Thursday, March 15, 2012

International Women's Day

As many of you know, last Thursday, March 8, was International Women's Day. A day where all over the world communities commemorated women's rights, equality, the fight it took to get there, and respect and appreciation for women. I guess I never really did much for this day back when I was at home in the States either because I wasn't always aware of it or there wasn't anything going on that was presented to me. 

Well, that has changed for me being in Guatemala. Last year, I didn't have the opportunity to really do anything because I was in training and was on a tight schedule and, someone would even say, a tight leash. Yet this year I was in my community where I have worked now for a year and have specifically worked with women. About a week before Women's Day I visited the Municipal Office for Women (OMM) in town to see what they were planning for the day and if I could assist in any way. Of course, they were just starting to plan and figure out what they wanted to do in a week's time. TIG. But we discussed the idea of having a march through town the morning of with the indigenous women from all the different villages and hosting a fun activity afterwards with lunch being provided as the concluding event. 

So on March 8th, I put on some purple and gathered with a bunch of women from my community to do about a 45 minute march through my town. (No, my town's center is not that big we just walked really slow.) Many of the women had made different posters they held up through the march about women's equality, women's rights, gender-based violence, women's education, etc. It was such a great and joyous event for me to be able to participate with this group of women that are still faced with so many injustices in this country and who were marching so proudly to represent themselves. I also enjoyed seeing the faces of male on-lookers being faced with a large group of women that not only respect and value themselves but are expecting it from others as well. Machismo is still a large part of the indigenous culture in Guatemala (and non-indigenous at times) and so seeing indigenous women be proactive about their role in society was really inspirational for me.

Women's march
After the march, we headed to an area outside in front of the municipality building where a stage was set up. The OMM and Comisión de Mujer organized a line of activities for the women to enjoy themselves, such as dance contests, tongue twisters, raffles, and a contest to pick the best posters that were made by the women. I had the honor of being one of the judges for the posters' judging and presenting the winners. There also were some guest speakers that addressed the women about a variety of different issues revolving around women. One speaker in particular was a Peruvian women's rights activist that recently started working for an NGO in the area regarding women's rights. Since all of the women's first language that were participating was Q'eqchi' and not Spanish, she insisted in a translator so that they could be addressed in their mother tongue. This woman was the definition of empowerment and spoke true to the reality of a lot of these women. She dared them to stand up for their rights and equality and to demand respect from all. She even got all these lovely little Q'eqchi' ladies to raise the fists in the air and yell "Viva!" which for Q'eqchi' women who are usually shy and don't tend to speak loudly in crowds, was pretty awesome and I wish I could have captured the moment on my camera to share. 

The lunch that was held afterwards was fun with the local marimba band playing live in the background. After everyone was done eating, some women got up and grabbed a partner and started dancing with each other. It was all smiles and fun, and it was really just such a pleasure to be able to share this day with these women and see them for a day enjoy themselves, forget their worries and problems, and celebrate their existence, their love for themselves, and their mere existence. 
Dance contest
Working for a year in the Peace Corps out here in Guatemala has helped me discover a new passion I have for women everywhere and their right to health, to an education, and to an equal opportunity. There can be so much inequality for women here in Guatemala and it breaks my heart when I do see it or hear about it. It is exciting, though, when you see women gather like they did on this day and celebrate themselves and speak about their will to never give up. 

A few days later, I went to the community of my women's group for our last meeting together and despedida (goodbye). Since Women's Day had just passed I decided to do our last workshop on self-esteem and its importance for women. We did an activity in which we first went around the circle and each talked about something that made us sad or our heart heavy. We then went around and each said a blessing we have in our lives. The activity turned out differently than I expected. First of all, the women could not think of something that made them sad and they just giggled like little schoolgirls when it was their turn. They would answer, "Seño, I'm happy all the time." Or, "I don't get sad." Which, obviously, is not true. I was so confused by this. I even gave an example saying, "I feel sad when I see little children sick." Nope. A couple said I feel sad when my child is sick but that's it. Maybe it's a way for them to stay strong, to try to block out the things that upsets them. Perhaps they thought it was just a weird question to ask. I don't really know the answer but I do know that when it was time to say a blessing the giggles resided and a more serious tone was taken. They each talked about how God gives them many blessings and gave various examples. Their faith was so evident and strongly relayed. "God gives me the blessing of always having my tortillas and my food on my plate," was one of my favorites because no matter what they always have their tortillas! Although I already knew it, it became so clear to me how much God plays a role in helping them get through their struggles. I think the activity ended up having more of an impact on me than on them, ha! 

