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Published: August 17th 2010
Today I thought for a few seconds that I saw a unicorn. I will blame it on the incredibly heat that we have been having for the past while, but I cant deny that it’s the first completely irrational thought that I have held on to and toyed with in the past little while. Sometimes the solitariness of this all can get to you. Its only when you step out of it all that what has become customary seems tipping towards a little insane. The thoughts you end up toying with venture far from the realm of ones customary self. And here you spend a whole lot of time with ones self.
The town was recently full of people but now with vacation coming to an end all the family that was here vacationing have emptied out and it feels more than a little lonely at times. I recently experienced my first real bout of home sickness, but of course now with the parents up and over to Thailand and the sisters spread out, home is a bit transient. And more than a respite from the heat and a bit of time with people that need no explanation its hard to put a finger on what it is quite that I miss. But then there are absolutely amazing moments in the campo that remind you exactly why you are there - the first stove you build being fired up, the all-campo party where you dance till 3 in the morning with all the people in your town, the wonderful sound of rain pattering down on your roof after weeks of dryness, the bachata you've been hoping for all week comes on, and the perfect cool blue of the untouched swimming hole.
While at times life here is rough (mysterious diseases, mumps?), after almost a year in country I am really enjoying it. So here is a briefish overview of what I have been up to since the very long ago post of last.
Between the months of March and June I worked with two groups. I had two nutrition groups (one in my town, and one in the town up the mountain) with mainly women. Each week we got together to discuss a topic ranging from breastfeeding (which is in an absolutely horrible state here, most women do not even exclusively breastfeed for a month despite the fact that formula here is expensive, water is unsafe and low birth-weight babies in part due to an astoundingly high rate of 40% c sections leaves most children below the age of 2 at extremely high risk of malnutrition) to the use of green leaves in general cooking (did you know that you can eat leaves of most starch plants like sweet potatoes, squash, yucca and in doing so get many of the vitamins you need - and you cant even notice them in banana bread or most other foods). The idea is to make small changes in the diet that are acceptable so each week we also cooked a new recipe. Though the carrot bread was much more popular than some of the more vegetable heavy dishes, people really did enjoy learning new recipes and I have seen many of them repeated to share with the family and impress out of campo visitors.
I also had two youth groups called Escojo Mi Vida (I choose my life) that focused on healthy decision making and sexual education. While we spent a good amount of time talking about the ABCs (especially condoms and familiarizing youth with condoms) of prevention the group also talked a lot about self-esteem, values, pregnancy, relationships and planning for the future. Of course it was a bit embarrassing at times as the language limitations often led to me saying certain things a bit more bluntly than perhaps the youth were used to and one morning I woke up after the group ending in the dark to see my porch covered with condoms and their wrappers (we had done a race to see which team could properly use a condom on a plantain). The youth group was really enjoyable and I must say a much more thorough education than I remember receiving. We also had several exchanges with other groups in the area (with my two neighbouring volunteers) and had a pool party graduation together. I will be starting up another group in my third town soon using some of the youth that graduated as peer educators.
In May I also made a quick trip home to pack up my house. As many of you know, my parents moved to Bangkok, Thailand recently and I wanted to set my affairs in order since I haven’t thought about what to do after this adventure. The visit home was lovely and though much too short it helped a lot to take a break and return refreshed.
I also had additional training in Spanish in June so got to catch up with all of the other health people which was nice. We had an Escojo conference at an all inclusive resort west of Puerto Plata- which was nice but not such a great idea to give a bunch of teenagers at a healthy decision making conference wristbands that allowed them to drink as much as they want - perhaps a liability. I slept through the ruckus (as my innocent as anything joven was so excited to have tv he spent all his free time watching old martial arts movies) but needless to say I don’t think we will end up at a resort again.
I also went to a 3 day camp with some 10-12 year old boys called Campamento Superman. It was designed to provide a more traditional American summer camp experience - lots of outdoors, arts and crafts, sportsmanship, etc but also did a lot about manners and how real men are nice to girls, treat people with respect, celebrate diversity and so on. It was a lot of fun, but managed to pick up a staph infection which I let brew in my body for a few extra weeks.
The summer is kind of down time here - lots of people go visit family for extended periods of time and have visits, so I have been doing a few things out of my site as well as working on a construction project - improved more eco-friendly cookstoves. These are the pictures you can see. They use less firewood (most people here in the campo cook on three rocks with wood under them or a table with locations set up to cook with wood on) and also have chimneys so the smoke leaves the kitchen. Women and children often have a lot of respiratory issues, so it’s a bit of preventative health, a little environmental conservation, a little bit of an ego boost (people love them, and guiltily, it’s a physical sign that you are there, working, doing something that you and the community can point out). We have built about 25 so far and have almost 40 left to do in my other two communities.
I also went and translated for a medical mission in July. A group of nursing students from the University of Southern Maine come down every 6 months for a practicum and provide general health care in about 22 or so rural communities in the mountain area of Puerto Plata. Not only was it absolutely beautiful and much cooler, but it was a lot of fun to be able to use Spanish skills to enable a group of students be able to learn and do good work. It was amazing to see how more confident and effective they were by the end of their week and a half as compared to when we first began. And of course there were all sorts of funny things to try to translate to them - my body is eating itself (I have a full body itch), it tickles you know, you know (vaginal infection) and just a bunch of crazy old ladies. The rate of high blood pressure and diabetes here is truly amazing, though after following the Dominican diet for a while I ended up being tested for diabetes (no issues, just crazy ants).
We are about to get a new set of health volunteers in this month, which means at the beginning of next we will get to host one and its amazing to think we had been here a year. The time seems to be flying by (though it is not always that way in the campo of course) and hopefully the second year will go well. It’s the point in my service when I am starting to wonder about the impact and sustainability of all we are doing - the assessment of which differs drastically from day to day. And then there is the thinking of what to come - not only in the next year but for after service. Now with the family all over the world the options seem greater, and with Spanish skills, the world bigger. Suggestions are welcome.
I am currently in the capital for mysterious illness (this morning I was diagnosed with mumps, though now it may be mono or something else, and then who knows with the stomach). Its not much fun to be stuck here, but it does give me time to catch up on emails, plan a trip to Thailand, apply for a few more grants, enjoy the food at the embassy and all that, not to mention the doctors take great care of us. Hope everyone is doing well, and if anyone wants to send any letters, they are certainly welcome. But more importantly, if anyone wants to come and visit, just let me know. There is always room in the campo and I can recommend some great beaches. La paz,
Meg
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Tom
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nice post
Nice post, Meg. It must be a good feeling to know you are having an impact. I hope the mysterious illnesses are easily and quickly cured. It is also nice to have tickets for your trip to Bangkok. We will look forward to your visit. Love, Dad