10 months went fast...time to get to work!

I just spent the last few days in the beautiful Samana Peninsula celebrating the fourth of July in Las Galeras. It was amazing, by far one of the most beautiful places on this island. A bunch of us volunteers rented houses to stay in, which was a great idea because we saved a lot of money just cooking at the house. Unfortunately, I stepped on broken glass during the last night there and Peace Corps had to send me a driver to come into the capital to get stitches. I am fine now, just a little crippled and stuck here in the capital for the next week. :) We also had another volunteer get his front tooth knocked out playing football. Peace Corps probably wasn't too happy with our injuries this weekend, especially being so far away front the capital to have to come and get us on probably some of the worst roads in the country. I am extremely grateful to have great, around the clock medical help and care here in this country. :)

This was not the best time for me to be cooped up here in the capital. I have a lot of organizing and work to do before July 21st, which is when Peace Corps is sending out a crew to help us put together our first latrine. I have trained 7 health promoters to give charlas (presentations) to families in their homes about sanitation, the way that the fertilizer latrines work and how to take care of them. The education factor is more important than the actual latrine construction because if the families do not understand that the urine and feces are separated and the dried feces have to be taken out of the latrine after the latrine is filled, then the latrine will NOT have the potential to last a lifetime, as it otherwise could if they take proper care of it. (If anyone would like more information on the actual latrine construction and how a fertilizing latrine works, I can give more information and pictures later).

Before beginning the presentations with the families, I want to give more information to them about the project so that we are all on the same page and any confusion that exists is eliminated. I told each promoter to invite 5 families that are in need of a latrine who will be able to provide labor, food for the workers and also have the materials for the top house of their latrine. The top part of the latrine may be costly, so it is important that only the families that are able to do this part are committing themselves to this project. Although some people who are in desperate need of a latrine will not be part of the project, I think more value will be put into the latrines if the community members are taking more responsibility and ownership in the project. Today I was supposed to have a meeting with all of the beneficiaries of my project to explain their responsibilities of the project so that there is no confusion. As much as I have explained to people that these are not hole in the ground latrines, the same people ask me over and over why I am doing hole in the ground latrines. It gets very frustrating because I KNOW that my Spanish is not the problem, but that they are simply not listening to me when I am explaining the project to them over and over.

Besides my latrines, I was doing a business plan class for youth in my community. Unfortunately after the first 5 classes they have all stopped coming. Better luck next year I hope! It is a really good opportunity because they have the chance to enter a competition to win money and start their own business. I have also started a group called Brigada Verde, which is an environmental group for youth in the community. We made group t-shirts by painting leaves from trees and using a rolling paint brush to leave the leaf stamp on them. I learned this activity during my in service training in Febraury and it was a huge success for us. My youth really enjoyed the activity, so hopefully I will be able to find more art projects for us to work on as well. This Saturday, although I am not sure because of my foot, we have plans to plant 500 pine trees in a high point in my community called Cerro de Juan Calvo. I hope my foot doesn't stop us! :)