#peacecorpsblog

[catherinelampi23]

Family of Friends

[catherinelampi23]

You've got the love

[catherinelampi23]

CAMP GLOW- EL SALVADOR 2015

SOMOS LAS CHICAS- The amazing CAMP GLOW crew 

One of the highest highs I have experienced as a Peace Corps Volunteer was hands down my participation in Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in Alegria, Usulután, January 2015. While it is no secret that one of the pillars of my service has been gender equality and women’s empowerment, I often find myself discouraged, wondering what, if any impact I am having during my service. In the machismo culture that dictates roles, responsibilities and opportunities it is hard to feel like you are making any sort of impact. The little victories, women voicing their opinions, parents giving their daughters permission to participate in an activity are often overshadowed by the lack of respect for female community members or girls being told they can’t do the things boys can.

Enter the up lifting powers of camp aka camp songs, arts & crafts, dance parties and three days free of counterparts, and suddenly the doubts and frustrations fade away thanks to a group of super star campers and the spirit of camp! The 13 girls that came from a mix of volunteer communities in San Miguel and Morazán helped to revive all of our cynical spirits with their willingness to discuss taboo topics with honesty and enthusiasm, their active participation and the change we were able to witness in all the campers after only 3 days! 

Now, I am not going to say that we created an army of little feminists that went back to their communities and started a revolution, but, instead focused on creating a safe space where the girls had the opportunity to talk about their goals, their relationships and work to define their goals for the future. This was the first time in many of their lives that they were able to act their age, to dance, sing and make friends without the pressure of expectations, housework or fear of gossip. It was a special experience for the girls and the volunteers, one of those rare time when a group clicks so naturally and everything goes better than planned! 

Ashia and I leading a self-esteem talk 

Showing off their CAMP GLOW flags 

Little Glaydis took some creative liberties 

Camp wasn't all about charlas, we put together a day of Olympics 

Team SICA (Sexy, Inteligente, Creativa, Activa) with their very serious captains

Team SICA with their tower- the tower that helped them win Camp Olympics 

What is better than some photo booth props?

It wasn't just PCVs that loved the props..

The girls working on their Trusted Triangle's which helped to identify safe and trusted adults in their life with whom they can talk with, sin pena

Team 2 showing off their final prouct

All ready to hit the hills for our hike to the lake 

Part of the hike team 

Quick pano of our final destination 

My super star campers Iliana and Jasmine

Iliana, who is one of the tallest girls in my community wanted a picture with the tallest volunteers, she loved how tiny she looked. 

The entire Camp crew 

posing with the mermaid statue 

Showing off our Sulfur tribal paint

The last night we all sat around the "camp fire" for the I cant activity. At the beginning of camp the girls answered three questions: Because I'm a girl i can't ___________; if I were a boy I could________; Because I am a girl I have to _____________. We went around the circle and each girl read her statements out loud, and if they were no longer true they ripped them up and threw them in the "fire". 

Final morning photo shoot. Maria and I with our girls, who became camp BFF's 

Showing off our flags and camp spirit 

Iliana and Jasmine with their diplomas. I couldn't have been more proud of my camp super stars! 

[catherinelampi23]

What in the world is going on with your PCV

Well since my last post- the life and time of Bridget Jones the Peace Corps volunteer, did nothing to update any of you on my life and work here, I figured it was time to talk about the highs, lows and extremely frustrating moments that come with my job and my life here in El Salvador. I have to say that the honeymoon stage doesn't totally end after 7 months in country, because, there are still those moments when I realize how lucky I am to be here and find that I am still amazed by the simple beauty of my site. I think that it takes time to really appreciate the beauty of the Peace Corps experience, and the way it changes you.

The biggest change since my last post is that I have started working!! 1 month of English classes down and I still have over 20 students coming to class and some show up to the Sunday help hours. Now, before I came to Peace Corps, I said a million times that I did not want to teach English, that I am not an English teacher. That all changed when I got to site, since it was impossible to say no to the constant requests for English classes. Plus, these classes were an easy way for me to transition from the gringa who just visits houses and hangs out to the volunteer who is here to work. But, I have to give major props to all of the language teachers I have had during my journey to learn Spanish because teaching a language to beginners is no easy feat. I have already made some mistakes, and made assumptions that my students would “just know” something- and only realized said mistakes during my lesson when there was no going back. For example, my class was working with the verb “To Be” and I gave them a word bank to practice physical descriptions with. The word bank had things like thin, tall, nice, sad, long hair, black hair, etc. I only realized my mistake when the students started saying “I am long hair” “he is black hair”. I just assumed that they would say, “her hair is black” “his hair is long”, even though I hadn’t taught them the pronouns his and her. It is safe to say that we are all learning together and now I am trying to figure out a way to correct my mistake with out looking like an idiot or totally confusing them.

