Thursday, October 28, 2010

VAC Meeting- Influencia de Alemania

Today I attended my first ever local VAC meeting in a neighboring pueblo. Simply awesome. Many Paraguayan cities have a strong German influence. The city visited today was just one of these with it's own German high school, museum celebrating it's international heritage, and an organizational structure unlike any other I've yet seen in Paraguay. How refreshing- right down to the homemade ice cream.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Aprendiendo a través de Trabajando

With all of the new projects I've gotten into as of late, it has been a week chockfull of work and even more so a week for learning. Although I am frequently the "teacher" or "facilitator" in my activities, I find that I spend most of my time learning (sometimes I think more) than teaching. I wonder if there will ever be a time when I feel like I've finally "figured out" Paraguay. So, please find the top seven lessons I learned in my classes this week:

Cooperativa Charla
My first family finance workshop with the local Coop took place last Saturday. The Coop selected theme was "Needs vs Wants" and despite somewhat nasty weather we had 10 people attend. That's a stellar turnout for a pilot program in finance I'd say- so all started well. Our first activity was to name the things that we most value in life. Responses included family, friends, experience, etc. After a small icebreaker of "what would you choose to keep on a stranded ship at sea?," we then started into a division of "Needs vs Wants." And this is where I encountered by first big lesson of the week: "basic needs" is a very big category. Divided into two groups, participants enumerated a long list of basic needs, the highlights of which included cleaning supplies, cosmetics, education, cell phones, and transportation. Really? I had no idea that make-up was a basic need, but it tells you a lot about the values in this society. The "lindo" factor- it if looks good it is good enough. Second big lesson of the week: when we looked at the lists none of the things that we say we really value in life (family, friends, experiences) ever showed up. Wow, are we really so focused (not just Paraguayans mind you, all of us worldwide) on material and consumer goods that we forget about the important stuff in our needs/wants? Yikes! It makes us give Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs a closer look- how many basic needs do we need to fulfill before we start to think about our social wellbeing and self-actualization? Is our list of basic needs so large now that we aren't moving on from the base of the pyramid? Just some thoughts on lessons one and two.

Construye tus Suenos
My first ever micro-business class was quite the adventure as well this week. Lesson number three: Setting-up a classroom and a projector takes over an hour. Yes, I need to arrive an hour early for class because something, really everything, will be sure to either go wrong, not work, need moved, etc. before I can get started. Fourth big lesson of the week: It is very hard for the youth in Paraguay to think through the details of their personal goals and aspirations. Often the responses are very cliche. For example, question is, "Why do you want to start your own business?" followed by a response, "To improve my quality of life." Sure, why not? But, what does that really mean? Break that down for me. What is "quality of life"? Are we talking a big house, new car, land out in the country or something to bring your family closer together as you are going to be running the business as a unit? Lesson number five: In all cultures there is a limit on the amount of listening one can tolerate before interrupting. In Paraguay, this time is 20 seconds. Clearly, I've got to rework my listening activities in the future.

Games in English
My second English class took place just the other day and it was certainly a hoot! Sixth big lesson of the week: English makes NO sense whatsoever. Why is it that we form questions with one verb and reply with a completely different verb? Why are there sooo many irregular conjugations? Who came up with this language anyway? Jajaja (hahaha). Finally, the seventh lesson of this week has been that class-size typically doubles the second week. Without further promotion, I was shocked to find over 35 kids in my afternoon English class this week. Apparently word got out via chisme a week late that we had English games in the library. I'm debating starting a third class, but I understand that class-size typically shrinks dramatically after lesson number three. So maybe not...

Always learning! Thank you Paraguay- not a dull moment!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

El Mejor Día Paraguayo

Today was one of the best Paraguayan days that I have had in site. I cannot say that it was special in any grand fashion, but it was productive, fun, innovative, and new all in one: BALANCED.

I awoke after a rather short night's sleep at 6:30am to no electricity or running water. It was raining (more a slow drizzle), so school would likely be cancelled in the morning. Nonetheless, I was up and getting ready for a working breakfast with my co-worker on our "Construye tus Sueños" course at 7:30am. We each had one small bread roll with dulce de mora (kinda like a blackberry jam) and cocido (mate that's been burned with sugar and then boiled). Not sure why, but I was extremely full afterward! Then, we sat down to finish our lesson plan for our first day of class. I'm so excited to get started- we've got some great activities, ideas, etc. we're going to incorporate in the regular lesson plan as well as visits from local business owners, credit/loan institutions, and the like. From there we headed around town to work on promotions with signs to hang in the local hot spots, cooperative, bank, internet cafes, copy shops, and colegios.

