A Camp in Cajolá!!

Last week was one of the craziest of my life because my sitemate and I pulled off a camp for the boys and girls of Cajolá!

This process started about 3 months back when we approached the health center and told them about the idea for the camp.  We asked the health educators if they thought it would be useful and what health problems they thought we could target with the camp.  They enthusiastically responded that they wanted to bring a camp to Cajolá and they wanted to give girls and boys the tools avoid adolescent pregnancies.  (There is currently an effort in Cajolá to end pregnancies in girls younger than 14 years - yes, that is a major problem.  Cajolá has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in all of Guatemala.)

So, we decided that we would have a week long camp geared towards kids ages 11-16.  Girls would come in the morning for four hours and boys would come in the afternoon for four hours!  Over the next few months we worked with the eleven health educators to solicit funds for the camp, invite participants, and plan the lessons.  Each day was designed with a different theme and each educator was assigned to a specific day.  The health educators were responsible for attending their assigned day and designing the lesson plans.  The results were varied.

A few educators took to planning with gusto; they scouted for resources, asked questions, and prepared materials.  A few other educators didn't show quite the same initiative and left my sitemate and I scrambling to prepare materials at the last minute.  All in all, we were more happy than frustrated with the participation of the educators and very pleased to receive such support from their boss and the coordinator of the health center.

The week before the camp started, Whitney and I put on a two-day workshop for the educators titled, "Effective Strategies for Teaching Health".  This is definitely the part of the camp process that I am most proud of.  The workshop covered everything from the learning cycle to preparing for lessons to gender equality in the classroom.  I hope to repeat this workshop with my teachers sometime during the school year and I hope that other volunteers have the opportunity to replicate the workshop in their sites.  Here is a picture of the coordinator of the health educators leading a session on the "learning pyramid:

Finally, it was time for our camp to start!  We didn't know quite what to expect and tried to prepare ourselves for anything that may happen.  The theme of Day 1 was "Our Camp".  We played games, got to know one another, talked about self-respect, and drew flags to represent ourselves and our futures (pictured below).  The surprises of the day included the fact that the kids who came were younger than the kids we expected and the boys were way wilder than we expected.  My favorite moment of the day was when a health educator was talking about self-respect and one of the Cuban nurses shouted out, "If a boy tells you you are ugly, you tell him he's ugly!"

So, we adjusted our lesson plans to suit younger kids and decided we couldn't ask the boys to stay engaged in any one activity for longer than 15 minutes.  (Hence, many capture the flag breaks like the one pictured below.) 

We got excited for Day 2, which had the theme "Our Values".  We talked about leadership and put on skits where the girls and boys acted out situations that gave them opportunities to be leaders (pictured below).  We talked about respect.  The boys created some rules for the camp that we relied on for the rest of the week and really helped them to be more respectful campers.  The girls created flowers that showed how different each of us really are (see picture below).  We also learned about teamwork through some really fun games.

However, Day 2 was not without it's struggles.  A boy got bit by a dog while we were playing basketball and we had to take him to the health center to get vaccinated for rabies.  He was a real trooper and continued to come to the rest of the camp.  Also, on Tuesday afternoon, many of the health center staff find out, that at the end of the year, they are getting laid-off or transferred to a different health center.  This really killed morale and the health center staff stopped coming to the camp, with the exception of the a nutritionist and two amazing Cuban nurses (one of whom is pictured below) who came everyday.  This was a big, big downer for Whitney and I who had invested months in the health center staff and had really seen this camp as a collaboration between Peace Corps and the health center.

Luckily, in the true spirit of development workers, Whitney and I were prepared for just about anything and we had other Peace Corps Volunteers to help in case the health center staff fell through.  These traveled from near and far to help and share their expertise and we couldn't be more thankful. 

The theme of Wednesday, which was the most fun day if you ask me, was "Our Bodies".  The nutritionist came to talk about nutrition (pictured below) and we drew plates of a balanced meal.  We also played hygiene jeopardy.  Best of all, one of the other Peace Corps volunteers talked about exercise and led us in a Zumba class (pictured below).  All of the kids participated and it was an absolute blast.

The theme of Thursday was "Our Families".  While the younger kids played games (pictured below), the older kids talked about puberty, the dangers of adolescent pregnancy, and played a version of the game of Life, which highlighted the financial benefits of staying in school, having fewer kids, and waiting til later in life to have those kids.  It was a lot of information on some very heavy topics.  So, of course, we ended with some games!!  All of these lessons were very tricky to navigate culturally.  We could discuss the science of each topic, but had to be really careful about the opinions that we gave, especially concerning birth control.

