Whirlwind update of the past month!

Things have been busy out here in Gracias! I can’t believe May has come and gone… before I know it, it will be August and I will be boarding a plane in San Pedro on my way to BOSTON!!!! Yay!!!!

What have I been up to? Good question! We finished up Yo Merezco/Yo Tambien Merezco this past week with the 5th and 6th graders at one of the bilingual schools. It’s such a great program, I can’t wait to start it with another group, but I might hold off a little bit so I don’t over-do it. To re-cap, incase you are a new reader- it is an abstinence based sex-ed/self-esteem class for pre-adolescents, that is separated into a girl’s manual and a boy’s manual. I think what struck me the most about facilitating this class was when we got to the menstruation chapter with the girls- they were SO beyond thrilled to ask all the “is it normal when…” questions because they’ve never had the opportunity to talk about things like that before.

My TEAM (Teaching English and Methodology) class started with a group of 19 teachers….. the Peace Corps has partnered with the Secretary of Education of Honduras to create this course (so far 3 levels have been elaborated) to improve basic English education and methodology in the primary schools. The teachers who enroll in the course are suppose to teach English at least once a week, implementing the new methodology they learn. Why should they been teaching English, you ask? Is it that important? Aren’t there more important things they should be focusing on? Well… yes, of course, in a country where the vast majority misspell common words (llegar—yegar; quiero—kiero; merezco—meresco… I could go on and on) it seems wasteful to put so much energy into teaching an entirely different language. BUT, teachers are mandated by the government to teach English, and they don’t receive any training or education in the subject. Essentially they are teaching poor English via rote memorization, and the students aren’t learning. The Secretary of Education approached Peace Corps Youth Development program a few years ago asking for help, and that’s how TEAM started! I agree that it shouldn’t be a priority given other more urgent needs that communities face in Honduras, BUT given the circumstances, I am happy to do it. I loved the English class I gave when I first got here, to the youth center volunteers, and have been itching to get TEAM started. And so far, my students (the teachers) LOVE it! The methodology is dynamic and participative, two things they are not use to. I was wrapping up class on Friday and had a song planned to teach them, but it was almost the end of the class so I doubted anyone would want to stick around to sing it, but I asked them, and they all stayed, and we sang this color song about 10 times!

We are still brushing teeth, reading stories and learning how to read at IHNFA. As of late, I have been doing a lot of number identification games with them…. You have to do something when 5 and 6 year olds can’t distinguish number 1 from number 4. This coming week I will finally be giving toothbrushes to the three kinder teachers nextdoor. IHNFA supposedly serves 50 kids but on any given day, by the afternoon when I do my colgate class, there are between 10 and 20. All of the kids have their preschool classes at this kinder that is right there, along with 50 other kids who are not enrolled at IHNFA. I will set up each of the three teachers with toothbrushes so they can do the colgate program in the morning, and the kids that also go to IHNFA will brush twice a day.

Earlier this month we had our last Youth Development in-service training in a program called Joven a Joven (youth to youth) which is a course for high school kids about job orientation, figuring out skills and aptitudes, how to prepare for an interview, writing a resume and a cover page, etc. It’s a really detailed, well put-together program but the prep work is intensive. The counterpart that came with me is doing an internship right now with World Vision and she wants to start soon, so we can complete the entire course during the time of her internship…. Hopefully we will start planning this coming week... OH! And during the workshop we made a music video to a song that fellow volunteer Melissa wrote about using condoms and preventing AIDS! Once it is done being edited I will be sure to share it. AND on the last day of the workshop, the hotel gave us a CAKE (photographed here). How sweet!


I also recently set up another blog to use as part of the World Wise School program, which is a peace corps program that sets up volunteers with classrooms in the states. I'll be writing to my sister's special ed class! The year is almost over but she runs a summer program too, so it will carry over. I'm sharing the link to that blog on this blog, but not the other way around :) We haven't officially started but G said this week she'd introduce them to it.
http://www.wws-lisa-pchonduras.blogspot.com/

An update on safety and security in Honduras….. 6 volunteers are being evacuated from their sites and moved to new ones due to a rapid increase in random/intense violence in a certain area of the country. Volunteers living in and right around this certain city will officially have new homes by this Friday. YIKES! I wish them all the best, I can’t imagine what it would be like to move to a new site and integrate into a new community so far into your service. Please keep these volunteers in your thoughts. (Pictured to the left is me with Juan Carlos our safety and security officer).

