Hello Mommy,
To the love of my life,I hope you have a wonderful Mother's day! Thank you so much for shaping me into the woman I am today through your endless mercy, grace, and unwavering love. You are my earthly example of how earnestly God loves us.
There is a sad irony in today though. As most people know, I live in a hole literally which leads to flooding when it rains. Just last week a girl fell in crossing at one of the bridge points because it collapsed, she had to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, one of the younger boys from our sala de tarea was playing by the river when a torrential downpour hit yesterday and he got knocked into the river. (Our river is filled with all kinds of trash, sewage, and sharp objects.) They searched for him overnight and finally found him a little while ago. Death is an especially troubling concept for me when it comes to children and youth. I can only trust God because there are no answers to why. He was his mother's only son. Mother's Day in the D.R. is in 2 weeks. He had a amazing smile. This is the first death I've experienced in my community (I experienced it during training and during CBT) and I'm not exactly sure how to process this, he literally lived in my backyard. Please pray for his entire family, pray for the children in sala de tarea and his school, and pray for my org as we try to support the community in their healing.
Please validate someone today, remind them of why they are important, and remind everyone who matters how much you love them. This life is so fleeting.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Its been a little while
I think the last time I posted a blog about what I’ve been up to projects wise was when I actually started my projects. Oops. So what have I been up to in the last month and a half? I’ve had a lot of successes (gracias a Dios), some failures, a lot of great times, and immeasurable learning experiences. I am really only focusing on 4 Peace Corps programs; I think they will be the cornerstones of my service and the most rewarding initiatives for my community.
Chicas Brillantes: The 3 girls that I took the regional conference in February have really been a blessing. They run groups whenever I have to go out of town for meetings and show up for every single program. They model positive participation, energize the other girls, and motivate girls to come to the groups as well. My chicas groups have been running pretty smoothly and I think the girls are really starting to internalize the information because I am starting to see a shift in some of their actions. Some of the girls who started out really shy and didn’t want to participate are now raising their hands, sharing personal examples, and leading the way whenever it is time to do a dinamica. Additionally, a couple of my groups like to continue group by either having a reading club or doing step. I am really excited for the next couple of months because the girls are more comfortable sharing information with me and I am becoming more comfortable speaking Spanish in front of them. A lot of them also want to study at a university so I am hoping to learn more about the college application process here in order to support my girls on their journey. Doesn't this sound so familiar =)
Chicos Superman: I originally started out with 2 groups on two different days but I ended up combining the groups so that I could have a good solid group of 15 boys. They are energetic and we are on an anti-tigere journey because we tend to focus on topics that help them realize that women can do anything men can do. (viva mujeres!) I am enjoying doing activities with this group because they love any and everything! I am pretty excited for the Regional camp because I am hoping to get more ideas about science and outdoor activities to do with them.
Deportes para la Vida: I’m totally in love with this program because it reminds me a lot of the College Summit Rap Director curriculum. I was able to take 5 people from my community/organization to the training in late March and I had a ball. I learned a lot about my community members which will only strengthen the confianza I have within the community and I think they learned a lot about as me well. We went through the entire program as participantes and also practiced facilitating the different activities in preparation for becoming entrenadores within our respective communities. This program totally engages youth in an exciting and energetic way, as well as teaches them about positive decision making and HIV/AIDS prevention. So the major plan with this program is to do summer workshops with all of my graduated Chicas and Chicos groups, as well as jovenes from my barrio. The goal is to train them with this program which hopefully opens the door for Escojo mi Vida groups in the fall. Si Dios quiere!
Yo se Leer: In working with Chicas and Chicos groups, I’ve realized that there are a large number of youth in my site who cannot read. It is pretty disheartening and it has prevented some of them from participating fully in group at times. I am hoping to create a safe space where they can start to learn how to read. This is definitely a major focus of mine so I am taking steps now to create a program for the fall. I am planning to start working with my target population in May so that we can just do a short term class, they can get comfortable with me and the set up of the program, and then it will be full steam ahead in September. Again si Dios quiere.
