The one with Productivity and Hope!

It has been a really positive week- one of those where you know you’re in the right place, doing the right thing and you actually feel like maybe you’re making a difference. Peace Corps service has its ups and downs, and they say usually optimism and pessimism come in waves. This past week I have been really hopeful about some of my projects, and have felt like I was/am a productive volunteer. Can I get a “yay!” from back home?

My TEAM class (English teaching with teachers) is going really well… those who come are so motivated, and so ready to start teaching to their own classes (they start this coming week). There is an average of 12 who have continued coming, but there is a base of about 8 of them that I can see are truly dedicated, and genuinely excited to learn, and impart what they’re learning on to their students. Who knew before Peace Corps that I would love teaching English, never mind love working with adults! I have a comment box for each class and was reiterating to them that I really appreciate feedback so I can improve the class and one said to me “The best teacher couldn’t teach better than you.” How sweet, though incorrect, but can you believe the confidence she had in me to say that? Anyways, here are a few that made me smile:

“Muchas gracias por todo… Me gusta la manera en que imparte la clase…y la alegria y creatvidad en que lo hace…See you later Miss! Thank You!” (thank you very much for everything.. I like how you give the class… the joy and creativity in how you do it…)

“Lisa, Gracias por su paciencia, eres bondadosa amable y comprensiva.. gracias por tu ensenanza, eres una persona muy especial. Gracias por compartir su saber con nosotros.” (Lisa, thank you for your patience, you are kind, friendly and understanding, thank you for your teaching, you are a very special person. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.)

“Le felicito por su material muy bonito.. Su dinamismo esta excelente.. Me encantan sus clases… Thank you!” (I congratulate you for your beautiful materials… your energy is excellent.. I love your classes)

“Excelente la clase de Ingles, muy motivada… Le felicito! Dios la bendiga!” (Excellent English class, very motivating.. congratulations! God bless you!)

Last week was “receso academico” (academic recess) so there were no classes. When the public schools don’t have classes, for strikes or vacations, that means that the IHNFA kids are there all day (when normally they’d be in their kinder for about 3 hours in the morning). My counterpart, the “nanny”, and I co-taught pre-school together all week- IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! When I say “co-teach” I mean she was there for disciplinary reasons, and assisted me when it was time for the activities… and did the morning prayer to God of course! It was a wonderful week, especially since the numbers were low (we had 10-12/day, when we usually have 20-50)…. We could actually have a class without ripping our hair out.

My site mate, a health volunteer, and I finally started our girls group that we’ve been trying to get off the ground for quite a bit now. 11 girls showed up to our first meeting, and they were sweet as pie… So excited for all the ideas we talked about! The end goal of the group is to do Yo Merezco (the abstinence class), but we are starting with a mix of confidence building/self-esteem fostering activities and community service…. along with fun stuff like games, cooking classes, crafts, the world map project, etc. They seem like great girls, smart too! I have high hopes! When I mentioned the traveling library Peace Corps loaned me and reading stories to the kids at IHNFA some of them got so excited they squealed! Anyways, next week we will vote on a group name... one girl has already proposed "Mujeres en Accion" ("Women in Action") which I LOVE.

Next week I am starting 3 more colgate classes with the teachers who work at the pre-school at IHNFA… and they are going to try and round up the parents so I can have a little chat with them about proper teeth brushing. In a few weeks I am going to more or less start teaching the same TEAM class, but with a group of adolescents at the Youth Center. I am already preparing all of the materials so it will be easy to replicated the classes, and I am including a community service aspect, where instead of teaching once a week with their classes (since they are youth), they will have to do a few “practicas” at IHNFA…. If you didn’t notice, I am trying to get people excited about serving their community! Oh! I also have a training planned for next weekend with a church youth group on job orientation and skills for the workplace. And I am trying to round up the 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers from one of the schools so we can do a spelling bee! Volunteers around the country and doing local spelling bee’s and the idea is that in a few months they will hold a “national” spelling bee in which each community will send the winner as a representative…. The volunteers are soliciting funds right now so hopefully they will be successful and there will be a national spelling bee in Honduras, a country that desperately needs a reminder of the professionalism and importance of writing well! If the national bee doesn’t work out, if the teachers at this one school want to, I will organize the same process at other schools and we can have our own “Gracias” spelling bee with a representative from each school.

