VOSH

                One of the main things that I have learned after 20 months as a Peace Corps Volunteer is that you need to celebrate every success, no matter how small. The change volunteers are trying to initiate will not happen overnight; there is a reason we are here for 2 years.  This July I was fortunate enough to see a different type of volunteer work in action.  An organization named VOSH, Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity, sent a group of nearly 40 volunteers to Paraguay to hold a free 5 ½ day optometrist clinic for the local Paraguayans. 

                Each and every one of the people that showed up was amazing.  I do not mean to say that they were perfect, altruistic people (but when have I pretended to be that, we all know I’m a jerk).  The majority were students there to learn and possibly get ahead for the coming years and good for them! No matter what brought each of them down to Paraguay the results remain the same; they helped around 2,500 Paraguayans.  They went above and beyond the 8 – 5 hours of the clinic and did their best to absorb as much Paraguayan culture as possible. They befriended the locals working at the clinic and brought gifts to help share their culture with the Paraguayans.  In all honesty, I was jealous. The gratification of their work was instantaneous; they did not have to wait 17 months to finally see someone using their compost pile.  I know that for me, I felt that I accomplished more in those 5 ½ days than my entire first year in country*. The volunteers all came down with a specific skill set and provided amazing, life changing medical support to thousands of Paraguayans. 

                I was astounded by the open-minded natures the volunteers and their willingness to embrace Paraguay.  After the first day of the clinic I sat talking with some of them and realized that they did not see what was happening at the clinic the same way that I did.  They saw ungrateful, borderline rude Paraguayans, with little to no fashion sense, getting in and out of the clinic as quickly as possible.  I saw terrified Paraguayans, surrounded by people speaking in a language they did not understand and dressed in their absolute best clothing, not noticing if it matched.  I have absolutely come to love Paraguay and the realization that they gave such a terrible first impression horrified me.  I began to explain some of Paraguay’s history to the volunteers and then taught them a few key phrases in Guarani, the indigenous language, to help them get the Paraguayans to relax and open up.  When the Paraguayans saw the VOSH volunteers attempting to speak in Guarani, no matter how short the phrase, their entire demeanor changed.  They lit up and turned on the charm that is so unmistakably Paraguayan. 

 The women pulled me aside, informing me they had many sons and grandsons for me and my friends to choose from.  I was quickly notified which volunteers were prettier than me and constantly asked if the two giant camera men with blue eyes were single.  Some of these statements seem rude or socially inappropriate to us as Americans and Canadians (assuming one of my new Canadian friends reads this), but in Paraguay it is normal.  The people here are blunt and do not hesitate to tell you how they feel – a trait that I have come to respect. 

I am extremely glad that I was able to help these amazing volunteers during their work in Paraguay.  They changed lives in ways that are outside of the scope of my service; in terms of magnitude of people and value added to society. I feel that as a Peace Corps Volunteer I was able to give back something with no real monetary value but that stands as one of the main goals of volunteers; I gave insight into the culture of Paraguayans.  Not everyone has 27 months of their lives where they can drop everything and move to a different country to try and make a difference; but these volunteers took 10 days out of their lives and I am amazed at the difference they made.  

Since the VOSH volunteers left I have been trying to readjust to life in my community as the only ‘norte’.  I have worked on my world map and huddled up with some mate next to my host family’s wood burning stove. I have also begun visiting families and taking pictures with their new glasses.  I want to do my part to show the VOSH volunteers the impact that they had in Paraguay. Every single Paraguayan I have asked has smiled their standard Paraguayan grin and shown me to the nicest part of their yard to take the picture.  Some have gone into their homes to change, or asked if I can wait while they bathe.  Paraguayans are thankful for the work that VOSH has done.  Since there is a language barrier here is the way they wanted to show their appreciation:

Na Eugenia (My contact who also worked at the clinic)

Don Marcelo

Na Victoria

Na Julia

Na Artemia

Na Isabel

I would also like to thank each volunteer that came down, as well as all of the people that worked to help make this trip possible. You changed lives.  It has been almost a month since you were here and I am still stopped in the streets and on buses so I can talk to people about the amazing volunteers that took the time from their everyday lives to make a difference. I am so thankful that I was able to play a small part in this event.  You helped make me proud of my Peace Corps Service.  I hope everyone is enjoying summer in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m trying to think sunny thoughts during my final winter in Paraguay!

