And my work begins

I am finally an official Peace Corps volunteer and, as of late, have been occupied by neighborhood walks, youth group meetings, and generally observing everything that is going on in my community. Everything is going smoothly, though initially my work was interrupted by two Peace Corps consolidation meetings. The first consolidation was called to inform all volunteers of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, and the second came to house volunteers throughout the duration of Hurrican Tomas. This resulted in nearly a week of relaxing in a 5-star hotel; (literally) all we could do was watch television, hang out in air-conditioned rooms, and eat really good food. I managed to get in some great runs around the city with a newly discovered running buddy as well. Yes, we ran in a hurricane several times. Fortunately, the storm barely hit the capital so we were more than safe.

After spending so much time in luxury and surrounded by Americans, my return to Bani felt more difficult than I had anticipated. It took a few days to readjust before I could begin my work, but now I am back and working hard to learn as much as I can about my neighborhood.

All volunteers spend their first three months of service conducting interviews, among other activities, to learn about their community, and after this time period they present their findings to their Peace Corps sector. Using their data that they have collected, volunteers then decide what their projects will look like for the next year.

Since I am just in my first month of service, much of my work consists of informal observations and random conversations with people in the streets. I actually met someone a couple of days ago who used to live in Boston; we discovered that my apartment was about a mile from his when I lived in Boston! Moments like this make me glad that I am living in a country so connected to the United States. It is always comforting to connect with strangers, even if it comes in obscure ways. Anyway, my work has also extended beyond interviews because there is a pre-existing Escojo group in the neighboring community. Escojo mi vida is a health group model that many PC volunteers use to teach teenagers about safe sex, self esteem and HIV, among other things. There was a volunteer in my area about five years ago who started an Escojo group, and they still meet twice a week. I have decided to support this group, hoping that in the future they will help to support my own Escojo group. This group of youth is simply amazing - completely on top of things - and we have already been able to spend time together outside of the group playing basketball. I am grateful to have this group to help me jump into my work here, and also to have support from such inspiring adolescents.

I have certainly been busy, and at times it feels a bit overwhelming. I have so many ideas about what I could do to help my community, and yet I need to exercise patience and listen to what people really want for me to do. Even though I am living in a barrio called Villa David, my work will also extend to a neighboring barrio called El Mani. My neighborhood is certainly poor, but El Mani is where you will find extreme poverty. I am simultaneously perplexed and inspired by spending time in this part of my community. There is such desperation but a window of potential as well. I am posting a picture of a snapshot of El Mani to show you what it’s like. The neighborhood is filled with tin homes and trash-filled, open spaces. It is a dream of mine to help the community tap into the local underground water so that they can grow gardens in these open spaces.

Something I have learned already is that a simple idea with a lot of enthusiasm and passion goes a long way in the developing world. There are countless projects that could be carried out in my community, and none of them require anything more than a vision and the will to see the end result. I am currently reading Half the Sky (birthday present from Jeff and Guin) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an informative and inspiring read.

I’ve got one week left in my site until I go to Santo Domingo for ESL training and a big Thanksgiving feast with all the volunteers. Wishing everyone a Happy Thansgiving from the Dominican Republic!! Remember to give thanks to the countless blessings we have in the US.