Monday, August 27, 2012 - , , , , , , 1 comments

Going Back to High School

This past week I was able to meet with the two counselors at the high school, rather instituto, in Jalapa about me starting work there regularly. Since we are at the end of the month, I was able to only get two days of work there, but come September, I hope to be making an appearance there at least one, possibly up to three, times a week teaching classes on various topics.

INAJAL (Instituto Nacional de Jalapa) has about 2,000 students enrolled: in the morning, the 7th-9th graders (1st thru 3rd year students) are in class and in the afternoon is the 10th and 11th graders (4th and 5th year students). They go to school Monday thru Friday and their classes are 40 minutes long with a half hour break in the middle of the morning/afternoon.

I started with three sections of 10th graders my first day and three sections of 8th graders on the second.

Stage is set.

On the first day, I had two sessions that lasted 80 minutes and one that lasted 40 minutes. To the two longer classes, I gave a charla about the male/female reproductive systems, sexual/reproductive rights, menstrual cycle and introducing fecundation. After that, we transitioned into a Nicaraguan-made 20-minute movie called La Casa de Muñecas about real Nica adolescent mothers and their hardships. From there, I gave numbers about adolescent pregnancy in Nicaragua as well as physical, emotional and economic consequences that it may bring. Lest to say, it's very eye-opening and I think that the all of the chavalos would rather go to University next year rather than having a baby.

Watching "Casa de Muñecas" during one of the birth scenes...look at the girls on the left, shock factor: achieved!

To the 40-minute class of 10th graders, we just did the adolescent pregnancy portion and I will return to do the reproductive system charla next time.

The next day, I had three 40-minute sections of 8th graders and did my self-esteem charla. The counselors had warned me that the younger classes are very disrespectful and I'd have to talk over them to get their attention; I told them not to worry since I could project my voice pretty loud. Luckily, all three classes were respectful and were attentive the whole time. At the end of the charla, I gave them an activity in which they had to write one positive thing about themselves (i.e. I like that my friends can confide in me) and one negative thing that they wish they could change (i.e. I don't like that I'm shy). They would take the negative phrase and throw it into the middle of the room and we took all that negativity and threw it away in the trash.


I'm glad I'm finally working in the institute, especially since jóvenes are one of my main target groups as a Health volunteer. They are responsive, entertaining and honestly a breath of fresh air than what I'm used to at the centro. 

Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 0 comments

Feria de Salud: Take 2


About a month ago, I helped set up for a health fair that we were going to hold in the community of Escambray. Long story short, I got ditched after two and a half hours of waiting for the ambulance to leave and I was very disappointed in not being able to participate, especially since I helped put so much work into the fair.

Last week, we had another Health Fair, in the community of Teotecacinte, the second largest community in the Jalapa municipality; it’s also, if you remember, sister city to Glenwood Springs, Colorado!

What. A. Day. We worked with 4 members of CEPS, 10 members of MINSA, 2 teens from the Casa de Adolescencia, the JICA volunteer and me representing Cuerpo de Paz and put on a fair in which easily over 400 members of the community showed up throughout the day. I was working with my main colega and the CEPS workers with the high school students (built by a Glenwood Springs professor!) about how to correctly put a condom on, family planning, and safe sex altogether.





Meanwhile, other people were talking about Chagas prevention, as well as testing those who thought they might have been bitten by the nasty bug that causes the sickness. We had three doctors performing HIV tests (by the end of the day, more than 70 tests were performed, and a lot of the patients were pregnant women, double win!), a nurse performing papsmears, and other doctors doing vaccinations for toddlers, babies, and general checkups for the population.






Speaking of vaccinations, we also had another MINSA representative performing rabies vaccinations for dogs! I was happy to see a constant stream of people bringing their pets all day to get their shots, and I’m excited that if and when I get my puppy (my training family in Carazo promised me one of the German Shepherd’s puppies once she has her first litter!), I know who to take it to in order to receive its shots.


