So the title to this post isnt exactlly accurate, but there is good reason to think this. Mosly, my site placement. The long and the short of site placement was that I had a complete breakdown when my director said ¨Tucker: San Carlos, Rio San Juan¨. Now would be a good time to go and look at a map and see exactly how far Rio San Juan is from pretty much everything else. To make the trip especially fun, half of it isnt on paved roads...its on dirt roads. On sunday I had my first experience of what my life will look like when I need to go to the office, adn I am happy to report that it only took 9 hours, instead of the 12 I thought it would be. I am unhappy to report that it was on a school bus discarded from the US in, I would guess, 1990. Ha. Also, that most of the time I will be riding this bus is when I need to go to see the doctors in Managua. So picture me, sick (Latin American sick...aka intestinal issues) for 9 hours on a bus on unpaved roads! hahaha, my life is hilarious.
Good news, there is also a boat! The boat takes 15 hours, but there is a bathroom. So assuming I can time my sickness right (It only runs 2x a week), I think the boat with the bathroom might be the way to go. As well there is a place for me to put up a hammock, and most of the ride- well, part of the ride, is overnight. I wont get to take the boat this time, but hopefully next time I can check it out.
Anyway, back to being so amazing. I say this because of my breakdown and the consequences of said breakdown. I just couldnt, for the life of me, realize why they would place me (MPH what what) pretty much in Costa Rica. The reason is that San Carlos is cursed. As far as I can tell, not one volunteer has made it through their entire service here...sure there have been medical reasons, and pregnancies, etc but the rumor is that San Carlos is cursed. And the reason why I am here is because my APCD, aka director, believes that I am the one to break the curse. And that I am bad-ass enough to not only last the 2 years here, but to love it. And to do some great work. So being amazing has its up and its down, I havent figured out which one this is...but we will see. I am taking my placement here as a compliment and not an insult although I am the furhest volunteer south in all of Nica, out of all 200 vols.
San Carlos is not the prettiest city, and it doesnt even have a grocery store, even though it is the deparment capital (the closest grocery store is in Costa Rica). But it is the main city of the craziest department in Nica. I am living in a tropical jungle, where the river between Costa Rica meets the huge lake in Nica. There are jaguars and monkeys and sloths and of course the famous fresh water shark (bull shark to be exact). There are also some 80 types of orchids and birds that bird watchers go crazy for, although dont ask me to namy any of them.
Hopefully I will be working on the boarder to educate sex workers and truck drivers about HIV, as well as working in the city of san carlos and the outlying communities. In the first month I am going to help implement the vaccination campaigns, and because we are surrounded by water, we will be using a boat! I had my first full day here in San Carlos today and leave Weds night to go back to Managua, finish the last 2 weeks of training and finally swear in as a volunteer!
More on San Carlos after the visit. Google it. And be warned, most people call it the ugliest city in all of Nica. I dont know if I would go that far, but it might be the hottest. Welcome to the Peace Corps.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Volcan Masaya
Katie and I on the bus on the way to the Volcano: Masaya
Jenny, Katie and I
Volcan Masaya!
The waterfall I visited on my Volunteer Visit
The waterfall has a nice cave (right above my head) which is a great camping spot.
Training in Dolores
I think it’s about time that I talk about training and what it is that I am actually doing out here in Dolores.
Peace Corps training was revolutionized by PC Nica. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the “Community Based” training model was made, adapted, and disseminated from Nicaragua. I’m not sure of exactly how many countries implement this type of training but it is certainly different than I expected. As I understand it, most trainees are in a compound where they have intensive language and technical training, but generally, everyone lives together. In our training here we live with a host family, there are only 4 of us in our training towns, and our language classes and technical training are integrated into our everyday routine.
What I mean by that is this:
-We have a youth group. This is a main priority for all Peace Corps projects in Nicaragua because more than 25% of all pregnancies are in girls under the age of 19. I see regularly girls between the ages of 13-16 walking the streets of Dolores 6, 7 and 8 months pregnant. It is unbelievably sad and could have large implications on future HIV rates.
We have a solid 10 kids in our “Club de Jovenes” (Youth Group) that meets two times a week and so far, so good. It got off to a rocky start, but slowly it is becoming easier, and we have given them two charlas (interactive lectures); one on skills to build a healthy life and the other on self-esteem. Next week is a big week because we are doing sexual health, etc. They have a final project at the end where they have to give a charla to another group of people (we are being trained in training the trainers- a tongue twister for sure), but haven’t talked about this final project very much because most of our kids are shy and we don’t want to scare them away, ha. Many kids here have “pena” or embarrassment, especially the girls. Anyway, we are trying to ease them into it slowly; we’ll see how it goes.
-I also give charlas in the Centro de Salud (Health Center). Healthcare is free in Nica but cost is not the only barrier in providing effective healthcare, especially here. (A post for another time: “Socialist Values in Healthcare”, “Republicans, beware! Healthcare in Nica”, etc). Patients come to the health center, and as they wait to see a doctor, I give them a 15-25 minute charla on some topic of health- yes in Spanish. Last week I talked about STDs and this week I hope to give 2 or 3 charlas, possibly on malaria, dengue and general hygiene.
-Right now we are also preparing our Survey of the community. We decided to complete our survey on alcoholism in Dolores and the effects on the Community. There is plenty of public drinking, public passing-out, etc. Results to follow.
Also in my training here in Dolores I will give charlas in the schools to youth between the ages of 9-13 during one of their school periods. The children in Dolores attend school either in the morning or in the afternoon, not both. In the campo (rural areas), kids attend school only on Saturday. I thought that was because they needed to help their parents during the week but the truth is that school is only once a week because there is a lack of resources aka buildings and teachers.
