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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Days Like Yesterday...

... are why we are Peace Corps Volunteers. Whereas Wednesday was a bit frustrating, yesterday felt like a golden moment of development and progress.

Before Jacob and I left on vacation, the daycare staff asked if I could give them some more packets of seeds to plant in a neighbor's backyard. I admit I was a bit skeptical if they would every be planted, but handed over 10 packets of seeds anyway. I went into the daycare yesterday to get some papers signed, and they said they wanted to show me something down the street... They had started their very own bio-intensive garden! It wasn't perfect, but the seedlings were doing very well, and the neighbor whose yard they were using owns a restaurant and plans to add the veggies into the daily lunch she serves!

I thought such progress would only come near the end of our service, but it was incredible! Not only did they take amazing initiative to begin another garden, they showed such deep concern for the well being of their community as a whole. Even just the thought of growing them to sell as part of a meal in a restaurant, I was so impressed!

It makes me very proud to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. You always hope that your projects are sustainable and can grow and be managed without you. And that is exactly what the staff has accomplished. I didn't expect it so early on in the process, but am incredibly excited that it has happened.

But, I shouldn't have been so surprised, these women are all incredibly intelligent and motivated, even if they've never had the chance to advance their educations. They live to the fullest each day, caring more about others than themselves. These women work so hard to make their community a better place, despite the fact that they are denied common human rights that we women enjoy in the States. They are truly an inspiration.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Honduras Wins Again...

"Honduras wins again" is a phrase we PCVs love to use when, for whatever reason; be it that Hondurans will only come to meetings when snacks are involved (and PCVs don't have funding for snacks guys, sorry), a meeting that was pressed upon you to start at 8am maaaaybe starts at 10am (when the snacks arrive), or the mayor of your town storms out of a medical brigade because he wasn't properly depicted in a construction paper mural which causes general chaos, etc... (all personal experiences).

For whatever reason, we use this phrase to help us cope with the differences that exist between our world here, and the world we are used to at home. Just as "fijese que" used to sound like nails grinding on a chalk board, it now only brings a general eye-roll (fijese que basically means "The thing is..." followed by a lousy excuse about something that should have happened, but clearly won't be happening now). When these events happen, we are now pretty used to them, and the matter can be summed up in 3 little words. Honduras wins again.

People often ask me what my day is like as a PCV. Every day is different. I don't have an office let alone a desk at my counterpart agency, so I work alot from home. But, I try to make it into the office a few times a week to see where I can be of assistance on various projects. Between the Family Health Initiative, my work with the local daycare, my youth group of girls and nutrition classes, I'm rather swamped.

I certainly don't want to use this blog as an outlet for frustration, and I hope no one sees it that way. But, I thought I would share some of the set backs that come with progress and development. It's never a straight line froward, but one that ebbs and flows, moving ever so slowly in the right direction.

On Sunday, Jacob and I returned from a wonderful and much needed vacation in Belize with my parents. I saw Sandra (my counterpart) on Monday, and she asked if I could assist with a baby weighing and nutrition project happening in a nearby village today. Of course I'll help! I've been rather busy lately with the Family Health Manual and finishing up a gallinera (chicken coop) proposal and haven't been able to venture out with my counterpart much, so this seemed like a great opportunity.

This morning I get to the office at 8am and everyone is leaving to go to an NGO meeting outside of town... Hmmm.

"Aren't we going to the village to weigh babies???
-Oh, Sandra said you could go by yourself (she hasn't made it into the office yet).
-Umm, no. You know I don't walk to villages by myself. Let's call her and see what her plans are for the day."

I never walk to villages by myself for security reasons, no matter what the event is or how close it may be, and I made that very clear after a few attempts by my counterpart agency to leave me in villages alone. Jacob will sometimes travel with me as a last resort, but I hate to take him away from his own work. Anyway, we call her and she tells me that 2 nurses and a doctor are going too... go to the Health Center and there should be a car waiting for you all. Great!

(enter nurses' station)
"Hey, Tavo, are you guys going to weigh babies today?
-Fijese que, no hay transporte. (The thing is, there's no transportation.)
-Why not?
-The mayor is using the vehicle and said he didn't have to time pick us up (He was going to the same village for the same reason).
-Oh. Can't we walk there together? It's not too far...
-The doctor and nurses don't want to walk.
-Oh (internal eye-roll). Well, give me a call if anyone changes their mind.