It was a good, productive day, and I look forward to participating, and maybe even hosting, some more health fairs in the future.
Thursday, August 9, 2012 - 0 comments

The Discouraging, The Hopeful and The Lonely


THE DISCOURAGING: As a Health PCV, work comes and goes. Some days I’m extremely busy with work and other days, I have no idea what to do to fill up my schedule. Lately, I have been working day to day rather than planning out my week. I luckily have the Casa Materna and I try to go there twice a week to give a charla and be with the women; I also thought I could rely on my huerto project to keep me busy. However, while I was away in Masaya last month, that project fell apart. One of the doctors at the ProFamilia clinic wanted to keep the vegetables that we were growing for herself, even though from the very start we said we were growing them for the Casa Materna and if we were to sell any we would split the profits with the clinic 60/40 (they would have the 60%). Now, I don’t know the exact details of the argument, because I was gone, but she also complained that the teens who were working on the huertos were also eating some of the radishes. Granted, we had a lot of radishes planted, and the teens were doing all of the work; we say, if they want to snack on a radish, let them! They earned it! In the end, the project collapsed, because if she wanted the crops for herself, then she had to step up and take responsibility to care for the huertos as much as we were. When I got back from my Masaya trip, I was discouraged at that news. I was also discouraged that MINSA wasn’t helping support me in any projects I want to do, nor assisting me in my Casa Materna trips, especially since they are promoting it in every community they go to or any event they attend. Instead, they are expecting me to assist them in their projects, which I obligingly do because it fills my day, but I approached one of my colegas and told her that they have to at least meet me halfway sometimes.

THE HOPEFUL: With my free time lately, I have been going to the Casa Materna, and noticing that they had a pretty large patio to plant new huertos, I asked if that could be a possibility. They were all for the idea. I talked to one of my colegas from Pueblos Unidos, and after a meeting with the Casa Materna staff this past week, we are going to start breaking ground on a new huerto project benefitting the Casa Materna. We told them that we will prepare the soil and plant the seeds and all we are asking from the women (who are within their final month of pregnancy) is to water the seedbeds daily. Also at this meeting, we started discussing the possibility of creating a more sustainable stove since the one they have now produces a lot of smoke when cooking. I have recruited the Agriculture volunteer who lives in one of the Jalapeño communities, El Carbón, and she is excited to help out. I don’t know how much of a role MINSA will play in the undertaking of this new project, but if it’s solely Peace Corps (Cuerpo de Paz to the Nicas) and Pueblos Unidos, then that’s fine, too. I’m also going to start looking into funding for my idea of expanding the house to accommodate more women, comfortably, at one time.





THE LONELY: For the past week or so, I have been in a really hard-to-get-out-of funk. Maybe it’s a case of homesickness or maybe it’s a case of being a 20-something and trying to figure out life. Either way, I feel as if I have no one I can truly talk to, outside of my parents (thanks, guys, for everything you’ve done for me so far). I have some Volunteer friends who I talk to and we talk about what is going on in our lives in sites, what we miss from the states, what we’re annoyed with, etc, and even though we are all practically going through the same things, I feel as if I can’t let myself open up around them like I could do with a friend who has been in my life longer than just a few months. I want a friend who has known what I’ve been through and who I truly am, but thinking about what friendships I left back in the states, I can’t think of many people I can truly confide in.  I have been there and been that person who others can turn to in times of need and I put myself out there like that consistently, yet have not received anything like that in return. I’m the one reaching out and trying to maintain friendships while I’m the one who is also living in a different world for two years; I hardly sense that anyone is trying to reach out to me and it seems that I’m not part of their lives anymore. Out of sight, out of mind mentality. I’m not saying that I want people to put me in the center of their universes, but I’d like to be part of their lives in some manner; for people to care about me, to miss me. Two years is a long time and people grow up, change, and life happens.  I have been out of the states, away from my family, gone from what I know for 7 months and you know what? It’s hard. I wish it could be easier, but this is one of the obstacles I face of being a Peace Corps Volunteer and helping others in the world. So far, with my experience, I wouldn't trade it or take it back for anything. I look forward to the next 20 months here in Nicaragua and beyond for when I return to the states after my service, I’m just hoping they’ll be less lonely and full of new experiences to come. I know I’m the only one who can change my attitude and life around for the better; I can’t rely on anyone else for my own happiness, I have to be my own factor of change
Sunday, July 22, 2012 - , , , , , , , , 1 comments

A Fabulous Afternoon

My colega told me that we were going to give a charla to the homosexual/transgender population of Jalapa with CEPS about HIV, STDs and overall well-being. I was beyond excited since Nueva Segovia is a rather conservative department and I have not encountered many openly-homosexual people up here. Jalapa, especially, is known for it's machismo and though I was happy to participate in the presentation, I was skeptical of the turnout.

