Vignette

My boss asked me to write a vignette so send to Peace Corps Washington, since I already wrote it I am now using it as a blog! Here you go:

When I first received my site placement I was filled with a mixture of emotions: excitement, nervousness, and awe.  This was it, the moment that my 10 weeks of training had led to, I was going to visit my new home for the next two years.  As all new volunteers do my friends and I quickly began comparing site placements and it was only then that a new emotion entered my mind, intimidation.  All of my friends had been placed in sites at least twice the size of mine, many with existing groups awaiting their arrival.  I was heading to Valois Rivarola, population approximately 120, with only one family expecting me.

My first year in site was spent getting to know families and building important relationships.  I quickly learned that the small town, like most small towns, loved gossip and did not believe in their ability to work well with one another.  I was told time and time again that committees and groups were pointless because they would not accomplish anything.  Year two I decided it was time to prove them wrong. I went house to house inviting everyone to an interest meeting about forming a committee. I was met with doubt and in some cases full on laughter when I stated my intentions.  The meeting resulted in a small women’s group forming, with 11 official members. Together we received governmental recognition on the local and departmental level as well as implemented a sustainable egg production project. With help from a Peace Corps Partnership grant 8 chicken coops were built and each family received 25 chicks. 

The group met every two weeks for over six months before implementing the project.  Meetings involved lectures on various topics, brainstorming possible projects, as well as fund raising.  Each family is in charge of growing corn and beans in order to make their own homemade chicken feed to reduce costs and increase the sustainability of the project.  While watching the project take effect it has been amazing to view the impact in more than just the physical sense, the nontangible results.  The women not only received physical assistance from the Peace Corps Partnership grant but also a sense of empowerment.  This project has given them a new potential form of income allowing them to provide for their families in new ways.  The group has also requested tree saplings, as well as seed, from a local source to help prevent deforestation and to replace the trees cut down in order to build their chicken coops.

The women now look forward to meeting every two weeks and want to rewrite their constitution to strengthen the group.  They are considering opening the group to include other members of the community, the naysayers who now wish to join after seeing the project’s success.  This project means more to the community than just a few chicken coops; it is an example of how they can band together and make positive impacts on their lives.  My hope is that they continue to work together, expanding the group to include more members of the community.  As my two years of service come to a close I cannot help but be thankful that I was placed in such a small community; although my impact may not be much in terms of numbers and raw data I know that it has had a huge influence on the lives of the members of this community.

Little bit of this, little bit of that...

I currently feel like I am sprinting, full speed ahead down the back of the mountain that is my Peace Corps Service.  I will officially close my Service on November 15, and the new group of Agriculture volunteers arrives in country on September 27.  It is terrifying, exhilarating, nauseating, and confusing.  I am terrified of the unknown that lurks in America.  The changes that have taken place while I spent the last two years bucket bathing and learning how to milk cows seem to be waiting just around the corner.  This blog was meant to be my “So you want to join the Peace Corps” blog but it has morphed into something else so here it is:

I would first like to say that, regardless of whether or not you join the Peace Corps, you should never, ever tell a returned volunteer that you “thought about joining the Peace Corps”.  Just about everyone in the world considered being a marine biologist and a vet at some point in their childhood, but do they tell every vet they meet that they thought about doing it too?  No. This may seem uncaring but I do not care that you considered joining the Peace Corps.  If you don’t do it, that’s fine just keep it to yourself.

When I began applying to the Peace Corps I had no idea what to expect. I had been studying Spanish in college and wanted an opportunity to improve my language.  I was also worried that I would get a job and pick a town and never leave.  Where is the fun in that?  Where is the adventure? I do not consider myself to be a very adventurous person but I knew that I wanted to do something big.  There also was some first world guilt thrown in there.  During my study abroad experience in Argentina I wrote a research paper on a welfare program and was able to visit and interview different families living with essentially nothing.   The biggest money crisis of my life had been my mother forcing me to wear a hand-me-down dress to homecoming, oh the shame! A part of me felt that I did not appreciate everything life had given me, everything my parents have worked to give me, I felt that Peace Corps would teach me to be truly thankful.  

Did I learn what I set out to learn? Am I a Spanish master who can return to America and never again feel guilty swiping a credit card and paying $6 for a coffee? Absolutely not.  

My Spanish is now interlaced with random words of Guarani and typical Paraguayan phrases, such as “un poco” (a little).  Instead of asking someone to “come here”, I now say “come here a little”.  I do not use proper tenses and I make up words or just use my hands to gesture.  I am absolutely effective with my community and received an “advanced high” rating on my language exam but I have lost any semblance of professionalism that my Spanish once held. 

My first world guilt has only risen.  I used to be aware that I had it easy, in the sense that you are aware that it is cold in Alaska.  Two years in Paraguay is like going to Alaska, getting frost bite on your toes and trying to explain the sensation to others.  They nod their head and make the appropriate “ouch” face but they do not get it.  Unless they get frost bite too, they never will.  I find myself listening to friends and family (sorry guys) complain about their lives and I nod my head and respond in the appropriate manner but inside I am screaming “IT DOESN’T MATTER”.  There are bigger issues in the world, your wifi speed is absolutely irrelevant. 