Also, ex-president Mel Zelaya, who was ousted in the coup in 2009 and has been hiding out in the DR, came back into Honduras this weekend.... I was expecting to hear horror stories about what happened in the streets of Tegucigalpa, but so far everything's tranquilo. He has a LOT of supporters, but also what seems to be an equal number of "enemies" (for lack of a better word).

Random story of the week: I was walking down the street and I hear someone shout something in English… I keep walking, assuming it was someone being rude, saying gross things to me in broken English (I am not being bitter, it is literally just part of a typical day). But then I realize the English is not broken so I turn around. It was a group of young men outside one of the Evangelical churches, on a missionary trip from the states. They come down once/twice a year and always partner with the same congregation. They were so nice, and they all gathered around me and prayed for my safety and well-being (and then they gave me a bible in Spanish). It was so kind of them, I nearly cried.

Annnnd of course, more goats :)

Thats all for now,
lots of hugs from Honduras,
love, lisa

Comments on Boston Globe's Article

The Boston Globe recently published an article about the Peace Corps, questioning it’s validity and suggesting reforms and modifications to the organization as a whole. Before I start voicing my own opinions about the claims made, I want to reiterate the disclaimer on the right of my blog…. These, in NO WAY reflect the views of the United States Peace Corps nor the government nor Honduras, just ME! Cheque.

I am also voicing my opinions as a reflection of my experience thus far from just one of the 77 current Peace Corps posts worldwide. They are, in essence, biased.

The article, in case you're interested:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/05/15/the_peace_corps_what_is_it_for/?page=full



#1.”The Peace Corps — an agency with a budget that reached $400 million in 2010 and which sends nearly 9,000 volunteers into risky environments every year — may no longer have a real purpose.” …………… The budget might seem like a lot, but the same amount of money goes towards the Peace Corps annually than to the army’s marching band. Ademas, in its 50 year history, less money has gone towards the Peace Corps than the US military receives in one fiscal year. Risky environments, that’s a valid point.

#2. “Today, more than one-third of volunteers quit before their two-year terms expire, according to internal agency documents obtained by the authors of the memo.”…… Please take this statistic with a grain of salt… “quit” can mean so many different things in regards to early termination of your service. One of your parents gets diagnosed with cancer, you are part of a bus assault or other nasty security incident, a close friend is sexually assaulted and it hits too close to home, no one in your community will work with you despite all your efforts….. so many things can happen…. I don’t like to use the word “quit” in Peace Corps….

#3. “Why should the American taxpayer in a time of horrendous budget cuts pay for these college grads to have a two-year vacation in a foreign land?” asked Paula Hirschoff, a two-time Peace Corps volunteer who along with her husband, Chuck Ludlam, authored the critical memo. “Why? It doesn’t make sense.”….. HOLD UP. I am sorry that this persons experience resembled a two year vacation but let me tell you straight from the field, nothing about this job is even remotely related to a two year vacation! I am sure that for some volunteers, living conditions are favorable and work minimal, but that is the vast minority. And about the budget cuts, refer to my comments in point #1. And, budget cuts are greatly affecting Peace Corps as well as it is affecting other organizations. We can certainly feel it in Honduras, as we just went from 6 projects down to 4.

#4. “But the problem, as a chorus of critics has been pointing out, is that the agency has never been structured to do development effectively.” …… this could go either way. It’s an ongoing struggle, but in my post at least, there is an extremely strong emphasis on sustainability- whether it’s working or not is another question.

#5. “They also wonder whether the Peace Corps should abandon what they call a “go it alone” policy, and start collaborating with other big aid organizations. Combining volunteers’ knowledge of individual communities with the resources and institutional memory of these larger organizations could be, they suggest, a recipe for building a more valuable Peace Corps.” …. YES! Not for every volunteer but at least for some… what powerful resources!

#6. “That lofty sense of virtue devoid of real mission strikes a lot of people as pretty fuzzy for an organization that is arguing for an even bigger budget and an increase in volunteer numbers.” ……. I wouldn’t go as far as to say “devoid of real mission.” There are clear goals for the organization as a whole, but it IS a diverse experience. That doesn’t have to make it “fuzzy.” And about the budget, again, refer to #1. In comparison to what our government spends on other things each year, even if the very least Peace Corps does is strengthen foreign relations (which is as important now as it was in 1961), I believe it’s money well spent.