We had about 15 people show up to the presentation (that we held at a bar that doesn't open till later in the night); they were all very friendly and knew they were among friends and could be open, honest and trusted in our environment. The presentation started with a CEPS member going over the basics of STDs. I then started my presentation of different kinds of STDs while the CEPS rep showed pretty graphic photos of what I was talking about. I also discussed HIV, and during all of our presentation, we had representatives from MINSA giving free HIV testing. Of the 15 that participated, only 4 got tested, and they were all, luckily, negative for the illness.


After my part of the presentation, CEPS went on to talk about the importance of condom use, while referring back to what I had previously mentioned. After that brief session, we went on to talk about the difference between "sex" and "gender"..."sex" referring to what separates men and women biologically and "gender" referring to what we are perceived as in society. Given that, we had about 8 volunteers get up and give us a "fashion" show in which they had to walk down the runway three times: the first: as masculine as possible, the second: as feminine as possible, the third: as themselves.



We had a lot of laughter and a ton of fun, and I'm happy to say I gained confianza within the small group that showed and I'm looking forward to working with them more in the future. It was about a 3-hour long presentation, and while the rain was pouring hard outside, the sun was shining and the rainbows were certainly bright in that bar that day!


Sunday, July 15, 2012 - , , , , , , , , , 0 comments

10 Days in a Nutshell

Whew. After 10 long, productive and fun days out of site, I'm glad to be back with the Jalapeños. After the first 3 months of service, the majority of our group went to a language workshop to better our Spanish skills for a week. More on that later...

On Friday, I went to a town called Quilalí, where there are three volunteers. We all went up there for a despedida (going away party) of some Agriculture and Business volunteers that are finishing their service and returning to the US.

Quilalí is BEAUTIFUL, but SO FAR away! I took a 45-minute bus ride from Jalapa to the empalme (road fork) and meeting up with some friends, took another bus to Quilalí. After reaching the town of Susucayan, the road becomes dirt for the next 3 hours. If the views weren't so beautiful and I didn't have the company of my friends on the bus, I might have gone a little crazy! It's only 25km from the empalme but because of all the hills the bus has to climb to get there, we had to take a break here and there for the engine to cool. I definitely have a lot more respect for the volunteers who live there and travel out of site to get to Ocotal or Managua.

Some scenery on the way to Quilalí

Upon arrival, we went to our friend's host-family's house where we met up with 9 other volunteers. We all hung out, played guitars, listened to some original songs by the dubbed "Segovian Mountain Ramblers" (all members of which are returning to the states...how sad!) and enjoyed a nice home cooked meal by the doña of the house. I got to talk to some volunteers I don't see too often and met some new people, too. Overall it was a great night spent with great company.

The volunteer's host kids loved drawing pictures of us!


PCV Dance Party!

On Saturday, a group of us took the bus out of Quilalí. I was en route to Ocotal for the Independence Day party that is put on by the Ocotal volunteers. After another long bus ride out of Quilalí, we got to Ocotal and had a great time. The restaurant that we frequent was kind enough to clear an area just for us and decorated some empty bottles with American flags. I met more volunteers, reunited with some people from my group, ate some great fritanga and had a wonderful time.

Nothing says American pride like two flags in a Nicaraguan beer bottle!

Dolores Dream Team!


On Sunday, two of my friends from my group and I made the pilgrimage to Managua from Ocotal for our language workshop. In Managua, we checked into our hotel, enjoyed HOT showers, met up with people from our group and four of us went to get Korean food, upon recommendation from a volunteer who was about to return to the states.

Long story short--bad decision. I spent all week regretting my decision of going to that restaurant.

On Monday morning, we all headed out to the department of Masaya. Me, my two friends from Dolores and our friend from the Diriamba training group in Carazo were all in the city of Masatepe. The current aspirantes (trainees from Nica 59) were off doing their site visit, so we stayed with their families. We weren't sure what bus to take from what bus terminal (there's a few in Managua, and they're not all that close to each other), so after roughing it and paying probably more than we should have, we all made it to class about 45 minutes late. Hey, we had the excuse that were growing accustomed to "Nica time" in that no one is ever on time!

