Melissa's Peace Corps Experience: 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.