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Monday, August 23, 2010

Finally a Project Well Done

Week after week I went to Gotas de Leche, the community center that I was assigned to work with for the duration of my two-year service. I spoke with the kids and with their mothers searching, seeking any project that would occupy my time and benefit the families. For months I came up with nothing. I was already working with the youth group, but lets face it, working a couple of hours on Saturday mornings just wasn’t going to cut it. I found work in other institutions, but still felt like I needed to do more at Gotas. I conducted two cooking classes with the mothers and had a summer reading club for the kids, still I lacked tangible change. The parents commission started to feed lunch to the children once a week. They started talking about the possibility of a comedor, like a soup kitchen for kids. Finally I saw my in.

Where would we do this? When? How? They had petitioned the municipality for money at the yearly project presentation and were approved for some money, but its been over a year and they still haven’t seen it. Ah-ha! I remembered the Small Project Assistance Grant (SPA) that is offered through the Peace Corps and funded by USAID. We would just need to fill out the paperwork and present the project and with a little luck we’d be granted up to $5000 to build the building. I spoke with the commission president who said “Great! I’ll fill out whatever paperwork you need, just as long as we can get something built already.”

Then I found out that another volunteer who works with the same NGO was planning the same project through the NGO. We talked it out and decided that it would be best for the parents to take ownership of the project, rather than be handed something else by the NGO. So Angelic and I met with the commission in late December and started in on the list of questions that needed to be answered for the grant application. About three questions in the complaints started. “Its hot, how many more questions?” they asked. Angelic and I looked at each other and smirked, we had a feeling this was going to happen. We had barely started the preliminary questions, we knew we’d be on our own for most of the actual writing of the proposal. We got the basic information and then worked out the details together. We had decided to build a pavilion like structure that could be used as a multipurpose space where they could feed the kids. Eventually the space would be equipped with the necessary equipment to turn it into the comedor.

The applications are typically accepted each month, of course, we worked several long days to complete the application for the January deadline only to find out they aren’t accepted in January so we’d have to wait until February. That’s okay we decided that we could improve the application for February. It was turned in after being reviewed by both our supervisors and awaited the committee’s approval. In March we were notified that it was indeed approved and the money would be available some time in April. Yes, we started the process in December but weren’t able to actually start the project until April. That’s how quickly things work in Paraguay.

On the day the money arrived I went with the commission treasurer to pick up the check. Obtaining $5000 to construct a building is a huge thing for a group in Paraguay to have accomplished, but rather than a grand ceremony with the handing over of the check, as it would have been with any other organization, we merely walked into the administration office where we signed for the check and walked out with it. The whole process took a total of two minutes, maximum.

We headed back to Coronel Oviedo and met with several contractors to decide who would direct the construction. Our original contractor had recently had an accident and was unable to work. The parents were expected to volunteer labor hours in order to keep the cost down and donate the required 30% contribution for the grant. We decided to go with a father from the community center who gave us a price within the budget. The ground breaking was held just a few days later. Of course, there we did have a ceremony in which commission members, the director of the NGO, and I each had a chance to break ground. I was surprised when I arrived at the ceremony to find that the plan for the structure we were to build was not located where I had apparently assumed it would be built, but right in front of the existing structure. Although I was not in agreement with the placement I figured that as their project they had the right to decide where to put it.

The actual construction process was extremely quick. The construction began in early May and was finished by mid-June, even though there had been several days of rain. The commission was required to meet weekly during the process in order to make decisions regarding the construction and in the end plan the inauguration event. Several parents contributed their time during the construction and there were few problems during the process.

The inauguration took place just a few days before my trip to the states and was considered my going away party as well, seeing as I would no longer be working with the community center during my extension. We invited all the big shots including the mayor, governor, and Peace Corps country director. In the end my supervisor’s assistant and coordinator were the only outsiders who attended the event. There were several children who gave speeches and performed traditional Paraguayan dances. I gave a speech during which I began to cry and couldn’t continue, I had never expected to become that emotionally attached to the community center, but I had and I had also finally accomplished something big at Gotas de Leche. It was a wonderful departure and a job well done.