Finally, Friday came, and with it the theme "Our Futures".  Both boys and girls attended camp together in the morning as we created our "life plan".  Each kid wrote one sort of exercise they wanted to continue doing, the career they wanted, something they wanted in their future family, three goals that they had, and they drew their future house.  Probably the highlight of my whole week was seeing that a little boy had written, "I want an intelligent wife".  Then, we celebrated with more games and finally had a diploma ceremony.  Pictured below are all of the graduates with their diplomas:

At the end of the day, like most things in life, the good outweighed the bad and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to share this experience with the kids of Cajolá.  They have been out of school since October, which means many of them have barely left their house in the past three months.  I am happy that together we learned, we danced, and we acted silly.

The health center in Cajolá was just ranked 320 out of the 334 health centers in Guatemala.  I am certainly not happy about this, but it did make me feel a little better that it wasn't just Peace Corps Volunteers that they are having a hard time working with.  Next year, with new health center staff and a few lessons learned in our back pocket, I hope that we can do an even better job creating a camp experience for the kids of Cajolá!

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: School Year 1 is over!

Instead of the usual cheerful pumpkins, crisp apples, and bright fall leaves this October brought something it never has before - the end of the school year!

During my first school year, I was concerned mostly with getting to know the schools and having them get to know me.  At each of my 14 schools, I completed introductory visits, school mapping with a class or two, and formal baseline evaluations. 

With all of this time in the schools, I learned that there is a lot of work to be done, but a lot of people to help me do that work!  I have begun to identify the movers-and-shakers of each school to help me put some plans into action over the next school year (which begins in February)

So, here is where the schools stand right now:

• Many schools have to burn their trash, often right in the middle of the children's play area.
• I did not see one kid wash their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom.
• Some of the school kitchens create a lot of smoke which often leaks into classrooms.
• Many of the schools have gym teachers, although I have some ideas about how to make gym class more effective and fun.
• Teachers are supposed to be teaching health twice a week, but this never happens.
• A few schools lack water, bathrooms, classrooms, or faucets to wash hands.
• All schools serve their children snack every day!
• Some schools have begun to cultivate school gardens!

In each school, the Healthy Schools program, which is national, government initiative needs to be strengthened by strengthening the administrators (principals and teachers) in charge of it.  There is plenty of room for growth and plenty of people who want to see that growth happen.  I will spend much of my school break planning for the "Year of the Healthy Students" which I will roll out in my communities next year!  Much of my job is just to provide the enthusiasm to focus some of the work that happens regarding the program!

Until February, my Peace Corps service is sort of a "create-your-own-adventure", so stay tuned for some of my fun in the Health Center and with the youth of Cajolá!

Here are a few pictures from my school visits!

Kids' Group

One thing that most people probably don't know about the Peace Corps is that it is about much more than "world peace and friendship".  While this remains the vision of Peace Corps, the way this goal is accomplished is through cutting-edge development work.  Like the rest of the development field, Peace Corps is setting its sites on SUSTAINABLE development.  For the volunteer, this means lots of reporting, monitoring, and pausing at every step to make sure that their work is sustainable in their community.  While the whole "sustainability" thing is the very point of Peace Corps and the reason I was attracted to this organization, it can make slow-moving work in a slow-moving country, go even slower.

So, every once in a while, you have to cut yourself some slack and do something because it is FUN.  That's where Kids' Group comes in.  I was lucky enough to inherit this awesome group of kids from previous volunteers who had worked with them in my site.  They are a happy, intelligent, kind group of kids and I love working with them. 

We meet one or two times a month.  I simply put a sign up on my door a few days before and they come to my house for games, cooking, and a little bit of learning thrown in.  Recently, I've been inspired to focus our activities around environmental education.  This is something that I think can be really fun, but right now there really isn't space for it in my primary project.  

This week, we composted!!  We began by identifying organic and inorganic trash and talking about what we could do with each type of trash.  Then, we moved on to learning about composting and making our very own compost with California red worms!!  We cleaned up and enjoyed a well deserved snack afterwards!

It might not be the most "sustainable" or "important" aspect of my work, but spending an afternoon with these bright kids always feels like time well spent!

I Don't Want You to Make Me Feel Like I'm the Only Girl in the World

Rhianna might like that, but I've got news for you cat-callers - Females make up more than 50% of the population and, together, we accomplish an awful lot.  We bring the next generation into the world and, in nearly all cultures, we are responsible for raising and educating our offspring.  As if that's not enough responsibility, given the right opportunities, we make incredible contributions to the economy, to the sciences, and to government (just to name a few).  This is what makes us human.  This is what makes us goddesses.

