The Return to the Grind

Swearing in as a volunteer on April 30 was a great experience. We rolled to the US embassy and were sworn in by the US ambassador in her residence. We raised our right hand, repeated a few words and just like that we were the latest edition of Peace Corps volunteers in Paraguay. I had the pleasure of being chosen by my fellow volunteers to deliver the volunteer speech after we swore in. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdQ8ONbTR4E

The rest of that weekend was a good time to celebrate with volunteers, relax, and hang out for once. One of the highlights was meeting volunteers from Japan and South Korea during a sports mixer we had at a park in the capital (they have their own Peace Corps type organizations). We played ultimate Frisbee, and shortly after, I directed a bunch of us to the basketball courts and we had a blast. It truly is amazing how much basketball is growing in Asia and it was so interesting to compare our stories growing up, our passion for sport, and our experiences in college. A few of the volunteers spoke English and some even had parents who studied and got PhDs in the states.

Another highlight was pizza hut, burger king, hot showers and all things western. Paraguayan food can at times leave something to be desired. They really don’t believe in seasoning their food well and the blandness can wear down the best of em.

I got to my site May 4th and had to start the task of immersing myself in a new community, getting to know people all over again, debunk stereotypes, and making new friends. It is a hard thing to arrive in a country develop a certain niche during training and then move to a new place and be asked to do the same thing only this time without any other American friends or host families that make it easy for you to have a support system. I consider myself a pretty extroverted person and with all my travels I have learned to adapt quite well, but since I’ve arrived, there have been a few days where it is truly rough to go about my routine. For the first time I found myself a little sad in Paraguay. Everyone tells you it’s natural and it happens to everyone so I kept that in mind, plowing through, meeting people, arranging meetings and reminding myself of why I’m here, how challenging times like these build character and test it at the same time. Being truly alone with yourself can be pretty daunting and at the same time quite liberating.

My housing set up right now isn’t too great but I have my privacy at least. I live in a little house in front of the house of a mom and her 7 yr old son. I take mostly bucket baths and I don’t really eat food there because her cooking doesn’t look too delightful to say the least. I’ve been able to make my rounds in the neighborhood eating at different people’s houses and it has been a great way to know community members. One of the sites I will be working at is a comedor which feeds kids from really poor backgrounds in the community. The comedor also offers school enrichment and kids get to work with teachers at the comedor to reinforce what they are learning in school since school days here are only 4 hours in either the morning or afternoon session. Some of the kids only speak Guarani and so I will continue to have to get my game up. Luckily the food at the comedor is amazing and I get to eat lunch there for free so that is a huge plus. One of the women that works there is also really chill and is helping set me up with a nice place to live.

I am also in the process of setting up my computer and English classes that I will teach through the community cooperative and school. In Paraguay people are all about getting certificates for courses completed so that it will help them become employed. I have reached out to the ministry of education and some other gov’t groups to approve my curriculum so my students can receive certificates. I will also be working with an NGO that is building a women’s technology center in my community to help teach women of all ages how to use technology along with other empowerment activities.

I am really looking forward to working with two youth groups in my community as well. They want to work in areas like sex ed, leadership, and self-esteem building for young people in the community. One of my contacts in my community has worked with me to take some students in 8th and 9th grade to this opportunities fair that the vice ministry of youth is putting on in our city next Friday. We also hope to work with teachers in the school to incorporate important life development themes into their curriculum. The teaching methods in Paraguay often times don’t allow youth to develop in a manner in which they become critical thinkers, creative, or proactive. Classes can often be students sitting at a desk and simply copying off the board and being tested.

The history of my neighborhood is really interesting. It is a neighborhood about 5 miles from the center of the city that was displaced due to river flooding from the building of a new dam. The community has a lot of people who are struggling to get by. It has a little over 5000 people and everyone goes to the city to work. The community lacks a lot of infrastructure. There is a small health post but most people have to go to the regional hospital for serious treatment. The school only goes up to 9th grade and you have to go further into the city to finish. There is a lot of land but no parks and few soccer fields for kids to play. There are A LOT of young mothers who have little knowledge on how to raise a kid. The barrio is full of children. Everywhere I walk there are tons of kids with little to do. There is so much work to be done and I’m just looking forward to working with community members to make an impact. My community is very politically charged and at times that poses problems for my work but all in all I try my best to always remain neutral and remind people I am just there to work with youth and help the community at large.

On a lighter note it has been nice to be able to have a fellow volunteer who lives in the center of my city, about a 25 min bus ride away. She has been here since September. Her project is environmental ed and she is awesome to hang out with. All in all life is good and I’m still trying to get my bearings, making a lot of meetings, identifying leaders in the community and community needs, going to NGOs and trying to compile a list of contacts who can come in and work in our community.