Felices Fiestas!

Clarification: Peace Corps Honduras has not shut down like the New York Times article made it sound.  They are going to send all volunteers home in January on administrative leave while they figure out what to do next.  Still nothing decided about El Salvador and Guatemala.

The beach today was great and we had perfect weather.  Not that it is ever not perfect weather at the beaches here.  The cookie party last night at my house was also a huge success!  I will add that I made all the cookies in a toaster oven, 4 at a time, because my real oven doesn't work.  Here is a sampling from our sugar feast:

Here we have oreo rice kispie treats (made with oreos instead of rice krispies--no bake!) and peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies.

From left to right: melted snowmen sugar cookies, peanut butter and jelly cookies, more kisses, some sugar cookie candy canes, and peanut butter pretzel reindeer.

The cookie decorating station.

And...here is a snippet of the beach trip with my coworkers.  I think they might have had more fun on the bus ride there than at the beach!!!  Also interesting to note that Salvadorans have many great qualities and talents but clapping in unison is NOT one of them.  Enjoy and happy holidays!

Continuing security concerns

Yesterday Peace Corps Honduras pulled out of the country and sent all of its volunteers home.  The situation in El Salvador is very similar to Honduras and the three Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) are sort of a packaged deal in the world of Peace Corps, so we are waiting to see what they will decide to do here.  The uncertainty is very nerve-wracking, to say the least.  All we know for now is that Peace Corps El Salvador will not be receiving any new volunteers (trainees).  Here are some articles that addressed these new developments:

Peace Corps To Scale Back In Central America
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New York Times
By Randal C. Archibold

MEXICO CITY - The increasing drug and organized-crime violence in Central America has led the Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras and stop sending new volunteers to Guatemala and El Salvador, the organization announced Wednesday.

Peace Corps officials said they had taken stock of the worsening conditions and decided to withdraw their 158 volunteers from Honduras in January and scuttle plans to send 29 recruits to complete their training.

"We are going to conduct a full review of the program," Aaron S. Williams, the director of the Peace Corps, said in a statement.

In Guatemala and El Salvador, officials decided to keep the 335 volunteers already in those countries but not to send the 76 recruits who were to begin training there next month. The trainees will be sent to other countries, the corps said.

Kristina Edmunson, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, said the moves stemmed from "comprehensive safety and security concerns" rather than any specific threat or incident. However, Peace Corps Journals, an online portal for blogs by Peace Corps volunteers, has an entry referring to a volunteer's being shot in an armed robbery.

There was no immediate reaction from the governments.

All three countries have endured a rash of violence primarily related to drug traffickers using Central America as a staging point to ship cocaine to the United States from South America.

A wave of violence has struck particularly hard in Honduras, whose institutions are still recovering from a coup in 2009.

It has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world - the highest by some measures - and this month, Alfredo Landaverde, the country's former antidrug and security adviser who often denounced corruption, was shot to death.

Ms. Edmunson said that from time to time, the corps withdraws or restricts work in the 75 countries in which it has volunteers.

US suspends new Peace Corps recruit training for Guatemala, El Salvador on security concerns

By Associated Press, Published: December 21

GUATEMALA CITY — The U.S. government is suspending training for new Peace Corps volunteers in the Central American nations of Guatemala and El Salvador while it assesses security concerns.

A Peace Corps statement says a training course for volunteers scheduled for January will not take place, but those already serving in the two countries are “safe and accounted for.”

The corps said Wednesday that “due to ongoing security concerns, the agency is enhancing operational support to currently serving volunteers.”

Corps spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson says the corps will try to place volunteers who planned to serve in Guatemala or El Salvador in other countries.

Both countries have suffered waves of violent crime and drug-related violence.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 I will post some links to articles when I have more time and my internet isn't being so slow.  I've got to go, I need to get up early for my annual office trip to the beach!!!  Yes, we are trying to carry on as normal here...

Women Ascendent

This is an interesting article about where in the world women are making the greatest strides.  The map of women's share of tertiary school enrollment lists the DR as second in the world, which, based on my observations of the country does not surprise me at all!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2011/11/08/women-ascendent-where-females-are-rising-the-fastest

Damage in Jutiapa, Cabañas, a PCV site

Storm facts sent from Peace Corps and how to donate

International donations can be made through :

·          

Bank of America – San Francisco - SWIFT:BOFAUS6S - ABA: 121000358

FACT SHEET ON RAINS IN EL SALVADOR

DUE TO TROPICAL DEPRESSION 12E

Since the entrance of Tropical Depression 12E, which occurred on October 10^th of this year to date, the country has registered a historical maximum amount of rainfall of 1,500 mm in some areas.  This amount of rain almost doubled the amount of rainfall reported during hurricane Mitch (1998).
·         Average precipitation in El Salvador is approximately 1.800 mm per year. So far, in ten days some areas of the nation have registered more than 80% of the amount of rain that falls in one whole year.

·         Hurricane Mitch, in 1998, caused 861 mm of rain, meanwhile Tropical Storm Stan in 2005 produced 766 mm of rain.
·         So far, the death toll due to the tropical depression 12E has reached 34.
·         Preventive evacuations maintained low the death toll in comparison with other natural disasters. Hurricane Mitch caused 240 human loses, Ida left 198 dead, and Stan registered 69 casualties.
·         To date,  a million people have been directly affected by the rain.
·         There are 55,976 evacuees (15,195 families) and there are 683 shelters and refuges.
·         In comparison, during Mitch the country had 10,000 affected and during Ida (2009) the amount reached 7,428 in 75 shelters.
·         10% of the national territory is flooded. The rainfall has affected directly 181 municipalities, which represent 70% of the total of municipalities nationwide.
·         Authorities have distributed more than 470 metric tons of food to the victims.
·         There are 18,445 flooded homes, 2,222 affected wells and 879 landslides on highways have been accounted for. There are more than 2,000 houses at high risk of flooding or to be affected by landslides.
·         On October 17 the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador declared state of public calamity and disaster throughout the country for the next 60 days, as a result of the situation of vulnerability.