Also, I just held my first mini conference which was basically a health day for the older girls in my Chicas group. The day focused on the girls gaining an understanding of the human anatomy, menstrual cycle process, DPV introductory games about HIV/AIDS, A.B.C.s, nutrition, step, and girl talk. It was a jam packed mini conference and the event was really successful despite my stress level at the start of the day being at an all time high. But that is why I am so thankful to have some amazing friends serving with me because my lovely friends from the health sector Norma and James came to facilitate the charlas, 2 of my Deportes para la Vida entrenadores facilitated 2 games, and Caleb brought a rockstar from his community who dropped some knowledge on my girls. I am thrilled that my girls had such a great time learning about their bodies and ways to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. I am planning 2 more days in April as well: one more for my younger Chicas groups and one for my Chicos group. Now that I have organzied one event, I am focused on improving the success in all my programs to follow.
I have the next 2 months to wrap up my Chicas and Chicos groups (of course I am trying to plan an awesome graduation for them as well!), plan my summer Deportes para la Vida camps, attend some conferences with my jovenes, and of course continue to explore this beautiful country by visiting other PC volunteers!
And finally...how am I doing personally? Well we all know I am an over planner and I am results oriented. but even with the impressive org (I mean I even have an org issued email address) I'm still learning to take everything one step at a time and do things my way. I'm also happy to have gotten started on my projects in my community because it is helping me grow more comfortable with Spanish. I've also done a bit of travelling over the past month and half and I have gone to 6 different friends' sites. I've been to the beach, celebrated graduations with friends, participated in the events of other volunteers, hosted volunteers in my site, and I've spent more time getting to know the amazing trabajadores of my organization.
I've caught myself reflecting on a question my triplet Ashlee asked me 2 months ago...am I present in every moment? I was unsure at the time of that skype call which probably meant no then. I had been so anxious about what my service would look like, how I may never ever get Spanish, and just caught up in over planning. But now, I truly feel as though I am living in every moment. I am genuinely enjoying my time here, I laugh often, let things roll off my back more easily, go out more, forgive more, and accept/embrace everything for what it is an amazing space to be in. I plan, but I am not tied to the plan; I am more flexible and accepting of the fact that nothing is certain. If nothing else, that has been a great lesson I've learned here while in the D.R. because I've become more at peace with just letting things be.
And since I am speaking about my personal world, I would like to thank all of my family and friends...in the States and here in the D.R. I am a better person for the people who helped me become who I am in the States as well as for the people who continually challenge, love, and help me shift out of my comfort zone here in the D.R. This Peace Corps experience is all about the people you meet and I am positive that I have developed even more life long friendships here in the D.R. which I am thankful to God for.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Pictures of the Last Couple of Months
Hey all,
I definitely owe you all a blog update soon and I promise you will have one by Tuesday. But I also promised to add pictures to show what I've been up to... so here they are... Enjoy! By the way these are not in date order...sorry!
50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps in the D.R. Some of my girls and I with our current Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams who is also a D.R. RPCV
Diona and I with Gail at dinner during the 50th Anny celebration. Thanks for paving the way for us Gail!
My birthday celebration in Dec. Thanks Rachelle for getting me an awesome cake!
Loves of my life in the D.R. my mom, sisters, and niece here
More of my fam with Rachelle, my host parents, sister and nieces and nephew
My Dominican parents....they take such good care of me!
I went to Laila's site to check the graduation of her teacher trainer cohort...She did a fantastic job and check out the awesome cartulina Sabrill made!
Sabrill and I enjoying Laila's scenery
The wonderful women of the Calle program at Accion Callejera
Volunteers of Centro Comunitario Accion Callejera
Cooking locrio (rice, chicken, and vegetables) with my Sis Maribel
My chicos Superman group...yes my Chicas Brillantes multiplicadoras are def amazing they help with every group I have!!
fun in the sun!
My chicas Brillantes group attempting to do the human knot
Some of my chicas presenting a dinamica
Another group presenting a dinamica
Mamey girls love to have fun!
I went to visit Sam at the beginning of March for International Women's day. We did a charla about the first lady, taught the girls step, heard from professional women, and had a spaghetti dinner! It was a great time!
