I’ve felt very confident about my status as “health promoter” recently. Not only have my classes been very successful (my youth group was actually excited/participated in our lecture on reproductive organs that included lots of graphic drawings), but I’ve begun to be consulted about health issues outside of the classroom. I’m growing confident in my knowledge and abilities and it seems that other people see this as well! This past week, I helped a community grandmother organize all her medications into a manageable schedule (think: 6 different daily medications with different doses). I felt very capable organizing a color-coded calendar (since she is illiterate), categorizing the various medications into doses, and educating her family members how to properly aid her. Also, I recently had a middle-aged neighbor come to me asking advice on losing weight. We’ve decided to start a walking group, involving not only other mothers but young women in the community (who do not exercise enough). I plan on starting out with rapid walking and slowly increasing the pace/using weights in the coming months. I’m super excited about this (because I definitely need to be exercising more too!).

More and more I have realized my purpose as a Peace Corps member in my community of Guayabo; my role is motivator, encourager and occasionally, backseat driver. While most of the projects I participate in are all created and undertaken by the community, I have found that I typically help the community develop the actual plans. I ask important questions, set dates and send reminders. I make sure the plans follow-through. For instance, the aqueduct. My community has wanted to remodel the water system for much time now. They know the exact steps; asking for assistance from the government, securing an engineer, making a budget and soliciting money. Then, one might ask, is the water system only being addressed now? Well, it was a simple matter of setting a date to go to city hall. I bothered and communicated between the water committee until we agreed upon the date to go. And look how the meeting went- very successful (and not because of me). I’ve found that occasionally the community needs encouragement and needs someone to direct them (because they all have their separate, busy lives). People are much more motivated when they think an outsider is controlling an activity (because they want to please me or think I’m more intelligent or want to “take advantage of what the American has to offer”). I accept all these reasons—the more participation, for whatever reason, the better!). However in reality he best part about my role is that I play such a small role (in the scheme of things); when I leave the community, they will be sustainable due to their determination, energy and intelligence in the projects they carry out. To conclude, it’s exciting to see internal community development from an outsider’s point of view; I’m very pleased with how my community takes on projects! Truly, I’m an adult cheerleader. Hooray Guayabo!

While I support the community, I also have found myself in the role of acknowledging individual accomplishments of community members. In the past month I have had more opportunity to spend time one-on-one with community members. I celebrate in seeing others achieve personal goals; whether it is tutoring a 30 year old completing her GED, watching my little brother learn for to spell, or hearing about a woman’s dream to open her own hair salon, I have found myself encouraging others in ways I don’t think they have been encouraged before. Living such hard lives in the rural countryside, many people here are raised half-heartedly by parents (the parents not having enough time, money or patience to have the parenting style that we support in the US). Dreams and goals that are encouraged in the US are not necessarily encouraged here. I hope that through my encouragement people will have more motivation to achieve their goals. We will see!

Wildlife Updates:
• Florencia killed her best friend, Esperanza (a small chick)! They were playing and Florencia bit too hard. RIP Esperanza (ironically named “hope”).
• I was showering and had a small lizard crawl into the shower. I thought it would be interesting to touch. Well, to my dismay, I touched the lizard—its tail fell off and it bit my finger! Imagine my surprise..no blood thankfully!
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