Chicas Poderosas!

Sorry I have been so bad about posting lately. My computer died 2 months ago, which has made blogging (and many other things) more difficult. So, what have I been up to? The month of July was pretty slow because the kids had 3 weeks vacation and it was the start of the rainy season, so I spent a lot of time indoors. I was also consumed with studying for the GMAT. Yes, I have decided to go to business school next year. So, studying for the GMAT and thinking about my essays and applications has taken up a lot of time! I am planning to submit my applications in Round 1, which means in the middle of October I will be free and just have to sit back and wait for the decisions.

Things did pick up in August, and one of my new projects is called Chicas Poderosas. It is a program to promote leadership and self-esteem in young girls. I am working with the 4th, 5th and 6th grade girls at my school, and so far it has been a lot of fun! There are 12 of them and they have so much energy. It has been a refreshing new activity for me and is allowing me to get to know these girls a lot better. I also think that they are enjoying having something new to do once a week after school. So far the topics that we have discussed are: Communication and Teamwork. Future topics are: Making Decisions, Nutrition, My Future, Dating, Values and many more. Below are some pictures of the girls going sticker crazy decorating their notebooks and working on one of the activities about teamwork

I can't believe that I have only 9 months left. It is going to be sad to leave because I have made a lot of good friendships in my community, especially with my host family. But, I am also excited about what the future may hold.

Kelsey

Mid-service Training

Two weeks ago I was at a retreat center outside of San Jose for a week for Mid-service training. That means that we have completed over 1 year in our sites. The week was dedicated to sharing stories and best practices with other volunteers to learn from eachother. It was great catching up with eachother and hearing the amazing things that everyone is doing. We also had medical exams and got our teeth cleaned!

I can´t believe that I have less than a year left. It is going to be hard to leave my host family and my town, so I better cherish the time I have left. The picture is of all the Rural Community Development volunteers in Tico 18 and our boss, Chris, who has left us to go to grad school.

Thanks to all for the support you have provided over the past 15 months. And those of you who want to come visit better start planning soon because time is running out!

Kelsey

Medical Mission

At the end of May I had a different type of volunteer experience. US Air Force doctors and nurses from bases throughout the US came to Pavon, a larger town only 8 km from me, to host a free health clinic. My fellow PCV, David, and I were asked to help out during these 3 days. We ended up translating for various doctors that did not know Spanish.

The first day I worked with 2 dermatologists and saw many different skin problems! Luckily I am not grossed out easily, because I saw some crazy rashes, infections etc. I also learned that yeast infections of the skin are very common! It creates a white circular skin discoloration and looks a lot like sun spots.

The second and third days I worked with the gynecologist and lost all embarrassment as I had to ask people about their sex lives, periods etc. It was overall a really fun experience and cool to do something completely different for 3 days. A ton of people from my town came, including my host parents, so I guess I was also directly helping people from my community too.

This is a really great program of the US Air Force and they definitely helped out a lot! The ophthalmologists were giving out free glasses, the dentists were pulling teeth, and all doctors gave out vitamins and lots of much needed, expensive medicine.

Here are pictures from the clinic:

The whole crew

People in line waiting for their turn

More waiting outside of the exam rooms

Helping out one of the dermatologists

David working in the pharmacy

Me with the two main coordinators

Water, Water Everywhere

On May 15^th the national water company of Costa Rica, AYA came to my town to dedicate the water tank project. This ceremony marked the end of an 11 year struggle to obtain potable water, 24 hours a day in the houses. Only in the last few years has there been an aqueduct system, bringing water to houses from a well in the center of town. And in November 2008 the water tank was completed, which meant a constant stream of water all day.

When I got here a year ago, we had potable water in our house, but not all the time. The water committee would turn on the pump to stream water from the well to the houses at 7 am every morning and it would last only 2 hours. During that time, each house had to store as much water as they could in its own personal water tank. Needless to say, in a house of 6, the water we stored during that time did not always last the whole day. Many times during my first few months here we would run out of water around 7 or 8 pm.

