Back From Hello

While Lindsay and I were still in CBT (Community-based Training), we had the opportunity to visit the Afobaka Dam with our language class. I took pictures. I’ll link to those shortly. First, a little history.

The dam at Afobaka, officially titled the “Prof. Dr. Ir. W.J. van Blommesteinmeer” was completed in 1965 and its reservoir reached full capacity in 1971. It was constructed by the Suriname Aluminium Company (Suralco) in order to power their smelter. Through an agreement with the Surinamese government, Suralco was given the requisite water and property rights to complete the dam. The Surinamese government received a guaranteed percentage of the power produced by the plant.

In the end, everyone was happy, except of course, for the few thousand people who were displaced when the reservoir flooded to full capacity. Some of these people moved into government and/or Alcoa-built housing. Some moved to other villages or to the city. Some founded new villages. In the words of Vonnegut, “So it goes.”

Here is a link to my pictures. I hope you enjoy.