It was a very productive and busy week. We obtained a lot of new information during the classes, which lasted from Monday-Thursday from 8-4 every day. THAT is a lot of Spanish class! We did get a chance to look around the department a little after class a few days and went to the mirador (lookout point) of the famous Laguna de Apoyo and Laguna de Masaya. The aspirantes in Masaya are very lucky to have such a beautiful area to be in. Don't get me wrong, Carazo was a great experience, too, but these guys are spoiled! The aspirante in my house has her own guest house! There is even an aspirante whose family has a pool!

(top left: Laguna de Apoyo, Granada on the strip of land and Lake Nicaragua behind; right: Volcán Mombacho; bottom left: Dolores Dream Team)

(top left: Volcán Santiago; top right: Laguna de Masaya; bottom: some of the coolest people you will ever meet)

On Friday, we returned to Managua for a reconnect with the entire group. I found out that one person in my group is in the states on medical leave because he has a severe case of Mono. Luckily, we've been in touch and he's recovering well and should be back within the next week and a half or so. Another person from my group is engaged! Her boyfriend came to visit from the states and popped the question. Very exciting! Another close friend was in Managua for the previous two weeks with a pretty bad staff infection in her leg due to a bug bite, but after several rounds of antibiotics and close medical attention, she is back in her site today and I'm sure she's loving being home.

As am I! I got a little homesick while being away from Jalapa so long! Well, 10 days...but it did feel like a significant amount of time! When I got home, I came back to an empty house. Profe is gone for a day or two because the schools are on semester vacation for 2 weeks....and the doctora moved out! The vibes in the casa are a lot more tranquila (calm, relaxed), and though she didn't clean up after herself (she left old food that had been sitting in her fridge since she moved in in a corner of the living room...I'm lucky I didn't find a mouse! She also failed to sweep or mop anything before leaving...) and I went straight to work after I got home from traveling a long journey on the bus, I'm happy that I live in a stress-free house again. Granted, yes, I will have to eventually buy my own stove, cooking/kitchen supplies and mini-fridge...but for now I'm going to be sharing with the Profe which is totally okay with her. 

Home is where the Jalapeños are. Home sweet home.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 comments

1 Charla. 10 Communities. 2 Days.


Talk about keeping busy! On Friday last week, all my colega told me was to be at the centro at 7:30 in the morning sharp and bring my presentation about family planning. Little did I know where we were going and what the day was going to consist of!

The goal of our visits was to give a family planning, signs of danger during pregnancy/birth, and early stimulation presentation to pregnant women at the different puestos de salud (“health posts”). I was in charge of the family planning portion, using my charla about the importance of planning as well as discussing the different methods of contraceptives. My colega then discussed the latter topics. Some of the soon-to-be mothers were under the age of 18, some as young as 15, and others already had children and were pregnant with their second child; and others were mothers who had appointments at the puestos.

On Monday, we went to five different communities.

El Limón

Santa Barbara

La Mia

Santa Clara

Tastaslí

We provided refrigerios (“snacks”) to those who attended the presentation, and yet we forgot our own lunches! Luckily, my main colega was kind enough to share her lunch with everyone: we all got a tortilla with scrambled eggs (and for everyone else, black beans…ever since my bout in training, I have sworn off black beans. No gallo pinto for this gringa!). This is usually the custom for MINSA outings: everyone brings enough food to share and it’s a potluck style lunch. The rest of us were able to nab a refrigerio but were very hungry, thirsty and TIRED by the time the day was done. It was a long 10-hour day…and little did I know we were about to do it again on Tuesday!

Good Morning, Tuesday! We were all smart enough to bring our lunches and it was even one of the enfermera’s birthday! We went to five more communities to give the same charla five more times. Lest to say, I’m pretty sure the 6 of us are all well-rounded on family planning, signs of danger and early stimulation.

Teotecacinte

Tauquil 
(We forgot to take the camera out of the ambulancia, so I got a quick self portrait for evidence with my iPod touch!)