#7. “What critics including Strauss want to see, before any expansion, is for the Peace Corps to tackle its structural problems.”……. I think reforming the structure of the organization as a whole is necessary, and agree that increasing the number of volunteers isn’t the best idea. Fewer volunteers and more individualized training is probably the smartest way to go.

#8. “They wonder if all this talk of reform and change overlooks what is most central about the agency, that it allows Americans to interact with the world. This simple notion, they say, is what has made for the resilience of the Peace Corps over the decades.”….. The Peace Corps has lasted 50 years, and has only grown stronger in recent years. Something’s working. I believe reforms are necessary, but I also love the diversity within the Peace Corps community. I’d hate to see it change drastically, but I think reducing the over all number of volunteers and focusing in on more specific projects might improve sustainability and work more towards international development. At the same time…. Would those changes take away from uniqueness of the organization as a whole? I don’t know.

Closing Remarks: Like any program as extensive as this one, modifying and reorganizing the structure every so often is necessary. With that being said, part of what makes this organization so unique is its diversity. I’d love to see structural changes within reason, but I’d hate for the initial idea of Peace Corps, helping/supporting through true understanding, to be lost. When you put the PC’s budget into perspective, it’s nothing, and it’s getting cut as we speak, so I just might scream if I hear/read one more complaint about the money being spent on this alleged fuzzy organization. Worry not, fiscally conservative tax payers, I assure you, you are not paying for anyone’s 2 year vacation filled with cockroaches, bucket baths, cat-calls, unpaved roads, minimal resources, and the like. You are helping to support motivated, be it idealistic, professionals (not all “recent college grads”) integrate into foreign cultures, making them better able to aid host country nationals in developing themselves. You are helping strengthen the ties between our country and other countries. You are giving people hope. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s life, and it is true of all things. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

The one where I make a cheesy video...

I finally put some of my favorite pictures together to make a video! These are the kids I work with at IHNFA…. Sorry it’s super cheesy, but, what are you gonna do! Also, I think it can only be viewed in the US (sorry everyone in Honduras!)... there was some technical glitch that I think came about from a questionable audio source... I haven't quite gotten to the bottom of it yet!

To elaborate a bit more on IHNFA (Instituto Hondureno de la Ninez y la Familia), it is a government “funded” organization catering to families living in extreme poverty, and families with working mothers. Kids between the ages of 1 and 7 come and get three meals a day. There aren’t too many centers, but they are sprinkled around the country, mostly in the bigger cities. The idea, in essence, is brilliant, right? Well… it’s not quite as simple, as the “funding” for IHNFA (at least the one I work at) is minimal, barely enough to maintain the building.

At my IHNFA, since my arrival, I have been trying to involve the staff in programs that hopefully they will continue after I complete my service. We’ve done/are currently doing Colgate (dental hygiene class), story hour, Yo Se Leer (early literacy tutoring), classroom management techniques, arts/crafts, and various other less formal recreational/educational activities.

It’s been a really hard placement, and I find myself constantly re-explaining my role and reminding the staff that we need to work together to make things sustainable. But, I also feel that I’ve made great strides in this since September. And in the end, even if my co-workers don’t end up following through the way I’d like them to, that’s the beauty of the Youth Development project: We work directly with the kids too! So… regardless of project sustainability, if one child remembers one thing I’ve taught them, and applies it to his/her future, I’ve had success as a volunteer.

Another perk of getting to work WITH them directly is that I have been able to see them all progress in the 9 months that I've been here, as far as being able to hold a pencil correctly, knowing what to do with a crayon, asking questions about a story we are reading rather than looking like a deer in headlights, discovering sparkles! I am so proud of them!

I love all of the IHNFA kids dearly… the majority of the kids come from houses with no/minimal walls, sleep on the floor, or (better? worse?) in the same bed as their mother and 3-4 siblings, aren’t kept clean, and are more or less neglected at home. This leads to either overly aggressive or extremely timid behaviors, although I have seen a lot of progress in the kids that come regularly, at least the timid ones.,,. Though this is the majority, there are kids who come because their mothers go to work. It’s wonderful to see these moms come to pick up their children after work and take them home…. The other side is heartbreaking, seeing the kids leaving by themselves after the last meal is served, to walk alone to wherever it is that they live. Everyday, one 5 year old boy walks to and from IHNFA, holding his one year old brother’s hand (at the end of the day he sometimes carries his little brother because he's half-asleep)…. He and his brother aren’t enrolled because their mom works…. They are enrolled because they live in poverty… So where is mom? dad?