2 Months in Site!

Wow, time flies… this Friday marks 2 months in my site and 5 months in Costa Rica. It’s strange because sometimes I feel like I’ve been here forever and other times it feels like I’ve just left my family and friends in the states. So, 2 months down, 22to go… hmm, perhaps it’s better to take it 1 day at a time, which is exactly what I’ve been doing. In the states, I’m someone who lives by my planner and like to have it nice and filled up, but here “planner-planning” is not really an option. However I am slowly adapting and finding the joy in the spontaneity of having a totally unscheduled day. Of course it inevitably happens that the day with nothing going on (i.e. meetings/going to the school/etc) is the day that I end up doing the most things, which is the beauty of this point in my PC service. I know that a few months from now, between English classes and my collaborations with other groups, my planner will once again be quite filled up, but in the meantime, these first few months are really to get to know the members of my community. Officially, I am working on a community analysis, which is due after the first 6 months of service. The community analysis is a profile of my town including the history, present (census info, community resources, organized groups, etc), and future opportunities. I have been gathering information and really need to start conducting interviews because the analysis requires the input of a minimum of 10% of the community, which in my town of 319 would be 30, although I definitely would like to do more. We’ll see how it goes!

So, what are these different groups and projects going on in my community you might ask? Here is a sampling:

-As I mentioned in a previous post, the high school is currently located in our community center, which is an uncomfortable situation for all involved, but most of all for the 80 students in the 5 grades who have classes simultaneously in one big room. Therefore, the town is in the process of constructing a new high school. We have a big grant from the municipality, but the next steps to utilize that money have not been taken because of a lack of communication between the municipality and the development association. I went to the municipality a few weeks ago and made some good contacts and hopefully we’re going to have a meeting this Friday to talk about what we need to do to get this project up and running.

-Speaking of the high school, about a year ago the ministry of agriculture came to my high school with a program geared towards developing entrepreneurial skills in the students to then create agriculture-based business opportunities for the youth so that they do not leave the town upon graduation, which is what most do. While this group started a project caring for rabbits, the training side of the project is seriously lacking in organization, so I am hoping to help with the training of the students in themes ranging from business skills to environmental awareness to self-esteem.

-There is a women’s cooperative that is in the very beginning stages of development. The other week I led a meeting with the women to discuss the various resources of the community and different project ideas to see if we could come up with projects that highlight community resources (i.e. primary materials). Promising possibilities include making jams with local fruits and making furniture and other crafts from bamboo, which grows in abundance in my town.

-Also in its beginning stages is a committee the deals with issues related to children and adolescents. Since they’re just starting, they don’t have a solid idea of what the committee can do for the community, but I would love to collaborate with them on different projects in order to provide activities for the kids, specifically during the winter vacation. Anyone want to come to Costa Rica and help me run a camp in January? I’m not entirely kidding…

As you can see, there is definitely no shortage of opportunities for a “rural community developer” such as myself. Basically, I hope to help in the organization of these projects and be a resource in terms of ideas for activities, as well as a point of contact with other institution in CR that can help with any of these projects.

In addition, in August, I have a training to teach English using a well-known program that provides a highly regarded certificate upon completion of the course, so after the training I will start giving English classes, which people are eager to start. Also, based on the model of another volunteer, I want to start an aerobics class as a more informal, fun activity to promote exercise among the women (and men and kids if they’re interested!). I’ve already been talking to some women about it and they are super excited, so I need to get working on a little routine so that I can start that up, too.

Hopefully this gives a better idea of what I’ll be up to for the next 2 years. It´s funny, the other day I was having a conversation with my host dad and he was saying how he thought what my PC friends and I are doing is very valiant-- leaving our friends and family to live and work with strangers in a foreign country for 2 whole years. My response was that, I hope that within the 2 years, the people in my town become my friends and family, but even more, I want to be here for a reason. I want to accomplish something (or really, some things, plural) because that is why I am here. As clichéd and Peace Corps-y as it sounds, I want to make a difference and truly see the opportunity to make that happen in the next 2 years.

Bueno, that’s all for now!
Pura Vida,
Tesa