Taking Time Out

[Playing catch-up on all my El Salvador adventures]

Yes, I did work my butt off in while I was there.  Most days were up at 5 or 6am and didn't get to bed until 11 or 12 (or later).  There was lots of traveling and walking and trying to stay focused so I could understand everything in Spanish.  But I did get some reprieve on the weekends.  The first Saturday we took the bus 2 hrs away to a cute little town called Suchitoto, which was located on Lake Suchitlan.  It was beautiful!

We ate lunch at a quaint little place called El Gringo (or something like that) and, surprise, it was run by a gringo.  He was a big tall guy from California married to a short little Salvadoran woman.  Nice thing was that you knew you could trust the food.  Best part about that was that we could actually enjoy the yummy smoothies that are so popular there.  And oh were they good.

 

We took a little boat trip out to an island called La Isla Pajarita.  It's this random island that is now protected because there are 14 species of birds that have decided to make their homes there.  They come back the same time every year.  This lake has many islands, but this is the only one with all the birds on it. Weird, huh?

(There are at least four or five different birds above, can you find them?)

The next weekend, I wanted to do something a little more adventurous . . .

ZIPLINING!!  In all my adventures, it's something I've never done and I totally loved it!

This isn't me, but you can see how far it is!  And the view was amazing!

We also took a hike after lunch out to this old volcanic lake.  It was pretty, but not the coolest thing I've ever seen.  The police officers were amused by all our silly picture taking, so we made them take a picture with us too.

We had some great weekend adventures, ate lots of yummy food, and got to see more of the beautiful country of El Salvador.  I loved it!

Be grateful you speak English

There are so many advantages to being able to speak English, especially in another country.  Some people criticize it as "westernization", but the truth is that the people of El Salvador want to learn English and it really will give them an advantage in the job market and in the future.  HELP taught English on four different levels this year.  We partner with the LDS Employment Center, whom we have worked with for many years.  They help us get the word out and graciously provide many other resources for us to use. 

Part of the advanced class this year is preparing them to continue teaching the English classes after HELP volunteers are gone.  Many of them know alot about English grammar, etc (maybe even more than me), and it will be dually beneficial for them to get up in front of others and speak and share their knowledge.  They are great kids and I have alot of confidence in them.  Hopefully we can make it a sustainable program before we leave for the summer.

The other English project we are doing is with another University that focuses on adult education.  There are many students there who are getting their major in English or are studying it as part of their program, but never get the chance to speak to native speakers.  Hence, we started "English Club" at the request of one of their directors.  We spend time talking, asking each other questions, playing games, anything to get them speaking English.  I think it is very beneficial and will boost their skills greatly.  The day I was there, we talked about The World Cup which had just started.  And although El Salvador was not in it, soccer is as huge there as it is in most Latin American countries and everyone had something to say about it.

This is my group playing a round of "Hot Potato" - whoever was stuck with the ball had to answer a question in English.  When one of us ended up with it, they thought it was fun to make us answer a question in Spanish.  It was really a great time and I think everyone was learning something.  I felt really good about this activity.  [The downside of the morning was that I totally got eaten by mosquitos because I mistakenly thought "Oh, I'll be indoors, I won't need repellant."  Apparently I forgot I was in El Salvador and that I need it ALL the time.]

If you want to know more about HELP's work in teaching English, click here.

Gettin' Dirty

The hottest, sweatiest, dirtiest day of my trip was also one of the best.  I love getting out of the city into the rural villages, and this project didn't disappoint. 

The Project: Square Foot Gardening.  Not going to go into detail on what it is and why we do it, because you can find out more on HELP's website.  I'll just tell you what we did with lots of pics to make it a little more fun to read.  The day I went was the first demonstration in that community and a good time of learning and teamwork was had by all.  Whether you are or are not familiar with this method of gardening, you will see that it is a bit different in the thrid world than it is here.  You cannot just go to the hard ware store to get your perfect boxes and then to the gardening store to pick up vermiculite and peat moss.  You have to adapt.  So here's the step by step . . .

Clear the ground (you dont want weeds growing in it already).

Gather rocks from the river.

Build a square box.

Place newspaper in the bottom and wet it down.

