Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Small Request

I’ve been really busy lately, as my upcoming trip to Arizona means I need to leave all my schools projects behind in my project partner’s hands! We had our first Escojo graduation in one of the six classrooms which have been participating in the Escojo school program and it went as well as it could have! Someone in the community died the morning before class, which meant that school shut down early, so we had to graduate 46 kids in 15 minutes. Needless to say that was the quickest graduation I’ve ever seen, but the students seemed to like it! As for the other 5 classes, we discussed family planning last week and showed students how to put on a condom. This is, in my opinion, the most necessary charla for youth in the Dominican Republic, so it felt very rewarding to watch so many kids learning how to prevent themselves from teen pregnancy and STIs! Satisfaction comes in strange ways in the Peace Corps. Being a youth (and basically converted health) volunteer means that my projects are very intangible. I am not going to leave this island having built any physical object. The result of serving through education means that the communities I have worked with are not necessarily the most impoverished of the Dominican Republic. I know that might be hard to conceptualize for those reading this blog from the States, but there are many communities here that do not even provide the most basic necessities to their residents. One of these communities belongs to Sarah, one of my closest friends on this island. Sarah lives in a community of about 30 homes, half an hour’s motorcycle ride from San Juan de la Maguana (my new home!). She has already built outhouses for those who were formerly forced to use their backyard as a bathroom. Her latest projects involve stove building and bridge construction, which brings me to a very big favor to ask all of my readers! Access to Sarah’s community depends on the weather. If it’s raining, it is actually impossible to get to her community of Las Yayas because a river quickly floods, isolating the town from any outside contact. Imagine how dangerous that could be in the case of any medical emergency. Just as devastating, when rain comes school is closed. The teachers, who commute to work, have no way of attending school. I have never asked for money to complete a project, but I would like to spread the word about supporting Sarah’s goal of building a bridge in Las Yayas. If you have ever felt like you would like to contribute to my service, this is the way to do it. Having lived in three different communities, I have come to realize that my work as a volunteer is never limited to one single community. I am here to serve the people of this country, and that includes helping to provide basic access to Las Yayas. If you are interested in helping Sarah and Las Yayas (and me!!), please check out this website. Only 600 more dollars are needed… https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-510 For all you Arizonans reading this blog… see you soon!