Myself with the President (right) and Secretary (left) of my women's group
At the end of our workshop I had brought a cake to share with them and give them my thanks for welcoming me into their community. They also shared their words of gratitude and appreciation with me and, all in all, it was a good final meeting. Although, I definitely felt a pang of sadness saying goodbye and hugging some of these women knowing that I might never see some of them again. But, weirdly enough, I didn't feel as overwhelmingly sad as I thought I was going to. Instead I largely felt a wave of gratitude and appreciation for having the opportunity and honor to have gotten to know these women, to have exchanged dialogue with them, and to experience and learn about their culture and way of living. I don't think I will ever forget them for I learned as much from them as they did from me.
Women's group I got to work with from Monjas Panimaquito

Friday, March 2, 2012

February Happenings: goodbyes, the beginning of the end, and a Valentine's Day surprise

Happy March everyone! Already a month has gone by since my last post and I hardly even felt it. But looking back now, a whole lot has happened in that month and I can hardly believe it. So let's catch you all up. 

Last I wrote, I had mentioned that PC was giving my women's group and myself the chance to finish our grant application for the stoves project. This was a huge deal because even though there was no guarantee of receiving the grant we were having the chance to apply, giving us hope. Unfortunately, that hope was crushed a week after I wrote my last blog post. I had been planning on submitting the application on Friday, February 3, to the grant committee. Last minute, though, the budget wasn't balanced and we needed to make some changes so I decided to wait until Monday to send it. I did, however, email my Project Specialist the majority of the application on that Friday to review it and give me any suggestions. It wasn't until I got a phone call on Monday from my Project Specialist that I found out that the grant committee, which meets once a month and decides if the applications get approved or not, had met that previous Friday. This meant that our application missed the committee meeting and could no longer be taken into consideration because there wasn't going to be another meeting until April. I had been in communication with the guy whose sole job is to be liaison between the grant committee/fund and PC volunteers. He never once informed that the committee was meeting that Friday. If I had known I obviously would have gotten my application in on time. I had even emailed him earlier that week saying that I was going to try to send in the application by Friday and what the outlook would be. My response: "I think it’s great if you can get the application in. In terms of your chances there is as good a chance as any of being approved." No mention of that Friday being the committee meeting. He later called me explaining that he had assumed I knew and that my Project Specialist had informed me. Neither of which were accurate. I can sit here and get angry all over again at how once again PC-Guatemala's lack of communication has let me down and hurt me, but I won't. I was angry, hurt, and upset for good enough time after that incident and looking back now maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I definitely would have been super busy my last month in site and would have been rushing to get things done. Then I would have left and no monitoring would have occurred from a third party. I believe in projects that not only incorporate and empower the local community but that are also sustainable. It felt like I had failed after fighting for so long for this project, but in reality I trained some of these women in the process in how to even apply for a grant and all the things that need to be taken into account. I also helped them find hope in themselves to do the project in the first place. It may have been a defeat but at least something valuable came out of it. And as Maya Angelou said, "You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated."