Get the richest dirt you can find (until you can use your compost), which in this case also comes from the river.  And yes, the local women could carry much more than even some of our male volunteers.

Fill the box with dirt.  The women clapped each time dirt was dumped in - they were all very excited.

Prepare the rest of the mix.  In this case, dried leaves and ash.

Add the mix to the dirt and that was it for this day.  Of course, we also talked to them about the purpose of it, how to take care of it, the nutritional benefits it can provide, etc.

So one woman in the group was lucky enough to be the recipient of this first model garden.  The others were challenged to go home and build their own.  If they would prepare the "box", with whatever materials they could find, and the soil, then in two weeks when volunteers returned, we would provide them with seeds and chicken wire.   A deal for them, because it did not require them to spend any money and being generally more resourceful than we were, they could probably do this much more efficiently and effectively than we could.

Chicken wire is required to protect the garden from the many animals that tend to be randomly wondering around their homes (and no doubt soon to be part of some meal).

All in all, a great day - successful training on a project that I love and I got to get out a see a different side of El Salvador.  Here's some other pics from the day:

The house where we built the garden.

The latrine (this is actually a pretty nice one).

I think it's always like this.

Salvadoran baby swing.

Riding the back of a truck, again, fun for like the first 10 min, but gets old after two+ hours.  Ignore the fact that I look completely bald, after the huge rat's nest I had the day before, I was not risking having to cut out any more knots in my hair.

Do a little dance

Build confidence and self esteem.
Teach them to use their creativity. 
Model appropriate social behaviors.
Show them someone cares.
Help them to smile a little bit more often.

These are some of the main goals of HELP's work at CIPI, a government sponsored facility that houses teenage girls, young children and infants who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.  There is also a group of about 25 young boys who came from another similar facility and who come froma similar background.  Some of them were living on the streets.  CIPI also houses pregnant teens or young mothers with children who cannot live at home.  Some of them are as young as 13.  Supposedly this is a temporary facility, meant to be an interim home until they can find other family members or another permanent home for the children.  But many of them are there for much longer. And group of boys - no one knows what to do with.  They tried to integrate them into regular public school, but having grown up mostly on the streets, they were unable to adapt to such a setting. 

Lucky for them, their new director is absolutely amazing.  She knows the story and status of each child, she knows what is going on in the orphanage at all times. As she was showing my around the compound, she would stop to talk to and listen to the children.  She has a good grasp on what is needed and seems to have good goals.  It is unfortunate that, like many government run programs here, she will never see the funding she needs to fully maximize those goals and really achieve what she is capable of for this program.

One of the main projects that HELP volunteers are focusing on for CIPI is creating a year-round program of local volunteers and interns who will really be able to supplement where the gov't funding falls short.  There are a plethora of universities in San Salvador, and all students are required to do a certain number of service hours to graduate.  So hopefully they can get something set up and running before the end of the summer. 

Here are some of the other things that HELP is a part of at CIPI this summer:

Drawing/Art Classes

Informal Literacy

Dance Lessons

Arts & Crafts / Music!

And of course, baby holding (I couldn't resist)

Fudem

Yes, that is a real word, although I have no idea what it means. It may be an acronym, I don't know.   But Fudem is one of HELP's non-profit partner organizations in El Salvador.  If you speak Spanish, you can check out their website here.  But if you don't, I will give you the basic rundown . . .

They are mostly focused on vision, but are breaking in the area of dental health as well (that's another story.)  They have vision clinics in two major cities in El Salvador (and are building a third) where they have optometrists and opthamologists.  They provide glasses and do surgeries.  Their facilities are VERY nice for El Salvador.  Anyone can come to the clinic and they pay for their services according to their means.  Those who are able to pay full price help to subsidize the cost of the ones who can't. One of the main things that makes them unique though, is that they do outreach clinics everyday.  They do visual acuity testing and eye screening in schools and communities all over the country.  They are well-known for what they do and the numbers they have served, I would guess, are well into the hundreds of thousands.

What the HELP volunteers are doing with them this year is two-fold.  We volunteer with them at their outreach clinics, allowing them to speed the process and see more people in one day.  And we are also working with them on putting together educational materials - how to care for your glasses, how to avoid eye infections and how to treat it if it occurs, how to identify vision problems in children, etc. 