With the English class off the ground, it is time for me to start working on projects that fit under the COED framework- enter March Madness, San Nicolas edition. Since March not only marks International Women’s Day (March 8th), but also Peace Corps Day (March 1st), I figured what better way to kick off a women’s group and a youth group. I am really starting from scratch in my community, which is exciting but also terrifying. It is my job to not only develop community organization, but to create groups that are sustainable- because what good would I be doing if I started a youth group that fell apart as soon as I left. Peace Corps is all about sustainability. The hardest part about being the first volunteer in a site is that the community has no real experiences to base their expectations on, so the boring planning phases, and groundwork are completely unappealing to most of the people I work with. As I have said before, I have found that people want a lot of things, and they want to participate, they just don't want to plan and organize.

My goals for these groups is that they provide the forum for idea sharing and are inclusive, that the people in my community end up taking ownership of them and that they can provide new opportunities and foster the talents that already exist in my site. Each group will elect a formal directiva (president, vice president, etc.) and have bi-monthly meetings. With the women’s group I hope to focus on income generating activities and developing self-esteem. The women in my community have so many wonderful talents (everything from sewing, to cooking, to crafting) and I want them to appreciate all the skills that they bring to the table.  With the youth group, my goal is to develop the future leaders of San Nicolas, to get these kids moving and shaking and open their minds to different possibilities. Keeping this in mind, I have to constantly remind myself that these groups are not “mine”, they are the communities, and I cannot force them to go in the direction that I think is best, I am just the kick starter.

But then there is The ADESCO (the only existing group in my site and the group that requested a volunteer), which is a literal thorn in my side. They still shows no desire to start working. We have had one meeting since November, where everyone just wanted to talk about what they didn't have and kept making the same promises I have been hearing since the beginning, but not mentioning anything about the follow through. Every meeting is like a broken record, the same complaints, the same suggestions and the same over eager volunteer trying to get the members motivated. Even after giving every member a calendar and our 10-minute discussion about the next meeting time, only two people showed up to the following meeting. Meanwhile the eight other members have not mentioned anything to me about the ADESCO, but everyday ask me for more English classes. I am trying to fight the perception that I am just an English teacher and set boundaries on what I agree to and what is not part of my job description.

All in all, I have realized that working and living here is about finding some sort of balance and getting rid of past perception of “success”, and seeing the work I do through the lenses of the culture of my site. When I think an English class went awful, it is because I am holding myself to totally different standards than my students. I think the whole class is a failure when a dinamica doesn't go well, but my students could care less. They are so impressed with the charla papers and the homework activities I prepare that a slip up here or there doesn't even faze them. They are constantly asking me for more homework, more activities and more class time. Now, selling the idea of participation and teamwork to the ADESCO members is a whole different story, because they are comfortable with the idea of one person doing all the work. It has become clear that I am really facing an uphill battle with them, and any future projects we are going to work on together. That is the thing about Peace Corps, everything really is “poco a poco”.

[catherinelampi23]

Just a girl and her nalgene bottle- crossing the cultural divide

So a majority of the things I post on here are reflections on the differences that I find in my day-to-day life here. I have found a way to compare pretty much everything here to my life in the States, to my version of normal. But today I started to wonder what the people here think of this strange gringa who got dropped in their community for the next two years. The obvious differences aside, I feel like all the things I find strange about their life, they feel about me.  I have gotten all the looks- the “what the hell are you talking about look”, “the why are you being such a baby, it is just a spider look” and the “you really want to eat peanut butter again look”. My tales of the campo are extremely one sided, which does not fully represent my current set up. Peace Corps isn’t just about the volunteer, my living here is a huge culture shock for my community as well. I am the first American who has been to San Nicolas, and I think it is important that I recognize that others, especially my host family, have had to make major adjustments too. The “strange gringa behaviors” that have resulted in puzzled looks or questions are things that wouldn't even garner a second glance in the states. For example:

  Why do I drink so much water?

Why am I always studying, reading or writing things in a journal?

What is the deal with the sunglasses?

Skipping beans and tortillas for breakfast, and instead having a granola bar and coffee.

Why do I show up early/ on time to events?

Taking a shower after a workout.

 I am sure my host family gets a kick out of the fact that my Nalgene is attached to my hip at all times with me or that I share my bed with my computer every night. From the reactions and questions that I get on a daily basis, it is clear that even the people in my community who spent time in America didn't spend much time with the 20-something set. As the sole representation of Americans in my site (well me and the episodes of Two and a Half Men that air once a week) I have to do my best to fill in the gaps of my culture and try my best to use the differences as a way to justify my attitude and behavior (and my hatred of the fried fish soup) in a positive way.