When it pours...

Ok so it has been awhile last since I have posted. I will try to give you an update on my life here.

In Peace Corps, they say it takes till the one year mark to really feel integrated in your community and to have some sort of stability with your projects. As far as being integrated, I think I can check that one off. My community no longer is looking at me like I am from outer space and now, some too often, I am being invited to be a part of community events and asked well…what does the gringa think about this? To them, I know everything. So, to keep this going, I am constantly learning along the way. Looking back now after a year and going on four months, I really cannot remember when I started getting busy. Now that I am busy, I really am missing the days where all there was to do was to lay around all day in the hammock with a good book. Peace Corps tells us to cherish this time, as it is not always constant. However, I do not know how I will live in the future without the beloved hammock.

So what has this redhead been up to?

My primary projects as of this moment are income generation vocational workshops. Back in November, I applied to a grant from an organization called World Connect. World Connect is a rather large organization, benefiting children and women. The grant I was applying for was through an program called Mothers to Mothers. This grant was focused on improving the lifestyle of women in my community through income generation. After several initial diagnostics with women in my community, it was addressed that not only did they want something to do, other than cleaning and cooking in the house, but also to be able to provide for their families better. Not able to just focus on one vocation, mainly because there were several interests, I decided to focus on four, where each workshop would feature a different vocation as well as a business skill aspect for small business development. To make this idea happen, I needed money for materials and instructon to further implement the project. As volunteers, we constantly struggle with this predictament, where will the money come from? When we come to our communities, they look at us like an ATM. Although it is rather one cruel joke, only we do not come with any cash to give these struggling communities. So we have to fundraise.

This past January I was awarded the grant to do this project. The last several months have been organizing the community, buying materials and finding instructors to teach the courses. The first workshop was focused on decorated roof tiles. These tiles basically roof the entire country. Twenty women and youth participated in this workshop and encouraged more interest in participation for the following workshop. The second workshop was focused on crochet. More women and youth wanted to participate in this workshop making woven bags, scarves, and hats.So far, there has been excellent participation and interest in the project. The goal is after these workshops, the individuals who are interested in continuing beyond a learning level will be creating a small business of their own to sell the products.

Currently, we are getting ready for our third workshop, which will be learning how to make jewelry. This one will by far the most popular workshop, as the youth are very excited to be making earrings, necklaces, bracelets, you name it. The final workshop will be focused on making organic shampoo and soap. Once we complete the vocation part of the project, then we will start our small business development courses to further develop this project towards income generation. I have really enjoyed seeing the community take an active interest in these workshops.

There have been several moments in my experience here where I take a glance and ask myself, is what I am doing making a difference? Am I creating a platform for sustainable development? And I believe the answers are yes. I hope that when I leave, these women will be capable of making a product and selling that product, generating income for their families. I also hope that they will remember these years I have been with them as memorable and all the things I have been able to provide to them. Vamos a ver, meaning we shall see.

Another project that I have been working on for awhile, and that has been taking up a substantial part of my time is our casa communal. The casa communal is what we refer to as a civic center, but in reality is a big house, where the community can hold meetings, events, birthdays, you name it. These are so important to rural communities, when there is struggle among people with religious affiliations and political parties. For several people here, that is how you choose a social circle. The casa communal is the one place where people can all come together. Again, this project like every project takes money. I have been really fortunate with the funding for this project. Essentially, the funding is coming from a group of family members who live in the states. They grew up as children here and have since been living in the states for over twenty years. They came to me when I first got here and wanted to propose how I could help them help the community. This really has been a win win for everyone. But this still is a work in progress, nothing happens fast here. Hopefully by the time I leave, we will have our building up and running.

Other than those rather large projects, I have been working in the school, doing computer and art classes. As I am the second volunteer in my community, the first volunteer managed to get computers to the school. We have typing classes as well as learning basic computer skills so that when they get older and perhaps have a chance to further education, they will know how to use a computer. The art classes are merely for fun, as they don’t really have recreational activities in the school.

Also, I have monthly meetings with the youth, awkwardly talking about sex education. This is still a struggle, as religion plays a huge part in their lives. However I think it is important, as the community still sees their fair share of fourteen year olds who are preggers.

