After celebrating New Years I arrived back at site and settled back into the rhythm of rural life. A slower and more isolated life- it felt like pulling on an old pilly sweatshirt that doesn’t quite fit, but the extra room makes it all the more familiar and comfortable. But the stability didn’t last too long.
January is the equivalent of summer vacation in the states. Regularly scheduled meetings aren’t happening. Kids are home from school for the second month-finally getting a little antsy doing household chores and filling their empty afternoons. And the pace of life is more unhurried than ever.
I held two summer camps for the elementary school kids during January and they were both huge successes. First an art camp, where we painted and learned about colors, drew and learned about lines, wrote books and learned about creative writing, and made kites and friendship bracelets. The theme of the camp was teamwork, and any chance I could I included a teamwork icebreaker or an art project where the kids had to work as a team. There were 4 kids and they gave great feedback about the camp. Second I held a sports camp, and invited another volunteer to help me out. The kids learned how to play Frisbee, volleyball, four square, kickball, and baseball and dance hip-hop. We focused on sportsmanship and by the last day the kids had made a surprising change in how they were communicating and treating their team members. There were 7 kids for sports camp and I am hopeful that in the next few months I will see some more variety in their afternoon activities.
My friend who visited was a soccer coach in the States, and she held a training session with my women’s soccer team. The team is full of energetic girls, but they have never run a drill or practiced any skills. For our practice every Friday the team plays a pick up soccer game with whoever shows up. The girls are good at soccer, because they have been playing since they could walk, but they lack ball handling skills, passing skills, communication and teamwork. During the practice it started to downpour, the kind of rain that stings your skin as it streams diagonally from the sky. I was very proud of the girls who kept practicing right through the rain!
Also the first meeting of my local government was held, and although they were the most frustrating part of my work in 2011, there are a few new members and I am hopeful for 2012. If this group is able to put forth the time, effort and energy that is required- they have the ability to make a huge impact on their community.
I have spent the next few weeks traveling for a few different work projects. I organized a meeting for volunteers in my region as a part of the Volunteer Advisory Council. I am the elected regional representative, which means that I organize quarterly regional meetings and then share the volunteer’s feedback with Peace Corps staff at the national meeting. 11 of the 24 volunteers in my region met for the weekend at an undeveloped tourist spot in our region. It’s called Cano Negro, and it’s a wildlife reserve and swamp. We stayed at this amazing place with cabins, a perfect great space and a communal kitchen. We also took a boat tour through the swamp and saw crocodiles and some really awesome wildlife.
After that meeting I helped in another volunteer’s site with an art camp, which was hugely successful. After the art camp I came down with strep throat, and have spent the past week recovering on a friend’s floor, because I couldn’t make the trip back to my site. This weekend I will be traveling to the capital to participate in the national VAC meeting and celebrate a friend’s birthday.
I am definitely ready to return to site and settle back in to the day in day out life of a volunteer. And…good news from site- the old teacher is coming back for the next school year, which means that I don’t have to move! Very exciting news.
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