In a continued effort to document and research the synagogue remains and cemeteries of Jodensavanne, Rachel Frankel, Architect, will organize an expedition to survey Jodensavanne's Seventeenth – Nineteenth century cemetery. The cemetery contains over 400 tombstones engraved with Hebrew and Portuguese inscriptions and illustrative images.
The expedition will take place for about two weeks in early August 1999. A few days will be spent in Suriname's historic capital city, Paramaribo, and the reminder of the time at Jodensavanne, located in the rain forest. Sephardic Jews and enslaved West Africans settled Jodensavanne as a semi-autonomous sugar plantation colony within the larger colony of Dutch Guiana in the 1660's.
Caribbean Volunteer Expeditions (CVE), a non-profit organization recruiting volunteers from the US and Canada to work on preservation projects throughout the Caribbean and Guyanas, will once again join the expedition as they have on prior expeditions in 1997 and 1998. Volunteers will participate under the auspices of CVE. Aviva Ben-Ur, Ph.D. will lead the transcription and translation documentation as she did in 1998 at another of Jodensavanne's three cemeteries. The Stichting Jodensavanne (Foundation for Jodensavanne) and STINASU (Suriname Foundation for Nature Conservation) will host the expedition as they did in prior years. CVE volunteers pay their airfare, lodging and meals; estimated at roughly $1,500. Additionally, CVE volunteers are responsible for their own medical precautions.
Field volunteers will assist in creating a plan of the cemetery grounds and in inventorying and photographing the tombstones of the cemetery. Hebrew volunteers will be responsible for transcribing the epitaphs. Individuals interested in volunteering should contact:
Caribbean Volunteer Expeditions
Box 388
Corning, New York 14830
CVE web site: http://members.aol.com/ahershcve/
Rachel Frankel may also be contacted:
Rachel Frankel, A.I.A. (Net Rache lArch@aol.com)
Architecture
10 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016
Tel 212 683-1067 - Fax 212 683-6150