And for this past Mothers' day, we had a self-breast exam awareness event, in which we had testimonies and demonstrations about how important it is to be safe and to have check ups. Thanks mom for sending those exams!

Ok well, that's it for now.
Pictures to come!

El Trailero

Meet Omar. Even though you have just met him, you would think that you have known him for years, based on his overwhelmingly. Need a ride? He’ll pick you up curbside in his 18 wheeler complete with a trashcan top for his steering wheel or his gigantic stag that he refers as “chelito” because of his brillo. However, to even the trained eye, you will not be able to physically go anywhere with him other than by foot, because all of his modes of transport are for the sole purpose of pleasing the multitudes of personalities. But he sure is the nicest motorista I have ever met.

So people must be thinking? Are you honestly talking about a bicho? Are you just making fun of some bolo? Quite the contrary, Omar is an eighteen year old resident of my community and is probably the happiest person that I have ever encountered. He is most definitely more content than all of us strive to be in our daily lives. BUT, and here comes a big BUT, even though he has never been diagnosed, he has a condition. Whether it is autism, a strain of Down syndrome or one of those other conditions, no one will ever know. I am not exactly sure that accurate testing for those conditions exists here, but even if they did, people would still just say that he is “sick in the head.” No one refers to anything in the campo by its technical term as many PCV’s would undoubtedly know. Like diabetes, or as we know it in the campo, el azucar en el sangre. I am still surprised almost every day when I see how happy he is whilst briskly pacing the makeshift roads in Las Posas without a care in the world. I have seen him upset and that’s never pretty, but the good thing is that it only lasts for about ten minutes. And even then, he just grabs his trashcan top and peels out of the driveway. I don’t even know if he has the capacity to hold a grudge, which I suppose can be really uplifting.

For the most part, the community responds really well to a kid riding up and down the main road on what he assumes to be one monster truck. I think he might even be a better parallel parker than me. His family does their best to understand, accept and accommodate him, but eventually everyone tires. There are also times when he escapes from the confines of his family’s home, away from Mom and tries to fraternize with the bolos. That never ends well, but then again what good comes from the certified bolo? The closest friendship I have had with a bolo for me would be when he ran out of beer money and tried to get me to buy his bike for 13 big ones. I would have bought it too, but by the time I got back to the bolo hangout, he was passed out cold. Too bad too, I really could have used a set of wheels. For me, Omar just doesn’t get me around fast enough, no matter how fast he gallops.
Even though he might be handicapped in his mind, he makes up for with his spirit. In life when you encounter these people who love life just to love living; it makes one wonder about all the larger-than-life battles that we fight daily within ourselves. As PCV’s, living in rural El Salvador, I think we can all take a tip from Omar. That being, stop taking ourselves so damn seriously, myself included. As Omar always asks me, are you enjoying the ride? Even though he might be referring to his imagined 18 wheeler, it definitely brightens my day.

Then there is the update from the Alcaldia. Apparently he has been fired from his motorista position, so he has turned to his second passion; he’s a cowboy now. That would explain his long rides throughout the community galloping with a broomstick without the broom. Here I am worrying about what the community thinks of me and trying to get projects started and here all El Trailero is worried about is getting to the next destination.

My Sweet Sixteen! Sort of and Mi quince dulce here

Ok so these are photos from a quince that I went to recently in my community. The theme is pink! can you tell!

These are pictures of my backyard and home garden. As you can see, it is going very well! I wanted to share this with you all back home, because it will not be here for long. Turns out I do have a bit of a green thumb or just fertile land!

So I have 2 mango trees, 2 papaya trees, 1 lime tree, corn, squash, zuchinni, green bell pepper, chiles, and tomatoes!

My new boyfriend!

This is my dog here. I rescued him from just one of the average Salvo abusers of dogs. I wish I could save every dog, but alas its just me and Ta-lo (tay-low). I did not give him the name but he responds well. We keep each other company.

My work here!

I miss home, so whoever reads this I need some updates from home! I think as long as I get updates, I resist the urge to come home!