My chicas and I with the Chicas Brillantes Coordinators at the graduation/end of the Northern Regional Chicas Brillantes conference in early Feb.
oh yea, teaching Sam's girls about step!
I don't do anything here without laughing
I rode my first horse!!
My team! The youth sector of 517-11-02 at our 3 month IST! All of us brought one project partner from our community...This training was at the end of January.
Loves of my life: James, Sam, and I at the Chicas Brillantes regional conf
Just me and my girls at the end of conference
I told you I rode a horse...here is the proof!
Feeling like I'm on top of the world in Jarabacoa
the wonderful cartulina Norma made for my Chicas Sana mini conference in Santiago
Talking with the girls at the mini conference
Def my fav training so far in the D.R. Deportes para la Vida training! Its a program which has a lot of games that help youth learn about healthy decision making and HIV/AIDS prevention. I had a ball!! I was able to bring 5 people with me and we will be using this program to educate the youth in Santiago! Thats the goal!!
Well friends I hope you all enjoyed this peek into my world in the D.R!!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Check this out!
Hey everyone,
Since I am an Extreme Needs Youth Development Volunteer here in the D.R., I have had the opportunity to help plan the National Conference for Children and Adolescents in High Risk Situations. It has been a great learning opportuntiy for me and the conference is a little less than a month and half away!
Check out our blog below:
Conferencia Nacional de NNA en Situaciones de Alto Riesgo
Since I am an Extreme Needs Youth Development Volunteer here in the D.R., I have had the opportunity to help plan the National Conference for Children and Adolescents in High Risk Situations. It has been a great learning opportuntiy for me and the conference is a little less than a month and half away!
Check out our blog below:
Conferencia Nacional de NNA en Situaciones de Alto Riesgo
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Culturally Speaking
First of all Feliz Internacional Dia de la Mujer! This is way more popular in the rest of the world than I believe it is in the states. Unfortunately, I don´t have a major march or huge activity planned for my community this year....but I´m already starting to thing about 2013!! It is sooo important to celebrate women, especially where I am!
I just realized that I have yet to really post about the cultural aspects of my experience here in the Dominican Republic...which when all else fades will be what I hold onto, cherish, remember, and continue to share about my experiences serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer here.
So I took a little time to reflect and think about all of the good and bad aspects of the Dominican culture that I have learned to love, respect, appreciate, and/or tolerate.
si Dios quiere mentality.... In the D.R this is an extremely popular phrase which means if God wants (or if it is in His will). This is the reply to any and every question, statement, or opinion. See you tomorrow...Si Dios Quiere.... Will you be at the meeting today at 4? Si Dios quiere. I want some eggs...Si Dios Quiere. I´m not hyping this up at all! It is used as response regardless of if the person plans to come to an event or not. So literally everytime I hear this I put someone in the maybe box for attending.
ask a question...get a blank stare and the nose scrunch.... I want to blame one of my Spanish teachers Veronica (whom I love dearly) because I have picked up this habit and my friends you will definitely see me do this when I come to visit... No judging por favor. So I use the blank stare and nose scrunch in response to someone asking me a question I don´t understand, a question I don´t feel like answering, and when I´m playing around with someone. The nose scrunch allows for the person to repeat themselves...which helps with the I´m-still-learning-Spanish-perdoname-phase-Im-in.
Anything can be turned into an icebreaker (dinamica). Seriously I have led some icebreakers here that would get me booed off of any stage in the States. But here, from 50 year old parents to 10 year old boys and girls to 18 year old jovenes...Dominicans love dinamicas and I´m thankful for it! Seriously you could turn running backwards into a dinamica...sing a loony song, play a counting game, or just act out a skit (Dominicans love skits) and you have an instant classic. Dinamicas have helped me where my language skills have failed me. I love how easy going and positive spirited Dominicans are!