I got to visit their San Salvador clinic while I was there and I got to participate in an outreach clinic.  We even got sweet orange t-shirts to wear (too bad they only had XLs).  The clinic we helped with was a follow up at a school where they had gone and tested all 600+ kids a couple days before.  Now, the children who were referred for glasses or something further were to come with their parents.  The parents, other family, or really any community members could come on this day to be screened and tested as well.  I helped with the registration and with the visual acuity.  Another one of our volunteers was taught to use the autorefracter, which I think checks for cataracts?

A couple of interesting things I saw while doing this.  One, there were not nearly as many vision problems there that day as I had see when did the same thing last year in Uganda.  And most people could at least read the letters on the chart, whereas many people in Uganda last summer could not.  And two, I couldn't believe how many kids that were coming back for glasses could hardly read the top large letters.  And some of them looked like they were about 11 or 12.  How had they survived in school this long?!  How were they possibly learning?!  I was so happy that they would leave that day being able to see!

A Snapshot, with more to come

Since it is really hard to do anything with pictures here and since I hardly have anytime to sit at the internet cafe, my blog posts and updates have been lacking.  Sorry.  The last post I did was actually from a friend´s house who is here working for the US Embassy, so that was relatively easy, but I don´t think I´ll have that luxury again, and soon I will be home and then I will have all the time in the world to write and put pictures on. :)

So here´s a quick briefing on what I´ve been up to, besides riding buses and taking cold showers. And of course, when I get back you will get the full description with pictures, but until then you will just have to wait and wonder.

--We taught Square Foot Gardening in a rural community.  This included gathering rocks from the river, digging, and getting really sweaty and dirty.  The women who came to the demonstration were to go home and set up their own garden and if they did, we promised to bring chicken wire and seeds next time we come.

--We teach English classes on four different levels.  This will help them get better jobs and give them a leg up here in the city.  Our advanced class is being trained to continue teaching the classes after we are gone for the summer.

--We work at an "orphanage" that is kind of like a foster home.  It is for kids and teens who have been taken out of bad home situations, who were abandoned or some were pulled off the streets.  It is supposed to be temporary (2 mos) but many of them have been there for over 6 mos and some are there indefinitely.  The director there is amazing.

--We partner with an organization that does visual testing, provides glasses, and surgery if necessary.  It is very similar to what I did in Uganda last year, but they do these outreach travel clinics everyday, and they are very good at it.  We are also working with this organization to create some educational materials.

--We work with a special needs orphanage doing recreational therapy, communication boards and other activities.  I have been there a couple times, but it´s been years.  It was an interesting experience.  I´ll have to write more later.

--We are working with the biggest children´s hospital in Central America to re-do their signage, which has been incomplete and ineffective for years.  It will include a system of symbols and colors since so many people can´t read.  We also volunteer their, playing with the children and doing small tasks.  Some children are there for months and have no family nearby.

--We work with Habitat for Humanity helping at the work sites and we are also putting together a basic first aid training program for the site managers.  This will include putting together first aid kits for each site and showing them where to but the materials so they can keep the kits updated.

--We volunteer with an outreach dental program that does cleanings, fillings and sealants in schools and communities around San Salvador.

--We will be teaching basic business classes with a game called the BEST game with an organization that gives micro loans and wants to move more into the social development realm.

So this is obviously brief, and I promise it will be much more interesting with pictures, but just wanted to let you know what I been doing here!

Oh, and PS you can click on the links on the side if you want to see more of what HELP International is doing this summer.  There are some amazing things going on!