Last weekend, one of my dearest friends from training came to visit! She made the 16 hour journey from her side of the country to mine, and we had a delightful time mosey’ing around Gracias, going to the hot springs, celebrating almost one year in Honduras with our own party complete with sombreros, and just relaxing and watching some FRIENDS dvds. It was the ideal break that I needed from my everyday life. Now it’s time for me to figure out when I will return the favor and make the juggernaut of a trip to her site (juggernaut was my favorite vocab word from high school and I haven’t used it in SO long!)

So needless to say, I’m keeping busy…. I feel pretty good about my service thus far, despite a lot of other challenges (the current safety situation, the HEAT, piropos, emotional stresses, missing my sister’s wedding shower and wedding planning, missing my baby cousin being a baby, etc…). ….I can’t believe I have almost been here a year! Crazy! It’s been quite the ride, and i'm not ready for it to be over, but I am SO ready for my trip home in August (7 weeks!)! Wooo!!!!

Old ladies ROCK!

How a day can turn around.....

Earlier this afternoon, I was walking from one job to another, and nearly got run over by a gross man in a pick up truck. I assume he got so close to me so he could catch a better look, not that I was dressed particularly well nor was I having a good hair day (I’ve stopped trying- good hair days in a tropical climate just don’t exist!). Anyways, crude male attention is NOT something I am use to getting at home, though I am sure it happens, maybe in cities, or to women with minimal clothing, or what have you. And here it’s something that happens several times a day, every day, no matter where I am, what I am wearing, if I’ve showered or not…. But somehow I have not grown accustomed to it (and I don’t think I should, it’s unnecessary and immature). Anyways, needless to say, after my “near death” experience, I was not in a good mood.

But then, at the end of the day, I was leaving the house where I tutor a little boy, and I see my ‘host grandmother’ (one of my counterpart’s mothers) strolling down the street with her friend. She greets me with a big smile, calls me her “amorcita preciosa” (note men, it is ONLY cute when old ladies say it!), and we stroll together, with our arms around each other’s shoulders, all the way to my street.

Such a simple little gesture… but it was all I needed to snap me out of bitterville, and remember again WHY I am here. I am not here to change a culture of cat-calls and disrespect towards women; I am here to give just a little bit of hope for a better future to those who genuinely want to believe in something more.

This picture is of her and I dancing at her granddaughter's birthday party. Sorry to disappoint but I don't have any photos of piropos in action.

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?

Semana Santa and a Reflection After 10 Months in Honduras

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big to do all over the country- no one works, no one goes to school, basically Honduras shuts down and people go to the beach, go visit their families, or stay in town and go to church. By the end of the week, public transportation even shuts down! I went and spent the week in the city of Comayagua with 14 other of the 17 youthies from my training group. I was there all week. One group rotated out while another group rotated in before the busses stopped running. It was a lovely week, and included a trip to a gorgeous waterfall, a day lounging at a pool, an interesting trip to a Honduran “waterpark”, the biggest baleada in the Central America, a night of dancing, and some pretty crazy religious processions throughout the city.

Comayagua is known for its impressive display of “alfombras” (“rugs” made out of sawdust) that people make all through the night before Good Friday. Then, the religious procession walks right over them, essentially destroying any remaining evidence of the hard work people put into creating such awesome works of art. It was quite the event!

My friend and I also got our hair braided at a Garifuna salon! I got beads in all of my braids! That was quite the event too, as my friend is part African-American, she fit in pretty well, but yours truly was the whitest person in that room, but I think the ladies doing hair enjoyed our company very much- they let me pick out all the beads to put in my hair! Having a head full of braids was fun…. But I finally took them out so I could wash my hair after a close call lice incident at work. The day after I took them out I was walking down the street and a woman I’ve never seen comes out of her house and says “Y las trensitas???” (And the little braids????)…. I guess I really do stand out of people I don’t know keep themselves up to date on my latest hairstyles. Even “big” towns here are smaller than you can imagine.