Finally in November, with the completion of the water storage tank, we now have water all the time. The water committee still only turns on the pump for a few hours each morning, but that water is now stored in the large tank and is distributed to all the houses throughout the day. It is nice knowing that there will still be water to brush my teeth every night!

Even though the town now has an aqueduct system and a storage tank, there are still many members of the community that only use wells. Unfortunately the cost of water is just too much for some families that don’t have steady income. Hopefully in the future everyone will recognized the value of potable water and connect to the aqueduct system.

Here are pictures from the dedication ceremony:

The Water tank

Members of the committee who worked on the project for 11 years

The school kids at the dedication

Kids playing

Here are pictures from the dedication of the playground on Saturday. The kids were so excited it was hard to make them wait for the prayer. The ceremony consisted of a prayer of thanks and then we served cookies and fruit punch. Then the kids played for hours! It was most fun to watch the little ones go down the slide and play on the see-saw. Thanks again for all of your support!

Doña Marta saying a prayer.

Kids playing!

Three members of the Comité Tutelar, Isa, Flor and Miriam, serving the refreshments

The moms and sisters enjoying the shade.

Osvaldo, my host cousin.

Carolina enjoying the swing.

Daniela, my host sister, having fun on the see-saw.

Playground!!!!!!

We have a playground! The men came to install it at 7am on Wednesday morning, and left my site at 9am on Thursday morning. We were all amazeded by how quickly it all went. Unfortunately the kids have to wait about 2 days to play in order to let the cement etc. dry. So the women of the Comite Tutelar have decided to have a small inauguration ceremony on Saturday right before we let the kids play. We are going to have someone say a prayer, let all of the kids know the rules, and then serve sno-cones. It should be a lot of fun...and all the kids can´t wait.

Thanks again to all of you who made this dream come true for the kids of Cristo Rey. I will definitely post pictures of tomorrow´s ceremony soon. But first, here are a few pictures of the prep of the land and the installation. Enjoy!

6am on Wednesday, finishing up leveling the land for the playground.

Unloading the wooden beams.

The four men that installed the playground, taking a break for cafecito at 4 pm.

The finished product!

A new skill!

Last Monday I learned how to crochet! The newly formed women's group decided a few weeks ago that one of our first activities would be crocheting. The president and a few other women in the group already know how to crochet, so they said they would help teach the rest of us. I bought my needle and a small ball of yarn for a little over 1 dollar and I was set. At first everyone was going so fast that I thought I would never learn, but with a little individual attention I was slowly getting it. I crocheted while watching tv and waiting for meetings etc. and in a week I have finished my ball of yarn! Crocheting is a actually not as hard as it looks! So here is my first crocheted item (I don't actually know what its use is, but I am still proud of it!):

So, learning to crochet has so far been a fun, bonding activity for the women's group and a way to share skills. It looks like our first real project will be to help out with the community garden that we are growing on the school grounds. We decided to join the local 4-H or Club 4-S, which means that they will come give us training on organizational skills and more technical training, such as growing vegetables etc. It should be a great opportunity for us! We will also be growing an undetermined crop (we will choose at our next meeting) on a small plot of land that a member of the community is letting us use.

I am very impressed by the sense of unity that the members of the women's group already have. I really believe that they will be successful in whatever project they decide to embark upon. The group was successful in its first fundraising activity, raising over $60 in cold drink and ice cream sales at a local soccer game. It was a very simple idea raised by a few of the women and everyone else jumped on board and offered to donate a few items to sell, such as sugar cane juice, coconut water and iced chocolate milk, each with a value of 200 colones, or about 35 cents. Needless to say, everyone was very proud of the success of the activity.

I am really excited about working with the women, not just because I am learning new skills, but because of the opportunities that this group will bring to the many women in the community.