christian', he goes to church with some of my co-workers. I also know that wasn't the only baby mama bag he had to drop off today.




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