Needless to say, it was a perfect week, and I am so grateful for all the wonderful friendships I've made among the volunteer community- they are my support system in country, and I couldn't have asked for more awesome companer@s.

Next week I’ve got an E-Zone coordinators meeting! What is E-Zone? Emergency Zone. Whenever there is an emergency (weather related, strike/protest/civil unrest related, safety related) all volunteers are separated into different “E-Zone’s” depending on their geographic location. My site mate who finished her service a few months ago was the E-Zone coordinator out in my area, and I am taking over for her! I will be the first one to get important safety and security information, and will be responsible for relaying the information to volunteers nearby. Wooo!

As far as work in Gracias goes, we are halfway through our Yo Merezco/Yo Tambien Merezco classes and will be looking into finding other groups to work with and implement the same program. We’ve been painting the recreation area at IHNFA all week, where we are also continuing with Colgate and Story Hour. The kids are still fascinated by the whole “brushing your teeth” phenomenon.

I am giving the English class for teachers another try; I had an introduction/sign up session planned in March, but no one showed up because it was the same day they went on their 5 week strike. We’ll see who shows up this Tuesday! I also know the counterpart that came with me to the math/business workshop is eager to start something, but we’ll see if I can find time.

It might not seem like I have a lot on my plate, but when you add in preparation time, working with Honduran counterparts (everything seems to take twice as long), still trying to focus at least a little bit on community integration (I go hang out with a little boy and his grandmother 3-4 afternoons a week to help him with his homework), trying to coordinate my exercise schedule around the cat-call schedule, AND the fact that I am in a country where you really should return home before dark for your own safety… well… It’s a lot! But I’m glad to keep busy. It puts missing life back in the states (where miraculously there is always running water, and for the most part giant gross bugs stay where they belong OUTSIDE) on the back burner, and forces you to focus on the here and now.

I’m only here for 2 years (only?!) I’d hate to finish my service feeling like I’ve wasted my time. Sometimes projects won’t work out or won’t be sustainable, but giving them a shot goes a long way, even if all you do is remind host country nationals that not all US citizens are power-hungry capitalists who love war and hate immigrants (just some of the many stereotypes we’ve been given). That’s 33.3% of this job.

I’ve been in Honduras just over 10 months now. Sometimes it feels like I just got here, and I still am taken aback by the cat calls, shocked by the state that people’s teeth are in, and constantly tripping on the same streets I walk down everyday. Other times I feel like I’ve been here forever, that the kids I work with are like my own, of course there’s no water to shower with, and that its normal to carry a whistle with me whenever I travel.

I can’t wait to see how the next 16 months go…. But to sum up the past ten months, I will say that now I truly understand the Peace Corps slogan (“The toughest job you’ll ever love.”)

Hope those who celebrate had a nice Easter, and to three of my dearest friends, Sarah, Stef and Jen, I hope you had amazing 23rd birthdays!

I love and miss you all MUCHISIMO!

Un Abrazo Fuerte,

Lisa

The One With the Screaming Goat

The strike ended!!!! But then it started back up, but ended again… And now it’s Semana Santa (Holy Week), which means we won’t know for another week whether or not classes have started back up, or if they will continue to be on hiatus until the government and the teachers can reach some sort of agreement.