So basically we are doing a lot of what we will also be doing in our sites, but here we are doing it together, struggling with Spanish, and we have support from the training coordinators and our language facilitators. I can’t imagine how other Peace Corps countries do it, training is so hard and we are constantly tired, but we are lucky that we get a test run before jumping into site.
My schedule this week looks like this:
Monday:
8AM-3PM- Language class
3PM-5PM- Club de Jovenes (and charla on STIs, teen pregnancy and birth control methods)
6-7- Dinner
7-8- The family all watches “our” favorite telenovela. It’s about a two girls that were in a horrible car crash. One dies but the doctors put the face of the dead girl on the body of the live one. She now works undercover trying to take out the huge drug lord who is in love with “her” (but remember, she is really the other girl). Oh, and they were married to the same man at some point, but I can’t figure out when that happened. It’s a Latin American soap opera and it’s amazing. It’s also on EVERY night during the week…. My parents (mostly my papa surprisingly) watch novelas from 7-11PM.
8-10PM- Homework: preparing charlas for the next day, reading technical books for the week etc.
Tuesday:
730AM- Charla in the Health Center and then the same as Monday.
Weds:
Same morning routine.
Group technical session in the afternoon: All trainees attend.
Weds afternoon technical test
Thursday:
730AM Chalra in Health Center then same as Monday.
Second meeting with Club de Jovenes.
Language proficiency test
Friday:
Technical training all day in Managua: 7AM-5PM
Saturday:
“Field visit”: We are traveling 4 ours north to 2 volunteers who work primarily in the Casas Maternas (The ministry of health is implementing institutionalized births and so these “houses” keep women who are 8 1/2 months pregnant, until they give birth in a hospital or a centro de salud.)
Peace Corps training was revolutionized by PC Nica. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the “Community Based” training model was made, adapted, and disseminated from Nicaragua. I’m not sure of exactly how many countries implement this type of training but it is certainly different than I expected. As I understand it, most trainees are in a compound where they have intensive language and technical training, but generally, everyone lives together. In our training here we live with a host family, there are only 4 of us in our training towns, and our language classes and technical training are integrated into our everyday routine.
What I mean by that is this:
-We have a youth group. This is a main priority for all Peace Corps projects in Nicaragua because more than 25% of all pregnancies are in girls under the age of 19. I see regularly girls between the ages of 13-16 walking the streets of Dolores 6, 7 and 8 months pregnant. It is unbelievably sad and could have large implications on future HIV rates.
We have a solid 10 kids in our “Club de Jovenes” (Youth Group) that meets two times a week and so far, so good. It got off to a rocky start, but slowly it is becoming easier, and we have given them two charlas (interactive lectures); one on skills to build a healthy life and the other on self-esteem. Next week is a big week because we are doing sexual health, etc. They have a final project at the end where they have to give a charla to another group of people (we are being trained in training the trainers- a tongue twister for sure), but haven’t talked about this final project very much because most of our kids are shy and we don’t want to scare them away, ha. Many kids here have “pena” or embarrassment, especially the girls. Anyway, we are trying to ease them into it slowly; we’ll see how it goes.
-I also give charlas in the Centro de Salud (Health Center). Healthcare is free in Nica but cost is not the only barrier in providing effective healthcare, especially here. (A post for another time: “Socialist Values in Healthcare”, “Republicans, beware! Healthcare in Nica”, etc). Patients come to the health center, and as they wait to see a doctor, I give them a 15-25 minute charla on some topic of health- yes in Spanish. Last week I talked about STDs and this week I hope to give 2 or 3 charlas, possibly on malaria, dengue and general hygiene.
-Right now we are also preparing our Survey of the community. We decided to complete our survey on alcoholism in Dolores and the effects on the Community. There is plenty of public drinking, public passing-out, etc. Results to follow.
Also in my training here in Dolores I will give charlas in the schools to youth between the ages of 9-13 during one of their school periods. The children in Dolores attend school either in the morning or in the afternoon, not both. In the campo (rural areas), kids attend school only on Saturday. I thought that was because they needed to help their parents during the week but the truth is that school is only once a week because there is a lack of resources aka buildings and teachers.
So basically we are doing a lot of what we will also be doing in our sites, but here we are doing it together, struggling with Spanish, and we have support from the training coordinators and our language facilitators. I can’t imagine how other Peace Corps countries do it, training is so hard and we are constantly tired, but we are lucky that we get a test run before jumping into site.
My schedule this week looks like this:
Monday:
8AM-3PM- Language class
3PM-5PM- Club de Jovenes (and charla on STIs, teen pregnancy and birth control methods)
6-7- Dinner
7-8- The family all watches “our” favorite telenovela. It’s about a two girls that were in a horrible car crash. One dies but the doctors put the face of the dead girl on the body of the live one. She now works undercover trying to take out the huge drug lord who is in love with “her” (but remember, she is really the other girl). Oh, and they were married to the same man at some point, but I can’t figure out when that happened. It’s a Latin American soap opera and it’s amazing. It’s also on EVERY night during the week…. My parents (mostly my papa surprisingly) watch novelas from 7-11PM.
8-10PM- Homework: preparing charlas for the next day, reading technical books for the week etc.
Tuesday:
730AM- Charla in the Health Center and then the same as Monday.
Weds:
Same morning routine.
Group technical session in the afternoon: All trainees attend.
Weds afternoon technical test
Thursday:
730AM Chalra in Health Center then same as Monday.
Second meeting with Club de Jovenes.
Language proficiency test
Friday:
Technical training all day in Managua: 7AM-5PM
Saturday:
“Field visit”: We are traveling 4 ours north to 2 volunteers who work primarily in the Casas Maternas (The ministry of health is implementing institutionalized births and so these “houses” keep women who are 8 1/2 months pregnant, until they give birth in a hospital or a centro de salud.)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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