Nothing ever goes as planned. Nothing ever starts on time, and nothing ever ends on time either. What is the point in planning? So we all know I am an over planner so at times this hurts me to my very core. This has also been my number one lesson in humility and patience in this country. (with the exception of my Chicas Brillantes and Chicos Superman groups on Wednesdays...they get to the community center 30 minutes or an hour in advance!) And I will admit that I only witness this in doses as I am more of an 8-5 volunteer so things always generally begin and end within that timeframe.
Food is so so so fresh here. If it wasn´t for the fact that I eat viveres, I could be losing weight (and hopefully I will once I move into my own place!). Every meal is cooked right before its eaten and there are rarely leftovers. I eat a more varied and healthier lunch that I ever have (Remember McDonalds runs during 5th period Richards?) and the food (though not at all seasoned or varied) is usually rice beans some kind of meat, vegetables and salad which is always okay in my book.
You are what they see. Should anyone ever forget your name or if you are meeting someone for the first time, you are known by whatever physical features they choose to identify you by. This is not the Ms. or Mr. upon introduction culture...So you could be called anything from Morena, rubia, gringo, gordo, viejo, joven, flacita...lo que sea! This is probably one of the toughest aspects of Dominican culture for me to get used to, but it is what it is...its truly their world and I´m just happy to be apart of it.
Everybody is somebody´s relative. I live in a campo barrio and seriously just when I think I´ve met someone for the first time, they remind me that they are the uncle, brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew, or godparent of another person that I know. One of the first questions I like to ask is not if someone is related but how they are related.
The laundry hangs outside to dry...and so does your business. LOUDLY So chisme...aka gossip is pretty big in the D.R. culture. Even though I live in a pretty urban area, people always know when I´m not here, when I got back, what I was wearing, what I´m doing, what I don´t like to eat, what I love to eat, my crazy American tendencies like sleeping past 7am, lo que sea. I´m not even exaggerating everybody knows everything about everybody here. I want to blame this on the fact that people pass their time haciendo nada...but it doesn´t matter where I am in this beautiful country...there is chisme here!! Part 2 of this is that everything is so loud. Music can be heard blasting in my site from 8am in the am until 2am. People are always yelling for some muchacho or muchacha, and Dominicans talk and laugh loudly. Music is always on blast, tvs are always on blast, everything is always on blast! Thankfuly nothing can wake me up when I´m asleep so this aspect of D.R. culture has not bothered me much.
I am somebody´s daughter...in the States and in the D.R. too! One of the greatest things about the Peace Corps is that you have to live with 3 host families (one host family during groupwide training, one family during community based training, and one family during your first 3 months in your respective site). Each host family I have had has been incredibly kind to me and has taught me a lot about D.R. culture and Dominican Spanish. My host dad here in Santiag literally had a talk with every guy in the community so that they wouldn´t mess with me and throw piropios (think catcalls) at me. He also told a new guy in the community that he fathered me once when my host mom wasn´t looking and my mom took me to the states. He went on to say that I´m here now to get to know the rest of my fam and help out youth. When the guy asked about my host mom he replied that she was okay with it since I treat her like a second mom! How awesome is that. There are a million stories I could share about how much I truly love my host families. When this experience seemed too difficult, they held my hand, wiped away my tears, sat beside me by candlelight and helped me complete Spanish homework, helped me learn how to bucket flush, made me drink coffee which has now become an addicition, taught me how to make locrio, bought me Gatorade just because they wanted too, watched monday night football with me, taught me how to play dominoes, sang me a song to wake me up in the morning, wired up some internet so I could tell my mom in the States I was okay, laughed with me, and without any ulterior motives...shared their lives with me. I will forever be grateful to my host families for this.
seriously youth can change the world...the D.R. is no exception. Now that my programs are underway, I´m developing an even deeper appreciation for youth. The youth here are incredibly patient with me (as I literally butcher their langauge everytime I give a charla) and still take the time to share their thoughts and feelings openly. I´m so thankful for their trust, support, and willingness to take positive risks with me. They may not be exposed to a lot or have seen a lot outside of their community, or had a lot of opportunities to be creative or use their critical thinking skills in school, they still have them and choose to use them everytime we have a group.