Warm Water, Cold Showers

How it is in El Salvador (at least for me):

• Freezing cold showers, which you think would feel good given that it is generally at least 90 degrees + humidity outside, but it is still a shock everytime.
• Bottled water is the ONLY acceptable drinking water, and it is always luke warm.  Even if I put it in the freezer the night before, it melts and is warm by 10 or 11am.
• Public "chicken buses" are the main mode of transportation, the type where you have to use your hand sanitizer when you're done and where you might get a seat and if you don't, you just have to hold on for dear life - or you just sway with the crowd of people standing ALL around. 
• I have gotten my excercise program started with lots and lots of walking, hauling rocks and trying to dig up clay.
• If you add together the heat, the stuffy, crowded buses, and walking up and down hills, it makes for lots of sweatiness.  I am usually soaked, but its okay, because everyone else is too.  Wet and stinky is just a part of life here in El Salvador.
• I have my own cot to sleep on and feel quite lucky to have my own fan since I live in a house of 20 people.  5 males, the rest women, makes for some tough negotiating for bathroom time.
• I have actually been working on projects and meeting with our partner organizations.  All of the humanitarian service and community development we do here is with a established, locally based organizations - some government funded, some religiously affiliated and others private.
• I am missing my boys but am so glad for phones that are only 10 cents a minute.  I have been able to talk to Russ and the boys almost everyday.
• Other things that defined this week - late nights, either with meetings or talking with volunteers or the Country Directors; early mornings, we generally leave the house around 6am or 7 at the latest; yummy latin food made by our "mamita", Estela; several quick runs to the bathroom; riding in the back of pick-up trucks (going 80miles per hour); and lots of improvement in my Spanish, I can still speak after all these years!

And for your viewing pleasure, a few pics of El Salvador . . .

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

And yes, I am sitting on the computer when I should be packing or sleeping or something like that.  Actually I am pretty much ready to go and I don't leave until 1pm tomorrow, so hopefully I can hang out and have a nice morning with my boys before we head to the airport.
So, since so many people give me that "smile and nod" look when I tell them I am going to El Salvador, I thought I would give a little bit more info.

El Salvador is the smallest and also the most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. 90% of Salvadorans are mestizo (mixed Native American and European origin).   El Salvador is only 1% indigenous.  There are very few Native Americans due to the  the deliberate massacres in 1932 which the Salvadoran military murdered somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 peasants, and the recent civil war in which tens of thousands of Salvadorans fled to Honduras and Guatemala. 

El Salvador has some rainforests, but those are being depleted by farmers.  Though some are now protected.  It has several rivers and lakes, some of which are enclosed in volcanic craters and some of which are man made.  El Salvador has a tropical climate and beautiful beaches.  Because of the recent civil war (ending in 1992), the tourism industry is just beginning to grow.  El Salvador is definitely an undiscovered gem.  - That's my shortened version, if you want to read more, click here for wikipedia or here for the World Factbook.

As far as what I will be doing, you can check out this blog and get some idea.  And hopefully I will be posting regular updates very soon . . .

Wish me luck!

One month from today

I will be on a plane to here:

That's Central America, in case you couldn't tell.  El Salvador is roughly the size of Massachusetts and has beautiful beaches.  But I won't be going there for a vacation.  Remember when I went to Uganda last year?  Well, I just found out a couple weeks ago that I will get to do the same thing this summer in El Salvador.  So you're saying, "What is the 'same thing'?  What do you actually do?"  I think I often assume that people know what I do and what I love, but just in case you've been left out of the loop...

I am on the Board of a non-profit called HELP International, which trains volunteers to do community development and humanitarian service in less developed countries.  This year, in addition to El Salvador and Uganda, we are also working in Thailand, India, Fiji and Belize.  Volunteers will be there May thru August and my job is to visit their projects, support the Country Directors, give them advice (if I have any), and make sure things are running smoothly.  I also get to meet with our in-country partners, as all our projects are done in conjunction with a local organization, making what we do more sustainable.  For an idea of some of the projects, you can click here, but it really varies every year depending on the abilities of our volunteers and the need of our partner organizations.

The last time I was in El Salvador was in 2005, a memorable trip for two reasons:

One, I got to take my brother Mark with me.

eating conejo (I'll let you figure that one out.)

starting the ground for a pig pen

door-to door mosquito abatement program

us with the other volunteers

And two, I was the absolute sickest I have ever been in a foreign country or maybe ever, and it was all thanks to this baby, pineapple strawberry liquado froma street vendor.  Yes, I broke the rules one time and it was really good, but I paid dearly.

We'll see how the trip goes this time.  But I am very, very excited.