·         There are 2,935 manzanas of damaged crops (around 5,000 acres).
·         The heavy rains have caused the mudslides and flooding, swollen rivers, destroyed 4 bridges and damaged 14 other in the main routes.
·         The Government of El Salvador made an international call for aid on Sunday October 16^th to face the national emergency.
·         The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Embassies and Consulates has initiated efforts to support the management of international cooperation
·         Salvadorans living in the United States and Canada may contact 1-888-30-111-30 or visit the web site: www.rree.gob.sv/emergencia for more information on how to contribute.
·         Donations can be made to an account set up the Government of El Salvador at BANCO AGRICOLA # 0590-057574-5, called “SETEFE-EMERGENCIA EL SALVADOR”. From abroad, international transfers can be made through :
·         Bank of America – San Francisco - SWIFT:BOFAUS6S - ABA: 121000358

Storm of the century

As many of you have probably seen in the news, El Salvador recently experienced a really bad rain storm.  It was not a hurricane nor even a tropical storm, it was what they call a tropical depression.  Here they are calling it "the storm with no name" because it just had a number, 12-E.  However, despite it not meeting the qualifications for receiving a name, it wreaked a lot of havoc.  In fact, 12-E has done more damage than any hurricane here in El Salvador and is said to have been the worst storm the country has ever experienced.  The reason for the extent of damage was the sheer quantity of rain that fell between October 10th and 19th, and the fact that it lasted so long.  Because it is the rainy season the ground was already saturated, which set the stage for numerous landslides, mudslides, and floods.  Bridges washed out and roads crumbled.  At one point there were over 100,000 people evacuated and in shelters across the country, and an estimated 20,000 houses have been destroyed.  At last count there were 38 storm-related deaths, although this is likely to increase as there were also a lot of people unaccounted for.  The most affected areas are the coastal  and western regions as well as parts of San Salvador and the central zone.  One of the most hard-hit areas, the Bajo Lempa, received help for the first time only yesterday, as it had been unreachable for 9 days.

As far as I know none of the volunteers have been affected, although some of them live in communities that were evacuated.  Morazán was one of the least affected departments but we still experienced over a week of unceasing rain.  There were a few shelters set up here but mostly people were evacuated as a preventative measure and they have since returned to their communities.  However, in other parts of the country there are still around 50,000 people in shelters and the rebuilding is estimated to take months.  The most affected people were those who lived in vulnerable areas--at the edges of rivers, at the bases of mountains, or in other places where people with money would never build a house.  These people now have nothing but they also never really had anything.  Thus, the reconstruction not only will have to address the storm damages but also the poverty and lack of infrastructure that made these people so vulnerable to weather in the first place.  If there is a silver lining to what happened here these last two weeks it would be that it increased public awareness of the living conditions of  much of this country.  Hopefully, because of this, more will be done to address extreme poverty and decrease peoples' vulnerability in the future.

I ended up spending three days in the capital this week when I went in for a doctor appointment and then couldn't leave due to the storm.  We were on standfast, meaning that we couldn't travel from wherever we were, for a total of 9 days.  Next week several of my coworkers are going to the Bajo Lempa to assist with disaster relief.  Unfortunately, I can't go as it interferes with the volunteerism symposium we have been planning for months, but, hopefully, I will be able to help in the coming weeks.  Also, to all of you RPCVs out there, I just got word that El Salvador will be soliciting Response volunteers to work in disaster relief, probably starting around January.  Keep your eyes peeled for updates on the Peace Corps website!

UN study: Homicides soar in Central America

Mexico receives the majority of the press, but rates are higher per capita in Honduras and El Salvador.

Associated Press article

Missing

I am definitely overdue for a blog post as it is now October!  I am also motivated by an urge to connect to the outside world, i.e. friends and family back home, although I'm pretty sure no one but my mom reads this blog!  I guess this feeling was probably brought on by missing out on a lot lately, by which I mean goings on at home and missing certain people.  I missed a family reunion last weekend in honor of my uncle's 70th birthday, and this weekend, coincidentally, I am missing my 5th college reunion.  5 years isn't exactly a big-deal reunion, but it does remind me that it has been exactly that long since I've seen most of those people...whoa.  And that I will miss out on seeing the dear friends I know will be there.  It has also been a month full of despedidas of several of the volunteers here in Morazán, specifically the ones who had most welcomed me as I was an oddball newcomer who didn't have a training group cohort. A shout out to all of the people I alluded to in this paragraph if you happen to read this: "I love you and miss you!!!  We will be together again someday!!!"

I think this "missing" is being compounded right now by being sick.  I have a cold and just this morning lost hearing in my left ear (hopefully related to the cold).  It is odd to have gripe when it is sunny and 90 degrees outside, although at night it has been raining more and last night I was even almost chilly before I went to bed.  Hmm, it just occurred to me that maybe I should leave my sick-cave and let the sun "bake" the sickness out.  Does that work?

I was intending to use this down-time to really make good progress on my grad school research, instead I have been dawdling on Pinterest and yesterday discovered fashion blogs.  Like I had no idea that there were people who took pictures of themselves wearing different outfits from their closets from different angles on a daily basis, and then wrote about them.  Even some people I know have these blogs, and people actually follow them.  Speaking of missing, it just goes to show that there is a lot of strange phenomenon that I miss out on living abroad.  And that although sometimes I feel bored, there are people who are more bored.  I do, however, like some of the DIY sewing portions, because actually making and designing your clothes, not just wearing them, requires some real skill and creativity.  I recently used for the first time the treadle sewing machine I have in my room that belongs to the owner of my house.  It actually works great and was easy to get the hang of, I think the machines I used in the DR were maybe especially hard to use due to rust, dust, and the prevalence of improvised replacement parts (treadle belts made of IV tubes come to mind as one example).  So... I haven't done it yet, but I plan to make something!  I found a pattern online for a very simple skirt that is basically two squares and elastic, so I will probably start there. 