                 

Young Maria Eugenia, she was not pleased that she didn't need glasses!

*Side Note: I know that my first year was spent building relationships and learning language that allowed me to be effective at the clinic.  Year One in Peace Corps is about integrating and trying to learn what your community needs.  You are absolutely working but it often times does not feel like it.

How my service got changed by a hand squeeze...

I am currently in the process of writing a blog post about the organization VOSH and all of the work they did in Yeguarizo this month.  However, this blog has me stumped.  The main reason is that the tone of this blog is different than what I have grown accustomed to.  Normally my blog entries are a running narrative; I try to write the same way that I talk.  I want this blog to be better than that.  I want it to encompass how thankful I am to the people that came all the way from Canada (a country which I now love, but that is also for a different blog) and the United States just to help out rural Paraguayans. Since I am stumped by my other blog I am moving on to a different story that still involves VOSH.  

During the clinic I was generally stationed at what was known as the triage spot.  I stood with Dr. Spencer, one of the head doctors leading the trip, and whichever student he had pulled aside to work with him and we patiently waited for the Paraguayans.  Generally we only waited about 20 minutes and then there was an overwhelming number of Paraguayans mashed together trying to get seen by the doctor (Paraguayans do not understand lines, and frankly they may never get it).  Since I speak Spanish and have a basic understanding of Guarani, I would ask the patients questions while the doctors looked over their paperwork. To put it bluntly, I was the bedside manner.  This worked perfect for me! I know nothing about eyes and medicine but I do know how to make Paraguayan women blush and how to get Paraguayan men to crack a smile.  It was one afternoon, perhaps the fourth day when a young man came in and caught my eye.  He was beautiful.  He was 18 years old and essentially blind.  One of his eyes was crossed and he had so much scar tissue in the other that he was blind in it.  Generally, I was in charge of telling a patient where to go, perhaps leading them there, and returning to my station. When I turned to take this boy to see another doctor he stopped me, grabbed my hand, and intertwined our fingers.  Bold move my friend, bold move. If I wasn’t smitten already, I was then.

We arrived at the other doctor and I waited with him.  How could I leave this adorable young man who could barely speak and needed help walking but managed to squeeze my hand and give me a sly grin!? I sat and talked with his aunt, who was around 19 years old, and she told me how he could not see but had glasses that helped him a few years ago.  Meanwhile, the doctor was looking into his eyes and reading the results of his auto refraction (a big machine you look into that magically gives the doctors an idea of what your prescription should be, amazing right?).  The doctor turned to me and said she was sorry but did not believe there was anything we could do to help him. I almost lost it.  I tend to view myself as a pretty held together person.  Very few people have seen me cry in the Peace Corps and I am okay with that.  However, looking at this boy grinning with optimism and hearing the doctor telling me she was sorry but no, almost put me over the edge.  I began to explain to the aunt who countered with the fact that he had glasses before and they helped! I told the doctor and she said we could try to auto refract him again! 

Now the rest of the story gets a little tedious.  It involves a series of people doing their best to help this young man and me receiving lots and lots of intertwined hand squeezes.  The final result was that there was a single pair of glasses that they believed could help him.  The best part? They were Versace.  

In telling this story some of you may have noticed I never used the boy’s name.  I am not trying to be polite and protect his identity, I just do not know it.  He said so little that we honestly just sat together and I would squeeze his hand if he appeared nervous.  When he was set to leave I realized that I desperately wanted a picture with him. Some of you may recall that my camera had drowned about a week prior so I needed to find a friend and quickly!  I began running in search of the two camera guys who had been filming all week to make a video for VOSH, the self-proclaimed ‘hermanos peligrosos’.  They had been awkwardly taking pictures all week so I figured the least they could do was help me when I actually wanted my picture taken.  I gracelessly ran into the front room and begged them to come quick and take a picture.  They looked at me like I was a little crazy for seeming so desperate, apparently I really just need to ask and they would have agreed to take my picture, and we set off to find my friend!  We arrived outside and naturally it is raining.  I look all around and he is gone.  I set off into the rain like it’s a terrible 90’s romantic comedy but it is no good.  My friend is gone. This is the second point in the day where I almost have a break down.  I feel the awkward beginning of tears and I am fully aware that if this starts it will be ugly and not end for a while.  Those of you who are Peace Corps Volunteers know what I am talking about; that breakdown that comes from nowhere but somehow encompasses every disappointment of your entire service.  I thanked the ‘hermanos peligrosos’, apologized for wasting their time, and quickly went off to sulk in the corner.  