By noon, it was time to tackle my next task- introducing comida saludable (healthy eating) to my host family as my host sister has recently been diagnosed with Gastritis and has to learn to eat foods without crazy amounts of fat/oil/acidity. So, my sister and I met up for our healthy shopping trip to buy lentils, veggies, and skim milk/yogurt (heaven forbid!). We made it home just in time for rice soup and the power to come back on.

After a short nap, required for it to be a good Paraguayan day, I woke fully rested to start my second shift.

My afternoon task was to prepare a lentil soup with my host mom without using oil. I know it doesn't sound that hard, but trust me- that is NOT normal here. After a big discussion about which parts of broccoli we can eat (all of it, but that's not so clear when one's never used it before) and how to prepare lentils, we were finally cooking. Meanwhile, I prepared all the materials for a Taller de Administración Familiar (family finance workshop) with the local cooperative. Again, thrilled to get to facilitate some cool activities this month on making wise spending choices and needs vs. wants. I have a good friend from Pakistan that (jokingly... I think), suggested that I have the whole class fast for a day and then offer them bread or a new cell phone and see which one they'd choose- I've opted for a slightly less profound but hopefully fun set of games and personal budgeting exercises. :-P Also during my afternoon marathon, I received a visit from a fellow American in site that would like to collaborate on a crash-course in English at the local university. It's lookin' like I've got another project and another contact organization in the works.

While the soup was cooking, I headed out for my final activity of the day around 7pm- one of my neighborhood meetings with the Constructores de la Sociedad. Set up in the neighborhood chapel, we completed a lluvia de ideas (brainstorm) and an excel desenchufada (excel unplugged) to pick and plan our first neighborhood level, capacity building, small project. In this particular barrio, they have decided that they want to get the word out about our group and start to build support for various infrastructure projects such as empedrada, public lighting, neighborhood clean-up, etc. As such, the task for the week is to invite as many neighbors as possible to a barrio kick-off meeting with motivational speaker (Pa'i), ice breakers, and appetizers. Tasks have been assigned, decorations and activities planned. Ore guapa!

By 9pm, I was headed home on my fancy new bicycle (which has gone over swimmingly with the locals- all my co-workers get a real laugh out of my chuchi helmet and headlight). It cuts my travel time around site in half; great exercise too! Upon arrival our lentil soup was done, and to my delight the family was loving it. Even the grandkids were going in for seconds. My host sister suggested we start eating this stuff for the primary meal of the day (lunch). What an accomplishment- lentils and broccoli introduced and devoured with pleasure in one fell swoop. A cold shower to finish off the day just in time for round two of the rainstorm and an evening power/water outage.

I couldn't ask for a better day. Goodnight Paraguay.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Proyectos en Processo


In an effort to organize my thoughts and to give readers and idea of what I'm up to out here, I've put together this list of projects currently underway in my Paraguayan service divided into the categories of the Community Economic Development sector:

Educación Cívica/Participación Ciudadana (Civic Education/Citizen Participation)
  - Constructores de la Sociedad- This is my main contact organization in my community and a super interesting group to work with. We have just recently completed our community study on the individual, group, neighborhood, and community levels. The results were super outstanding and allowed us to develop both a vision statement and prioritize our mission projects. Vision Statement: "A través de la cooperación, la solidaridad, y la amistad lograremos una verdadera seguridad organizada." Our large-scale community projects in order of priority: Universidad Nacional (opening a national university branch in town), Sala Informática (computation center), Comedor Comunitario (soup kitchen), Empedrada (paving/cobble-stoning local streets), Grupos Juveniles (youth groups), y Espacio Recreativo (constructing recreation spaces). Now that we've got the community census completed and the vision to guide us- we are working on our group's credibility within the community and at a national level. Little by little, we are starting small projects in each neighborhood (fixing-up the local chapels, installing volleyball courts, working with youth, finding an office for organization, etc.) to build-up our group's confidence, learn lessons about planning and organizing events, testing out our abilities, and promoting the collective vision of the future. Perhaps by the time my two years are up, we will be able to make our move on some of the bigger plans the community is hoping for.

Emprendedurismo (Entrepreneurship)
  - Curso “Construye tus Sueños”- As of this upcoming week, I will be co-teaching a course on entrepreneurship and micro-business called "Building your Dreams." Working with a group that is interested in starting a milk/yogurt factory in Caazapa (desperately needed for jobs as well as to take advantage of our outstanding cow-raising terrain) and various individuals interested in starting their own businesses, we will be going through the basics of business from market studies and marketing to accounting and budgets. The course lasts about 3 months and is certified through the Peace Corps as well as the local Supervisión (superintendent's office). 