I also recently went to a seamstress for the first time, inspired by by co-volunteer's ravings about his amazing tailored clothes every time we have meetings in the capital.  He is right that getting something exactly made to fit is extremely cheap in this country and is an excellent option, especially for people who don't often fit into normal sizes.  I personally was more motivated by the fact that I don't really like most of the clothes here, laundry is a pain, and I need nice clothes for work.  So I drew a design for a work-type blouse, got some fabric, and went to the seamstress.  If it turns out, I think it will be a breakthrough: designing your own clothes and then getting someone else to make them affordably is like the best of both worlds.

Don't worry, I have also been doing work these days, even during my sickness.  Our project is coming along.  This week we had an epic two-day meeting in the capital and managed to get a lot done.  Among the recent progress has been the selection of the schools that are going to participate in the pilot program next year, the finalization of the content and agenda for the symposium we are hosting at the end of October for the leaders of the pilot schools, and a final work plan for the rest of the year that we will present to our new boss of bosses at the ministry who just took over from our old boss who got moved around to somewhere else within the top-dog hierarchy.  I am looking forward to moving out of the planning stage and actually interacting with the people who will "make" this program next year.  I think it is all about to get more fun.

I think I will go now since I have been writing for a while, and have probably sufficiently updated everyone on recent happenings.  Since I am still relatively new to this blog thing, I sometimes wonder, should blog entries have plots?  Should they tell a story?  Should they have a moral or profound point?  If yes, I think I have failed, at least in this most recent entry.  I also wonder, who am I writing for?  Since I don't really have a following, I guess the answer is me.  Just as well, that will keep my writing authentic, but maybe incomprehensible to the rest of the world...  Well, that's it for now.  Stay tuned for more!

Mom and Han visit!

My sister and mom came to hang out with me in El Salvador!

It was all in all a good time, and it was fun to show them around and open their eyes to some of the marvels as well as idiosyncrasies of this place.  While they didn't see a lot of the country because of how long everything takes to get to as well as our shared fear of buses, I think they did get close up and personalized view life here, which made for a pretty unique experience.   I don't have a lot of Salvadoran friends here, but the ones I do have were extremely welcoming and accomodating towards my visitors.  My coworkers threw them a combined "bienvenida/birthday party/despedida" (because it happened to be the day before they left), complete with an ice cream cake.  I was sure to point out that they didn't get me an ice cream cake on my birthday. 

Another experience that was surely a highlight for them was getting to attend a Salvadoran baby shower held at my office...complete with games involving fake babies.  Here is a photo of the director of the ministry explaining to the mother-to-be how labor works.  Not explaining....rather, demonstrating.  She got really scared looking.  It was one of the most ridiculously funny things I've seen.

Hmm, I think I have another photo where she does actually look terrified but I can't find it.

 

 Let's see...what else?  We went to Perquin and to the guerrilla camp part of the museum that I hadn't been to before.  It was pretty cool. 

Here's Han climbing down into the guerrilla tunnel.

And here's me.  I look braver.

 

Here's me putting calamine lotion on all of Han's mosquito bites, just like I did when we were little and she had chicken pox.  Awww...

Another memorable event was that my mom and I both got briefly, though violently, ill during the trip.  Since we both got better I figured it was nothing, however, my roommate just found out he has (and has had for a while) salmonella.  I may go in for a check-up just to make sure.

My sister and I discovered that we are really good at doing karaoke duets, in Spanish...ha.  Who would have thought that my pueblo where everything closes at 4pm would have a karaoke place, and right by my house??  We made sure to take advantage of it and went twice.  The second time was their last night in Gotera, and also the last night for the Spanish kids who have been here for the past 2 months. Here's a photo tribute to them: 

Me, Hannah, Albert, Gemma and Irene.

Llegó el agua!

 

Leidy, Nené and Ruth with her "flo." Ruth said, "Ay no, Eva! We'll look like campesinas!"

Accused ex-soldiers turn themselves in

Nine former Salvadoran soldiers have turned themselves in to face charges that they shot dead six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter during El Salvador's civil war.

Back to Guineo Land

I know I am long overdue for a blog update--I think my hiatus was a combination of being busy and also maybe having less new things to write about. In any case, I hope to write more often or at least share things that might be of interest to people back home about life in El Salvador. I actually just got back here from a visit to the DR, a sort of whirlwind trip that was both very intense and very relaxed at the same time. I was so busy with work beforehand that I didn't make many (or any) plans for my time there, the only thing I really had worked out when I got there was how I was getting from the airport to my community. I got to my adopted family's house after dark to find that they were all there, along with some neighbors and the librarians, and they had been waiting for hours. They had made my favorite food, guandules con coco, and Nicole had composed a song whose words included "bienvenida Eva Mee-yer." It was nice. Everyone had to go home pretty much right after though since it was nighttime.

The rest of the time was sort of a blur, in a mostly good way. After about 2 days I felt like I was back in the swing of things, and although I never lived at that house, I had spent so much time there before that it felt like home. Three of the sisters live at the house, and on Friday the fourth one arrived from the capital with her new baby. I spent most of my time there with them talking, eating a lot of food, going to the river, and playing with babies. It was strange to realize that the only things that noticeably change there are the babies, as well as the number of babies, because otherwise everything is exactly the same. My visit did happen to coincide though with the arrival of water for the first time via 10 miles of PCV pipes, which was pretty momentous considering they have been working on it on and off for like 10 years. There are still some problems that need troubleshooting it seems though since it only worked for one day. I also found that three of the groups I started, Escojo, the Mariposas, and the librarians are still at least partially functional. The youth from Escojo threw me an inpromptu bienvenida and there were about 30 of them there, some of them the church kids who never participated before. Concerning the library, I had heard varying accounts of its success, and it was clear that some of the volunteer librarians stopped participating as soon as I left. There was also an issue with the funds being "borrowed" and with lending the key out to random people, which I had to diplomatically arbitrate without calling anyone out. For a moment I had a panicky feeling that my project and specifically the money I had left had only succeeded in creating problems and making people hate each other, but then I reasoned that if it weren't for the library they would have just found another reason to fight. I think we got it worked out though, or at least for the time being.