This boy had come to represent so much to me.  Somehow he embodied a part of my service that I still do not understand.  They thought he was a lost cause but VOSH did not give up on him.  He received his glasses and even if they barely help at all, his life has been changed.  He reminded me that even if you change one person’s life you are still making a difference.  A reminder that is essential for a Peace Corps Volunteer to keep their sanity.

And then this happened:

Photo Credit: Tyler Kennedy

Photo Credit: Tyler Kennedy

Photo Credit: Tyler Kennedy

HE CAME BACK!!!! Thanks to an amazing VOSH volunteer and fantastic photographer named Tyler Kennedy (the hermanos peligrosos were otherwise occupied) I now have 3 pictures of the Paraguayan that managed to change my outlook on my service with a simple hand squeeze.   Although I doubt I will ever see him again, I know that I will never forget him or the impact he had on my service. 

Vacation!!!

Towards the end of June I planned on taking what may or may not be my final Peace Corps vacation! I had decided that this year I wanted to run a marathon and was informed by other volunteers (thanks Connie!) that there was a beautiful marathon every year in Rio.  The run was said to be fairly flat and you ran beside the coast the whole time. I started training in early March and it was about as fun as it sounds.  The marathon was on July 7 and I had to be back in site by July 9 for an eye glasses event (future blogs will cover this is obnoxious details). I was not thrilled by the idea of running 26.2 miles the day before a flight to Paraguay but it was too late to back out.

Getting to Brazil was a bit of a challenge. Brazil has been going through an interesting time politically and there have been a lot of protests, especially in the Rio area. Four days before I was set to leave I received a text from my boss saying the trip had to be cancelled.  I was not happy.  I understand that Peace Corps needs to keep us safe but I had been running for 18 weeks training for this event! All of the volunteers planning to go immediately started calling one another.  In the end the trip was saved by a volunteer named Julia. Julia relentlessly called our boss and broke her down! I found out the trip was back on two days before we were set to leave.

The first part of the trip was spent in Ilha Grande.  It is a nature reserve on an island near Rio.  It was amazing. It had fantastic beaches with great waves and hiking.  We saw monkeys climbing trees at the hostel most mornings and spent our days exploring.  We spent the first day hiking around and visiting different beaches. One beach was extremely calm and then 30 minutes later we were body surfing huge waves on a different beach!  I went on the trip with Elijah, Bryce and Matt.  All of them are fairly active so we made sure to see as many beaches as possible.  On one of our last days we decided to go snorkeling. I love snorkeling and was extremely excited, especially since I have a water proof digital camera.  Ironically, it decided to not be waterproof immediately upon entering the water and I spent the rest of the trip camera-less! That being said the water was full of starfish, coral, and interesting Brazilian fish! The pictures below are from Ilha Grande only, or I stole them from Bryce.

When we finally made our way to Rio (with our bosses permission and my father shaking his head), we took a ferry and a 2 ½ bus ride.  We decided to stay at an apartment, not a hostel.  The idea was they are more or less the same price but at an apartment it would be quieter and we would not have to deal with loud drunks the night before our marathon.  Rio is magical. I normally hate crowded beaches but Rio had this amazing self-confidence (I know that sounds weird since I am describing a city but it is true!). Everyone wore the smallest swimsuit they could fit into and they rocked them! Okay, so I will say that a few people did not rock them and maybe I would have preferred them to have covered up a little but they thought they were rocking it! There were people selling food, drinks, swimsuits, soccer balls, and other crazy things.  I bought a swimsuit from one beach vendor (I had to search for the largest bottom available, it says adult but I am convinced it is a toddlers Large).

We ended up going out to restaurants, visiting Christ the Redeemer, hanging out on the beach and finally Elijah and I ran a marathon! The marathon was not that fun. The first 13 miles went really well and then it was hard to not focus on what I was doing. I was running for about 5 hours. I had trained mainly on dirt roads and my feet and knees were not enjoying the switch to concrete.  That being said I am already looking back on it nostalgically. I am glad it is over and I am proud I finished. After the marathon I went looking for whiskey gingers and food. We met up with some other volunteers and had a final meal in Brazil! In the morning it was back to Paraguay and what has become ‘the real world’.  

