Dirty Politics

*Before reading please take note of the disclaimer I have on my blog, stating that these are my thoughts, and mine alone, and do not represent the views of the Peace Coprs of the United States government*

Since I arrived in Honduras last year, I haven’t seen an improvement in the political situation, other than the fact that there hasn’t been a nation-wide teacher strike for 6 months. People either support the party in power, or are still furious about the coup where the previous president from the other party was thrown out of the country.

I work at IHNFA, which is run by the government, serving families in extreme poverty all over the country. The entire staff hasn’t been paid for almost two months. The nanny I work with says that the government hopes that everyone will just quit if they’re not paid so then they can be replaced by people from the other political party. This might just be gossip, of course, but to be honest, I wouldn’t be shocked if that were the case. It’s not fair, but that’s life here. The nanny is also worried that under this government they’ll shut down the organization as a whole. That thought breaks my heart- if these kids, not just the kids at my center, but all over the country, didn’t have this place to go, they literally might not eat. For a lot of them, too, it’s an escape from a scary home life. All centers I am sure operate differently, so I can only speak for mine, which is not perfect, but considering the alternative, vale la pena. Our kids are fed, bathed, de-liced, given clothes/shoes when we have them, hugged, and now participate in classes, games, story hour, and brush their teeth! Some of these kids can’t afford to lose what IHNFA gives them. I hope the government realizes that.

On another political note….

I’ve also met so many recent high school graduates who are teachers (there is a “special” high school you can go to and graduate as a teacher) that can’t get jobs, partly because there aren’t any, and partly because they are from the wrong political party. I was talking to two young people, both graduated two years ago and haven’t had any luck. They both said the same thing, that their families are known for representing the other party, so when someone sees their family name, that’s it, they don’t even look at their resumes.

One of the biggest obstacles for the development of a country is corruption in the government. So long as people abuse power and think only for their own party rather than the people as a whole, there isn’t much that can be done.

The One With The Wedding in the United States of AMERICA :)

Greetings friends! I am finally here to post an update about my trip home a few weeks ago! I was home for two weeks in mid-August for my sister’s wedding- It was a lovely trip, a beautiful wedding, and a perfect way to re-charge my batteries for the next year. When I got back to Honduras, I jumped right back into work so I haven’t had much time to gather my thoughts since then!

Anyways… I arrived in my beloved Boston late in the afternoon and was greeted by Mom, G, and Dad with a “Merry Christmas Lisa!” sign he made. In my family, whenever something good happens, we say it’s like Christmas. I got home to find the Christmas tree up in the living room. A perfect start to a whirlwind trip home!

My landlady sent tortillas home with me so everyone could try them…. They were… uh…. A hit! Eh…..

Gina’s wedding was beautiful! Everything went smoothly, I got through my maid of honor speech, there was a tribute Chicken Dance in Uncle Fishy’s memory, and everyone had an awesome time.

I was able to see my best friends, karaoke with my family, go to a Red Sox game, go to the beach, get interviewed with my cousin for our local paper, eat eat eat, chat with my 96 year old Nana who hung in there so I could see her again (we thought when I left for Peace Corps that that would be the last time, but she’s still with us!), interview for a graduate program….. I couldn’t have asked for a better two weeks! Thank you to everyone who made an effort to see me!

Before my trip home I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel coming back to Honduras for another year…. I thought maybe it would be hard and that I’d feel like a year was going to be an eternity…. It’s been a hard year for me to be away, with a sudden family loss, missing out on planning my sister’s wedding with her, and a Grandmother on borrowed time. Bad timing to be out-of-country for two years. But being home made me realize that I am exactly where I need to be right now. Life happens and you can’t stop it. You can’t plan your life around other people’s schedules because then you’d never accomplish anything. My service is half over, and I trust that this second half will go much faster than the first. I am happy with my work, and it will be invaluable experience for the next phase of my life.

Since I got back I’ve been busy finishing up projects and starting new ones…. It looks like I’m booked right through Christmas! My teachers are about to graduate and then we will continue with the second level of the class. In a few weeks I am starting a Yo Merezco class with the girls from the church group, and my site-mate and I will start the same class with our girls group soon too…. And then of course, my IHNFA kids!