There were some other things that didn't go quite as planned, namely trying to be friends with certain someone who pulled a stunt that made me feel as if I were living my own telenovela for a few days until I finally realized what was going on. The good thing that came out of that mess is that I sought support from close friends in my community and feel even closer to them now. I even had some friends confide in me in ways I don't think they had before. A bad thing turned into a warm glowey, lovey feeling in the end.

Some other highlights included almost unceasing rain... making preparations for the supposed arrival of hurricane Emily at 3:00pm one day who then never showed up... receiving my first remesa ever via Western Union when my mom wired me money after I lost my debit card...a trip to the vet because Paloma was losing the hair on his neck...some stomach problems that seem to have been successfully cured with squash seed and oregano tea...a beautiful, pristine, mountain river with 4 discotecas and un monton of people...falling in love with a curious, happy and thoughtful 1-year old whose parents don't hit him or yell at him...being surrounded at all hours by 4 sisters in a teeny house and having long and lively debates about whether or not men are necessary evils.

Although as I said almost everything was the same in the community 9 months later, there were some new constructions including the new high school which is perched on the edge of the often-flooded river that you cross to get to my community. Another notable exception is my friend Belkis, who is apparently very smart with money because she saved the $5 per week I used to pay her to wash my clothes, bought pigs to raise, sold the pigs, and with her profits paid half of the cost of an inversor (so that her house always has electricity). She also bought a radio, and still has pigs. To go from light once in a while to always having it is a huge improvement in quality of life. I am impressed.

Now I am back to the "real world"--I guess meaning work since El Salvador is surreal in its own way. I hope that I will be able to appreciate more the unique things this country has to offer, having been recently refreshed as to the things I like and don't like about the DR. One dislike that became crystal clear for me last week was the Dominican tendency to value saving face (as in not making yourself or someone else look bad) over honesty. I guess I understand it, but I don't agree with it. Sometimes it almost seems that although the DR doesn't really have a lot of social violence or cold-blooded killers like El Salvador, almost everyone is just a teeny bit of a crook. This crookiness manifests itself in cobradors trying to charge whatever they feel like, people throwing poop into their neighbor's yards (yes this happened while I was there), blatant and sin verguenza lying, and the colmado owner who overcharges his own neighbors and gives bad change. But who knows, I suppose every place has their share of crooks, probably ES as well, but I would venture to say that the level of social acceptability of this sort of behavior may vary.

I have a million likes of the DR as well though, and wish I had had a couple more leisurely months to spend there.

I'd better despedirme...7 am will be here soon...

Mi Vida en el Trabajo

El último par de semanas he estado muy ocupada, no he contado con mucho tiempo libre para pensar o reflexionar realmente, por lo que no he escrito desde hace tiempo. He estado viajando mucho, sobre todo con el ministerio, 4-5 días mas o menos de cada semana. La semana pasada me reuní con los otros voluntarios que están conmigo en el proyecto y los jefes del Cuerpo de Paz, y después de un montón de reiteraciones y ajustes finos de las preguntas claves que habíamos escrito finalmente tuvimos una buena base, expresada correctamente en español, de lo que queremos hacer en nuestro diagnóstico. Sentí un alivio que finalmente habíamos reducido el número de direcciones que podíamos tomar con este proyecto y de haber encontrado un foco en medio de la ambigüedad de todo. Sin embargo, una vez de vuelta en el trabajo, me di cuenta que el horario que me he construido para mi misma en las últimas semanas como consecuencia de no haber sentido mucha dirección en mi trabajo, ya no me deja mucho tiempo para implementar realmente las tareas involucradas en el diagnóstico. He dedicado parte de mi rutina para participar en las actividades del ministerio al mayor número posible como parte de orientarme, y ahora me doy cuenta que estas actividades ocupan la mayor parte de mi tiempo y algunos de ellos se han convertido en compromisos, mientras que en realidad no son muy pertinentes a mi trabajo. Por ejemplo, fui un día con el abogado del ministerio a una capacitación sobre los derechos humanos y la igualdad de género, que estuvo realmente muy interesante ... pero resulta que la formación era parte de una serie que ahora ocupa todos los martes. También porque he asistido a tantos eventos, parece que ahora mi presencia es esperada. Ha sido mayormente divertido asistir a los eventos y llegar a ver tantos lugares. Al igual que ayer, unos 10 de nosotros fuimos a una jornada cultural en la escuela de Rancho Quemado, un lugar muy bonito en la parte superior de una montaña rocosa. Allí nos sirvieron elote (mazorca de maíz) y atol (una bebida cremosa y caliente hecha también de maíz). Todo era muy bonito, sin embargo, el objetivo principal del evento y de la conducción de una hora y media para llegar, por lo que yo pude ver, fue a comer (y beber) maíz. Y eso fue un día de trabajo. El punto es que si voy a lograr algo acá, voy a tener que encontrar una manera de rechazar educadamente este tipo de invitación de vez en cuando.

