What am I really doing?

I remember being so excited once I received my nomination, especially once I found out what I would be doing … and I’m happy to say the description I received was not far off!

So I was recently asked about my day to day activities, which inspired this post…

Well my life is a lot busier than I had anticipated. If you remember my schedule while working at CDC, I would wake up at 4 in the morning to be out the door by 5:20 so that I could catch my vanpool for work. I’d be at work (mostly sitting at a computer all day or in meetings) until about 3:30pm and then off to either the gym or to hang out with friends… I was also doing a lot of traveling shortly before I left. Thus, by the time I got to Guatemala, my body was physically exhausted! But my mind was rejuvenated… for the possibilities that were ahead of me.

I am happy to say that all though I have not slowed down one bit, I am still very excited and rejuvenated in my spirit. It’s funny because once we made it through training, I promised my fellow volunteers that I would be the one relaxing for months at a time… well let’s just say I STILL have not taken a break! Lol

I spend most of my time in my Puesto (health center) interacting with the nurses or planning charlas (health talks I give to the community). I’m usually at my Puesto by 8:30. If I have a charla scheduled for that morning, I am usually out the door at 9 for a ride to my community or I leave at 8 if I have to walk. I also have monthly meetings or trainings with my Health Promoters as well as the Comadronas (women that deliver babies) two weeks apart from each other. So I try to spend a week prepping for those meetings.  On days that I don’t have charlas or meetings in the morning I just work in the Puesto. I usually always have a 2 hour lunch break, except for the days that I have women’s group meetings in my community. I have to walk to those so I’ll eat lunch at 1:30 and be out the door at 2 so I can make it to the community by 3. That’s my schedule for about half the month. The other half of the month entails me hanging out at the Puesto in the morning and taking the afternoon to relax or spend time with the host-fam. We usually get a lot of visitors to our house or we are always going somewhere and they always invite me! And as my motto is to say Yes 10x the amount of times that I say No… I’m always with them! That is basically how I spend my time, giving charlas in the communities or in the schools, planning charlas, in meetings, or spending time with the host fam! I have been super busy…busier than I had hoped I’d hoped I would be… But it’s all good.

Lucky for me, my 2012 is planned to be even busier!

•           On top of my charlas and the monthly meeting with my Health Promoters and Comadronas, I have added monthly meetings for Youth Promoters. I’m starting a new program where I will be training youth promoters to work in the schools. There are 18 schools in my town and I cannot be in all of them giving health talks. Thus, I met with the director of my school district and we came up with a 10 month training program. I will meet with 40 students (a team of 5 students from all 8 communities) and teach them a health topic and how to deliver it to their peers. They will then spend the next few weeks giving charlas in their schools. Should be exciting! 
•       My women’s group meetings will continue, but instead of only going to 2 communities, I will be working with all 8. I think I would prefer to just work in the 2 I’ve been working in, but it’s hard to say no…especially when you are trying to build a partnership. We shall see how things pan out. We may plan to work in all 8 but who knows what will happen. I know I will definitely be working in the 2 we are currently working in…so that’s awesome. In these meetings I have talked about Nutrition for the family, Domestic Violence, and Family Planning. The topics I plan to talk about next year ranges from Healthy Hygiene, Respiratory Infections, to HIV/Aids.
•          I will also be working with the Teachers of all the schools. I will have 2 meetings on the same topic (50 teachers in both meetings) every 2 months. The director was so excited about what I was doing with the students that he wanted me to also work with the teachers. But every 2 months is not too hard to manage! It should be really exciting. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

-          Also, I will be working with the Women’s office of my town to not only work with women’s groups but to also start youth groups in every community. This is really exciting because the youth here have no opportunities for things to do outside of school. The young girls go home and take care of their siblings and help with house hold chores and the young men help their dad’s work or hang out with their friends. I’m looking forward to meeting with them and giving them other options than what they have been doing. I hope to inspire their thoughts about their future…hopefully reduce some teen pregnancy along the way!

All that I have mentioned has a lot to do with my program, but more indirectly than directly. My program is called Healthy Homes and my priorities are to work in the communities to educate families about their habits, hopefully encouraging healthier habits and improve the way they are currently living. Working with women’s groups definitely is part of this but it doesn’t get to the heart of it. Thus, I’m planning to start a project, titled Hogares Saludables de Rio Blanco, or White River Healthy Homes. In this program we will invite all of the needy families from the 2 communities with most need to participate. I plan to work with my Health Promoters to give bi-weekly charlas to the community members in the program. I have to plan it out but I’m thinking we will work with them for 5-6 months to improve their habits. This will include them coming to the meetings as well as us doing house visits. Once we have talked them to death, and hopefully they have begun to change their habits … I will start my PROJECTS!!!! This means I will work with the community to get funding to give each member of the program an improved stove, a cement floor, or a latrine. This shall be the grand finale of my program and my service. I plan to start projects at the beginning of 2013. So that should be exciting! Hopefully everything goes as planned… we shall see!

Well I think this is enough for now... I hope I’ve given you a great snapshot of my work life here in the Peace Corps. It’s definitely as exciting as I thought it would be… but definitely more tiring than I thought it would be. I always heard stories of Peace Corps Volunteers relaxing, reading 50 books in their service and finding themselves along the way. Well for me, my 2^nd week in site, I was giving reproductive health charlas in the schools. The only unfortunate part of me being so busy is that I haven’t spent as much time on my Spanish as I would like. However, that is definitely one of my plans for the following year. My goal is to be Fluent, and I will be!!! If everything goes as planned… Pray for my endurance, strength and courage to stay focused and see the change my community needs!