Though it certainly has it’s challenges, these are the times when I am thankful to have a bigger site, as I was able to start both Yo Merezco and Yo Tambien Merezco with one of the private schools. These are the two programs that I went to trainings for with members from my community (courses for 10-12 year olds about abstinence, self-esteem, making good decisions, and other topics of similar nature). Both of the counterparts that came to the trainings with me have (so far) followed through with the implementation. I am coordinating the program, both the girls class and the boys class, supervising my counterparts, and also co-facilitating the girls class with my female counterpart. We have combined the fifth and sixth graders from the school to make one class with 18 girls (Yo Merezco) and one class with 10 boys (Yo Tambien Merezco). It’s much more difficult to work with private schools than public schools because they are more stingy with the amount of class time they want to give up (naturally), so we also condensed/combined some topics and are doing the program in half the sessions that the class normally takes. I also had to send home quite a detailed letter to all the parents explaining what exactly we would be talking about…the school has a religious affiliation, so we anticipated some concerns about the nature of the course (abstinence, reproduction, puberty, etc), but so far no complaints!

Colgate continues, although I have some doubts that when I’m not there, no one on staff is held accountable for making sure the kids brush (oddly enough, there is no Spanish translation for the word accountable). I understand that its chaotic to get a group of rowdy preschoolers together to brush their teeth every day (BELIEVE ME I KNOW!), but that’s what you have to do to form the habit. I know my counterparts there had explained to me how they do it when I’m not there, they stay inside and give each kid their brush and wait for them to come back and return them, which is great! Yeah, not ideal supervision, but it’s something, and if it works for them, I am happy. When I’m there I like to do it in a big circle and sing and dance. It’s ok if they don’t want to sing and dance (I usually make a bigger deal out of it because when I brush with them in coincides with a lesson)…I’m not offended. I just hope that these past two weeks, as I have been out of site at a training and with medical appointments, that the poor little toothbrushes weren’t forgotten. OH! and the last class before I left for the training, we had a special guest interrupt us... A SCREAMING GOAT! Only in Honduras...


The training we had was our 3rd of 5 Youth Development In-Service Trainings, for Business Fundamentals and Improving Math Methodology. Needless to say, I was not thrilled with the topic…. BUT my counterpart was super excited about everything, and I think he is ready to start planning the program in Gracias after Semana Santa. The program is for 5-7th graders, and talks about saving money and how to form your own business (as simple as selling popsicles). The math methodology was separate from the business program, and we learned lots of different ways to MAKE MATH FUN! That part was actually really useful for me- hopefully I will be able to make use of it in site, but if not, definitely back in the states.

We had the training at this gorgeous university campus called Zamorano- it’s a hands on agricultural college with lots of land, friendly people and an Espresso Americano. I always love getting to spend all week with the other youthies… it’s a nice reminder than we’re not in this alone. As integrated as one can be in their Peace Corps community, there is something to be said about empathy, and how far it goes. Your community members can sympathize with the challenges that come along with leaving your home/family/friends/culture/language for two years, but it’s other volunteers who truly understand. I also had an unexpected extended stay in Teguz for some medical appointments (which ended up taking the entire week)… since I live so far away, I am hardly ever in the office, so I was finally able to learn my way around. And while I was there, as horrifying as that city is, I definitely felt taken care of by the PC staff (the doctors, admn, my project team, etc). They were all so wonderful and genuinely cared- this is my first post-graduation full time work experience, so I don’t know if most jobs are like that, but it’s nice to know that other people have your back.

A quick side note about littering… I was on the bus on my way back, sitting by the window, clutching some garbage I had collected in one hand, and a book in the other, when two different people, one sitting next to me and the other in front of me, said “permiso” (excuse me), and reached across me to throw their trash out the window of the bus. This poor country is covered with chip bags, empty coke bottles, wrappers, etc. Of course, it’s hard to cultivate the mentality of putting your trash in the trash can when most of the time there are no trash cans, but still, something can be done. I almost wanted to say to these people, if they treat their country like a dump, it will ALWAYS be a dump. But then it all comes back to lack of education, which isn’t an excuse but certainly offers an explanation. Visiting Danli I saw “Demuestra su educacion, ponga la basura en su lugar” (Show your education, put the trash in it’s place) written on walls…. I am going to see if maybe we can make some sort of mural at the Youth Center with that same phrase.

That is all for now.... take care, love Lisa.