Solonlí

Waiting for everyone to get back to the ambulancia before heading to the last 2 communities

Chuslí 
(One of the nurses took a shot at giving the charla during this visit and I got to rest just a teeny bit)

Nuevo Amanacer


Texting! A Nica/US pasttime that we can all appreciate.

It was another long day, but I got more comfortable giving the charla in front of various amounts of pregnant women (and some soon-to-be fathers!); you kind of have to when you give it this many times! We gave the disclaimer that I’m still learning my Nicaraguan Spanish and it may be hard to understand my foreign accent, but after my part of the presentation, the ladies were all attentive and when asked about different methods of family planning, they were able to correctly answer the questions. During the presentation, I was able to make the ladies giggle a little bit, too! Cross cultural humor integration: Success!

This morning, I went to the Casa Materna to give a presentation about STIs and HIV/AIDS, since today is National HIV Testing day in the US. Two of the nurses came after my presentation to talk to the mothers about early stimulation and signs of danger; I didn't know they were going to come! The madres all learned something and were actively participating when we asked questions. I also gave them the family planning charla without visual aides, but I had given that presentation only a few weeks ago, and the one or two madres who are STILL at the Casa remember what I had told them earlier.
Proof I was there!



Right now there are 13 madres, 12 of which attended the presentation. I asked the CM workers if they have beds for everyone, and they said that the madres are doubling up on the beds. I'm happy that the madres are taking advantage of the House, but they need more space! I'm going to look into maybe doing a project in getting more beds at the House to better accomodate madres in the future.

The 8 beds that are sleeping 13 women. All in one room.

Then there was this guy hanging out above my bag in the doorway. Have no idea what kind of spider/bug it is, but man he's ugly!

As I wrap up this post, I'm heading to the Institute to help out the students with presentations like we did last week, then I'm heading to Managua for the rest of the week for a meeting! I am now part of the HIVaids Task Force, a group of Vols from every sector that supports PCVs in all sectors with training and resources that promote HIVaids awareness and prevention initiatives. Considering this was one of my main objectives of joining the Peace Corps, to work with HIVaids awareness and prevention, I'm very excited to be part of this group!

To those in the US who probably all know of the fires that are destroying my beautiful state of Colorado, and have extra change, please take a moment and donate to the efforts of Red Cross Colorado; I hate seeing the state burn, especially from abroad. I know of several friends and their families who have lost their homes and I can only pray that the situation gets better ASAP.
Saturday, June 23, 2012 - , , , , , , 0 comments

Do One Thing Every Day

This week, the Nueva Segovian Volunteer Leader who lives in Ocotal started her site visits with the Newbies of Nica 58 (i.e. me and my gals in San Fernando, Mozonte and Macuelizo). She is a 3rd year volunteer, also in the health sector, and has been a fountain of information and a great resource for every and all questions I have.


I told her that I feel as if I am not being as productive as I could be. About a week and a half ago, we had a meeting with the Health PCVs and SILAIS (Sistema Local de Atención en Salud, aka, the local level of Ministry of Health, MINSA). There are 9 health volunteers in Nueva Segovia, including our Vol Leader, and 4 of us are first year. We all gave brief presentations about what we are up to in our sites and brought two colegas with us for support. 


My presentation consisted of all of the murals I have helped with, giving some charlas about Chagas and family planning, and the huerto project at ProFamilia. Seeing other people's presentations I have noticed that they are taking on other projects like teaching English. I have told myself that I am not going to do community English classes because A. My SM is a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Volunteer and B. There are community members who profit from teaching private English classes from their homes and I don't want to take business away. SM is going to start a conversation group and I am more than happy to help with that to improve somewhat-English speakers' skill levels. 


ANYWAY, after my presentation, one of my colegas stepped up and said that I am not one to say "no". She told the group about me helping with the Diabetic group, about giving a presentation in another community for 30 kids about adolescent pregnancy, helping with the vaccination campaigns and being a good support at the centro. Huh, I guess I have done stuff!


Health volunteers, along with Agriculture, don’t get the easy route like TEFL, Science or Business volunteers. We have to make our own schedule and find the work. The three latter sectors are mainly in schools and have a pretty set schedule. Us and the Aggies are a little more “hard core” in that we are in more rural sites and have to find people to reach out to. Which is why I love my sector!


