What's New at Work
Update: The general assembly went well - we had about 35 families show up, plus the ADESCO directiva and the two health promotors from the cantones whose dividing lines cut through our caserio. (Municipalidad = municipality, canton = town, caserio = village - caserios make up cantones and cantones and colonias make up municipalidades) The health promotor and I explained about the stoves and the latrines and the filters and he talked about the health necessities of the community. The people were excited about the prospect of projects in their community and decided to focus first on the stoves, since we have funding for that, then on latrines. On Thursday we will meet with families in La Colonia to get the information for the hammock bridge they want for their kids to go to school across the river.
A few weeks ago I started teaching English and sports classes with the teachers at my local school. I have about 45 kids in each English class (1st-3rd and 4th-6th) and somewhere between 60 and 90 kids for the sports class. I thought it would be a terror, but it's actually pretty fun. All the kids want to be there, though it's hard to get some of them to speak. If they don't practice, how will they learn??? Oddly, classroom control hasn't been an issue. I'm crossing my fingers that the kids stay afraid of me and keep learning. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some of the local teenagers on board with helping out with the sports class since they come to watch anyway, and they are trying to get me to start an English club with them (which I may do just as an "in" with that group, since I have had a hell of a time getting involved with anything with them). We give and take, but hopefully to everyone's benefit.
What else is new? I just sent a request for sewing classes off to my project manager to revise and hopefully give the OK so I can send it to the local organization that provides technical courses for communities here in El Salvador. It is in the process of editing, then I have to take it in person to San Salvador. It would be absolutely amazing to see the women in my community united in a project and actually earning some money and believing that they can change things in their community. They are electing a governing board at the next meeting and hopefully starting to save money for activities and sewing machines - woot woot community organization in action!
I made paper maché piggy banks with Edwin and Nayely and they turned out awesome! My puppy ate mine, but theirs are cool.
We also have a general assembly today to gauge interest in two different projects - eco-friendly stoves and latrines. I want to get a general number of interested families so that we can start to draw up lists of costs and timelines for the projects, training my ADESCO to complete projects and take responsibility.
This weekend I visited two other volunteers living in Morazan under the pretense of teaching community members how to make bracelets. I did actually teach bracelet classes in both communities, but I also got to hang out and meet one of the new trainees and generally just enjoy being with my friend and seeing her work. I got to help out with her youth group working on internal management and see the women's group in action making bracelets and later making bread.
We visited the molienda where they converted sugar cane into dulce de atado before my eyes. I met an amazing young lady who dreams of studying at the university and is the fastest study I have ever met - it took two lines of a bracelet for her to completely understand the pattern and work on her own - and there is almost no artesan work that she can't do. I had a blast and couldn't help thinking how different our two communities are and how right it is that she is there and I am in my little rural new site.
I always keep my fingers crossed, but for today work is good and Peace Corps is awesome. That's a good way to start the week after Peace Corps week. (It's pretty legit that my job gets a week of recognition, isn't it?)
Here's a video of the process.
A few weeks ago I started teaching English and sports classes with the teachers at my local school. I have about 45 kids in each English class (1st-3rd and 4th-6th) and somewhere between 60 and 90 kids for the sports class. I thought it would be a terror, but it's actually pretty fun. All the kids want to be there, though it's hard to get some of them to speak. If they don't practice, how will they learn??? Oddly, classroom control hasn't been an issue. I'm crossing my fingers that the kids stay afraid of me and keep learning. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some of the local teenagers on board with helping out with the sports class since they come to watch anyway, and they are trying to get me to start an English club with them (which I may do just as an "in" with that group, since I have had a hell of a time getting involved with anything with them). We give and take, but hopefully to everyone's benefit.
I made paper maché piggy banks with Edwin and Nayely and they turned out awesome! My puppy ate mine, but theirs are cool.
This weekend I visited two other volunteers living in Morazan under the pretense of teaching community members how to make bracelets. I did actually teach bracelet classes in both communities, but I also got to hang out and meet one of the new trainees and generally just enjoy being with my friend and seeing her work. I got to help out with her youth group working on internal management and see the women's group in action making bracelets and later making bread.
We visited the molienda where they converted sugar cane into dulce de atado before my eyes. I met an amazing young lady who dreams of studying at the university and is the fastest study I have ever met - it took two lines of a bracelet for her to completely understand the pattern and work on her own - and there is almost no artesan work that she can't do. I had a blast and couldn't help thinking how different our two communities are and how right it is that she is there and I am in my little rural new site.
Here's a video of the process.
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