También he comenzado a trabajar con un grupo de jóvenes que realizan proyectos de voluntariado aquí en Gotera. Están afiliados con la secretaría de inclusión social en lugar de la educación, sin embargo, sus objetivos parecen ser muy similares a lo es que nuestra tarea con el ministerio. Ellos también quieren formar grupos de jóvenes municipales acerca del voluntariado, y que realmente parecen capaces de hacerlo. La única diferencia es que en lugar de hacer un diagnóstico sobre la incidencia del voluntariado, ellos están haciendo el voluntariado, lo que es realmente emocionante. De alguna manera ellos están delante de donde estamos nosotros, excepto, en lo que parece ser la forma típica de hacer las cosas aquí, empiezan a trabajar de una vez sin mucha premeditación. Será interesante ver cómo les va en sus éxitos y fracasos, probablemente nos va a servir en la planificación del programa nacional. Hasta ahora, sin embargo, ha sido muy divertido participar sólo como miembro de su grupo. Todos quieren aprender yoga y también estoy pensando en dar una capacitación en género y desarrollo con algunos de ellos para que puedan poner en marcha iniciativas de género como grupos de chicas. Su edificio está en mal estado y hoy hicieron planes para limpiarlo y embellecerlo, tal vez con algunos murales. Parece una ventaja y desventaja que están estrechamente relacionados con una rama del gobierno. Es para su propio beneficio que el espacio se proporciona y les da legitimidad, pero por otra parte están sujetos a los tramites de la burocracia de aquí. Por ejemplo, para pintar un mural, incluso en el interior, tendrían que pedir permiso al alcalde, porque por ley todos los edificios del gobierno deben ser de color azul y blanco, a pesar de que reciben poco apoyo del gobierno. Todo el lugar está también lleno de muebles viejos y rotos y basura, nada de lo que pueden botar porque hay "un inventario" por el gobierno y que serían responsables de su desaparición. Esperemos, sin embargo, si Dios Quiere, que puedan encontrar algunas soluciones creativas a estos obstáculos. Los propios muchachos son muy buenos. He llegado a conocer a algunos de ellos, y a escuchar algunas de sus historias horrorizantes. Algunos han pasado por cosas horribles, como ver a sus amigos disparados en la cara en el autobús, ser robados a punta de pistola en varias ocasiones, y trabajar para salud pública en la recogida de los cuerpos de las víctimas de violencia de las pandillas. Sin embargo, ellos siguen viajando en los buses porque tienen que llegar a la universidad, y siguen haciendo trabajo voluntario por que no han perdido la esperanza. Esto me hace preguntar qué les hizo a ellos salir así, tan resistente, ya que con la misma facilidad podrían convertirse en los mismos autores de la violencia. Y, más importante me pregunto, "¿Cómo podemos hacer que más jóvenes sean como ellos?"

Rancho Quemado, waterfall, camp in Guatajiagua

Rancho Quemado. The most beautiful school ever??

El Chorreron near San Fernando

Giving a presentation about volunteerism at a camp along with two of the superstar jovenes.

My life at work

The past couple of weeks have been busy busy with not a lot of down time to really think or reflect, which is why I haven't written in a while. I have been traveling a lot, mostly with the ministry, 4-5 days or so out of every week. Last week I met with the other volunteer who is with me on the project and our Peace Corps bosses, and after a lot of reiterations and fine tuning of the key questions we made up we finally had a good base, correctly expressed in Spanish, of what we want to ask in our diagnostic. It felt like a relief to have finally narrowed down the number of directions we could take with this project and to have found a focus amidst the ambiguity of it all. However, once back at work, I found that the schedule I have built for myself over the past few weeks as a result of not having much direction didn't leave me a lot of time to actually implement the tasks involved in the diagnostic. I have made it part of my routine to participate in as many ministry activities as possible as part of orienting myself, and now realize that these occupy the majority of my time and some of them have even become commitments while not really being pertinent to my assignment. For example, I went one day with the lawyer from the ministry to a training on human rights and gender equality, which was actually very interesting... but it turns out the training was part of a series that now occupies my Tuesdays. Also because I have attended so many events, it seems like my presence is expected. It has mostly been fun to attend them and get to see so many places. Like yesterday, about 10 of us went to a cultural day at the school in Rancho Quemado, a really pretty place on the very top of a rocky mountain. There they served us elote (corn on the cob) and atol (a pudding-like hot drink made also of corn). It was all quite lovely, however, the main objective of the event and of driving an hour and a half to get there, as far as I could tell, was to eat (and drink) corn. And that was a day's work. The point being that if I am going to get stuff done, I may have to find a way to politely decline these sorts of invitations once in a while.

I have also recently started working with a youth group who do volunteer projects here in Gotera. They are affiliated with the ministry of social inclusion rather than education, yet their objectives seem to be strikingly similar to what our assignment is with the ministry. They also want to form municipal youth groups around volunteerism, and they really seem to have their stuff together. The only difference is that instead of doing a diagnostic about the incidence of volunteerism, they are actually doing the volunteerism, which is pretty exciting. In some ways they are kind of ahead of where we are, but in what seems to be the typical fashion here of doing things, they are diving right in without a lot of forethought. It will be interesting to see how it goes for them, and their successes and failures will probably serve us in planning the national program. So far though, it has been fun participating just as a member of their group. They all want to learn yoga and I am also thinking of doing gender and development training with some of them so that they can start gender initiatives like girls' groups. Their building is in disrepair and today they made plans to clean it up and beautify it, maybe with some murals. It seems both an advantage and disadvantage that they are closely associated with a government ministry. It is to their benefit that the space is provided and it gives them legitimacy, but on the other hand they are subject to the ridiculousness of the bureaucracy here. For example, in order to paint a mural, even on the inside, they would have to ask permission from the mayor, because by law all government buildings must be blue and white, even though they receive almost no funding or support from the government. The whole place is also full of old and broken furniture and other junk, none of which they can get rid of because it has been "inventoried" by the government and they would be held responsible for its disappearance. Hopefully though, si dios quiere, they will find some creative solutions to these obstacles. The kids themselves are great. I have gotten to know a few of them, and some of their stories are terrifying. Some have been through horrible things, like having their friends shot in the face in front of them on buses, being robbed at gunpoint repeatedly, and working for public health collecting the bodies of the victims of gang violence. Yet they keep riding buses because they have to to get to the university, and they keep doing volunteer work because they haven't lost hope. It makes me wonder what made them turn out this way, so resilient, because they could have just as easily become the perpetrators of violence. And, more importantly I wonder, "How do we make more kids like them?"

El Salvador Sees Epidemic of Violence Against Women

El Salvador Sees Epidemic of Violence Against Women

Some photos from Nahuaterique, during Semana Santa.

Paseando con el equipo de alfabetización

Near Corinto and Cacaopera

Semana Santa y más!

