Wow, classes started, and then out of nowhere I started getting invited to stuff out of site every week, so I´ve been crazy busy! I´m doing a Life Planning course this year with the older students (7-9 grade, the third cycle as they call it). I´m also giving English courses, and I´m feeling pretty good about them at this point. Besides, they´re so appreciated in my community. I think most people in San Juan wouldn´t care if the only thing I did for two years was teach English in the school. I´m also working on getting a recycling project going to clean up the community and make a little money for the school, but it´s hit a few hiccups. It´ll work out, but it (like everything else around here) is taking longer than I thought.
An NGO (non-governmental organization, basically what we think of as a non-profit) asked me to translate their website into English, and that´s going to be a huge project. Here´s a link. I´m not sure if you´ll be able to follow the link to the English version when they start posting the translations, but we´ll see. Eventually they´d like to get status in the US so they can receive tax-deductible donations from you all to help fund school infraestructure projects and scholarships in the department (state) of Morazan!
http://fundemac.org/
On February 3, we (my training class) celebrated a year in country! We rented a beach house for two nights, then went to the capital to watch the Super Bowl. Then last week I visited a friend for her fiestas patronales, which is when a community celebrates their patron saint. And today I´m returning from visiting another friend and helping her with her Environment Day, kicking off her recycling project. Busy busy!
As always, I hope yall are well. It should be warming up soon, but if it´s not soon enough, come visit! Highs are in the 90s, and it´s only going to get hotter until the rain comes in May!
18 February 2011
18 January 2011
so much for solutions
The water committee already fell apart. Whatever. I don´t care. I´m not surprised, just disappointed.
Classes start next week. So far it looks like I´ll be giving English classes, working with the older students with a program PC calls ¨How to Plan My Life,¨possibly teaching computation, starting a recycling program, and doing some sort of school garden project. We´ll see.
So after all this, I´m still a little sad, but doing well at the same time. Dulce´s doing also doing well also. Her mother, poor thing, is badly mistreated and was at the point of starvation, so I started feeding her too, so she spends a lot of time with us now. I think she´s pregnant again, but this time she´s healthy enough to handle it.
Classes start next week. So far it looks like I´ll be giving English classes, working with the older students with a program PC calls ¨How to Plan My Life,¨possibly teaching computation, starting a recycling program, and doing some sort of school garden project. We´ll see.
So after all this, I´m still a little sad, but doing well at the same time. Dulce´s doing also doing well also. Her mother, poor thing, is badly mistreated and was at the point of starvation, so I started feeding her too, so she spends a lot of time with us now. I think she´s pregnant again, but this time she´s healthy enough to handle it.
30 December 2010
update
We have a water committee! Some important government people came and organized elections for the committee, to separate the water from the local government and its problems. I'm glad I was coordinating - it was chaos! It's over now, though. Cross your fingers that everything goes well and we can move things along with the government too!
Christmas was awesome, but busy. I spent it in site, at a few soccer tournaments, mass, and a party. Now I'm in San Vicente for New Years with my host family.
Most of the next few weeks I'll be working with Engineers without Borders at a different site where they're building a bridge. I'm helping translate.
Happy New Year!
Christmas was awesome, but busy. I spent it in site, at a few soccer tournaments, mass, and a party. Now I'm in San Vicente for New Years with my host family.
Most of the next few weeks I'll be working with Engineers without Borders at a different site where they're building a bridge. I'm helping translate.
Happy New Year!
23 November 2010
addressing concerns
Given the political tensions in my community, several friends here and at home have suggested that I request a site change. Honestly, I really don´t consider that an option. Certainly some volunteers have moved and found success at their new site, but others are shocked to discover that their new community also has problems, as though PC is hiding the good sites from us or something. No, I would only move if they made me, and that would only be for security or health reasons. Given everything I´ve been through in the last year, I can´t imagine starting over again, figuring out a new community and its problems, and actually having time left in my service to do anything. Plus I´m 100% sure I would not find another counterpart as awesome as Roxana in any other community anywhere else in the world. Besides, the people in my community are still really good to me; they just have a lot of issues amongst themselves. That´s really why I joined PC in the first place. Yes, I´d love to be able to do big projects, but if that´s all I wanted to do, I could have found a job with a different organization instead of waiting forever on PC. I wanted to live in a community and form relationships, understand the culture better. Yes I´ve had to lower my expectations as far as work goes, but that´s okay.
