Felicidades, Spanish, DdP3 and more…

Hello to all! It’s time for another update!

But first, Felicidades to Brian and Carolyn on the occasion of their wedding out in Washington state. I was there in spirit and I thought about you and all of our friends having an incredible time together in Seattle.

Second Felicidades goes out to Dad who celebrates a big birthday today (July 12)! Dad, I wish I could be there in person to give you a big hug and kiss. I miss you!

So what’s new in Paraguay? This past week was exciting and included a Spanish proficiency interview, Dia de Practica #3, a visit from our Country Director and a field trip to a youth leadership camp.

Spanish Exam

Good news! I passed. In order for PC Paraguay to recommend trainees for service, by the end of the three months of training, a trainee should score at level Intermediate Mid. And I have already achieved Intermediate High! The scale ranges from Novice to Intermediate, Advanced and Superior. So before I complete training, I hope to inch up a few more levels to somewhere in the Advanced levels.

In my interview the language professor asked me about my life in Paraguay, what my life was like in the US, my families (Paraguayan and in the US) and some trips I have taken. He asked me about Rome and the Trevi Fountain. I managed to explain what it was like to walk down a street in Rome, round a corner, and suddenly be before the Trevi Fountain. And then he asked me about an unexpected experience or challenge I encountered while traveling. I told him about the time that Andrea and I arrived in Prague, promptly lost our guidebook and directions to our hostel, but managed to talk to a nice Czech-ian that got us to the right place.

It’s been surprising what topics have come up in language class. So far we have talked a lot about the cultural differences and similarities between US and Paraguay. For example, we have talked about public versus private schools, lending practices, homosexuality, driving rules, treatment of Latinos, evolution, family structure, diet and the job market.

Language class is clearly my favorite part of training.

Dia de Practice #3

Nikki and I met up at 8am on Thursday for our third of 5 dias de practica. Dia de Practica is supposed to simulate how we might go about initiating projects in our future sites.

We returned to the Municipality to talk to our contact, but she was out of the office for the day. So we went to go check out a volleyball court that trainee Izzy had told us about in the barrio, or neighborhood, San Juan. It looked suitable for a tournament, but we didn’t know who owned it. So we visited the house of another trainee, Michael, who lives nearby and talked to his family.

After lots of warm welcomes and introductions, we asked Michael’s host brother about the court. He knew who owned it, but he began to talk about a better court in the area. And before we knew it, he opened up the garage and backed out his shiny car to drive us across the neighborhood to the other court. He was our liaison with the owner of this court and struck a deal with him that we could use it for free!

So Nikki and I have a volleyball tourney scheduled for July 25. Next step is to start recruiting youth. July 25 falls during their winter break, so we hope to get lots of interested youth. We’re thinking we’ll write a set of rules and make a few fliers and sign-up sheets. And we’ll collect about 5,000Guaranis (a little over $1) per team of 4, and use that money to purchase prizes and snacks.

We’re also planning on giving a charla (informal talk) at one of the local high schools or colegios about cultural diversity in the US.

A visit from the Country Director

This past week our Country Director visited us during training in Guarambare. A brief overview of Don’s resume is that he served as a (agriculture or agroforestry?) volunteer in Bolivia. After his service, I believe he returned to the US for grad school, but then he returned to Peace Corps as a trainer, then worked up the ranks as Training Director (I think in the Dominican Republic). So he has lived and breathed PC for many years. And he gave us an inspiring talk and included a few anecdotes.

Don works in Asuncion, the capital, at the PC headquarters there. One day a man stopped by and delivered an invitation addressed to him to attend a book release at a bookstore in the area. This was an unusual thing to be invited to personally, and curious, Don went. When he walked in the man approached him and said, “You’re the Peace Corps Director! Peace Corps changed my life!” And curious again, Don asked for more explanation. This man explained that when he was 12-years-old, growing up in a pueblo in Paraguay, there was a PC volunteer in his village. She taught him some basic English, and also told him that he could do anything that he dreamed if he worked hard enough. And sure enough he did. He continued to study English, got a scholarship to attend college in Minnesota(?), completed a master’s degree in playwriting in the US. He had returned to Paraguay to write, and he was just publishing his first , and by the way Pulitzer-nominated work.

So yeah, it’s stories like that keep me inspired. Another good one game from a third-year-volunteer, Betsy, who has worked with cooperatives to improve their business practices. And she said that even considering her professional PC work, her best project so far was her host mother. While Betsy lived with the family, she shared all kinds of experiences with them…talked about her love of education and travel, new experiences, meeting new people. And then, when the family had the opportunity to buy land in the neighborhood so the father could build a house for his daughter (as is the custom, so that the family can live together), the mother said, “No, what if our daughter wants to travel and go to college like Betsy?”

