Friday, March 25, 2011

What the hell am I doing?

I'm about to get back to the campo after being out with training, Quechua classes, vacation and a meeting.  All in all, it's been great, but I'm ready to go back home to the tranquilo mountains. Every time I leave site I get sick, so I'm also excited to finish my round of Cipro so I can stop shitting my brains out.

The beach was sweet. We had three days of training in Huanchaco, La Libertad, but we didn't have a minute to go the beach. So I had to go back on vacation. The Pacific is beautiful there and the waves were a tick violent due to the tsunami. However, I'm a little tan for the first time in many years and I think I burned off most of my fly bite scabs/scars. What a fresh start.  We met some interesting characters and had a lot of frozen slushy beach-type drinks. For some reason a Pina Colada only makes sense on a beach vacation.

But after three days in the sand, I was very, very ready to hit the altitude again. Wash the remaining volume of sand from between my toes and get the stench of sunscreen off for good. Back to where it's harder to breathe. And now I'm in Huaraz and was reassured from talking with other volunteers in other departments how awesome Ancash is.

So what the hell am I doing at site?  Here are a list of (potential and possible) projects:
   Make a library for kids
   Work with women on topics of domestic abuse and self defense
    Make youth groups with the other volunteers and other kids
    Paint murals in my town on health themes
    Do house visits with mothers to teach them how to play with their kids for mental development
    Make radio spots on health themes
    Teach moms about improved nutrition for their kids
    Train people of the town to be health promotors
    Make a vegetable garden in the backyard of the health clinic
    Dental hygiene

So that's what I'm up to probably for the next year or so. It can take a while to get things going here, but these are going to be my priorities.  If anyone has any materials from work, etc. on these themes, let me know.
  

2 comments:

  1. I saw your last fight before you left...you should teach self-defense! - JPham

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm just so proud of you Juliet! Everytime I read your blog I think--she's out there living life doing what she wants to do but also making life better for others. Your blogs have been real, but not whiny and that's one way I would describe you--telling it like it is, but without the whine factor. Take good care of yourself and thanks for giving me a peek inside a world I'll probably never experience. V.

    ReplyDelete