10 Month Mark

Friends,

After 10 months of service I must say that things have turned out quite different than was initially expected. This is by no means a negative outlook just an overall comparison as to what I trained for and what truly became of that training.

As mentioned in the last submission, I have been working with some basic business (micro-enterprise) education with a Haitian community in Santiago, some youth in my village and as well as with the members of our community association (who are constructing the Eco tourist lodges). I cannot say I am not keeping up with my goals as a Community Economic Development Volunteer (CED); however I no longer can identify myself as one. I say this simply because my personal goals have changed due to the needs in my village and the neighboring villages.

In reality the tourist lodges I was assigned to work with have support from the BIG GUYS (USAID-Dominican Sustainable Tourism Alliance (DSTA) as well as UNDP-Projectors Pequenos Sostenibles (PPS)) I had mentioned this fact when I first was assigned to my community but it was not until recently that I’ve realized and concluded that because the lodges have this grand support, I should focus my energies more on areas that don't have so much support. The lodges, like the community's micro-hydro electric plant will be completed (slowly but surely). In other words I can fulfill a direct need with the help of local organizations which will be super rewarding or I can fight to find a small amount of funding which will be a drop of water in a very large bucket.

This is not saying that I have dropped my support of the community association and their initiatives. I’m still giving the members business courses and helping them with the association's legalization which will be helpful to them in the long run as businessman.

Recently, I have been working with community leaders and two national foundations promoting nutrition and basic health practices. I have mentioned a pretty extensive garden project, which is well on its way (once there is a faster internet connection, there will be pictures posted). With the help of a fellow health volunteer we have hosted several nutrition workshops. One workshop focused on the development of child’s motor functions, in the last two weeks we have focused on teaching some easy recipes with ingredients found in the gardens.

With little effort on my part, one of the local foundations is organizing the delivery of 1575 chickens. The families that are participating in the garden project as well as the local health promoters will be receiving chickens. In order to be handed the chickens, these families are required to have their gardens well prepared and flourishing as well as their chicken coups built. Recommendations have been given at previous workshops so if requirements are not met then I will not feel these families will keep these projects alive or in other words the projects will not be sustainable. Unfortunately a foot has to be put down somewhere. Apparently a lot of these small projects fail because people see it as a hand out and do not take their responsibilities seriously.

My application for latrine funding has been submitted (cross fingers). I have plans to do a pretty major latrine project which will affect several neighboring communities. My community has indoor plumbing so will not be benefiting directly from this work, however many of the other communities have yet a place to actually go in or their latrines are full (YIKES!) I’ve also sent letters requesting wood donations from the secretary of environment.

A Pre-Kindergarten school is also a possibility along with a community library. I’ve received some book donations, but I’m still waiting to hear back from a few grant applications for everything else. WE SHALL SEE.

This may sound like a lot but everything is running pretty smoothly as of now. Nothing is truly tangible yet except for the amazing relationship I have with these communities.

Peace Corps hosts many conferences and recently I've been invited to many. I guess this is where I can say I have had some down time. At these conferences I have been able to see some sites, learn new things as well as relax. :) The only down fall is that I normally get what us volunteers call "campo guilt" or village guilt, which basically means I feel guilty about leaving my community to do anything that is moderately fun or comfortable. I really need to learn to shake it off,…but I can’t help it. Anyhow...Life is good :)

PEACE

Marité

Friends,

It has been some time since I have last updated this blog and with some spare time on my hands I feel it is about time I should do that. Things have change quite a bit since I last written. As of right now, The eco-lodge is on a stand still do to lack of funding as well as recent maintenance needs on the community’s Micro Hydro-electric plant.

This isn’t great news however it has given me and the community opportunities to take advantage of other needs that have to be addressed. As of last month we have began taking the initial steps in order to legalize the community association. This means that we have sat down on more than one occasion to discuss rules and regulations or statutes to agree upon and make into legal writing. We have gone through some revisions but lack some work. Once this is completed we will begin discussing a logo for the organization. I still need to do a bit of research to see if the name of association already exists in the DR and if so, what new name we should come up with. We are definitely in the beginning stages of this process however something is something considering how slow things move around here.

With some help from a religious organization some money is being funneled our way to promote and develop at least 160 organic community gardens throughout this region. With the help of a fellow health volunteer we have organized and given several sessions on maintaining an organic garden as well as what vitamins and minerals can be found within specific fruits and vegetables. We have also given health sessions on identifying mal nutrition and proper development of motor function skills in the ages of 0-6 years of age.