Doña Paulina (women's group President) in her kitchen where she makes her fire to cook
The community school's "stove"
Moving on to happier news. I was invited to a meeting about 2 weeks ago that the new mayor of my town hosted in which he invited all of the NGOs and non-profits doing development or aid work in the municipality. As mayor, he wants to know what kind of work is happening and how he can support each organization and wants to make sure that each organization knows what the others are doing so no two things are duplicated. These meetings are going to be held monthly and if they actually live up to their purpose (so far they seem to) it would be a great tool and resource for the community so that all work done is sustainable and effective. I happened to meet some aid workers there from a development organization called Plan International. Plan International used to have a program also called Healthy Schools, similar to the one I work in, in some of the schools in my municipality. They discontinued it, from what I've gathered, because it wasn't sustainable and wasn't displaying good results. It consisted of handouts and isolated activities instead of doing follow-ups and holding the schools accountable for change. It turns out they have hired some other people, one of which I met that day, to restart the program here in Purulhá but to make it better and more sustainable. After I gave my presentation on the PC Healthy Schools, I was approached by the man from Plan and asked more about how we worked exactly. After a short conversation, he told me he was interested in talking more in depth about our program and to collaborate with me so that they could take over where my sitemate Lohmo and I are leaving off. That way, the program won't end and keep going in the schools. One of the biggest things that made me sad about leaving my site was abandoning these schools that had just barely gotten to know the program. Then here comes Plan to save the day and is going to try to do the best they can to continue the program! Needless to say, I am so happy over this. I actually met with this man and another Plan worker today to further discuss how the overlap and continuation can take place. I think they also informally offered me a job. Ha! He asked me if I would be interested to pretty much do the same job I was doing but this time with three towns instead of one but for four years! Honestly, I can't commit my life to something for four years right now unless that something is medical school, so that immediately made it a no-go for me. The prospect was nice though. We're going to be having more meetings in the next few weeks to further make a plan so I'll be updating sooner rather than later. Yay!

Other than all that, the next thing I have planned is a contest of rincones de salud with all of the schools in the Healthy Schools program here. "Rincones de salud" are a vital part of our program and translate to "health corners" or "health nooks". They are spaces created in classrooms where the students keep their toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, towels, etc. It promotes healthy habits and hygiene in the classroom and at school. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but Guatemalans are pretty creative when it comes to making stuff and are especially good drawers, at least the teachers seem to be. They are so meticulous! So these rincones usually come out looking pretty damn good. Anyways, since I'm leaving so soon I want to at least motivate the schools to make their rincones now that the school year just began. Then, they can at least have the materials there and hopefully by seeing them in the classroom the teachers will have more motivation to make the students wash their hands and brush their teeth. It should be a fun activity and I'll definitely post pictures later. 

For the past week and a half I have actually been out of my site and instead have been down by Antigua and the PC office. I had my COS (close of service) conference and then had to stay to do my COS meds (a bunch of medical appointments to make sure Guatemala didn't totally destroy your health). I finished my meds though and accomplished pooping in a cup three times and getting a negative TB test. Woo! It was a stressful and overwhelming week though with so much going on. Two of my good friends in PC that lived up here by me in the Cobán area were finishing up their service and going home. Shout out to Evan and Winfrey who are now Stateside and living the life with good food, smartphones (I know, Win, you don't have one), and hot showers. Hopefully I'll see them again soon. But seeing so many volunteers leave that week was weird and depressing. It makes it feel all the more real that all this is happening so fast and we all move on at one point or another. I'll miss our little Verapaz crew!

Verapaz love
Being back in site after being gone for so long feels weird but so nice. It's even weirder since Lohmo has moved to his new site already so I am here in Purulhá solo. I have less than three weeks left here in my home and then another week of getting things wrapped up in the office and checkin' out the Mayan ruins in Tikal. I suppose this is the beginning of the end of my PC service. I'm trying to really just savor every last moment Guatemala has to offer me because I know I will miss it all in some shape or form. It's crazy how fast everything is happening and I can hardly even believe it. Oh man! I just remembered something I forgot to write about that is so crazy you just have to laugh at it. The day before Valentine's Day, my landlady washed my clothes for me because the sun had finally come out and I had three weeks worth of dirty clothes. Well, it hadn't all dried that afternoon so she left it out on the patio on a clothesline overnight to spread back out in the morning. I was awoken the next morning by a knock on my door from my landlady asking me if I had brought my clothes in that night. I hadn't. All of my clothes were gone. Stolen. I would say it was 65-70% of my clothes. I was obviously mad that day at whoever decided to steal all my clothes and quite frankly just confused. But once I got thinking, I was thankful it was my clothes and not something more valuable or irreplaceable. I was probably going to leave half of it here anyway since Guatemala seems to destroy clothing like no other. And now I have less clothes to pack and space for other goodies to bring back! There's a bright side to everything if you look hard enough. That's what I love about life. Hasta la próxima!