Slightly Frustrated

Some random pictures to get us started before I start ranting and raving. Students practicing healthy habits at the handwashing station the school principal built (using his own time and physical labor : )

A great idea by some of our teachers to hang soap in pantyhose so it doesn't get lost. Builds up a nice lather too!

Me with some students at one of our schools in the mountains.

So during one of my school visits today the principal asked me to go to a meeting the the president and right-hand man of the parent's association. I of course agreed, knowing how valuable face time is to building "confianza" or repoire with the community.

*Sidenote about "confianza": this idea doesn't really exist in the States outside of the realm of personal relationships/friendships. However, here in Guatemala, a lot of one is able to accomplish in their two years of service depends on the confianza or personal relationship they have with their communities and colleagues.

In the states, one is judged by their resume, accomplishments, recommendations etc. Their WORK. But here, even if you were the former president and you started working in a little town with the locals, you would be judged based on your relationship with your co-workers or neighbors rather than your credentials. I had always heard about this phenomena but coming from the states, it's just so hard to imagine that anyone would judge you based on something other than your accomplishments and education. Sometimes its frustrating.

Back on topic, why I'm irritated.

So during this meeting, I carefully laid out the need for and explained the key aspects of the program: If you ask any 5 year old what they should do before they eat they will tell you "wash your hands". But how many of them actually do it? To be healthy in word and in action, the students will all have a toothbrush and toothpaste to school so they can start practicing healthy habits. Also, we will be checking different aspects of their personal hygiene every day to encourage them to come to school with clean clothes, a clean face, hands and nails, etc. (in more detail of course). I wrapped up by asking for questions, concerns or doubts.

Do you know the ONLY question they had?

"So basically all your're bringing is moral support? Are you gonna do any projects or give an economic aid?"

I was half furious, half full of pity, half angry at foreign aid policy (I realize that's a lot of halves but I was feeling a lot of things). They warned us about this in training. All over the world but specifically here in Guatemala, international aid policies and well-meaning but completely ignorant foreigners have ruined any sense of personal-investement or stake in the future that Guatemalans had/could potentially have by creating a reliance on hand-outs.

It's sad to see how much damage can be done when people have a "receiver" mentality based on a constant stream of donted resources. I mean I've certainly done my fair share of donating: clothes, toothbrushes, old electronics, so don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing any stones. This is just something interesting to think about for anyone who still reads this blog: what kinds of traits we are fomenting in the people we are trying to help?

When we tell the teachers that the parents will be responsible for buying their children toothbrushes and toothpaste etc, there are always a few in EVERY group that are quick to inform us that the parents will be unwilling to cooperate or to suggest we look for donations from Colgate the (monopolizing) toothpaste company in Guatemala. Some even angrily ask us why the government isn't providing the children with toothbrushes. This is NOT the government's job! Each parent needs to invest in the health of their children because, in the end, the government won't be there to pay to extract teeth, to buy giardia medication etc.

Being an outsider, it's pretty easy to see how years and years of thoughtful donations has done severe damage to the Guatemalan mentality, making it extremely difficult for sustainable progress to occur.

This damage can even bee seen in terms of non-tangible resources. We always begin our meetings by explaining (in various ways) that we will not personally give health lessons to the students or train the parents 0n health concepts on behalf of the Health Center. Why? Because when we return home, the teachers and professional will not be able to carry on the work because we organized and did everything ourselves. Therefore, it's better for everyone in the community that we train the professionals to give any necessary workshops and build up the knowledge base and competency of those who will remain in the community.

Despite explaining this multiple times in various ways, the idea has yet to sink in for our teachers and Health Center that we should not and are not there to do their job for them. It's very difficult to get everyone on the same page. In the past, the presence of volunteers/aid was a clear indication that the locals should step back and allow the more knowledgable, better equipped foreigners to handle everything. After working only a few months in development, I can see why this is indeed easier for the volunteers.

Training professionals requires patience, extra resources and a fair amount of time in both the long and short-term. But avoiding the necessary has not only stymied real and sustained progress but ingrained in Guatemalans a mentality that the onus lies on the volunteer and that the outsider is more capable than the local.

