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.