So here are some thoughts a very interesting guest speaker discussed during one of our many training events (eventually his ideas will tie into my work here in Guate):

The speaker made an interesting point about Americans and some of the viewpoints they hold (this really isn’t going anywhere, I just thought it was a well-made point): for example American’s have all these ideas about how to “help” other nations and what they should be doing, but have their own problems to sort out. For example, America has 5% of the world population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources. That’s 6 times more resources than the average non-American. While American’s worry about overpopulation and the size of families in other countries (for instance Muslim families or lower class, rural families of any country who tend to have 6 plus children), they quickly forget that while families abroad might be much larger, each person in the United States on average consumes enough resources to sustain a 6 person family. The people American’s are worried about overpopulating the world consume far less while undoubtedly contributing less to ozone degradation, pollution, filling of landfills and exhaustion of earth’s natural resources. Something to think about.

He then gave us an interesting illustration to consider:
Imagine that society is a pressure cooker. There are a million and one “flames” that heat up the cooker and cause things to start moving faster, resulting in positive change or causing the situation to become dangerous. He focused on three flames: exclusion (political and social), repression and poverty/inequality. Then he talked about factors that can release pressure in the cooker, deflating any positive change movements and stabilizing the situation. These pressure releasers come in three main forms: political, economic and social. Much action is slowed by the game of politics for the same reasons it has been for thousands of years—people support and promote family, friends and self (in terms of an agenda, opportunity and finances ) at the expense of the community. Economically, opportunities for change are deflated by rich land-owners and those with monopolies who (perhaps not intentionally but by nature of land ownership, good business and farming practices etc) stymie the economic advancement of the masses by using their cheap labor. Interestingly, on a social level the speaker considered NGOs (non-governmental organizations that are designed to address problems in international communities) and foreign aid as major detriments to the people. His problem with NGOs and other aid/service based organizations is that they are paid based on their ideas and attempts to create change rather than the actual results. Often despite results, organizations are given money to continue their services. In addition to lacking stringent criteria for success and continued existence, aid has increased the people’s demand for incentives and reimbursement. For example, because so much aid has been offered to Guatemalans, if there is a conference or workshop on how to prepare clean water, participants from the villages will expect bus fare, lunch, snacks and materials to be provided rather than investing even a few Quetzales to learn how to improve the health of their families. As we know, people without investment in something are more likely to take the situation less seriously. (IE the college student who funds her own education or a kid who pays for half of his own bike are more likely to guard the experience or object more closely and take invest in its future).

Regarding what he considered to be the negative impact of NGO’s and foreign aid, he said it is important to be very specific and intentional about what kind of work you do in another man’s country and how you go about it. Peace Corps is all about “capacity building”. That’s our catchphrase in training. Our job as volunteers for 2 years is not to come in and do projects, potentially using outside resources and ideas, and then leave once they are finished. More importantly than what we accomplish is the atmosphere in which we work and the attitudes and mentalities that exist when we leave. For example, in my program-the Healthy Schools Program-we could go in and construct bathrooms, sinks for hand-washing and teeth brushing, give everyone tooth brushes and toothpaste and teach them about health. But when we leave, the Guatemalans health system and mentality will be the same as when we came. In failing to use natural, local resources to finance and construct the necessary utilities and getting the parents and students to invest in their own health by regularly buying toothbrushes and tooth paste, we’ve created an environment of dependency that will not be sustainable and easily maintained in the future after our service is over.

In order to combat this, our job is to build the capacity of Guatemalans so i) communities know how to get financing for needed projects, ii) our communities are educated about a specific topic like health or agriculture techniques and iii) the knowledge is integrated into an accepted norm so that when volunteers are no longer around, the locals will self-initiate/sustain the practices and projects on which they collaborated with the volunteer.
How does this relate to my project? When I first laid eyes on my job description, I was convinced that it was a misprint. Who needs to learn about hand-washing and using toothbrushes and trashcans? Well, I’ve give you two examples of why these skills are still needed here in Guatemala:
1. There is no system to handle trash. No big white truck comes barreling around the corner to pick up the trash that’s been collecting all week and take it….well actually I have no idea where they take it, but the point is, trash collection is something I seriously under-appreciated. Because there is no ultimate plan for getting rid of trash, one of three things generally happens: 1) a bag of chips/bottle of pop is opened and consumed and the trash is thrown in the street, 2) the trash is collected at home in a box or barrel and then thrown in the back yard, 3) the trash is burned on the side of the road (burning trash smells like weed, just fyi).
2. Also, hand-washing hasn’t quite taken off here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen some members of my family wash their hands in the 7 weeks I’ve been here. The funny thing is, the people are so generous and every time you go to someone’s house to visit, they offer you food. (Actually when you’re in the moment, it’s not that funny). Knowing that people aren’t too keen on hand-washing, I’ve had quite a few moments of calm façade outside, pulling out my hair and scratching out my eyes inside as I watch the host molest my food with unwashed hands. Sometimes, I feel like it’s a game: how many people can touch Yuna’s food before handing it to her? I remember being at my Grandma’s house down the street and her cutting papaya (where had the knife been before that? I tried not to imagine) and then handing the papaya down the line through three other people until it got to me. I’ve developed a strategy however—if you keep a sharp eye on some part of the food that has only been touched once or so you can bite that part and after a few moments generously offer to share your snack with whoever is around! It usually works out great and you seem like an extra nice person : ) It’s so different than the US where people insist on using tongs or a fork to hold and cut and passing things on a napkin or plate. Here in Guate it’s more of a palm the food and cut strategy or a “here, let me grab you a piece of pineapple and pass it to you”, which also contributes to me mentally pulling out my hair in anguish. (Ok so maybe it’s not that serious, but it’s been difficult adjustment.)

So those are a few examples of why my job is necessary. Now the question is, how can my work create sustainability in my community after I leave? Of course it will be faster and easier to plan events and projects regarding health without the influence and help of my community, but the point is to get Guatemalan teachers to plan weekly health lessons or to organize workshops for the parents on why hand-washing is important. We also recently learned that we will not be receiving any funding to do small projects like the volunteers before us received. At first I was really upset because the schools need those funds to put in spigots for hand-washing or to construct in latrines or toilets. As I thought about it however, I realized that is not capacity-building at all because Guatemalan’s would not be able to do those projects on their own if a volunteer were not there to write the grants. With this new system, however, the schools will learn how to petition their local government officials and other NGOs as well as the community members for funds. This system makes things much more difficult for each volunteer individually and certainly limits what one person can do in 2 years, but in the long run, Guatemalans will be able to take pride in their accomplishments and have more interest in maintaining the work of their own hands.

So there’s a little about my work specifically and about what PC Guatemala is trying to do. It’s kind of random but important to document and hopefully useful information!