Through this same organization and their funding, I am also traveling frequently to the city of Santiago to teach business to Haitians interested in opening a micro-business. With that being said, I will receive Creole training in May in a Batey located in Barahona. I definitely look forward to this course as it should facilitate my classes as well as open new opportunities throughout my service.

There is a nationwide competition hosted by Peace Corps and Plan International along with local universities called “Construye Tus Sueños” . This is basically a business plan competition open to young adults interested in starting a micro business. Peace Corps and Business volunteers have created a 6 month intensive course to prepare students and train them in planning a business using basic business practices. As of last month I have started giving this class every Sunday and shall give them until the month of July. Sometime in August my students will submit their plans and If approved will go on to the competition round. The winner of the competition basically gets funding to take off their dream business. These courses have really integrated me into the youth of this region. I have had a pretty strong relationship with the kids in my community however now I have ties with a good majority of the kids in the municipal district.

My next big goal is to begin preparing a latrine/sanitation project proposal. I have a design but am still awaiting a census to see the number of latrines needed in the region. Sometime in the next few weeks I plan on going to several hardware stores and getting quotes on needed materials. We are currently in congressional election season and this is the perfect time to begin asking politicians for money (As cheap as that may sound). Of course I do not have my heart set on this so I will also be applying to as many grants possible, considering there are probably a considerable amount of latrines needed within the 8 communities I would like to aide. We shall see how things go. As more time elapses in my site, I feel more determined and feel more pressure to get something big done. These people have been nothing but incredible to me and are truly a family.

This about sums up the major events that have taken place in the last few months. Pictures to come! Much love and happiness to all J

Marité

My soon to be home.

This is my little girl Luna "LULU" Perez

3 Month In Service Trainin

Friends,

Its been a while since I have written and I do want to apologize for it. My first three months have been pretty secluded from outside contact but I believe there will be less of that from this moment on. Tomorrow is my In service training (3 month-IST) in Santo Domingo, where I and fellow business volunteers will be presenting our community/organizational diagnostics.

I have really gone in hiding this last month simply to prepare all the data for this presentation so I must admit I am pretty nervous. I will be attaching bits and pieces of my work (its all is Spanish; sorry for those who may not understand). I hope you all like it!

I have also been busy decorating and painting my new home for my move(Pictures attached) . As soon as I return from my 3 month training I will be moving in and leaving my dear host family. I am actually very sad about it and know I may find myself lonely after getting accustomed to all the noise and busyness of the house. Its not too bad though considering I will only be a few houses away ;)

I have really bonded with my host family and community these months. I feel like one of them (especially since a good portion of the community shares my last name). They include me in everything and really make sure they know they love me and need me. Its so nice! I have made a few trips to the city and I must admit I definitely do not like leaving my community no more than a few days. Its partly because the city is a drag: Tiring, dirty and noisy. But its also cause I really miss these people.

As soon as I return from this training I will be officially allowed to begin executing a few plans for the community, the association and the Eco-lodge project itself. My first plan of action is looking for money of course. As I have mentioned before 3 of the 5 lodges are about complete but there isn't sufficient funding to complete the rest nor to construct the restaurant/office from the original project proposal. I will probably be very busy the first few weeks just writing out solicitation/grant letters and submitting them to different organizations.

While I wait for responses I hope to begin plans for building a library for the local high school. I am not 100% sure how I will be going about all that but that will be discussed during our 3 month In service training, so I will fill you all on that later.

My English class is going steady. I seem to have 2 groups of students though. One group shows up one Sunday while the other group shows the following. I tend to repeat the class twice and when they return it is as if I haven't taught anything at all. I do blame myself right now because I have not confronted the situation but I do plan on doing that as soon as I return next week to my project site.

I recently began dedicating a few minutes every morning to my neighbor, a little boy who is way behind on his reading. He currently is learning the first few letters of the Spanish alphabet although he should be well on his way to reading chapter books. His attention span is also very short, so classes can not go on for too long since he tends to drift away to another dimension. I am happy to say however that he is showing some progress although it is very slow.

For those curious to know, My little girl LULU is doing well. She is getting big but she is a doll. I love her to bits.

For those who have inquired about visiting, you are more than welcome to now. My house is now ready to be broken in.

Love you all,

M