Hey all,
I've been reminded weekly by friends and family that my last blog post was on October 23. That's more than a little while ago, and you'd be right to assume that a thing or two has happened since then. I'm about 4.5 months into my site, and 6.5 into my service. Time flies!
As predicted by most of the volunteers who I've talked to in the last half-year, I'm still stuck in limbo between feeling like a total newby, and feeling like I've been around enough, and am at home here enough, and know my neighbors well enough, that I can be productive here. I have a feeling that I'll continue to live inside that tension for the next 20 months. I think I'm okay with that.
I'll try and make a rough list of some of the things that I've been up to. That seems like a fair way to begin my first post in 3 months. Please don't expect chronological order, my brain doesn't work like that.
-A few weeks ago I met up with a group of doctors in Usulutan to translate for their medical brigade. I was pleased to see that my Spanish has improved significantly since I got here. Translating was phenomenal. The first day I worked with a group of optometrists. I felt like I was cheating, stealing all of the precious moments by being the only one that could understand the occasional heartfelt outpourings of thanks that the patients would give. The very first patient I translated for was an old woman who immediately began to cry when we put a pair of glasses on her face. I wondered to myself if her tears of joy would interfere with the consult. I decided it didn't matter. She referred to me affectionately as "little daddy" throughout the entire consult. Instantly gratifying work.
The next day I translated for a medical doctor. In a period of 5 or 6 hours, he and I saw more than 60 patients. Fast-paced work and a lot more variety than the eye doctors. One young woman waited more than 5 hours to pass a consult with us and confessed that she is worried that she's contracted finger cancer. Interesting. Her pointer finger and her index finger had dark marks on them, when she showed them to us making a sort of a peace sign so that we could see all the way around her finger. The doctor pressed her fingers together and revealed that the two marks connected to make a very straight line, and instructed me to explain that this woman simply had dirty fingers, possibly stained by touching a rusty wire. I was more than tempted to think it was funny. I did in fact laugh afterward. However, at the end of the day, that woman was worried enough to sit in an incredibly hot waiting room for hours, anxious about her condition. In no time at all, the doctor, using his powers of education, lifted her concerns and made her feel at considerable ease. I think that's worth something.
Of course, there were some people that took advantage of the situation by clearly making up ailments in order to collect prescriptions and free medicine. That was frustrating. It raised the question of "how do help people that take advantage of the helper?" Should we deny them when we think we're being tricked? Does that put honest but unconvincing people at risk of being overlooked? Are "give aways" a sustainable method for charity? Even though free things are needed, sometimes the point of being necessary, are they helpful to long term development? Can people that feel entitled to help be truly helped by it? Of course, I didn't answer any of these questions. I feel good about the help I gave the doctors, and I'm proud of the work that the doctors did in El Salvador. Beyond that, who knows?
You thought you were going to get a list of things right? Right.
I've started turning wheels for a creative business class that I'll be teaching once a week to 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students. The school director and the teachers are supportive, the students (some) seem enthusiastic. Our first class is on in 3 days. Hopefully you won't wait 3 months to get an update on the class.
Since school is starting, so are some more projects. My school has also given me permission to start a choir! How cool is that! To start, I'll have kids from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade once a week to sing with. Should be fun.
As we speak I'm at an HIV/AIDS prevention training with one of my favorite 9th graders. I'm writing this in the break before dinner. The two of us came out from our town on Wednesday to learn interesting and interactive ways to teach HIV/AIDS prevention in our town. I'm excited to get back to the school and replicate the trainings that we've gotten here. I'm more excited to see this 9th grader grow as an upcoming community leader.
Due to complications in the grant application process, the water project in my second community has been delayed significantly. I'm re-applying this week, and will hopefully hear soon from the NGO about project funding. Exciting isn't it?
I'm now part of a large PC committee called the Women and Youth Development committee (WYD). We meet in the capital once per month to manage a scholarship fund which is raised by volunteers on the committee, and manage a scholarship program that gives young women with difficult financial situations the opportunity to go to high school and college. Tuition is free for high school, but paying a $1 daily to get to school is often enough to convince a family to discontinue a child's education prematurely. A $200 per year scholarship is enough for a years worth of transportation, which enables the all-star students in PCV communities to continue their education. It's pretty cool work, but traveling all the way to the capital every month, frankly, it sucks.
I wrote a grant proposal on the behalf of the committee last month for $500 to plan a leadership camp for our scholarship winners. It was approved last month making it my first successful proposal ever! The camp should be sometime in early April. Also exciting.
JEREMIAH AND BEKA ARE COMING TO VISIT SOON!!! If that's not cool beans, I don't know what is.
Christmas in site was wonderful. I was constantly treated like a long lost son who could be convinced to stay if he were force-fed tamales. I ate so many tamales. I visited tons of houses, eating more than could possibly have been healthy at each one. It was cool.
Dinner is ready. Thanks for keeping up on what I'm doing! Shoot me an email so I can know what you're up to as well!
-Jesse