So now that that's all out...I feel only slightly better. But the real question is where do we go from here?

That's tough. But one thing I do know: from now on I will think twice before donating material resources. It's important to be mindful of the long-term effects of our actions, no matter how generous or pure our intentions. Giving "stuff" is hard to label as bad when people need shoes and toothbrushes right? I would say not exactly. The average family living in the villages that I've lived in/visited buys Coke or Pepsi products regularly, has a TV (many have cable) and buys other non-necessity items. Receiving the necessities via donation more deeply ingrains in every generation the idea that things like toothbrushes, shoes, combs, etc are not the parent's responsiblity to buy but rather a right that each has to receive free of charge.

My suggestion--besides giving up a few weeks, months or years to participate in sustainable change--a great way is to donate to organizations that are investing the time to train professionals and locals to get what they need for themselves.

I hope this has been infomational. Perhaps you've even started you thinking about the impact our donations have on local mentalities and are evaluating the type of volunteer services that you have given/hope to give in the future. If so, I can rest a little easier knowing that at least the word is out and maybe, just maybe, we can start doing things the right way.

Thanks for listening to my rant : 0)

Yuna

Random Pics: Swear In, a Birthday Party and a Wedding

For the first three months of a Peace Corps Volunteer's stay in the country where they will serve, they are trainees. Each training group goes through 12 weeks of technical training (learning how to do their job, getting resources, ideas and peer training), language training in small groups of 4-5, culture training and immersion through host-family living and health training (to ensure each one knows local health risks, necessary precautions and preventitive measures).

FINALLY after three LONG months arrives Swear In. After the ceremony the trainees are offically Peace Corps volunteers and shortly after all split up and go to their assigned sites.


Here are a few pictures from the January 2010 Guatemala training class Swear In.

The girls from my training group with our host families. The families were so kind...treated us like their own children they did.


Someone from every training town!

Everyone was all gussied up!

Here are the girls from my training town.

The first pic of the Olintepeque/San Francisco La Union duo (aka me and my work partner Cristina).

The hotel where they had the ceremony was beautiful!

During training one of the girls in my training group (5 of us lived in the same town) had a birthday. Her host family generously invited us all over to celebrate!

There was a pinata! Her little host brother was the first to take a swing.

It's a lot harder than it looks! Especially if people give you wrong directions!

We played musical chairs and did the limbo. I won the limbo despite being relatively enormous. My friend's host mom is so short she walked right under the bar for the first 5 rounds! Too bad I can't find the picture of her breezing under : /

There were firecrackers (a Guatemalan tradition) and whiskey toast!

The wedding:

Here comes the flower girl and the ring bearer followed by the bridesmaids.

And there's the bride!!

On her way out with the groom...you can tell I didn't care as much about him as I did about her dress because I failed to include his head in the picture....but I got the dress!

Outside waiting to go get food!

A picture with Mama Maira. MAN I look gangly.

That's all for now...more random pictures to follow!

Who said integrating had to be hard?

Aaaahhhhh....another successful day of integrating into the community!

Since my nose wouldn't stop dripping and I couldn't stop sniffing, I stayed home and started on the mountain of paperwork I'd been putting off. Having successfully accomplished more than I'd intended to (I set very low standards for myself this morning), I decided to make a blackberry pie while the dough for my calzones was rising.

Although I had initially decided to make a personal-sized pie, I realized that-if it turned out- this pie could be a great way to meet more neighbors. With the large mound of pie crust in fridge, there was no reason not to. Although I failed to add enough sugar, it was an overall very successful first attempt at blackberry pie!

Quite pleased with myelf, I ate a nice-sized piece, added some more sugar to the pie and took two pieces over to my neighbor who had just bought me some bowls and a few sticks of butter since she felt bad that I'm poor and my house is it next to empty...and then ate another piece.

