Let the fun begin! ...Week 2: June 29-July 6

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Week 2: June 29 - July 6

¡Hola! ¿Que tal? Another week into my Ambassador Corps! I can’t believe I am two weeks in! Time flies…

This week, I picked my projects. I will be helping to organize the Primer Congreso Nacional de Juntas de Saneamiento (First National Conference for Water Boards). It is the first time that all of the water entities in Paraguay are coming together to discuss water issues. A main purpose of this conference is to give recognition to the water boards, which provide water to all of the small towns in Paraguay (which is about half of the water to those in Paraguay who do have access to water). AVINA works hard to make sure that the stronger water boards help the weaker water boards. This conference will give them a chance to come together and discuss their methods. We began serious planning for the Conference last week, with our first meeting being on Friday July 1, 2011. However, the only downfall is that the Conference will be held August 26, 2011 (the day I LEAVE Paraguay). This means I don’t get to attend the Conference after helping to plan it. However, I will have to keep in touch to see how it goes! I have also been doing background reading and looking over information for the second project that I chose. This project is more technical than the Conference project. There are six communities, located around the same area, that each has their own water system. If the communities combine and connect their system, they will be recognized officially as a junta (water board) and also will be able to serve 500 more families. My job is to figure out the best way to connect the six systems (each consisting of a well, tank, pump, and pipes). We are calling this project “re-engineering”. I am currently making a schedule of how long I will need for this project. It should be fun!

Thursday night, Celeste, the owner of my house, surprised us by making pizzas on the bbq on the backyard patio. Here in Paraguay, asados are very popular. An asado is a barbecue. Families and friends get together, bbq, and hang out all the time! We all chilled outside (even tho it was a LITTLE chilly), ate, and talked. It was fun!

This weekend, Paula, my supervisor, set me up with the Fundación Paraguaya (another non-profit organization with MANY interns) so that I could meet people my age. Some of the interns are from Paraguay, most are from the United States, one is from Switzerland, and another is from Holland. It’s nice knowing people my own age to see the city with and do “touristy” things with. We went to Puerto Abierto (Open Port) on Saturday, which was an art/music/poetry event with many jewelry/clothing/craft vendors. We also ended up on a small boat ride in the bay of the Paraguay River. I was able to try out some of the nightlife now that I met people my age! 😊 There are a few really fun areas with many choices for where to go out. The start of the Copa America (American Cup for soccer) has brought many people out of their houses gathering in the sidewalks and bars to watch the games. It makes certain areas so lively! (Not to mention it is much more fun watching soccer around many soccer fanatics rather than in the US where there might be a few fans around).

I was invited to go on a trip Monday and Tuesday with a few interns, because the Fundación Paraguaya sends a few interns each week to the Mbaracayu Forest Nature Reserve where there is a girls’ high school. There are 150 girls that attend (first, second, and third-years combined) from mostly Paraguay, but some are from Bolivia and Brazil. This is not the typical high school. Girls live at the school and learn many different subjects, including science, history, language (English and Guaraní), management, finance, etc. They use what they learn in the classroom to apply to their daily “duties.” The girls are split into groups, and a rotation system is used so that the girls apply different skills at a time. Duties include cooking, cleaning, managing the 3 mini hotels on site, taking care of the animals (milking cows, feeding chickens), tending to the garden, etc. Another Pacific student and Ambassador Corps Scholarship recipient, Karelli Cabral, is currently an intern at Mbaracayu. I was able to see her and exchange stories about each of our experiences so far. Eight girls from the school were chosen based on academics and athleticism to represent the school playing soccer in the Homeless World Cup. It takes place at the middle/end of August in Paris, France. They are so excited! It was freezing on the reserve, and they have no heaters, but it was fun. I got a tour of the school, visited an English class, and went on a hike in the forest next to the river. It was a fast trip (not to mention the bus ride each way was 8 hours long!), but completely worth it!

Getting back from Mbaracayu at 3 am Wednesday morning was tiring, especially because I came down with a cold at the start of the trip! Luckily, I was able to sleep in and work from home that day. My research for the re-engineering project is coming along, and tomorrow is back to work with much to do for the Conference, too!

¡Hasta luego!

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