The machismo that pervades Guatemala and many other parts of the world is about more than males thinking they are "better" than females; it is a failure to recognize the personhoods of women.  This makes for interesting academic papers and ideological debates, but it also shapes every moment of a woman's life in Guatemala.  (Of course "machismo" does not just exist in Guatemala, but it's all I can do to figure it out here and I don't want to simply generalize to other Latin American countries.  I would even argue that it exists to some extent in all countries, including the US, but to argue that would require the longest blog post in the world.)

Women are Guatemala's largest untapped resource.  Women are not expected to, or often even allowed to, contribute to Guatemala's formal economy.  Until about 15 years ago, it was a law in Guatemala that a woman had to have signed consent from her husband before starting work.  (Say WHATTT?)  Men allowing their wives to work is still viewed as a sign of "weakness" by many people in Guatemala, especially in the more rural areas where Peace Corps Volunteers work.  Without allowing and encouraging women to work and contribute to the workforce, it is going to be nearly impossible for Guatemala's economy to realize the magnitude of growth that is truly necessary in this country.  On a more micro level, only one working parent is rarely enough to raise healthy, educated children in Guatemala.

Don't get me wrong, there are women in Guatemala who do work.  My host mother works in the local health center.  A little more than half of teachers in my schools are women.  Many other women participate in a more informal way, by selling goods at the local market or out of their home.  Still, this is the anomaly and there doesn't seem to be a place for women in many professions where they could make important contributions.  Without any power in the Guatemalan economy or their family's economy, women have no decision-making power.

Because of this, machismo also has real consequences for the health of women in Guatemala.  Women everywhere face obstacles to receiving proper health care.  The common barriers to proper healthcare in many countries are are knowing the symptoms of illnesses, knowing where to go for help, and then having the resources to actually get to the help.  However, health workers in Guatemala talk about another obstacle - the husbands.  A woman typically has to be granted permission before seeking care for themselves or their children.  Because Guatemalan women rarely have realized economic value or even recognized value in the home, there is often no rush to get them the care that they need and deserve.

It shouldn't be surprising that the lack of understanding about the value of a woman also leads to security issues.  Guatemalan men who don't respect the value of a woman's individuality also do not respect their space.  The first time a town drunk came up to me and draped his hand over my shoulder, I wasn't really scared.  I was just angry.  I wanted to yell, "I HAVE A NICE MOTHER!  I KNOW ABOUT CELL MITOSIS!  I READ HISTORY BOOKS FOR FUN!"  I wanted to yell all of these things because his invasion of my space was a very obvious sign that he didn't know and didn't care about these things.  He saw me walking along the street and noticed nothing but the shell of my body and felt that he had a right to come over and touch it.  He didn't pause to think that the person inside the body may not want to be touched.

While I have had many "Ah hah!" moments about gender in Guatemala, I could spend the rest of my life here and I would never completely understand the experience of a Guatemalan woman.  My light skin prevents me from accomplishing that.  In the workplace, I find that my light skin can be beneficial.  Once I explain that I graduated university and am here to work, I generally get the respect needed to accomplish the work that I came here to do.  However, on the street my light skin can be a detriment.  Most Guatemalans know white women through music videos and movies, where the women are depicted as nothing more than soft porn stars.  We need to get some Eleanor Roosevelt and Hilary Clinton biopics playing down here.

The incessant cat-calling that I experience in the streets sometimes takes the form of a "chhh-chhh" sound that Guatemalans quite literally use to call cats.  Sometimes it takes the form of vulgar phrases in both English and Spanish.  It bothers me: it really does.  It hasn't gotten easier, but I really don't want it to ever be something that rolls off my back.  The problem is not my sensitivity; the problem is the lack of understanding for what women can contribute to our world and the failure to recognize that a feeling soul and a thinking mind lie within a woman's body.

Because these experiences have bothered me so much, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I can do for the women of Guatemala.  The best I can hope for is that my independence plants a seed in some young girl's mind that lets her know that her life has value and purpose.  Will it work?  Who knows.  Is it enough?  Definitely not.  Machismo culture affects each women individually, but will not be changed until the collective power of our half of the population is valued and respected.  Moreover, it takes more than women realizing their value; their will be no change until men also recognize it.  We might be waiting a while for that.

Silliness

My blog posts tend to be about serious things going on in Guatemala and in my life, but the truth is that there are still an awful lot of "normal", silly moments in my life.

For example...

Yesterday morning, I was in a rush, like usual.  (Why did I ever think that Peace Corps was going to be two years of meditating?)  The result of this rushing was that I locked my keys in my room and the spare key that my host family had made didn't work.  26 hours later, I finally got back into my room.