Finanzas Familiares (Family Finance)
  - Charlas de “Administración Familiar”- In collaboration with the local cooperative (much more popular than banks in Paraguay for individual financial needs), we have developed a workshop series on "Family Administration." The kick-off workshop is this upcoming weekend on prioritizing needs versus wants in our consumer society. If all goes well, we hope to move into family budgeting, the importance of savings, credit/loans, and more in the future!

Informática/Computación (Information Technology/Computation)
  - Sala Informática en el Colegio Técnico- Increasing opportunities and access to technology is very much on the list of priorities for my community. Recently the Colegio Nacional (the primary high school in town) has been rumored to receive funding for a computer room. As such, the Colegio Técnico with a focus on accounting would like to join the race. With any luck, we'll have two educational institutions moving into the technology age by the time I leave. 
  - Curso de Computación- Currently in the works but not likely until the coming school year, I will be teaching a computer course at the local library that has recently received 5 new computers from the departmento. Certification to be offered by either SNPP or SINOFOCAL (two educational capacitation organizations funded by the national government with aims to enhance Paraguay's workforce).

Otros/Secondarios (Secondary Projects)
 - Comité de Huerta Familiar Ecológica- A project that I pretty much bumped into during my first week in site all about the benefit of family gardens. Working with a committee of about 15 members within one neighborhood (and growing rapidly), we are meeting to learn how to plant gardens, sharing recipes on how to cook with our home-grown veggies, and earning funds to help our neighbors buy the supplies to get started. To get the process jump-started, we have also teamed up with a small micro-credit organization to teach about micro-credit in a community new to the system and encourage efficient returns on borrowed funds. Lucky for us, a small family garden brings over in 300% of the investment cost in savings/sales- a great way to show how a little investment at zero interest can jumpstart your gains.
 - “Juegos de Ingles”- At the request of several families in town and encouraged by the amazing rate at which children can learn languages, I have started a weekly hour-long "English Games" class for kids ages 6-13 at the local library. If nothing else, we'll learn to count and say hello while promoting library usage.
 - Ingles para Docentes- Our local teacher training center is keen to get ahead of the game by becoming one of the first institutions in the nation to certify English teachers. As partner to the planning process and an instructor in conversational English, I am waiting with my team for the Ministerio de Educacion to approve our proposal and let us get the program rolling for the upcoming school year.
 - Campamento de Liderazgo/Taller de Emprendedurismo/Taller de Bibliotecas- Several super guapo (hard-working) Peace Corps volunteers and I are working together on several stellar camps and workshops to take place during summer vacations. In January/February, we are looking at both a Leadership Camp and Entrepreneurship Workshop. In March, the PC Library Committee is setting-up a Librarian training and Library Resources Workshop. These are really awesome opportunities for Paraguayans from around the country to come together, share ideas, and learn something new. All feedback on past events has been outstanding, and I look forward to getting to play a part in the organization of this year's events. :-)

Whew! I think that's all for now! Clearly, I've got my hands full for a PCV- always good to be active.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Presentación a mi Sitio

For something I wasn't looking forward to, how ridiculously exciting it was to have completed my official "Site Presentation"!

It took several days to prepare- finding a location, making invitations, visiting practically every institution in town to deliver invitations, etc. and nearly didn't happen at all due to one of the largest hail/wind storms Paraguay has seen in some time (knocked the power out for over 12 hours and devastated both homes and cities)- but the extra effort on the part of all parties was certainly worth the effort. Around 40-50 people were present for the event representing the various projects that I am currently working on in town as well as the escuelas (primary schools), colegios (high schools), and governmental institutions. My primary contact group the Constructores de la Sociedad brought bocaditos y bebidos (appetizers and drinks) as well as a big "Bienvenidos" ("Welcome!") sign hung on the wall and I whipped up a cake to share around. The Community Economic Development sector APCD Assistant prepared an hour-long description of the history of Peace Corps, the CED sector, contact support, safety/security, etc. and I developed a 5 minute overview of my life in photos and a few words to present. Even after the big storm, even after starting over 45 minutes late waiting for my contact to arrive (la hora Paraguaya)- it was great! People were truly tuned-in to the presentations, sharing thoughts and reflections about our projects so far over appetizers, and even my APCD was impressed as to the massive organization that the community took on to get the whole thing together. I'm soooo proud of my site and my groups!

So now, officially, I have been welcomed to the community. As my boss joked, "Great! Now you can finally start to work!"