Here is the link to the article about my cousin Michelle doing her Girl Scout project for Honduran children! She's been collecting art supplies to send down!
http://www.wickedlocal.com/natick/features/x678155841/Lisa-Lavezzo-s-Peace-Corps-work-inspires-her-young-cousin#axzz1XKRqeDuf

"You got it dude!"- Michelle Tanner

Hello! It’s been a busy few weeks filled with a forth of July party at the lake, observing my teachers, planning new projects, hanging out with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and celebrating Dia de Lempira (Honduras’s big national identity festival). And before I know it (17 days!!) I will be heading home for a visit that will be filled with family, ice cream, weddings, beach, Red Sox, grad school interview, etc. And then back to Gracias to power through the second half of my service!

Observing my TEAM teachers: As part of the class, I am suppose to observe each teacher twice through the duration of the course during their weekly English class at their school Some of my teachers work right here in Gracias, and some work in small, rural communities outside of the “city.” I’ve been doing the first round of observations and I am so proud of all of my teachers! Even the ones who struggle in the class are doing a great job teaching their own students! They keep it basic of course, but they’re using more dynamic methodology and singing the songs we sing in our class. And living in a “bigger” community, it’s fun for me to go out to these smaller places where the kids literally stare uncomfortably because they’ve never seen a foreigner. Well, fun and sometimes really awkward. The schools in Gracias have separate classes for each grade because there are a lot of students, but in these other places, the schools will have 2 classrooms, one for 1st, 3rd and 5th grade, and the other for 2nd, 4th and 6th grade. If the kids want to continue after 6th grade they need to travel daily or move to the closest place with a high school (for a lot of these communities, that place is Gracias).

I just started a second English class with a group of youth- I really wasn’t sure about the idea since it’s really not sustainable unless they apply themselves and study every day to learn. But they were asking, and I feel a sense of loyalty to the Youth Center, as it has been a great counterpart. What I decided to do, to please them and make it easier on myself, is essentially replicate the course I have with teachers with the youth since I am already preparing all the materials. And to add a piece to make the course a little bit more meaningful I am mandating that the youth teach to any group of people (friends, family, kids, my kids at IHNFA, their church group) three times- then at least they are being productive members of their community.

Our school spelling bee will take place this week! I set it up with the 4th, 5th and 6th graders from the elementary school. Thursday, each class will do their own rounds, and the winners will compete on August 4th in a school-wide bee. A few volunteers are working on getting funds to hold a national spelling bee in October, where all of the winners from each community who’ve participated will get to travel and compete against each other. Hopefully we’ll get funds! If it falls through, I am going to see if I can do it with a few more schools in surrounding towns and they can have a local spelling bee together. It’s a really good way to promote study habits, and get kids to realize the importance of spelling things correctly. And some of them are PUMPED! Since I visited all their classes last month, so many kids have ran up to me in the street telling me they’ve been studying the words, and then continue to give me some examples.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! For real! Let me start from the beginning. One of my teachers works at a school in a small community called Consolaca, about 15 minutes outside of Gracias. I was there observing her, and she told me about this big shoe donation that was coming that weekend. She was explaining the organization that was coming, and I put together that it was TOMS shoes (for each pair you buy they donate a pair to a child in need). She invited me to come to the event, and I said sure! I know of TOMS shoes and thought it would be really cool to see them in action! Unbeknownst to me, MK and Ashley recently started collaborating with the company (designing patterns for the shoes I think), and happened to come along for this donation! They didn’t invite any press, and I was the only person at the event who knew who they were. They were nice, down to earth, and seemed to genuinely appreciate the dances and songs that the kids preformed for them. I really wanted to get my picture with them but I was so nervous that I told them that my 7 year old friend Suani wanted us to take a picture with them. They were so nice, they said “Of course!”- I mean, who would say no to a little Honduran girl? Still when I think about it now I freak out a little…. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the middle of No-wheres-ville, Honduras?! What are the chances!?

Dia de Lempira, July 20th, every year- It’s the celebration and honoring of Lempira’s death (the national hero, an Indian leader who fought the Spanish during colonization). And Gracias is where it all happened, so it’s quite the event! People spend the entire month of July preparing for reenactments, parades, concerts, and India Bonita contests (the girl who has the “best” traditional outfit- they resemble child beauty contests and make me slightly uncomfortable). People come from all over the country to Gracias to take part in the festivities, I have never seen so many people here! I got to march with my kids from the kinder at IHNFA! Some dressed as Indians, others as the Spanish- it was adorable. Normally the parents work hours and hours to make their child’s costume perfect so I was expecting the kids from the most impoverished families to come without a costume, but thankfully the kinder has extras. The celebration overall was great- it was nice to see Honduras take so much pride in their indigenous identity after so many years of being ashamed. There were still a few bizarre things, like seeing cotton candy stands and cheap "circus" prizes for sale (I am pretty sure they didn't sell cotton candy when the Spanish invaded Honduras), the child beauty pageants (they remind me of those shows at home!), and chicha, a fermeted pineapple drink that is the traditional drink of all festivals in Honduras.