Things were NOT looking good. I'd seen this trend before. Make a pie "for the neighbors" or some cookies "for the children" and a fourth....OK, alright...half ends up making its way down my intestines before the night is over. I had to do something before another afternoon ended with me eating an unhealthy amount of some kind of pastry.

Luckly, I had forgotten I promised the neighbor kids around the corner that we would play soccer at 4pm. SCORE! Maybe, I thought, I'll run off the cookie dough from the weekend and at least the crust from the pie I ate the other day.

After soccer and a few games of freeze tag in the field in front of the school (p.s. watch out for the hidden mud-holes...they'll getcha), we headed back to my house for a blackberry pie extravaganza!

It was a great sharing experience! I learned a few new words (marchitarse-to wilt), realized I didn't know the word for gazelle in Spanish (gacela), learned that if you touch a certain tree it stunts your growth and other miscellaneous but important things ....they asked about the States, shared the words they knew in English and each tried on my glasses; it was the kind of cultural experience you hope for when in a foreign country.

After sharing spoonfuls of blackberry pie on the steps of my house as the sun slowly made its way towards the mountains, we parted ways-sweaty, tired and covered in blackberry juice.

It was a good day!

The Average Day

So it's been nice/a lot of work settling into the routine of having my own place and no one to share the work with : )

Most days I get up before 6 and start the morning with a walk. Pia and I meander through the neighborhood and sniff other dogs and eat trash (well, Pia does, I usually just watch). We get home and I fix us both some breakfast and usually do some chores such as washing the dishes and cleaning the table--which somehow manages to get cluttered every five seconds!--wash the clothes or sweep. After eating and hurridly getting dressed, I race out the door to the day's appointment, late as usual.

We visit one school per day, the majority of which we travel to by bus. At the schools we visit each classroom, using a die to check the kids personal hygiene. The die has 6 sides of course, each with one aspect related to personal hygiene--clothes, face, hair, nails, hands and teeth. We do this to encourage the kids to come to school clean and to practice healthy habits at home like brushing their teeth before coming to school.

For the last 2 months we have been doing a baseline diagnostic at each school to see if they have the infrastructure necessary to practice healthy habits. The two main components are having water during the school day and having at least 8 "sinks" so the students can wash their hands. The majority of the schools always have water (5 schools only get water once a 5-9 days). However, the vast majority have only one or two sinks for 200-700 students. This is what we will be focusing on during our two years here. If the students don't have water or sinks, it's almost impossible for them to wash their hands or brush their teeth.

During the diagnostic phase, we are also judging their "Health Corners" to make sure each class has their personal hygiene utensils such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, nail clippers etc. We want to set up a creative environment where it's easier than ever to practice healthy habits.


Here are some picture of the Health Corners we have judged so far:

This teacher will probably win a prize for her creativity and because she has all the necessary elements in her Health Corner!
This teacher has a really cute Health Corner (each kids holder is a tooth!) but she didnt' have a high percentage of students with their utensils : (
During a meeting with all the staff members at each school, we discuss the results of the diagnostic and see what the school is doing well and what they are lacking. We then discuss each school's specific situation and what factors might impede them as they try to implement the program with their students. Sometimes it's that the parents aren't cooperative, often it's that the kdis aren't practicing the habits at home and there is no continuity, etc.


We then make a step by step plan as to where we want to start working in order to meet the program's goals. We have "Pasos" or footprints in order to make it a more interesting process. The big footprint is where we write the goal such as "teaching health lessons twice a week". On the the little footprints we write the detials of what we must do in order to get to our goal. This helps us break down a big idea into something more manageable and attainable (because each small goal acheived is recognized) and helps us to think in terms of what we must actually do instead of just saying, "I need to plan a health lesson, where do I start? There's so much to do."


That's pretty much it for the school day (the Guatemalan elementary school day begins at 8 and ends at 1pm). We get back on the bus to head home. By 2pm I'm fixing or eating lunch. After, I usually take Pia for another walk. We usually end of meeting some kids from one of my schools on the road and either playing soccer or basketball or visiting with them at their houses.