The most professional looking carpet

Revolutionary FMLN carpet

Jesus's tomb just before they set it on top of our carpet

The carpet I helped my neighbors with (no, I didn't choose the design)

This one might have been the best

These are just a sampling of the pictures I took during Semana Santa, on Friday, the burial day. Here in Gotera there are processions every Friday during the month leading up to Semana Santa, and processions every day during Semana Santa itself. Friday is the most important day, and the morning procession is a re-enactment of Jesus carrying the cross (it is sad I don't know what this is called in English) and the "actors" and the public pass by scenes depicting the different stations of the cross which are placed all over the town. As soon as this procession ends, people get busy making huge, elaborate carpets out of colored salt in preparation for the evening burial procession. I had been told that my neighbor Rosa always makes a carpet since the procession passes directly in front of our houses, so I went over to see and was immediately put to work helping finish the sort of template that is a big drawing with pieces of rubber glued along the lines to keep the sand in place. The image Rosa chose was of Jesus emerging from the cave (where he had been buried, right?) Once we finished it we spread a layer of sawdust on the street to even it out, put the drawing down, and started filling it in with salt. There were several of us working, and it took all afternoon. Then it started to get dark and was harder to see, and when the procession arrived they were still putting finishing touches on the letters. The first people to step on the carpet are the ones carrying the tomb. They set the tomb down on it and say some prayers. This particular night there happened to be an infestation of winged ants, and since they were attracted to the light they filled the glass tomb and looked like flies swarming over the corpse. I don't know if it can be seen in the picture. We then left to walk around ahead of the procession in order to see the other carpets. Many of them were still being worked on! They were really neat to see, even though I am not religious I really appreciate the ceremony involved in the celebration of holy week.

Overall, Semana Santa was very low-key, and it gets especially quiet during the weekend when everything closes and people are mostly with their families. The family who owns my house came for the weekend from the capital, and we all went to a town called Alegria for the afternoon. The town is quaint and cooler, and we just walked around the center plaza where there were artesania, plants, and food for sale. Then we went to a nice restaurant that also functioned as a sort of nursery and pet store. During the entire meal the grandson of the family pleaded with his dad to let him buy a hamster. The dad was opposed to the idea and provided several well-founded reasons why, such as the kid being allergic to animals and having had to give away the parakeets he'd had before. The next thing I know we are leaving the restaurant and the kid is carrying the hamster in a cage, along with all of the hamster's accessories, paid for by his dad. The scene was so strangely "American" it was unnerving. It became clear to me from the time spent with this family, who have money, that there are two sort of different worlds that exist in this very tiny country.

En español:

Estas son sólo una muestra de las fotografías que tomé durante la Semana Santa, el viernes, el día del santo entierro. Aquí en Gotera hay procesiones todos los viernes durante el mes antes de la Semana Santa, y procesiones todos los días durante Semana Santa en sí. El viernes es el día más importante, y la procesión por la mañana es una recreación de Jesús cargando la cruz y los "actores" y el público pasan por las escenas de las diferentes estaciones de la cruz que se colocan por toda la ciudad. Tan pronto como termina esta procesión, la gente se ocupa haciendo alfombras grandes y elaboradas, hechas de sal de colores en preparación para la procesión fúnebre a la noche. Me habían dicho que mi vecina Rosa siempre hace una alfombra dado que la procesión pasa directamente por delante de nuestras casas, así que fui a ver y me pusieron inmediatamente a ayudar a terminar la plantilla que es un gran dibujo con tiras de goma pegadas a lo largo de las líneas para mantener la arena en su lugar. La imagen que Rosa eligio fue de Jesús saliendo de la cueva. Una vez terminado echamos una capa de aserrín en la calle para aplanar le superficie, colocamos el dibujo encima del asserin y comenzamos a llenarlo con sal. Hubo varios de nosotros que trabajamos, y el trabajo duró toda la tarde. Entonces empezó a oscurecer y era más difícil de ver, y cuando la procesión llegó todavía estaban poniendo los toques finales a las letras. Las primeras personas en pisar la alfombra son los que llevan la tumba. Bajan la tumba encima de la alfombra y dicen algunas oraciones. Esta noche en particular nos cayó una plaga de hormigas con alas, y atraidas por la luz, llenaron la tumba de cristal y parecían moscas sobre el cadáver. No sé si se puede ver en la imagen. Luego salimos a caminar por delante de la procesión para ver las otras alfombras. Muchas de ellas estaban todavía en proceso! Fue realmente fascinante verlas, y aunque yo no soy religiosa aprecio mucho la ceremonia que lleva la celebración de la Semana Santa.

En general, la Semana Santa fue muy tranqila, y aqui se pone especialmente calma durante el fin de semana cuando todo esta cerrado y la gente son en su mayoría esta con sus familias. La familia que son dueños de mi casa vinieron el fin de semana de la capital, y todos fuimos de pasa dia a un pueblo llamado Alegría. El pueblo es pintoresco y fresco, y sólo caminamos alrededor de la plaza central donde había artesanía, plantas y comidas de venta. Luego fuimos a un bonito restaurante que también funcionaba como una especie de vivero de plantas y tienda de mascotas. Durante toda la comida el nieto de la familia le rogó a su padre que le permitiera comprar un hámster. El padre se oponía a la idea y proporcionó varias razones bien fundadas por qué, como por ejemplo que el niño que es alérgico a los animales y tambien habian tenido que regalar a otra gente los periquitos que tenia antes. Repentinamente estamos saliendo del restaurante y el chico lleva el hámster en una jaula, junto con todos los accesorios hámster, pagado por su padre. La escena era tan extrañamente "americana" que era desconcertante. Quedó claro para mí desde el tiempo que pasé con esta familia, quienes tienen dinero, que hay dos mundos distintos que coexisten en este país tan pequeñito.

Para mis amigos de habla española:

Bienvenidos a mi nuevo blog! Tengo la esperanza de utilizarlo como medio para hacer la crónica de mi tiempo en El Salvador, así como mantener un mejor contacto con todos ustedes.

Ahora he estado en El Salvador por un poco más de dos semanas, y después de un entrenamiento muy breve de tres días, llegué a San Francisco Gotera, mi casa para el próximo año, para empezar de una vez mi trabajo. Tuve una primera semana muy ocupada que incluyó varias visitas a las escuelas en el departamento de Morazán, ser una espectadora en varios eventos deportivos, así como llegar a ver algunos sitios de importancia histórica en la zona.