So I am sure a lot of you all are wondering, what the heck is she doing down there in El Salvador? Not looking at direct flights to Dallas, that’s for sure! Ok maybe sometimes, but that is mostly to help those people who want to visit me. If you aren’t one of those people, maybe you should think twice about that! So in all seriousness, I will give you all an idea of what I will be doing for the next year, or at least the next like 6 months. It’s hard to constantly think about the 2 year time frame, so I break it up into increments. It also is very effective for goal setting and mostly not to drive me crazy.

So projects that I will be working and some I want to be working on
-The computer project. This project I have inherited from the previous volunteer, kind of. The local school in my community is recently the proud owner of four computers with an impressive operating system of Windows 95! But heck, they were bought for an extremely LOW used price from a computer donation company in the states. For future reference, never toss out that old computer, there is always a place for it in the developing world. And that’s word. I bet you can even get a tax write-off for it, for all you elephants out there! Just kidding the dems like that too. Ok so back to the computers. Of the technology generation, I was always around computers, so it seems as second nature to operate one and use one efficiently. But than for those of you, like my grandma (love you) and people in the developing world; unless you were one of the few that was able to go to school, you probably have never seen a computer, let alone knows how to use one. True story. So being able to operate a computer, opens a lot of doors. Like typing, creating a flier and or invitation, surfing the internet, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

-I already mentioned the girls' soccer team, but that is a work in progress.
-I already mentioned the Latrine project, but that's a work in progress as well.

-I have started a home garden, which has proven to be quite successful. Who knew I had a green thumb!? I am growing corn, zucchini, cucumber, green bell pepper and tomatoes. It is the rainy season right now here in El Salvador, where it rains every day, so its ideal for planting and growing vegetables. Along with the vegetables, I have two mango trees, two papaya trees, a lime tree, and a chile bush. This is all in my backyard at the moment. The hope for this project will be to re-create my garden in other communal parts of the community. This is a project that will touch on nutrition and proper diet. Because the diet here is BAD! full of grease and salt, with little nutrition to boot. A lot of people dont even realize there are other ways to cook, other than in a pot of oil. I also hope to start cooking classes. Simple ingredients and simple techniques that hopefully will catch on! Like they can't even cook an egg, without it being in an oil soup! And maybe this cooking class turns into a womens' group, and then we get into some health topics. Little successes!

an unfortunate event

Recently, there was an incident in my community that struck a cord with me. A 40 year old man decided to go fishing with some of his nephews in a river that runs through my community. Mom calls it my village, but it’s like a small (500) people. Being an epileptic, the man had a seizure while fishing in the river, and consequently fell in. Being as no one he was fishing with knows how to swim, no one jumped in to save him. By the time, help was called ( and when I say help I do not mean 911 or local police) the man had been swept by the current in the river down towards the nearby lake. This happened about four in the afternoon on a Monday. Neighbors, friends and family (mostly the male populous) soon after started a rescue party beginning to search down the river. However, there was one tiny BIG problem hindering the search rescue. The river is filthy dirty. When I say dirty, I mean human and animal feces, you name it trash residue, and whatever falls in. The people who did know how to swim did not want to jump in to look around, go figure. Every time I think there is positive progress here, I am reminded by the fact that this is a developing country, with significant problems in action-solving here. When the police were finally called, there was little they could do, considering they did not want to jump in either. Everyone is upset that no one will jump in to search the waters, when really they should be upset that the water is an issue in the first place. Sidenote, people also take water from the river, to drink as well. I know. Can’t even begin to think about it. Long story short, man was discovered in the lake 72 hours later. And its usually custom here to have a vela, kind of like a wake, except the whole community shows up for free food and coffee. But there was no vela, only burial service because the time they found the body, there wasn’t much of a person left. The whole incident was upsetting because of the duration of the search and the issue with the water. These are the people I will be working with for the next two years.

As a result of this event, local government and myself have iniated a campaign for swimming lessons. Don’t worry, this will be done at local pool and not feces water.

Also the doctor assigned to my community and myself have been talking about coordinating a first aid and cpr workshop. No time like the present I have been telling myself. So along with the swimming classes, and first aid, maybe just maybe someone who was affected by the training will be able to rescue someone in need. Dramatic? Maybe. But life here is just like that. Things that we associate as basic functioning So So needs are not even passerby thoughts here. Events like this remind me why I am here.