it means the world to remember someone´s name. Pretty universal but it has picked up even more meaning for me during my time here in the D.R. I have not mastered this but when you say someone´s name, and say it correctly, their whole face lights up. This might have something to do with the fact that people are called by their exterior features. I am currently striving to learn the names of the 70+ chicas y chicos in my groups... si Dios quiere...
if you had any doubts...there are Dominican professionals.... while a lot of my friends live in campos or bateys...I have the opportunity to work with Dominicans who run an organization that I am extremely proud to be apart of now. Psychologists, lawyers, social workers, community advocates, teachers, directors...I have the opportunity to interact with all of them and it has added another layer of cultural understanding for me. They are educated, compassionate, and hard'working in their quest to support youth in and around Santiago. They make me want to step up my game and they plan and prepare in a way I wish I had when I was a teacher!
Dominicans are resourceful.... The majority of Dominicans that I know are extremely poor. Still, they will open up their homes and offer whatever food or coffee they have to anyone. And they use whatever they have to do what they want to do. For instance, I´ve seen baseball played with bottle caps, rocks, sticks, (umbrellas...well my group did that during community based training) in the middle of the street when youth don´t have baseball fields to go to. I´ve learned so many new games because a lot of the youth in my communtiy do not have any toys to play with, just other kids and their imagination. And the youth definitely get this trait from somewhere...Amas de casa...Their mothers are definitely the most resourceful people I´ve every met. My goal is to have a woman´s group at some point...not because I have a lot to share with them, but because I want to spend more time learning from them!
Well hopefully this helped you see more into my world as a volunteer in the D.R. Next time around I´ll try to post some picutres from different events and places I´ve been over the last 3 months.
PS Here is more information about the organization I am partnered with...in English! Enjoy!
Accion Callejera!!
I just realized that I have yet to really post about the cultural aspects of my experience here in the Dominican Republic...which when all else fades will be what I hold onto, cherish, remember, and continue to share about my experiences serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer here.
So I took a little time to reflect and think about all of the good and bad aspects of the Dominican culture that I have learned to love, respect, appreciate, and/or tolerate.
si Dios quiere mentality.... In the D.R this is an extremely popular phrase which means if God wants (or if it is in His will). This is the reply to any and every question, statement, or opinion. See you tomorrow...Si Dios Quiere.... Will you be at the meeting today at 4? Si Dios quiere. I want some eggs...Si Dios Quiere. I´m not hyping this up at all! It is used as response regardless of if the person plans to come to an event or not. So literally everytime I hear this I put someone in the maybe box for attending.
ask a question...get a blank stare and the nose scrunch.... I want to blame one of my Spanish teachers Veronica (whom I love dearly) because I have picked up this habit and my friends you will definitely see me do this when I come to visit... No judging por favor. So I use the blank stare and nose scrunch in response to someone asking me a question I don´t understand, a question I don´t feel like answering, and when I´m playing around with someone. The nose scrunch allows for the person to repeat themselves...which helps with the I´m-still-learning-Spanish-perdoname-phase-Im-in.
Anything can be turned into an icebreaker (dinamica). Seriously I have led some icebreakers here that would get me booed off of any stage in the States. But here, from 50 year old parents to 10 year old boys and girls to 18 year old jovenes...Dominicans love dinamicas and I´m thankful for it! Seriously you could turn running backwards into a dinamica...sing a loony song, play a counting game, or just act out a skit (Dominicans love skits) and you have an instant classic. Dinamicas have helped me where my language skills have failed me. I love how easy going and positive spirited Dominicans are!
Nothing ever goes as planned. Nothing ever starts on time, and nothing ever ends on time either. What is the point in planning? So we all know I am an over planner so at times this hurts me to my very core. This has also been my number one lesson in humility and patience in this country. (with the exception of my Chicas Brillantes and Chicos Superman groups on Wednesdays...they get to the community center 30 minutes or an hour in advance!) And I will admit that I only witness this in doses as I am more of an 8-5 volunteer so things always generally begin and end within that timeframe.