AHHH!

Youth Leadership Camp

This past weekend, trainees and trainers headed down to Ayolas where some volunteers were hosting a 2-day “reconnect” with about 40 youth, ages 15-22, who had attended a earlier camp back in February. At the earlier camp, the youth had heard from community professionals about leadership qualities and skills. But at this “reconnect” the youth were put in the driver’s seat. They conducted icebreakers, team building exercises and charlas about a number of topics: working in groups, qualities of a good leader, environmentalism, creative thinking, safe sex and healthy relationships. The youth also gave presentations about service work they are conducting in their own communities: planting trees, working in computer labs, giving charlas at schools and raising money to buy coats for families that can’t afford them. WOW! I was impressed with their enthusiasm and composure speaking in front of a large group.

A note on working with youth in Paraguay. A staggering portion (50%) of Paraguay’s population is youth under the age of 24. Urban Youth Development used to be a sector (like Health, Community Economic Development, Environmental Education, Agriculture, Agroforestry, etc). But UYD has now been eliminated because volunteers in all skill sectors should be gearing part of their work toward this group of Paraguayans, many of whom are unemployed. And of course one of Peace Corps’ primary goals is to help train an able workforce.

Speaking of sectors…

My sector is Community Economic Development, and this is comprised of 4 main project areas: Civic Education (working in schools or with community groups to learn about civic rights, responsibilities, leadership; learning how to cooperate in groups, share ideas, elect group leaders), Family Finance (how to write a family budget and save money), IT (basic computer skills) and Small Businesses (improving small biz practices, like keeping a daily ledger, marketing). Technical training has focused on these areas, plus common themes like how neighborhood commissions work and how to request funding from local governments or NGOs. This past week we heard from very successful volunteers and the types of projects they were conducting (all of which happened to be based in construction and fundraising). I’ll give a brief synopsis of each:

• Construction of a community center for an active women’s group. Among other things, this particular women’s group bakes bread together weekly. They contribute the ingredients, divvy up the product, and sell it to help support their families. The volunteer acted as general contractor really… locating professionals to draft plans, give bids for the work, worked with the Municipality to get funding, and coordinated fundraising efforts with Peace Corps Partnership (a US fundraising arm for PCVs). She helped to monitor every stage of the construction process alongside her community counterparts. And most often she served as a facilitator in decision-making. For instance, she helped the women brainstorm about the uses of the community center and how space should be allocated in the house for their needs. For example, they would need a large kitchen!

• Construction of sanitary bathrooms. An organized community group expressed interest in acquiring sanitary bathrooms. By the project definition, a sanitary bathroom included walls, a raised toilet, and a sink for hand washing. So the volunteer worked with the Municipality and an NGO to acquire the chunk of change necessary to lay cement and brick, install a toilet and sink. The bathrooms were all identical, and every brick, kilo of cement and washer was accounted for on the budget report that was delivered to the Muni and NGO.

• Construction of fagones, or indoor ovens. Respiratory illnesses are a major concern for many communities that continue to cook over open flame in their houses. Fagones are indoor ovens, constructed of brick, that include a flume to send smoke outdoors. When this particular volunteer’s community commission had funds left over from their fundraising, they elected to build additional fagones for families most in need them who weren’t a part of the community commission.

Site assignment

Site selection is coming up in about, oh 16 days. This is a big moment in PC training. It’s the moment when I’ll find out where I will be living for the next two years. But it’s on my mind now because this week I will have a second interview with the Community Economic Development Program Manager responsible for matching me with a site. My first interview was a WASH because I didn’t know jack about Paraguay or my priorities. I had been in country for 5 days! So that interview was more about getting to know me and what skills I bring with me.

Anyhow, based on our language skills, technical abilities and living preferences, the CED PM will assign each trainee his or her future site. It may be in the campo or very rural country, a village, or small-medium sized city. It may be a site currently held by a volunteer who is getting ready to complete service and is in need of a follow-up, or it may be a brand new location for Peace Corps. Or maybe the site was last lived in by a volunteer 20 years ago. Either way, because our sector requires a bit more community organization and infrastructure, I will most likely be living in a small city/pueblo off a main road in Paraguay. All of our sites are pretty much guaranteed to have running water and electricity, or I will be able to be update to have those things. Fingers crossed!

OK, that’s all for now. I feel winded. Can  you be winded from typing? Love and peace to you all.

Emily