Mi misión oficial es la de colaborar con tres otros voluntarios (dos de los cuales aún no están en el país) y el Ministerio de Educación para desarrollar una iniciativa de voluntariado juvenil que finalmente será aplicado a nivel nacional. Así que mi tarea por el momento es entender el sistema educativo, visitar las escuelas, y hablar con la gente sobre el voluntariado. Es como Cuerpo de Paz en el modo de avance rápido.

Tengo un escritorio en las oficinas del ministerio en el edificio Centro de Gobierno en Gotera, pero no pasé mucho tiempo alli en la semana pasada ya que siempre había alguien del ministerio yendo a alguna parte, y yo iba tambien. Las personas que son asistentes técnicos, sea en administración o pedagogía, así como los tres miembros de mi departamento, Arte y Cultura, van a eventos y visitas de la escuela casi todos los días. Para mí esto parece una cosa muy buena, aunque la gasolina es muy cara aquí. Mis primeras impresiones luego de la interacción con el personal del ministerio y las escuelas es que el ministerio parece tener buenas intenciones, así como empleados muy trabajadores y innovadores. El único problema parece ser que sólo no hay dinero para apoyar las buenas intenciones e ideas. También me sorprende de ver lo grande y superpobladas que son las escuelas. Por ejemplo, en Gotera hay una escuela primaria pública que sirve a la propia ciudad, así como los barrios aledaños y tiene 1.400 estudiantes. También he oído decir que como un medio para ahorrar más dinero, el ministerio planea cerrar las escuelas rurales y comenzar transporte escolar para llevar a los estudiantes a las escuelas urbanas más grandes. Aquí las escuelas tienen dos tandas, una por la mañana y otra por la tarde por lo que cada estudiante asiste a la mitad del día. En algunas escuelas más urbanas, como la de Gotera, han empezado a ofrecer “Tiempo Extendido” para los estudiantes tomar cursos electivos como el arte, la música o del lenguaje una o dos veces por semana durante las horas que normalmente no irian a la escuela. Parece muy bien, aunque no todas las escuelas son capaces de ofrecerlo.

Los deportes son definitivamente gran cosa aquí, y parece que una de las prioridades del ministerio es apoyar a los deportes de equipo en las escuelas. La semana pasada fui a ver los juegos municipales de una ciudad cercana, donde las escuelas compiten entre sí, los chicos en el fútbol y las chicas de softbol. Todas las clases fueron canceladas por el día y toda la comunidad estaba allí, y la gente tenía puestos de venta de comida y bebidas. Fue interesante ver que las cosas que se podrían considerar impedimentos a la aplicación de los deportes oficiales a nivel de todo el distrito, no fueron impedimentos en este caso. Por ejemplo, el hecho de que varias de las niñas jugando softbol no tenían tenis, asi que jugaron en calypsos o descalzas. No hubo tampoco guantes suficientes. (El equipo sin zapatos y guantes, quienes tambien eran de mucho menor tamaño que sus rivales, ganaron). Eso es lo que quiero decir de la falta de dinero aquí, que, aunque triste y lamentable, no parece detener a nadie.

El viernes fui con algunas personas de la rama de alfabetización de adultos del Ministerio a la inauguración de una segunda fase de la iniciativa de alfabetización en un pueblo llamado Jocoaitique. La idea del programa de alfabetización es que los estudiantes de secundaria completan sus horas de servicio social como maestros de lectura y matemáticas básicas para pequeños grupos de adultos analfabetos en sus hogares. Como es un nuevo programa creo que sólo ha tenido un éxito limitado, y también he oído que muchas escuelas, faltando dinero, renuncian las horas que los estudiantes tienen que cumplir a cambio de una donación monetaria para ayudar a pagar algo que la escuela necesita. Así que el porcentaje verdadero de los estudiantes que están participando en el programa es muy bajo. El evento, sin embargo, se tomó muy en serio y contó con las palabras del alcalde y el padre. La ciudad es famosa por ser donde los grupos guerrilleros se originaron, y cuenta con una estatua de bronce de un guerrillero a punto de disparar, así como las placas con los nombres de guerrilleros caídos. El alcalde mismo era un comandante y se ven homenajes a la revolución por todo el ayuntamiento. Despues, visitamos el pueblo de Perquín, donde el Museo de la Revolución se encuentra. Cuenta con varias salas llenas de fotos, carteles y objetos de guerra, así como un depósito de bombas y un cráter gigante donde realmente cayó la bomba. También hay una sala de radio simulada, piezas de los aviones que derribaron, y dos vehículos blindados que fueron regalos de los extranjeros. El museo en sí es muy improvisado y nada está bien conservado, y la razón de ello es que se niegan a recibir fondos de cualquier partido político o de ONGs en un esfuerzo por mantenerse apolítico. Por es su financiación sólo proviene de la entrada de 60 centavos que cobran. En el camino de regreso a Gotera nos detuvimos en el famoso Río Torola, que una vez sirvió como la primera línea de la lucha y se hizo intransitable con el ejército en un lado y la guerrilla por el otro.

El lunes, aprovechando el hecho de que es Semana Santa y el ministerio está cerrada, me fui con el administrador de una ONG local y un voluntario, los dos cuales son españoles, a un área que una vez fue parte de El Salvador y después de la guerra se convirtió en parte de Honduras. La gente allí es esencialmente apátridas. Los mayores todavía tienen su ciudadanía salvadoreña, pero ya tienen casi 20 años esperando que llegue su ciudadanía hondureña, y ningun gobierno invierte en la región. Pasamos la mayor parte del lunes conduciendo a casas de familia en los diferentes pueblos, junto a algunas personas de la capital, visitando a las personas que conocían y entregandoles calendarios en que aparecen fotos pequeñas de todas las víctimas de la guerra, marcados con la fecha en que murieron. Uno de los amigos de la capital también quería mostrar a la gente que visitamos algunas de las muchas fotos de ellos mismos que él había encontrado en el Internet que habían sido tomadas por periodistas y extranjeros durante la guerra. Había sido una zona muy fotografiada, y casi todos los presentes habían participado en la revolución de alguna manera. Los niños que eran pequeños en las fotos ya son adultos. Dos de los amigos de la capital había estado en un homenaje a los internacionalistas o "extranjeros" que habían venido a ayudar durante la guerra y cayeron, el día anterior en Jocoaitique.