Food is so so so fresh here. If it wasn´t for the fact that I eat viveres, I could be losing weight (and hopefully I will once I move into my own place!). Every meal is cooked right before its eaten and there are rarely leftovers. I eat a more varied and healthier lunch that I ever have (Remember McDonalds runs during 5th period Richards?) and the food (though not at all seasoned or varied) is usually rice beans some kind of meat, vegetables and salad which is always okay in my book.
You are what they see. Should anyone ever forget your name or if you are meeting someone for the first time, you are known by whatever physical features they choose to identify you by. This is not the Ms. or Mr. upon introduction culture...So you could be called anything from Morena, rubia, gringo, gordo, viejo, joven, flacita...lo que sea! This is probably one of the toughest aspects of Dominican culture for me to get used to, but it is what it is...its truly their world and I´m just happy to be apart of it.
Everybody is somebody´s relative. I live in a campo barrio and seriously just when I think I´ve met someone for the first time, they remind me that they are the uncle, brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew, or godparent of another person that I know. One of the first questions I like to ask is not if someone is related but how they are related.
The laundry hangs outside to dry...and so does your business. LOUDLY So chisme...aka gossip is pretty big in the D.R. culture. Even though I live in a pretty urban area, people always know when I´m not here, when I got back, what I was wearing, what I´m doing, what I don´t like to eat, what I love to eat, my crazy American tendencies like sleeping past 7am, lo que sea. I´m not even exaggerating everybody knows everything about everybody here. I want to blame this on the fact that people pass their time haciendo nada...but it doesn´t matter where I am in this beautiful country...there is chisme here!! Part 2 of this is that everything is so loud. Music can be heard blasting in my site from 8am in the am until 2am. People are always yelling for some muchacho or muchacha, and Dominicans talk and laugh loudly. Music is always on blast, tvs are always on blast, everything is always on blast! Thankfuly nothing can wake me up when I´m asleep so this aspect of D.R. culture has not bothered me much.
I am somebody´s daughter...in the States and in the D.R. too! One of the greatest things about the Peace Corps is that you have to live with 3 host families (one host family during groupwide training, one family during community based training, and one family during your first 3 months in your respective site). Each host family I have had has been incredibly kind to me and has taught me a lot about D.R. culture and Dominican Spanish. My host dad here in Santiag literally had a talk with every guy in the community so that they wouldn´t mess with me and throw piropios (think catcalls) at me. He also told a new guy in the community that he fathered me once when my host mom wasn´t looking and my mom took me to the states. He went on to say that I´m here now to get to know the rest of my fam and help out youth. When the guy asked about my host mom he replied that she was okay with it since I treat her like a second mom! How awesome is that. There are a million stories I could share about how much I truly love my host families. When this experience seemed too difficult, they held my hand, wiped away my tears, sat beside me by candlelight and helped me complete Spanish homework, helped me learn how to bucket flush, made me drink coffee which has now become an addicition, taught me how to make locrio, bought me Gatorade just because they wanted too, watched monday night football with me, taught me how to play dominoes, sang me a song to wake me up in the morning, wired up some internet so I could tell my mom in the States I was okay, laughed with me, and without any ulterior motives...shared their lives with me. I will forever be grateful to my host families for this.
seriously youth can change the world...the D.R. is no exception. Now that my programs are underway, I´m developing an even deeper appreciation for youth. The youth here are incredibly patient with me (as I literally butcher their langauge everytime I give a charla) and still take the time to share their thoughts and feelings openly. I´m so thankful for their trust, support, and willingness to take positive risks with me. They may not be exposed to a lot or have seen a lot outside of their community, or had a lot of opportunities to be creative or use their critical thinking skills in school, they still have them and choose to use them everytime we have a group.
it means the world to remember someone´s name. Pretty universal but it has picked up even more meaning for me during my time here in the D.R. I have not mastered this but when you say someone´s name, and say it correctly, their whole face lights up. This might have something to do with the fact that people are called by their exterior features. I am currently striving to learn the names of the 70+ chicas y chicos in my groups... si Dios quiere...
if you had any doubts...there are Dominican professionals.... while a lot of my friends live in campos or bateys...I have the opportunity to work with Dominicans who run an organization that I am extremely proud to be apart of now. Psychologists, lawyers, social workers, community advocates, teachers, directors...I have the opportunity to interact with all of them and it has added another layer of cultural understanding for me. They are educated, compassionate, and hard'working in their quest to support youth in and around Santiago. They make me want to step up my game and they plan and prepare in a way I wish I had when I was a teacher!