I would absolutely recommend heading to Brazil if you get the chance. I could have spent a week sitting on the beach watching everyone walk by. It would have been nice to speak the language but everything worked out in the end. We made it back without any problems!  As for my recommendation on marathons? Why not! Get out there and do it! I didn’t do as well as I had hoped but I did it and it was an amazing excuse to travel to Brazil! 

Tall Matt, Elijah, Bruno, and Me

Bruno, Me, and Tall Matt

Fantastic place for a swing!

Rainy day so we had the ocean to ourselves!

Bruno letting his locks flow.

Weird, creepy snail crab hybrid thing.

Ilha Grande

Last picture taken with the "waterproof camera".

Woof. Done.

Not sure how I am smiling.

Chicken Project

Chickens!!!

 

Winter is officially here and I do not like it.  It has been raining for the past 5 days and I have been cold and miserable.  The one good thing that has happened is that Washington approved my grant and posted it to their website!  Back in February I organized the beginning of a group known as, Kuna Kyre’y (hardworking women).  Since then we have received formal recognition from the local government and are requesting it from the departmental level.  The group was formed around the idea of a chicken coop project.  Typically in Paraguay chickens are free to roam and although this makes most of us think free range and great lives for the chickens it is not beneficial to the Paraguayans.  Chickens sleep in trees and are not protected from predators.  They lay their eggs wherever they choose, making it difficult for Paraguayans to collect the eggs. Their egg production is also low due to their lack of nutrition. Paraguayans generally give their chickens only a few handfuls of corn.  This lacks the nutrition that they need to remain healthy.  As a component of this project the Paraguayans will not only build and maintain a chicken coop but they will also grow their own chicken feed.  The members of my group have already planted new bean and corn seed to be ready for their chicks. 

My community is very small. There are around 30 families.  This has been something that I have struggled with during my service but it is also something that causes the community to suffer.  They have been denied funding to put in wells and pipes for running water since there are so few families.  The school has been denied access to different organizations because there are not enough members of the community to ‘justify’ their presence.  This project means a better life for these families.  The members of the group are providing 25% of total requested funds.  They have been making and selling bread, holding raffles, and organizing community events.  They also plan on provided all of the wood used in the project, and to offset the loss of trees in the area they are requesting saplings to replace the lost trees. 

This is where you all come in.  My plan had been to request funding from USAID but they are currently out of funding.  This means that the only other funding source (through Peace Corps) available to my group is Peace Corp Partnership.  This involves writing up a long and tedious grant, with a meticulous budget and timeline.  These projects are all posted to the Peace Corp website and the volunteer’s friends and family help to fund their project.  I had hoped to never write a pleading blog hitting all of you up for money but it has come to this.  Here is what I am asking of you guys: I know that a lot of you are fresh out of college and do not have a lot of money and I understand that (seriously, I get being broke) so just pass the information along.  Email my blog or my project link to someone you think might help.  Like a post on facebook, give me a retweet.  The sooner you guys help me reach this goal the sooner I stop harassing social media sites. 

Since I had to do such a detailed budget I can let you all know where your money would be going; I am going to break down donations into what they represent:

$5 – 4 one day old chicks

$10 – Antiparasite Medicine and Vitamins for 100 chicks

$25 – 2 bags of cement to build the chicken coop

$50 – 1,000 bricks to be used for the chicken coops

$100 – This covers all of the donated materials to make a chicken coop (not including materials and
labor provided by the members)

$325 – Fodderer (because no one is going to grind that much chicken feed by hand)

Also any of these donations buy my love and affection.  I understand you guys not being able to donate much, or even at all.  This project has to get completely funded or the women will not receive any of the money.  Side note: the money will go to fund other projects if mine does not get 100% of the funding.  Please help out! Give what you can!

 

Again, here is the link: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-526-012

 

If that link is not working  you can go to peacecorps.gov/donate and search my project using my last name (Flinn), the state I am from (Georgia) or my project number (13-526-012).

 

 

Help out Ezekiel!

 

Help provide prettier chickens!

 

Seriously. Help.