A few days into the construction


Bricklaying




A grandfather helping out


Building the frame


Putting on the roof


First event in the construction, Mother's Day Celebration


Walls going up




Almost done!


The inauguration


My speech

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

From Paraguay to the US of A

When you extend your Peace Corps service for a year or more they send you home to the states for a month. I am not sure if its because they want to make sure you haven't gone crazy or its that they want to remind you of the life you left behind and the little it has changed in the past two years, or maybe they just want to reward you for your hard-work and commitment to service. Whatever the reason, I extended my service and therefore got to go home for a month. When I made the decision to extend it was not an easy one. I did what I often do when making tough decisions, I made mental lists of the pros of staying and the pros of going home. I listed things like the crappy economy at home with fewer available jobs and lack of scholarship funding combined with the increased number of applicants to grad schools. I included the fact that I could do work that would be both more rewarding personally and continue to have a positive effect on Paraguayans, oh and of course there was the boyfriend factor. All in all staying seemed like my best option. There was nothing urgent calling me home and the Universities aren't going anywhere, so whats one more year? I planned my one month leave to coincide with my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, an event that I did not want to miss, and arrived in Cleveland in late June.

The trip started off poorly with an unfortunate night in the Sao Paolo airport and a tired Melissa arriving around midnight into Cleveland. After that I spent three wonderful days visiting with my family including a Ladies' Night with Mom's side of the family. Then on Friday morning Mom, her boyfriend, and I set off in the car for New York City. Yes, after a lot of insistence my novio finally got a passport and had the dreaded visa interview which resulted in a 6 month tourist visa to visit the states. Of course the Peace Corps wasn't going to pay for his trip, so I booked him a cheaper ticket into JFK and we were off to pick him up.

The flight from Asuncion to New York was my novio's first time in a plane and rather than just one, there are no direct flights from Paraguay to the US, he had four flights. Luckily for him his experience was much better than mine and he arrived on time and had no trouble clearing customs. Leaving from the relatively small metropolitan area of Asuncion to arrive in the huge metropolis of New York City would probably be extremely overwhelming to most, but he handled it like a champ, no complaints, just awe.

Once we both had out feet on American soil we had a very American month ahead of us, jam packed with activities that started immediately with a trip to the nation's capital. There we saw monuments, museums and had tours of both the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress. Novio was in heaven, he's a history buff and had dreams of seeing these places. In fact it was embarrassing how much more he knew about each place than I did. It was interesting to see DC and learn about our history. My only previous experience there had been a class trip in eighth grade. It was also fun to drink terere, the Paraguayan tea, on a bench near the Washington Monument and get funny looks from the people passing by.

The rest of the month was filled with more fun summer activities including a great trip to North Carolina with Dad to visit my sister Erin, a day of thrill rides at Cedar Point (not high on novio's list of favorite activities), a visit to Dad's side of the family at an old mansion in Pennsylvania, Grandma and Grandpa's 50th, a three day trip to NYC before boarding the plane back to Paraguay, as well as numerous breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with friends and family. I am extremely grateful to all of my family and friends who welcomed novio with open arms and worked hard to make sure I had an amazing trip home.

There were several things that surprised us both on the trip home. For me it was amazing how easily I was able to fall back into bad habits that we have as Americans including the frivolous spending of money, although I did have trouble spending $50 on a dinner when its the same amount I pay for one month of rent here, and going through gas like water. I was shocked by the high quantity of trash that each of us produces and how much could be reused or recycled, but isn't. I was excited to be able to run without people shouting, kissing, honking, etc at me. And I enjoyed the cleanliness of the streets and eateries. Novio, setting foot in the states for the first time, was surprised by things that we often don't think about, for example, fans in bathrooms and automatic everything. He was disgusted by the amount of burps he heard and elated to find that all Americans are not cold and mean, but tend to be open and friendly. He was also exhausted by the number of activities I was able to cram into our one month trip. But by the end of it neither one of us wanted to leave. We each gloomily boarded our separate planes, one day apart and headed back to Paraguay, we arrived without problems and are back to daily life.

After two weeks in Paraguay I have readjusted to being here and am looking forward to accomplishing great things in my next 10 months of service.