In the Spotlight - Suriname
Hazukashii
In the Spotlight – Suriname
By Ed “Hazukashii” Howell
29 May 2022 (updated 13 Jul 2022)
Suriname is located on the north-east region of South America, with Brazil to the south, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname is one of the smaller countries in South America, but also one of the most culturally diverse. The ethnic makeup of modern Suriname is amazing, and The Countries and their Cultures provides an excellent over view. Suriname has a population of just over 600 thousand, with nearly half (240 thousand) living in and around the capital city of Paramaribo.
According to excerpts from the Encyclopedia Britannica and the World Factbook, what is now Suriname was originally explored by the Spanish, but the English soon followed and settled. Soon after, the Dutch found its rich resources very lucrative, and ended up trading their stake in New Amsterdam (now known as New York City) to England, for control of what was deemed Dutch Guiana. The inner city was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002, and the rich history has been captured on their website. The downside to being designated as a world heritage site, is that many people cannot afford to meet the strict building standards required, so while some parts are fresh and new, other buildings are dilapidated and beyond repair. Some examples can be seen in this walking tour of the inner city, but overall, the inner city is fascinating.
Although it still maintains a very Dutch flavor, the region gained its independence in 1975, when it became the Republic of Suriname. A short five years of civilian control were ended by a military coupe, and several years of control as a socialist state. Civilian control was eventually reestablished in 1991 as a multiparty republic, with one legislative body, the National Assembly made up of 51 representatives.
The first and only hash in Suriname, is the Paramaribo H3, founded by Eddy Middeldorp on 24 Aug 1989, and had 25 hashers in the pack. There is still one hasher running, Anne “Bigi Mofo” de Vries, who was part of the original planning team coordinated by Eddy Middeldorp in 1989. He unfortunately missed the first 2 runs due to family holiday back in The Netherlands, but has been very active since run #3. He told me that Eddy was a Dutch Diplomat, and had been in Paramaribo since 1987, but did not meet enough people to feel comfortable to start the hash until 1989. After just one year, Eddy was off to his next posting, having created the hash, but was basically never heard from again.
Update: After publishing the original article on Suriname, I was contacted by Steve “Burnt Sox” Royster who forwarded an old FB post from 2015, that stated Eddy Middeldorp was now an ambassador, and was changing positions within the diplomatic corps. This spurred some additional research, and I found Eddy’s resume, that showed his illustrious career had started in 1980 in Islamabad, Pakistan. Follow on assignments included Lusaka, Zambia; Washington, DC; and then Paramaribo, Suriname where he had founded the one and only hash club in Suriname, and then he was never heard from again.
Eddy’s resume shows that he had gone back to The Hague for 3 years, before going to Brussels for 4 years, then back to The Hague for another 4 years. At this point, in August 2005, Eddy Middeldorp became an Ambassador for the Netherlands, and was sent back to Lusaka, Zambia for 3 years. Additional assignments kept him climbing the career ladder including Ambassador to Denmark for 4 years. Additional research showed that he was back in The Netherlands, and President of a Rowing Club. At this point, I started looking for ways to contact him. Seeing the he had a Twitter account, I signed up and attempted to contact him via Twitter . . . no response. Then I asked some of the local Amsterdam hashers if they had ever heard of him, another dead end. At this point, I figured I would just go to Amsterdam and track him down.
During my continued travels, I had several more hash events planned, but a couple months later I eventually got back to Europe for German Nash Hash. It was great seeing so many old friends again, and during the hangover trail on Sunday, I was chatting with my friend R. “Bore Whore” Smit from The Netherlands, telling him I would be up to visit, and that I needed to track down Eddy Middeldorp . . . he thinks for a moment, then gives me a funny look and says . . . “I think I know his daughter.” Thinking he is joking with me, we laugh a bit, and then he pulls out his phone and sends her a text. He confirms that Eddy is her father, and agrees to give me his contact details.
Hours later via WhatsApp, I was chatting with Eddy himself, where he confirmed his founding of the Paramaribo H3. He was also kind enough to fill me in on all the additional details, as follows . . .