And, by 8:45 am I am back home. Honduras wins again. I have no idea who is going to weigh babies now or if the nutrition presentation will happen, which was planned in one of the most malnourished villages I know. But, one thing is for sure... they will get their snack.

Thankfully, I still have plenty of work to do.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Transplanting Day at the Daycare

A side note: In light of the 7 billionth person being born, the World Food Program has compiled 7 suggested readings on food security and hunger. The articles are available here.


After 4 date changes and a hurricane that brought 10 straight days of rain, we finally transplanted the seedlings for the daycare on Monday. Because of the date changes, only one father was able to help with the planting. Thankfully Sam and Jeff, a Peace Corps couple from Olancho, traveled to help us. Sam wrote her dissertation on biointensive gardening, so we definitely took advantage of our resident expert (that's how we roll in Peace Corps).

Originally, we wanted to formally present the biointensive model to all of the parents and the staff, but we ended up keeping it rather informal. So, the 4 of us gathered on the spot with the 1 father and 2 staff members (the 3rd was watching the children) and explained what we were doing and why we were trying out a new method. Sam explained some of the many advantages of biointensive gardening, and everyone was on board.

One of the ways we adapt and integrate into our sites is to identify how our communities learn best. I've discovered, at least in my site, that when presenting information lecture style I lose my audience within 5 minutes. So, gathering right on top of the planting spot, explaining the major ideas and then moving right into step-by-step demonstrations worked really well. They weren't nearly as intimidated by the new information, and we weren't towering over anyone at a lecture stand spouting off ideas that they couldn't visualize.

We marked off four 4 meter x 1 meter beds, and Jeff moved right into demonstrating the double-dig method. (You can read a basic description of Biointensive Agriculture here.)


Once we had the idea down, we divided up among the 4 beds and began preparing the beds. The soil was an incredible deep brown with few rocks, so the digging went much faster than planned. In 3 hours we had all 4 beds ready to go.


But, the day wasn't without any setbacks. I knew that the spot we were using used to be the Health Center's backyard. They moved about 10 years ago to a larger building across town, but may have still been using the backyard to burn biohazard materials. Anyway, the image above is just a small portion of what we found in the soil. Some bottles were dated as late as 2003! (Welcome to the third world.) We carefully removed what we could while trying to avoid needles. Thankfully, the Health Center now uses receptacles for this sort of thing instead of burning or burying it all.


Unfortunately, with so many hazardous materials, we shut the gate so the children wouldn't enter. We originally wanted to let them help, kids love this stuff! But, we didn't want them potentially hurting themselves. Still, they got a good look at the seedlings and were very excited about having a garden.


Once the beds were prepped, we started planting the 300+ seeds that germinated. We were able to take advantage of companion planting, and planted anywhere from 2 to 4 different kinds of seedlings in each 4x1 meter bed. The only pair that we had to really separate was onions and potatoes, so they are currently at opposite ends of the garden. One of the many advantages of this type of planting is that we can plant the seedlings closer together, most being anywhere from 20-40 cm apart. (Above) Jacob planting cabbage and cauliflower with the daycare Director.


Once Jacob and Jimmy (the father who came) disposed of all of the bio-hazardous materials in a deep pit they had dug at the corner of the yard, we let the kids come in to watch. They were so excited!


While I was conducting research on the best way to prepare and plant potatoes, I got fed up with the variety of answers. So, I called up my grandfather, who has been planting potatoes for much longer than I can remember. Some of my best childhood memories are helping dig up potatoes with him and my great uncles. I think he was thrilled that I called, and he gave me some great advice. And, with the double dig method, you can plant them as you dig, saving a lot of time in the process.

Anyway, we ended the day about 2 pm and went for a much deserved lunch. My original plan was to give each Honduran participant a packet of seeds to try the method at home. But, because Jimmy was the only one who came, we ended up giving him 8 packets of seeds and the leftover seedlings that wouldn't fit in the beds. Hopefully, he'll tell the other fathers and next season we'll have a much bigger crowd :)


The fruits (or veggies) of our labor!...
Repollo rojo (red cabbage)


BrĂ³coli (broccoli)


Zanahoria y un gusano! (carrot and a worm!)