Thanks for reading and enjoy some pictures of some of the things I’ve listed above…

 Health Promoter Meeting: How to give a good Charla..

Same Health Promoter meeting... Love my Posters! lol

World AIDS Day: Went through the town handing out material and talking to people about HIV/AIDS.

Giving a HIV/AIDS charla in one of the schools with one of my nurses.

Monthly meeting with my Comadronas: Danger Signs of a Pregnancy- Before, During, and After.

Women's Group meeting: Family Planning

Doing House Visits with one my Health Promoters.

Doing a Census of one of my communities with my Health Center Staff.

1st Thanksgiving from home....

So I apologize that this blog is looking like a monthly post... I just had a very busy November traveling. Let me tell you about it! 

October marked 3 months that we have been in our sites so in the beginning of November my training group got together for Reconnect. We spent a week back in the Peace Corps Guatemala office talking about our 1^st three months and also learning more Spanish. I was asked by another volunteer how it felt to be back in the office… I smiled and said “Like being back at home!” It’s interesting how much of an impact the office had on me. But also, I was coming in the office as a Volunteer, and not as a Trainee, so I felt a sense of ownership, like I belong! It was a great feeling!

I heard a lot about what Reconnect is “about” from older volunteers and how they compared themselves to each other and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for them. However, my Reconnect experience was fabulous. Other than a sense of pride for where I was, it was sooo great to see everyone from my training group (I’m not big on reunions, so I was pleasantly surprised on how good it was to see everyone). But for me, the most fabulous part was the time we spent discussing our first three months, what we’ve experienced and overcome. I was happy to hear all the wonderful things people were doing in their sites and took notes on some things I could do as well. I guess for me, I went in to Reconnect knowing that I am doing everything I possibly can in my site and that comparing myself to what other volunteers was doing, wasn’t where my head was. I wanted ideas on things I could do in the future or ways to improve my Promoter groups. And I got exactly just what I wanted.

After 2 days of getting additional training, we spent 3 days learning more Spanish. I’m not sure why this Spanish session was different for me, well maybe because I’ve been spending so much time speaking and I had questions and things I wanted to learn. So I was really excited about my session and the things I learned. I realized that there is soooo much I need to learn and how far I am from being fluent, which is my ultimate goal. I’ve made a goal to really spend time studying and perfecting my speech. I feel confident that I can achieve my goal because I have an awesome host-family that helps me and some other people I can practice my Spanish with. God has definitely blessed me in so many ways. I am very Thankful!

So, after Reconnect, I spent another week traveling and having a mini-vacation (I say “mini” because it seems that when volunteers take vacations it’s for weeks at a time, lol). But first, I went to a place called Monterrico, where I had my first Guatemalan beach experience. It was very interesting. The beaches there are black sand beaches because the sand is made from volcanic ash over the years. You could definitely feel it too, its hard under your feet, almost like walking on glass. But it was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous. We went because they had a Sea Turtle exhibition, in which they released baby sea turtles into the ocean. That was really fun and different. I’m glad I have different types of friends because I probably wouldn’t have done that had someone else not had the idea first. And of course, my motto here is to say yes much much more than I say no… I’m here, I might as well do all that I can, especially the things I wouldn’t normally do in the States. And I am glad I did.

Monterrico was just one night. The next few days we went to one of my close volunteer friends’ house, who is also a Soror, and had a roof top barbecue! We had so much fun, ate really good and just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. It was really good to be out of site and enjoying the company of my friends. We also did a little volunteer talk, so I got some pointers as to what I need to do as I fulfill my service (having been one of the newest volunteers). So that was great.

However, the absolute best part of my vacation was I trip to Livingston. After the rooftop barbecue, we got up super early and started our half-day travel to Rio Dulce/Livingston. We spent one night in Rio Dulce, which is gorgeous as well and then traveled to Livingston. Livingston is not like any other place in Guatemala. It spoke to me because Livingston is where the Afro-Caribbean Guatemalans live. They look exactly like me and other African Americans, except their Guatemalans that speak Garifuna (their own language, in which they are named) and Spanish. It was awesome getting to know them, walking around their town, and seeing the struggles they have, much like those African Americans suffer in the states. I was amazed, puzzled, and overjoyed all at the same time. I met some wonderful people and had the time of my life. I can honestly say that since I’ve been in Guatemala, I have not had as good of a time as I did there. And it wasn’t just the partying, it was the conversing, the hanging out, the relaxing … all of it was awesome and just what I needed. I actually was sad to go… but had to get back to my site and get some work done. I’m glad I had such a great time because I felt ready to work, especially since I had been away from site for 2 weeks, it was time to get back to work.

Speaking of being away from site for 2 weeks, I must comment that my awesome host-family missed me a lot! I loved the fact that my host- mom would call me every now and then and check on me to make sure I was doing ok. Also talked to one of my host sisters and my host-mom’s dad. One time they called me and everyone said hello to me, I guess I was on speaker phone. And I missed them as well. It’s great that I can say I have a great relationship with them. I can imagine how it will be when my service is up… but I’ll deal with that when that time comes!

I guess that is all for now… Thanks for reading!!! 

A few pictures from my vacation!

Sunset in Monterrico, Pacific Ocean.

Black sand beach!

Sea Turtle!!!

Beautiful waterfall in Rio Dulce

View of the Caribbean Sea from Livingston.