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Published: April 28th 2009
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I figured after all of the blogs I have written recounting my travels in the past few months, it was about time to let you know a little bit about life and work in Paraguay. I am going to try to focus each entry on one or two things in an attempt to shorten the posts (I know, hard to believe after 8 months of 3000+ word entries ;-) I hope all is well with you and that you have been able to enjoy some nice spring weather (for those of you in the northern hemisphere).
I arrived back in Paraguay on Friday, January 30, and got back to work almost immediately. I spent much of my first few months in Paraguay working on the language while compiling/writing educational healthcare materials that I hoped to present later in the year. Sunday, February 1 and Monday, February 2 were the first times I was scheduled to present. Like I have mentioned in past posts, I work at a social services center focused on providing aid to underprivileged young people. Each month, the parents of the children that we help are required to attend a meeting (either Sunday or Monday afternoon) in
which we make announcements about upcoming events and often have a presenter of some sort. February was the first time I was scheduled to present.
I have given presentations in classes and in work setting in the United States, but never for 45 minutes and never in front of hundreds of strangers. This was what I was expected to do. Oh, and just an added bonus, I was to present completely in Spanish, something I had never done for more than about 10 minutes. Although a seemingly daunting task, I was excited to give it my best shot and see where my language skills were at. I had prepared my powerpoint before my January vacation, so I just needed to review it and make slight changes on the Saturday before my presentation. In February, I was presenting on microorganisms that make our foods unsafe, as well as simple ways to store and prepare food to prevent contamination by these microorganisms. As I graduated with a degree in Medical Microbiology and Immunology, this was a topic I was fairly comfortable with and felt confident going in to my presentation. I also planned to introduce myself to the community because I
was pretty sure a lot of people still had no idea who I was.
As I hooked up my laptop to the projector and prepared to present, I was surprisingly calm and not nervous. This was sign that I at least had gained some comfort/confidence with the language, as I was pretty sure I would have been a bit nervous even presenting in English. After a brief introduction by one of the sisters, I was given the floor. I started out by introducing myself, giving some background on my education and qualifications, and my general purpose in Villeta. I then moved on to talking about the problem of food contamination, specifically addressing topics such as what microorganisms are, where they live and how they are transferred, how they grow, and how they cause sicknesses. Afterwards, I presented on The Five Keys to Safer Food, an initiative of the World Health Organization designed to educate people about simple means that can be taken with regards to food preparation and storage that can help prevent the proliferation of food borne sicknesses. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes and, I was told, was very understandable. Although I had used my powerpoint to
help me get through the presentation, I was comfortable enough to add my own commentary at times, something that even surprised me. Overall, I thought the presentation went well and was proud as I felt it was a tangible sign that I had made progress with the language. Also, it was fulfilling to finally be working with the people I was there to serve.
As a follow up to my presentation, I created a handout that the people could use for reference in their homes. I told the people that I was free to talk whenever and that they could approach me about anything regarding health topics, nutrition, science, or anything else random. Although I am no expert on some of the topics, I figure I have some good internet resources, as well as a number of contacts in the medical and academic community, both in Paraguay and in the United States. A number of people have come to me for advice in the past few months and it has given me a chance to get to know members of the community more personally. It is a good feeling to be able to provide people with information that may
help them improve the health and wellbeing of their families.
Since my first presentation I have given two other sets of two day presentations, one on basic nutrition information and the other on alcohol use. Presenting in the community has been a unique experience and I have received a lot of positive feedback from a number of people. It is nice to know people are actually paying attention and trying to retain and use the information in their daily lives. I continue to distribute handouts on the various topics and am frequently approached by individuals looking for advice or answers to specific questions.
For my last presentation, this coming weekend, I asked the audience for suggestions during our last meeting. I figured letting the people have a voice in what they learned about would make it a more useful experience. I received requests that included topics such as human sexuality, menopause, cancer, eating disorders, and dealing with issues within the family, but the two most popular requests were drug addiction and strategies to communicate with teenagers. Luckily for me, I had already prepared a good amount of drug education material, so the presentation was not too difficult to
compile. With regards to the other requests, I plan on giving the people a list of web resources that they can use to become better educated on any topic of their choice. I realize that the internet is not readily accessible to everyone in their homes, but it is the best idea I can think of as of now.
After my last presentations, I will spend the last week of my time compiling all of my powerpoints, handouts, write-ups, and any other resources that I have written/compiled and used. My hope is to leave behind a good foundation of materials and resources that can be used once I am gone. I do not know if there will be another volunteer to take my place or if my work will be continued by people within the project, but my hope is that what I leave them with will be useful in some way, however small it may be.
I will cut this post off now. Hopefully it has provided you a bit more insight in to some of my work over the past few months. If you have any questions or are curious about anything else, do not hesitate
to shoot me a message or an email. In terms of pictures, I have included a few from my first presentation, as well as some random ones from the past few months.
-MWC
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Matthew K
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Real KK
Did your presentation on Alcohol consumption include any references to the Real KK?