I´m sure most of you have heard by now that I´ll be home again this Friday. I look forward to seeing any of you can make the trip to Atlanta. Thank you for supporting my family and me.
I´m sure most of you have heard by now that I´ll be home again this Friday. I look forward to seeing any of you can make the trip to Atlanta. Thank you for supporting my family and me.
10 November 2010
Life continues to get crazier...
I think it´s time I explain better what´s happening in my community. It´s a very long and complicated story, but I´ll do my best.
First of all, I need to explain what I mean by ¨local government.¨It´s more local than the mayor - he´s doing just fine in my municipality. It´s my community´s government. It´s called an ADESCO, an acronym for Association for Community Development. It´s not a given that all communities have one; they have to want one, and it often takes years to get enough community members involved and to apply for legal standing. Mine is actually one of the oldest ones around and for years was respected for being well-organized.
As it happens, my ADESCO is in charge of the water project, which was completed only a year or two ago. Before that, all the women had to go to the river to wash and bring back water. Now they have clorinated water piped into their homes. Like my places in El Salvador where water comes to the houses, it´s not available all day. Instead, it comes for a little while and people fill their barrels or pilas during that time. Clearly it´s a wonderful thing to have the water project, but the management of it has created a lot of tensions in San Juan, in addition to the normal political squabbles. Upon receiving the water, everyone in the community agreed to a set of rules, but of course that doesn´t always hold up. That´s why the rebel government was formed. Well, actually there are a number of reasons, but water is the big thing. Both sides have points in their favor. Understandably people need water for everything, but if they don´t pay for 3 months, their water gets cut off, which is also reasonable. Then they say they´re paying too much or not getting enough. It´s hard because it´s such a basic necessity.
I tell you all of this because things got even crazier last week when the rebel government broke into the water system and put their own locks on it, placing themselves in charge of the water project. The mayor tried to send one of his men, the social promotor, to the community, but they put up road blocks. Supposedly the major himself is coming for a meeting later this week and bringing the police and church leaders with him. We´ll see.
This whole situation breaks my heart on a lot of levels, but what most gets to me is the break down of families here. Everyone in my community is related somehow, and this mess is dividing them. It´s even infiltrated the Seventh Day Adventist Church in my village, and probably would the Catholic if there were a priest here regularly.
All that being said, the people here are still really good to me. Right now I feel frustrated but content.
Mom asked if other volunteers have these same problems here. Certainly all ADESCOs have issues, but mine is unique. I can´t really point to one reason why my community is the way it is, and in what ways the people are different from other Salvadorans, but it is what it is.
I hope I explained this somewhat. Like I said, it´s a crazy, complicated mess. I know y´all are inclined to worry, but don´t! I don´t tell you this to scare you but because you said you wanted to know.
First of all, I need to explain what I mean by ¨local government.¨It´s more local than the mayor - he´s doing just fine in my municipality. It´s my community´s government. It´s called an ADESCO, an acronym for Association for Community Development. It´s not a given that all communities have one; they have to want one, and it often takes years to get enough community members involved and to apply for legal standing. Mine is actually one of the oldest ones around and for years was respected for being well-organized.
As it happens, my ADESCO is in charge of the water project, which was completed only a year or two ago. Before that, all the women had to go to the river to wash and bring back water. Now they have clorinated water piped into their homes. Like my places in El Salvador where water comes to the houses, it´s not available all day. Instead, it comes for a little while and people fill their barrels or pilas during that time. Clearly it´s a wonderful thing to have the water project, but the management of it has created a lot of tensions in San Juan, in addition to the normal political squabbles. Upon receiving the water, everyone in the community agreed to a set of rules, but of course that doesn´t always hold up. That´s why the rebel government was formed. Well, actually there are a number of reasons, but water is the big thing. Both sides have points in their favor. Understandably people need water for everything, but if they don´t pay for 3 months, their water gets cut off, which is also reasonable. Then they say they´re paying too much or not getting enough. It´s hard because it´s such a basic necessity.
I tell you all of this because things got even crazier last week when the rebel government broke into the water system and put their own locks on it, placing themselves in charge of the water project. The mayor tried to send one of his men, the social promotor, to the community, but they put up road blocks. Supposedly the major himself is coming for a meeting later this week and bringing the police and church leaders with him. We´ll see.
This whole situation breaks my heart on a lot of levels, but what most gets to me is the break down of families here. Everyone in my community is related somehow, and this mess is dividing them. It´s even infiltrated the Seventh Day Adventist Church in my village, and probably would the Catholic if there were a priest here regularly.