Some days I head to the Centro because they sell veggies and flour and other things my little town doesn't sell. Pia and I are always buying flour because my new big thing is to either teach my neighbors how to make pies or cookies etc, or make them myself and go over for an afternoon visit with the moms. I've already had several "dates" with the moms nearby and have several lined up for this week : )

It's a good way to get to know the adults since the kids already know me from school and a great way to share something from American culture as well as something from Guatemalan culture. Sometimse we we watch movies in Spanish and we always talk about the differences between life here and there --popular topics are marrying age, number of children in families, education, how young people don't live with their parents etc.

This has been an amazing and tasty way to get to know the community. Except, my teeth are going to fall out of my head from all the desserts and my heart is going to swell two sizes from all the butter that's in them!

So I'm a little obsessed with my dog...

Here are a few of the many shots I have of my puppy Ethopia. I decided to name her after a place I really want to visit-Israel and Cuba just don't have the same ring as Pia : )

After her first bath: she wasn't too happy with me (and who knew but she HATES hair dryers) but she was calm the whole time...she just whimpered this sad little tune sometimes that made me feel like a bad person.

Isn't she a beaut?

Who knows why, but Pia is obsessed with biting my hands and arms and legs. Sometimes she get's a little too focused on the biting and forgets just who she's trying to bite. I had to be ready with my camera to capture this not-uncommon moment when she got distracted and started chomping on her own foot.

Her colors have changed and she's a lot darker now.

Pia got into a bag of flour. This was the first of two. No bag is safe around her lol. I saw her staggerign around gagging and I saw this white thing covering her mouth. I thought she was choking on a bag so I rushed over to take it off her face....only to discover that the white stuff was all gooey. I ended up prying her mouth open to pull out gobs of saliva-y flour. Ohhhhhhh having a dog. lol

She loves to cuddle!

So here's my favorite video of Pia fighting with Terri. Terri came to stay with us while Michele (my sitemate) was in Antigua. Pia became a little territorial and would attack Terri if I petted him too much! My favorite part is how Terri just runs around crying like a little girl, letting a puppy beat him up!

Sometimes after their fights I noticed her pawing at her mouth and smacking her lips...it wasn't uncommon for her to have a chunck of Terri's stuck to her tounge! She's a fireball alright.

Sometimes, however, she and Terri just enjoyed a quite moment together.

It was really cute actually, she tried to cozy up to him and rest her head on his paws as they were breaking in between fights but he, like a crusty old uncle, was having none of it. This is as close as they got.

Hi, my name´s Reality

And now I will share with you the encounter I had with a little man named Reality. Here´s how it went:

Hi! What´s your name? Yuna? Nice to meet you Yuna, my name´s Reality. Now that you have your own place, you can get right to work doing all the chores you watched your host family do when you were living with them and didn´t have to help.

Since there´s no carpet, you can start by sweeping and mopping the floors. This will need to be done at least weekly since most of the roads are dirt.

Next, since there are no dishwashers and you only have two plates, one bowl and two pots, you´ll need to wash those by hand after every meal so you can fix food and eat during the next meal.

Don´t know what it´s like to live without a microwave? Well now you do! It´s not that great huh? Warming food in a non-non stick skillet is harder than it looks. You better get back to those noodles, they´re sticking already.

You know how you´ve always noticed that Americans spend a lot more time away from home than Guatemalas? Well now you can see why. When you have machines to do all the hard work, you can afford to practice hobbies and visit neighbors and read books. But when you (who just has to look out for you) have to wash the dishes and clothes by hand and can´t multitask them and do other things in between-you find the day a LOT shorter than you used to. Now imagine doing all that house work(with no vaccuum, no dishwasher, no microwave and no washing machine) for yourself and your four kids and husband. Life looks pretty different huh?

Well, it´s been nice talking to you but your rice is done cooking and you need that pot to boil water for tea so get to it!

So there was my first encounter with the little man named Reality. Myself and I laughed about the thought of having free time in between all the chores...but still...I enjoy keeping house. Plus, I make a mean apple pie! (except after I have used every dish I own and spend the next half hour cleaning up lol)

A Beautiful View