The Vol Leader told me the best advice that I'm going to go by: Do one thing every day. Whether that is going to the school and giving a charla or going to the Casa Materna; just doing one thing every day will keep me busy and I have the ability to have a face in the community.


So this week, I took that to heart!

On Monday, I did some errands and introduced myself to more people in the town and had my meeting with the Vol Leader. 


On Tuesday, I went to the Casa Materna and gave a charla about Maternal Mortality. Not the happiest of subjects, but one to be aware about for sure. As a matter of fact, there has been a case in the past year in Jalapa of a mother passing away not too long after having her baby. We talked about knowing danger signals and risk factors and what to do if they find themselves in that type of situation. There were 3 mothers at the Casa and after my presentation, I had them write "letters" to their unborn babies about how they will love them, care for them and educate them in the future.




On Wednesday, I helped finish the Father's Day mural for the padres who work at the centro with my colega in the morning and returned to my casa to workout and relax a little bit before going with her and another colega in the afternoon to the high school to help support student leaders give a presentation to fellow students about teenage pregnancy. It was nice to see how students reacted to this theme and I was able to gain confianza (confidence) with the students and some of the male students came up to me and my colega asking if we can teach them how to properly use a condom. We told them that we will set up a workshop or they can stop by the centro at any time and we'd be happy to show them and give them as many condoms they may need.


Up until that afternoon, I had been home alone. Profe had to go to Managua for a day because her uncle had passed away and the Doctora had been in Ocotal. The Dra got home right before I left for the high school and went straight to her bedroom and watched some telenovelas (soap operas...they're a big deal around here). 

I got home around 6, with my two colegas, who wanted to check up on her (since she had been gone all week) and the minute I stepped in to the house, it was a pig sty. I keep my part of the casa clean and clean up after myself in the kitchen. That’s were the mice like to hide out. 

Editor's Note: All of my food is stored in containers, and the arquitecta who just moved out told me to go ahead and finish off the box of Corn Flakes that she had left. Last week, after I finished eating my cereal for breakfast, the Dra. told me that a mouse was snooping around in my bag of cereal the previous night. AFTER finishing my breakfast...not during, not before. Since then, I have been super picky about keeping the kitchen spotless. No worries, my body is completely fine and I didn't get sick from eating mouse-infested cereal.

When I got home, there was food everywhere: old onion peelings on the counter; cold pasta on the stove and so many crumbs and dirty dishes scattered about. I was only gone for 4 hours! Lest to say, I cleaned up everything because I don’t want more mice in the house. Another thing to mention is I take out all the trash...all of it. If you remember, we don't flush our toilet paper in the toilet since the pipes aren't that great. Never once has she offered to take out the bathroom nor kitchen trash. I’m going to be having a long talk with her about this. She’s been saying she wants to move out because she doesn’t like the living conditions. Well, better for me, because aside from her messiness and lazy behavior (I take out the trash, sweep, mop and do the dishes…hello! You can take some responsibility too!), I’m perfectly fine here!

Whew, ok. Rant over. On Thursday, I went to go work on our huertos at ProFamilia. Me, the FCP representative and about 5 teen boys showed up. We extracted some radishes and cucumbers, transplanted some cabbage and planted more radishes and peppers. It was a fun morning; though we work more as a smaller group, we actually get stuff done! The guys were even hanging out with me, asking how to pronounce different words in English and were even letting me in on some of their jokes. I became one of the guys! It was great and I love that the teens can come up to me and have that confianza to joke around and hang out with me.


On Friday, I went back to the Casa Materna and gave another charla about breastfeeding and there were 9 MADRES. I was not expecting that many! Especially since I was told that the house only has 8 beds. They all learned something and after the presentation I gave them some drawings to color because TODAY is Nica Father's Day! Since fatherhood can sometimes be an iffy situation with pregnant women (sometimes their partners abandon them), I told them to color the drawings for either their dads, uncles, brothers, or any "father figure" in their lives.





To end this post on a happy note, Feliz día del Padre! I like to think I have the best in the world, not to be biased ;) I hope all dads, fathers, and padres all have a fantastic day. You all deserve it!


POST SCRIPT! The Casa Materna is looking for newborn/baby clothes, so if you or anyone you know is getting rid of any baby clothes that your tyke is growing out of, we can use them! Same goes for any old children's books (English AND Spanish). 


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