IST, 50th Anny, Chicas, and Planning...que chulo!

Like I said in my last post, I knew it would be awhile before I could write another blog post. The past month has been crazy and full of a lot of different events, of which I will briefly write about. Also my 6 month anniversary of being in the Dominican Republic is tomorrow (seriously this time is just flying by) so hopefully I will be able to post a blog about 60 things I´ve learned in the D.R.

The week before IST, I had a horrible headache and my stomach hurt really bad...moral of the story, I was stressing out about our 3 month In service training. At this training, we present with a community partner what tools we used to find out information about our respective communities, the information we found out, and then what programs/initiatives we planned to use to support our communities and/or institutions. Of course all of this would be in Spanish and we needed some kind of creative component. I stressed myself out unnecessarily because everything turned out great.

I ended up taking my host sister Mari with me and we had a great presentation (which we practiced together beforehand) which ended with us stepping (my creative component). Once that part was over it was all uphill. I had a great time connecting, reconnecting, and appreciating the other 13 youth volunteers that I came in with as well as our trainer Emily. I really grew a lot just from learning more about their sites, their perspecitives on some things I´m going through, and the unplanned time where we got to just sit and chat. Unfortunately, the stress piled on again when I realized that the D.R. YFCD program is about its business'seriously there are so many programs and initiatives that we can choose from to implement in or communities. It is a blessing and a curse because I love choices but I can also be overwhelmed by them.

I´m happy to say that (for better or worse) I will start with Chicas Brillantes (girls group focusing on building self'esteem), Chicos Superman (boys group focused on self-esteem before they become tigueres), Construye Tus Sueños with my youth group (business class), and Deportes para la Vida (kinesthetic way to learn about HIV/AIDS) in the community center. For my boys group (where the kids live and work on the street) I will start with English and math/science classes (using a technology manual). It was hard to narrow it down but these are the programs that I feel I can use to support as many aspects of my communtiy and organization as possible. I cannot do everything and I cannot help everyone, especially with my growing Spanish skills. So unfortunately, I will not be able to offer a women´s course (Somos Mujeres) or Escojo mi Vida but I´m dedicated to making sure that the courses I do start are well prepared, informative, and fun!

So onto the 50th, I helped out on the Hospitality team which literally meant that I smiled at all of the RPCVs. We all know I can do that pretty well. Diona ran into a Black RPCV from the 80s who took us to dinner and was an amazing source of inspiration and motivation for me. If you ever see this, hi Gail! We also ran into 2 women who had become super close friends during their service and remained that way 30 years later...that was such a sweet thing for us to see too! I met tons of RPCVs and got to meet some current PCVs as well so everything was pretty good. I was also able to take a picture with our current Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams who served in the D.R. from 1967-1970. All in all the experience was inspiring and humbling because these are the RPCVs who paved the way for me to have the opportunity to serve here.

I had to leave the 50th anny early in order to pick my girls and take them to the Chicas Brillantes Regional Conference in San Francisco de Macoris and it was so worth it. We got on the guagua from Santiago to San Francisco and met up with another volunteer and her girls. Thankfully our girls instantly clicked and that positive first encounter led to a million more over the course of the conference.

Chicas Brillantes is the D.R. form of a larger worldwide initiative which stands for Girls leading our world. The Chicas brillantes program focuses on building positive self-esteem, team building, girls learning about their rights, and learning about their bodies and sexual health as well. I posted a ton of pics on facebook and the weekend was filled with team building activities, making the women´s reproductive system out of a play doe like substance, reflection activities (for example each girl stood in fron of mirror and had to describe what quality and feature they loved best about themselves), kinesthetic activities demystifying rumors about HIV/AIDS and of course step. So I led a trust walk activitiy and introduced step to the girls which they loved! I was so happy that Vicki challenged and helped me share the history behind my sorority and step so that the girls had a better understanding. So I´m excited to continue that initiative in my community. And it was great to meet other volunteers and work with them in a group, we all came together and really worked as a team to deliver a great conference. One thing that I love about conferences here is that they are completely volunteer planned and led which means that whatever skills, strengths, and talents volunteers bring to the table is what we present. que chulo! P.S. for those of you wondering about the chicos...their conference is in April and I will take 2 boys si Dios quiere.

I just finished applying for a grant to support my Chicas Brillantes and Chicos Superman groups. Hopefully all goes well because I start almost all of my programs this coming week. I am definitely feeling a little pressure when it comes to planning, but I began with the end in mind (meaning I know the graduation dates and what topic we will be covering each day) and the girls that I took to the Cicas conference are super excited to help lead the program. I´m hoping that most of the programs I implement end up with some kind of multiplcadore component where it can continue even after I finish my volunteer service. So wish me well as I try to plant some seeds over the next few months!