With the preparations for Dia de Lempira, a lot of my work has been slow, with few people showing up to classes or meetings. A lot of the girls in our group, Las Jovenes Revolucionaries (The Revolutionary Youth) haven’t been able to come because they’ve had parade rehearsals. But now that it’s over, I think things will go back to normal. And next year, I will not plan much for July.

After my trip I should be starting another Yo Merezco (abstinence/self-esteem) class with a group of girls from a church group I’ve been working with. I just did two trainings on Job Orientation and Preparation for the Workplace with the older kids, and the religious education director seemed excited for Yo Merezco. I’ll bring the manual by to go through it with her, and we’ll decide logistics. The complication is they only meet on Saturday mornings, but we can make it work, it just might take longer to finish, but that’s certainly not an issue, I’ve got another 12 months!

Happy (ALMOST) Birthday, Estados Unidos!

In all the research I did on Peace Corps before/during the application process, every source said that volunteers had a lot of down time, and though you could still be a productive volunteer, people seem to pick up new hobbies (that don’t require electricity) and read a lot of books. Since getting to site last September, I have read ONE book (in it's entirety) for pleasure, and the only hobbies I’ve pursued have been learning how to exercise inside (to avoid cat calls) and how to talk back to crude comments in Spanish (not aggressively, just sassy!). A lot of days, I don’t get back to my apartment until 6 or 7 at night, and I am so exhausted mentally and physically (mentally from speaking a different language all day, physically from the heat) that I just… zone out…. or continue to prepare materials for the following day. I usually don’t feel like reading or cooking or knitting or anything else because my brain is neither functioning in English nor in Spanish… If I don’t have anything left to do work-wise, I may (but usually opt to not) attempt to “cook” something, plop down in my hammock and get lost in a Friends DVD.

I am pleasantly surprised at how much work I actually have! I mean… I knew I would be working, but in a lot of countries where Peace Corps goes, things are more laid back, and everything takes eight times as long to accomplish.... Honduras included! A lot of it, I'm sure, comes from self-motivation and an inner need to be productive, but I also have to credit my *awesome* project team for matching me so well to my site... I was horrified at first because I wanted to go to a smaller site but the organizations I was assigned to are perfect for me. It's not always easy, but I've learned that not EVERY project is going to be sustainable, and that's ok. I will do what I can while I'm here, to the best of my ability, and hope for the best. I have also finally grown into my town! It’s still “big” but after a year, I’ve made my mark, thrown a few sparkles around, and now I can’t go anywhere without seeing friendly, familiar faces.


And, I know it’s a few days early, but I will be away that day, so… HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!! My nails are red and blue (and have been for over a week), I did a festive/patriotic project with my kiddies today, taught them about my country and compared our flags, and will be celebrating in true American fashion with some fellow volunteers this weekend.

Live Like a PCV Challenge!!! Some of you may have gotten an email about this, but I wanted to share this link on my blog too- it’s a challenge, to live like a Peace Corps Volunteer for a week! If you’re up for it, check out the website, and click “Honduras” to see the country-specific rules! It’s spot on, with what you have to give up….!
http://www.livelikeapcv.org/p/challenge.html

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th! :)
Love, Lisa

ONE YEAR in Honduras!

Congratulations, H17! (*What does H-17 mean? Honduras 17, the name of our training group).We've made it one entire year in Honduras.

We all met on June 22nd of last year in Houston, Texas for staging- I remember wondering who would become my friends, who would make it through training, who is going to cause the most drama.... One year later, and these strangers have become my Peace Corps family. So many thanks to all of you for your unconditional support and understanding.

All 57 of us made it through training, and in the past 9/10 months in site, we've lost a some volunteers for various reasons (mostly medical), but we're still going strong! It will be interesting to see how the numbers go as our one year "in site" mark approaches.

On June 23rd, 2010, we left our hotel in Texas and the developed world around 4 or 5am, and started the journey "down south." Landing in the capital city was absolutely horrifying, as the airport is completely surrounded by mountains (only pilots with special training can land in Teguz).

And that was the start of the most bizarre, rewarding, challenging experience of a lifetime. Congratulations everyone, for making it this far! And good luck to ALL volunteers, not just in Honduras- I hope everyone is able to safely complete their service and feel like they've accomplished something (no matter how big or small).

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.