I just wanted to let you all know that for future reference, picking a lock is a great opportunity for cultural integration.  My host family and I joked about how we wish we knew robbers, because they'd be able to pick a lock.  Everyone from my five-year-old host brother to my host parents and my Mam* teacher took a whack at trying to open the lock.  I was freezing and my host sister lent me her favorite Angry Birds sweatshirt.  I stayed at my sitemate's old house last night because her bed was still there.  Finally, a carpenter came over this morning and took off the door knob.  (He couldn't come yesterday because carpenter's don't work on Sundays.)

I don't think I can overstate how unhappy I was being locked out of my room, but now that I'm back in, I know that I have a great story that my Guatemalan family and I will laugh about for a long time to come.

*Mam is the indiginous Maya language that everyone in my site speaks.  I am TRYING to learn it.  Stay tuned to see how that goes...

The Only Gringa

My life is about to change, a lot.

Since arriving in site, more than two months ago (where does time go???), I have had two sitemates.  They have helped me with everything from introducing me to their connections in town to telling me where to buy the best peanut butter.  In a very short time, they have become two of the best friends I have ever had.

This week, they both left.  One left and is going to be traveling for a month before coming back to Guatemala to work.  The other left more unexpectedly for medical reasons and is now happily enjoying hot water that comes from the faucet in Oregon.  I am going to miss them, but I am so looking forward to hearing about their adventures and I know that, thanks to the miracles of the 21st Century, I can still pick their brain for everything they know about Peace Corps and Guatemala and just life in general.

Without sitemates to eat with, chat with, and dance with, life will be quite different.  I loved having sitemates to work with and hope to be getting another one in August, but until then I will enjoy my extra time by working a lot, spending more time with my host family, and establishing my own routine here (i.e. running, cooking, setting up my apartment).  Most Peace Corps Volunteers around the world do not have sitemates, so I'm excited to give it a go for a few weeks!

School in Guatemala

School in Guatemala.  Where do I even begin?  There are so many differences between school in Guatemala and the US.    Learning exactly how schools work here has been one of my first and most important challenges. 

I have been working with fourteen grade schools, the grades are K-6, but some of the children are as old as 14.  The smallest school has about 70 children and the largest school has about 400.  Working in the classrooms has been way more fun and rewarding than all those boring things I have to do with adults.

The school day in Guatemala technically goes from 8:00am-12:30pm, but usually goes more like 8:30am – 12:00pm.  Snack and recess usually take up the whole ten o’clock hour.  This leaves about 2.5 hours each day of instruction.  The doors to the school are often left open, leaving stray dogs and small children to come and go as they please.

The teachers in the school are also the janitors, administrators, and cooks (the children receive a snack each day); as a result, the teacher is often not even in the classroom and young students are left to copy things from the white board as their only method of learning. 

Furthermore, student: teacher ratios are about 30:1 on a good day.  There are no aides or reading specialists.  If a child misses a lot of school or just can’t keep up, they can repeat a grade, but there are no IEP’s – just the hope that another year will do the trick.

Teachers rarely have more than a high school education.  Many people become teachers chose their profession simply because they do not like the other career paths offered at their high schools.  This being said, there are some really wonderful teachers in Guatemala.  I think it is especially impressive when teachers pursue a college education, given that there is no financial incentive to do so.

There are no libraries, computer labs, gymnasiums, or cafeterias in any of my schools.  Children do all their learning in one classroom and all of their playing on one dirt field (and a basketball court, if they’re lucky).   This set-up obviously has some serious draw-backs, but there are some really net things that come of it, too.

Kids of all grades interact and they interact very nicely.  Recess is typically a time where brothers and sisters check in on one another.  There is typically three or four games happening on the field at once, which appears to me to be chaos, but everyone is happy, so I don’t ask questions.

Children each have chores to do to keep the school running (i.e. retrieving snack, mopping classrooms, collecting trash, etc.) and they do them without complaining.  There is typically a fair degree of chaos inside the classroom with kids moving around and leaving as they please, but generally when the teacher does ask them to do something, they do it.  For the most part, kids are even respectful to me, the strange white girl who is still learning Spanish.

Teachers are required by the government to teach English, at least once a week..  However, the teachers don’t know English and the result is some bizarre pronunciation of English words: for example, pronouncing the “e” on the end of “blue” – “Blu-EEEE”. 

So, this week, I am beginning a class for teachers about teaching English.  The two hour class will combine English lessons and discussions on teaching methodology.  I am not particularly qualified to teach either of these things.  However, my 21 years of education were all about learning to identify a problem, find a solution, and presenting that solution.  Therefore, after a quite a few hours of research I am ready to get started.

If you, too, can think critically, please go hug a teacher!

P.S. Here are some pictures of a few of the awesome kids with whom I've been working!