Dominicans are resourceful.... The majority of Dominicans that I know are extremely poor. Still, they will open up their homes and offer whatever food or coffee they have to anyone. And they use whatever they have to do what they want to do. For instance, I´ve seen baseball played with bottle caps, rocks, sticks, (umbrellas...well my group did that during community based training) in the middle of the street when youth don´t have baseball fields to go to. I´ve learned so many new games because a lot of the youth in my communtiy do not have any toys to play with, just other kids and their imagination. And the youth definitely get this trait from somewhere...Amas de casa...Their mothers are definitely the most resourceful people I´ve every met. My goal is to have a woman´s group at some point...not because I have a lot to share with them, but because I want to spend more time learning from them!
Well hopefully this helped you see more into my world as a volunteer in the D.R. Next time around I´ll try to post some picutres from different events and places I´ve been over the last 3 months.
PS Here is more information about the organization I am partnered with...in English! Enjoy!
Accion Callejera!!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
A Shift in the Triple C
The Triple C are the programs I planned to start implementing now that all trainings and diagnostic periods have come to pass. In reflecting with my APCD and Extreme Needs specialist, I realized that what people say is no joke. My first month in country was the absolute hardest…and then my first 2 months in site were an absolute nightmare. My first month was hard because I didn’t know how to communicate AT ALL, I was trying to get used to an 8-5 training schedule again, and then I was also trying to figure who I could kick it with in my group (glad they all turned out to be great people!). And my first 2 months in site…lets just say I’m glad it’s a blur now because I really just remember spending time looking at the walls wondering how I was supposed to integrate into my little camp barrio and my impressive org. You don’t really express those things via blog while its happening but now that I am starting to hit my stride, I can look back and confidently say that if you at least make it past those periods, you have a good fighting chance to at least….make it to the one year mark. Older PCVs always tell me that that will be another hard mark in my service. Vamos a ver.
Now back to the Triple C. Chicas Brillantes: girls empowerment program. Chicos Superman: boys empowerment program. Construye Tus Suenos: business empowerment program for youth. These programs would target the major groups that I am interested in working with at my community center. Going to the Chicas Brillantes Regional conference with 3 motivated girls was the signature to success in signing people up for all of my programs. The girls walked around all of the barrios with me to tell youth about their experiences at the conference and encourage people to register. Specifically, they reached out to their extended network: friends and cousins which was a great way for me to meet more people in the community. Since I’m partnered with an org, I’m more of a 9-5 volunteer which is a pretty different experience than the usual Peace Corps volunteer. So instead of having just one Chicas or Chicos group, I have a different group every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. As a former teacher, I actually think I work well under this set up because I get to plan, facilitate, reflect and continue to make each session better and better. Sorry Wednesdays and hooray for Fridays truly getting the best that I’ve got.
Anyways, Wednesdays Chicas group had over 20 girls in attendance ages 7-13 (my younger group). They were pretty excited and I had 2 of the girls who went to the Chicas conference with me there to co-facilitate and reiterate my point anytime my Spanish completely failed me. They also stayed to help with the Chicos group which was a lot smaller and the activities were a lot more active but the girls jumped right in. I’m so excited for the girls because I am definitely watching as they step up as leaders, which warms my heart because this is exactly why I signed up to serve, to share opportunities for youth to step into their leadership potential. I was on such a high Wednesday as I finished prepping for my first Construye Tus Suenos class with my youth group.