Hasta ahora mi tiempo aquí ha sido muy interesante. Siento que todavía me estoy acostumbrando a la cultura y el idioma, así como tratar de hacer amigos. Vivir en un pueblo es muy diferente de vivir en una comunidad, y también es más difícil vivir sola y no tener una familia anfitriona. Todavía existe un poco de lo desconocido y incertidumbre, sobre todo en respecta a mi trabajo aquí. Pero ... hasta ahora, todo bien!

(La foto de arriba es del monumento en Jocoaitique, que dice "Ser joven y no ser revolucionario es una contradiccion hasta biologica").

Welcome to my new blog! I am hoping to use it as a means to chronicle my time in El Salvador as well as maintain better contact with everyone.

The name means "second round" and although most often used in reference to the electoral process, I mean it as a way to describe my current activities as both a continuation of my previous experiences as well as something completely different and new...

I have now been in El Salvador for a little over two weeks, and after a very brief three-day training I arrived in San Francisco Gotera, my home for the next year, to dive right into work. I had a busy first week that included several visits to schools in the department of Morazan, being a spectator at several sporting events, as well as getting to see some important historical sites in the area.

My official assignment is to collaborate with three other Response volunteers (2 of whom are not yet in the country) and the Ministry of Education to develop a youth volunteerism initiative to be eventually implemented at the national level. So my task for the time being is to understand the education system, visit schools, and talk to people about volunteerism. It is sort of like Peace Corps in fast-forward mode.

I have a desk in the ministry offices in the Centro de Gobierno building in Gotera, but I didn't spend a lot of time at it this past week since there was always someone from the ministry going somewhere, and I got to tag along. The people who are technical assistents in either administration or pedagogy as well as the three members of my department, Art and Culture, go to events and school visits almost every day. To me this seems like a really good thing, although gas is really expensive here. My first impressions from interacting with ministry personnel and visiting schools are that the ministry seems to have good intentions as well as hard-working employees with good ideas. The only problem seems to be that there is just no money to back the good intentions and ideas. I am also really surprised to see how big and overcrowded the schools are. For example, in Gotera there is one main public elementary school that serves the town itself as well as the outlying barrios and it has 1400 students. I have also heard that as a means to save more money, the ministry plans to close rural schools and begin busing students to larger urban schools. Here schools have two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon so each student attends half the day. In some more urban schools, like the one in Gotera, they have started offering "tiempo extendido" or extension for students to take electives like art, music or language once or twice per week during the hours they wouldn't normally go to school. It seems like a really good thing, although not all schools are able to offer it.

Sports are definitely big here, and it seems like a priority of the ministry to support team sports in schools. Last week I went to see the municipal games of a nearby town, where schools competed against each other, the boys in soccer and the girls in softball. All classes were cancelled for the day and the whole community was there, and people had set up stands to sell food and drinks. It was interesting to see that things that might be considered impediments to implementing official sports on a district-wide level were irrelevant here. For example, the fact that several of the girls playing softball had no tennis shoes, so they played in flip-flops or barefoot. There were also not enough mitts. (The shoe-less glove-less team, who were also about half the size of their opponents, ended up winning). That is what I mean about the lack of money here, that although sad and unfortunate, it doesn't seem to stop anyone.

On Friday I went with some people from the adult literacy branch of the ministry to an inauguration of a second phase of the literacy initiative in a town called Jocoaitique. The idea of the literacy program is to have local high school students complete their newly-required service hours as teachers of basic reading and math to small groups of illiterate adults in their homes. Being a new program I think it has only had limited success so far, and I have also heard that many schools, being strapped for cash, waive students' required hours in exchange for a monetary donation to help pay for something the school needs. So the actual percentage of students who are participating in the program is very low. The event, however, was taken very seriously and included speeches from the mayor and the priest. The town itself is famous for being where the first guerrilla groups originated, and features a bronze statue of a guerrilla fighter getting ready to shoot as well as plaques with the names of fallen guerrilleros. The mayor himself was a commandante and their are tributes to the revolution all over the town hall. Afterwards, we visited nearby Perquin where the Museum of the Revolution is located. It has several rooms full of photos, posters and war memorabilia as well as a bomb shell and a giant crater where the bomb actually fell. There is also a simulated radio room, pieces of planes they shot down, and two armored cars that were gifts from foreigners. The museum itself is make-shift and nothing is well preserved, and the reason for that is that they refuse to receive any funding from any political party or NGO in an effort to remain apolitical. So their only funding comes from the 60 cent admission they charge. On the way back to Gotera we stopped at the famous Rio Torola, which once served as the front line of the fighting and was made impassable with the army on one side and the guerrillas on the other.

On Monday, taking advantage of the fact that it is Semana Santa and the ministry is closed, I went with the administrator of a local NGO and a volunteer, both of whom are Spanish, to an area that was once part of El Salvador and after the war became part of Honduras. The people there are essentially stateless. The older ones still have their Salvadoran citizenship, but they are still waiting for their Honduran citizenship, and neither government invests in the region. We spent most of Monday driving around to different peoples' houses along with some people from the capital, visiting people they knew and delivering calendars that featured tiny mugshots of all of the casualties of the war, marked with the dates they died. One of the friends from the capital also wanted to show the people we visited some of the many photos of them he had found on the internet that had been taken by journalists and foreigners during the war. It had been a highly photographed area, and almost everyone there had been involved in the revolution is some way. Kids who were little in the photos are now adults. Two of the friends from the capital had been to a homage to the internacionalistas or "foreigners" who had come to help during the war and died, the day before in Jocoaitique.

So far my time here has been very interesting. I feel like I am still getting used to the culture and the Spanish, as well as trying to make friends. Living in a pueblo is very different from a community, and it is also harder not having a host family. There is still quite a bit of the unknown, especially with regards to my work here. But...so far, so good!