2/24

Before moving out, I had my 3 month In-Service Training (after 3 months in our sites).  All of the health volunteers and their project partners from their respective sites went to La Vega for 3 days.  We presented our community diagnostics (the data from all the interviews I had been doing) and our plans for the first year.  We talked about grant writing to get funding for our projects and other productive things.  So now that I’ve completed the Community Diagnostic (I can email you a copy of my report, if you want; it’s in Spanish though), I’m finally starting to get some projects together.

I’ve formed a youth group, which is part of a national Peace Corps initiative called Escojo Mi Vida (“I choose my life”).  I’m giving weekly charlas on everything from Values and Self-esteem, Making Healthy Decisions to HIV/AIDS, Sexual Orientation, and Pregnancy in Adolescence.  The main idea is that the kids who successfully complete the course will graduate as “multiplicadores” and will go on to give their own charlas and multiply the information to more youth; thus, creating a sustainable project that hopefully won’t just die once I leave.  I have a group of about 20 kids ages 12 – 21, and gave my first charla a few days ago.  It felt so great to be up there, in front of these kids, in charge of something – even with my mediocre Spanish.

In about two weeks, I’ll be rolling out a nutrition class for adults.  We’ll hopefully be cooking together once per week following the charlas, focusing on using locally available foods and making simple small changes to their meals (like adding green leaves from the batata plant to their beans, which they faithfully eat everyday at noon).  As a volunteer, I have free access to seeds, as well, and hope to do a garden project with each of the families that completes this course.

Outside of “work”, most of my time recently has been spent with my little Rottie pal, Plum.  Our current training efforts are focused on not bringing horse and donkey poop into the house and not eating the pigs’ food.  Looking past her fondness of eating gross things, I can already tell that she’s one smart cookie.  She’s about 6 weeks old and already taps at the door to go out, and at night poops in my bathroom right next to my toilet.  Haha.  I’m not kidding, she’s great.  I spend lonely nights talking to her about what her life will be like when we move to “Nueba Yor,” including everything from a big plush doggy bed, things like Beggin’ Strips, and doggy friends who don’t have Kwashiorkor.

In other humorous news, I found a poster of Taylor Swift in the Peace Corps Office and decided to hang it in my house.  Now, I am a fan of Swift, but considering I’m not 13, a giant poster of her on a swing made out of ivy isn’t my first choice of home decor.  However, currently my decorating options are limited.  And honestly, I’m not quite sure what decor is appropriate for a shack made out of palm trees and sheets of zinc?  Anyways, the point of the story.  My whole community thinks that it’s a giant picture of me.  And they talk about it every time they walk into my house.  I’ve tried to set them straight, but apparently the blonde curly hair and white skin is just too much, and it has to be me.  And obviously, I would have a 3.5’ x 4’ glossy photo of myself, bring it with me to the DR, and hang it in my new home.