Now I should probably give you all a background as to my youth group. This group was formed in October by the Spanish volunteer in my community to give to me once I got to my site. So in my first month (November) I shadowed him as he gave the youth leadership roles within the group and discussed several topics like self-esteem and positive communication. By the time December rolled around (where community members are only ready to celebrate) the Spanish volunteer was ready to pass the group to me so that he could proceed with his own interests. The only hitch with this was that I was only supposed to be integrating in my first 3 months, not taking over an established youth group. My hand was in a mini cast, I could not write anything, and my Spanish learning was almost at a halt so this was a horrible time to take over a group. Nevertheless, I wasn’t really given a choice so I did all of the Peace Corps integration activities with the youth group as a means of getting a feel for the community, a better understanding of youth needs and how I could support them, as well as a chance to learn more about the individual members of the group. This turned out to be a really successful process. I partnered with Carrie, my fave Santiago vol to help me facilitate my last meeting with the youth in January. At this meeting, we had the best youth attendance I had ever seen, we did a lot of team activities, I stressed the opportunity that they all had to become better leaders and learn whatever they wanted. So after explaining all of the Peace Corps D.R. programming initiatives and programming that they could participate in, expressing that we could do them all over 2 years, but I wanted to know what would interest them most to begin with. Almost unanimously (and this was led by the guys) a lot of people wanted to go through Yo Soy Ingeniero (a technology/math course) and Construye Tus Suenos. So, the Yo Soy Ingeniero program needs a lot of materials, and expensive materials. There is an AT volunteer who is working on creating start up kits for the program so I automatically thought that that program would come second. So that left construye and I walked around to tell the youth about the choice to start with this program. To be fair, we had not had a meeting for 2 weeks due to my 3 month training, participation in the 50th anny, and the Chicas conference.
So after a not so short story, imagine my disappointment when after translating all the words I needed to facilitate Construye, writing everything out on cartulina, and practicing….only one girl showed up, my Chicas girl to be exact. Frustrating, humbling…and I was left without an idea as to how to proceed. I had planned this out so that I could teach the entire Construye manual considering the times where I would be in Santo Domingo helping to plan for the conferences I’m interested in taking more youth to. I learned later that it was a hot day and no one wanted to climb the hill to go to the community center. There are some days when I don’t want to climb the hill so I could empathize but that didn’t lessen my disappointment much. But after meeting with my APCD and extreme needs specialist on Thursday, they assured me that I was off to a good start and that Construye requires a lot of math skills, which I know a lot of my youth do not have….so I’ve decided to postpone Construye and focus on Chicas and Chicos at the community center along with having a small group of girls who are in my Chicas group do Yo Se Leer because they do not know how to read. They have some learning difficulties in the regular D.R. setting so I’m hoping a small group with one to one tutoring, their own manual, and lots of positive encouragement and reinforcement will help them. I’m happy with this shift in focus and I think that is the name of the game as a Peace Corps volunteer. You just keep throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to figure out what will stick. I’m just starting out my service (in terms of throwing spaghetti) so I’m excited to figure out what will stick as well as to see if things may stick under different seasons (once I know more Spanish, once I build a better relationship with more people in the community, after April when there seems to be less job opportunities available). Plus I'm building strong networks with a lot of women in my community and they are really urging me to start a womens group so I am going to learn more about the Somos Mujeres women's initiative in the D.R. I'm excited that a lot of things are falling into place!
I had been working over the past month to really establish myself at the other site in my org so its nice to also start programs at the community center as well. I have a great relationship with my jefas at both sites and I’m continuing to work on building positive relationships with as many employees as I can. This has probably been the most intimidating experience of all as a PCV serving with a well established non-profit because both org sites are used to a million volunteers and I definitely have had a hard time communicating with them in comparison to other volunteers. Which leads me to my next point, in reflecting with my Peace Corps jefas, I realized that I struggled in my first 2 months partly because of all the comparisons that people made of me to other volunteers and how I was expected “to be.” Not being able to communicate denied my personality the chance to shine through so I just appeared more reserved and shy than I actually am. But the truth of the matter is that I am nothing like the other volunteers and I once I learned to ignore comparisons and focus on just being me, some of my anxieties started to fade and now my friendships are growing…slowly but hey I’ve still got 2 years =)
Thursday, February 16, 2012
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!
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!
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