I started Hashing in Islamabad, my first posting as a diplomat. The Hash there was in principle a men only run, although there were special runs with women too. After Islamabad my wife and I went to Lusaka, Zambia, where we both joined the Hash there. In Washington we did not run on the Hash. That we founded the Hash in Paramaribo only after two years was due to the fact that the military (Bouterse and his companions) allowed for elections to take place and the whole atmosphere in the country became more relaxed. I also participated in the Hash a couple of times in Pretoria. We have not been back to Surinam, indeed, but are thinking about a vacation there in the near future. Nice write up of your run in Parbo! My wife Helene (also one of the founders!) and I are pleasantly surprised the PH3 still is going strong!
In further discussions, Eddy confirmed that he ran his first hash in 1980, with the Islamabad H3, stating that his “colleague at the Dutch Embassy, Reinier van der Kroon, introduced me.” When asked about his hash name, Eddy said “I never had a proper hash name, but in Pakistan the ‘Middeldorp’ was too difficult for English speaking hashers and in write ups I was often called Middledope or Middledrop.” He finished by telling me what kept him coming back . . . “my draw to hashing was the friendships, the fitness aspect and sure: also the beer afterwards! I also like joining in singing!” So, there you have it, straight from the founder of the Parbo H3.
Bigi Mofo informed me that originally, the hash club was made up mostly of diplomatic personnel. He also mentioned . . .
. . . nowadays weekly participation is steadily between 40-50. When run nr. 10 was reached, the PH3 mismanagement decided to call it a Special Hash and it was organized at Onverdacht (popular known as “Billiton”), a small bauxite mining town some 35 km south of Paramaribo. Considered to be a family-Hash, to which regular hashers could bring spouse and kids, it was held – “by exception and against all Hash-rules” – on Sunday morning. It was a huge success, so the MM decided to declare every 25th , 50th, 75th and 100th run a Special (family) Hash, to be held on Sunday morning and somewhere in the country-side. This scheme is valid to this day. Another tradition the PH3 developed is the “Owroe Yari”- Hash (last run of the year), as usual on the last Monday of December, but with special treats at the After-Hash. PH3-members are nowadays almost exclusively locals and although there is some turnover in membership, we have many long lasting Harriers. A few with almost 1.500 runs, some with over 1.000. And numerous with 100+, 200+, etc. As any 100 mark reached, this Harrier receives a T-shirt with the number of completed runs prominently displayed on the front. For some years now, the PH3 has good relationship with Port-of-Spain-H3, resulting in regularly participation in each other runs.
On a recent visit I was able to run with the Paramaribo H3. The hash is normally all done in Dutch, but for non-Dutch speaking visitors, they very kindly speak English to accommodate. In chalk talk at the start, it was explained that they use shredded paper in the jungle, but they use spray paint in the city. So, for this trail the marks were painted in green or light blue, and the marks could be found on posts, walls, or on the ground. A standard mark was a blob the size of your fist, but lines of 6” by 1” were also used on the ground in some areas. Circles were checks, but not often used, as the trail could randomly turn left or right, which you did not find out until you ran out of marks. From a check, you needed to find 6 marks to know you were on, only 4 or 5 marks and the trail could just end. You could also go more than 6 marks and find an X, which was a back check, and then you turn around and find the trail going left or right somewhere else.
We had 28 hashers on trail, with 4 runners doing all the checking. Even with checking, we came in at under 2.5 miles, so three of us went for a run around the block to get up to about 4 miles, thus earning our beer for the day. It was explained that the hare was setting trail for the first time, and trails were normally longer and more diverse. The pack was very friendly and welcoming to visitors, and the circle was very entertaining. One illustrious hash, Cigar Sucker, even made it a point to not only pick me up at my hotel, but also to show me around including a visit to the family house out by the airport, where some crazy hash weekends have been held (I may have to make another trip to Suriname if I hear about one of those weekend away trips). The Paramaribo H3 is active and can be found running every Monday evening in the greater Paramaribo area, if you are ever in town you will not want to miss it.
For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html