I know that after a few months back home I will return to caring about a lot of these things too but Peace Corps has taught me something invaluable.  I now understand some things just are not important in the grand scheme of things.  I do not have a car when I get back, my neighbor does not have direct access to potable water.  She has to rely on the kindness of another neighbor, who lives a half mile away, to share their well water.  Not only does she have to walk multiple times a day to get water but she also has to worry about maintaining the friendship in order to provide her family with drinking water.  I think I can live without a car. 

This is what Peace Corps has done for me.  It is liberating.  I often find myself stressing out about what awaits me in America and then I stop. I have a place to stay and access to food and water.  I am not naïve in thinking that I am now above having petty problems or that I will live an altruistic life, free of selfish indulgences.  I am fully aware that I will return to America and binge on food and culture until my brain and stomach hurt.  I am just thankful that now when I do allow myself to be bogged down by life’s challenges that I can think back to my little rural Paraguayan town and appreciate how good I really have it.

As you may have noticed, if you read the introduction, this blog did not turn out to be my “so you want to join the Peace Corps” blog. I am not really sure what happened but I’ve gone too far to turn back now and fix it. Here are some site updates:

•  All 8 chicken coops have been built!!!
• 200 chicks, 8 bags of feed, and vaccinations will be delivered on October 1.
• My women’s group is planning on making chipa (cheese bread) to sell and raise money for the group on October 1.
• Na Eugenia’s bees have officially been moved into their new Kenya Top Bar Hives and a new swarm took over my hive that got eaten by a random wild animal! The new swarm looks really strong so hopefully I can bring some honey home!

New comb from the new bees! They've only been there for 2 or so weeks! Que Guapas!

When we were bee keeping the bees seemed to really want to gather around my crotch.  I have no idea why this happened, and it was a little terrifying.  The only answer I can come up with is that perhaps the queen had flown there and they were gathering around her.  I got stung around 8 times and now, 2 days later, have the itchiest thighs of my life. Bee perks! 

Doesn't normally happen.

Beekini?

Look how big Todd has gotten!

 That's all the updates I have for you now! I hope all is well in the Northern Hemisphere and I miss you all! If any of you are my amazing Peace Corps Partnership Donors please be aware I have not forgotten that I need to properly thank you! I am working on it now!

The beginning of the end...

This month I celebrate my two year anniversary with Paraguay. It seems like only last week that I was opening my acceptance letter and panicking about how to make my parents understand that this was something I really wanted to do. That may seem silly to some of you, especially since I was 22 at the time, but 27 months is a long time to be away from home. It has been hard enough for with with the support of my family and I am fairly positive I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Enough about that, if you know me at all (and hopefully you do since you're reading my blog) then you know I love my family so on to my life in Paraguay! 

My women's group is doing well! I have been thrilled with their work on their chicken coops! 7 out of the 8 have been finished! I gave them 30 days to finish and they still have 10 days left so hopefully the last family can finish this week and we can purchase the chicks. I have not been thrilled with their attitude towards homemade chicken feed. All members agreed to plant crops and make their own feed in order to make the project sustainable; however, due to weather and lack of support from male counterparts we do not have the crops we need. The plan is to use the money we have raised to purchase corn and soy to be supplemented with crops they do have, such as yuka (mandioca) and sweet potato. Here are some photos of the coops that have been built:

Ezekiel showing of ña Marina's chicken coop (now completed but partially done in the photo)

Ña Ramona's chicken coop! 

Copper and I in Lourdes' chicken coop!

Lourdes' again, without copper and I blocking the shot 

Ña Eugenia's chicken coop!

Ña Artemia is converting part if her kitchen into the chicken coop. At 80 she is our oldest member and decided to make a brick floor.

Ña Elisa's sister has a chicken coop that will share a wall with her new coop! 

I also am trying to be realistic about how the project will progress without me. I am requesting a follow up volunteer so that hopefully they can continue to work with the group. Paraguayans generally only give their chickens a few handfuls of corn, this means the chickens lack protein. While talking with the agriculture program specialist I learned about using larvae to supplement the chickens protein supply. The idea is that the women create 3 different spaces, About 1.5m by 2m and 10cm deep. They fill them with green waste and cow poop. The spaces are then covered and watered 2 times a day. The goal is to attract a black fly to lay their eggs. Then 3 or 4 days later you have a great protein source! If you have 3 at once you stagger their development, this ensures that you have fresh larvae to feed the chickens every 2 days. How awesomely gross is that! 

My larvae growing spot! 

These are what I am trying to grow! Let's hope it works out!

I am trying not to think about how rapidly my close of service date is approaching and just enjoy Paraguay. It has been hard since I have come to love Paraguay and the people. I am extremely ready to live in America but I am not ready at all to leave all of these people behind. I am off to a birthday lunch, until next time!

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.