All that being said, the people here are still really good to me. Right now I feel frustrated but content.
Mom asked if other volunteers have these same problems here. Certainly all ADESCOs have issues, but mine is unique. I can´t really point to one reason why my community is the way it is, and in what ways the people are different from other Salvadorans, but it is what it is.
I hope I explained this somewhat. Like I said, it´s a crazy, complicated mess. I know y´all are inclined to worry, but don´t! I don´t tell you this to scare you but because you said you wanted to know.
25 October 2010
me again
Hey everyone back home,
I hope you are well. I am content, but could be better. My counterpart and community president definitely exaggerated the degree to which tempers had cooled in San Juan. Cross your fingers that everybody can put their politics and pride aside to get this clinic project running! If it goes down the drain, there is a good chance also that the next project will be a goner as well. The next one involves latrines, chicken houses, and new ovens that divert the smoke (they cook often over fires, especially when they´re making tortillas).
I´ve resigned myself at this point to the fact that I will probably work almost entirely in the school if the turmoil persists. I don´t mind, there´s a lot to do there, but the school year ends in two weeks and doesn´t pick up again until February. In the mean time, I´ll be traveling a little bit for different events. Other than that, you´ll find me playing with the kids and making tamales until February!
I hope you are well. I am content, but could be better. My counterpart and community president definitely exaggerated the degree to which tempers had cooled in San Juan. Cross your fingers that everybody can put their politics and pride aside to get this clinic project running! If it goes down the drain, there is a good chance also that the next project will be a goner as well. The next one involves latrines, chicken houses, and new ovens that divert the smoke (they cook often over fires, especially when they´re making tortillas).
I´ve resigned myself at this point to the fact that I will probably work almost entirely in the school if the turmoil persists. I don´t mind, there´s a lot to do there, but the school year ends in two weeks and doesn´t pick up again until February. In the mean time, I´ll be traveling a little bit for different events. Other than that, you´ll find me playing with the kids and making tamales until February!
11 October 2010
Back in the big San Juan
I flew back to El Salvador last Monday, spent two nights in the capital visiting everybody there, and got back to site on Wednesday! It was hard to leave home, but I´m glad to be back in my community. My house was a crazy mess, but it´s under control now, and I picked up my puppy on Saturday, so everything is returning to normal.
Tempers have cooled somewhat since I left, so the whole political mess is also coming under control. So now my community president is anxious to get working again, and so am I!
So yeah, things on my end are good. I miss everybody at home, now more than ever. Love yall!
Tempers have cooled somewhat since I left, so the whole political mess is also coming under control. So now my community president is anxious to get working again, and so am I!
So yeah, things on my end are good. I miss everybody at home, now more than ever. Love yall!
17 September 2010
messing around in GA
I'm still in the US for a little while longer. I was messing around on the internet today and found a photo I want to share with y'all. I haven't been able to get a good photo of a torogoz, the national bird of El Salvador, but I found a great one. It's such a pretty bird! Follow the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrivasphotography/873390883/
While we're at it, here's the izote, the national flower. I'm told you can eat them, but I've never tried one.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Izote_Flor_Nacional.jpg
And Happy (belated) Independence Day to El Salvador and its neighbors! They celebrate Independence on September 15 (ES, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras declared independence as one united country).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrivasphotography/873390883/
While we're at it, here's the izote, the national flower. I'm told you can eat them, but I've never tried one.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Izote_Flor_Nacional.jpg
And Happy (belated) Independence Day to El Salvador and its neighbors! They celebrate Independence on September 15 (ES, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras declared independence as one united country).
30 August 2010
photos
I'm still at home, so I took advantage of having internet to post some more photos.
http://elmundoesunpanuelophotos.shutterfly.com/
The new ones include my host family during my first two months at site, a big 15th birthday party, my new house, Dulce (my puppy), patron saint festival activities, and the medical clinic project.
http://elmundoesunpanuelophotos.shutterfly.com/
The new ones include my host family during my first two months at site, a big 15th birthday party, my new house, Dulce (my puppy), patron saint festival activities, and the medical clinic project.
14 August 2010
home
I am back in the US. I came back really suddenly on emergency leave to be with the family. Dad's taken a turn for the worse. I have no idea how long I'll be back. I hope to talk to yall soon. The house phone is 770-985-2422 and my mom's cell is 770-823-1829. I might get a pre-paid cell for while I'm here, but I'll let you know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
