Campo Data

Cards from some of my students

Eres la mejor profesora que yo [h]e tenido en mi vida" Translation: You are the best teacher I have ever had in my life.

That line comes from a note one of my students wrote to me. It also included a smiling heart and a flower. My last post was a little on the negative side about my students so I'd like to clarify that they can be really sweet and kind, sometimes they just get a little too rowdy.

This week has been much like the past month, I have been teaching in the morning, and in the afternoon I have been finishing up my interviews for my community diagnostic. I have also been going through the data the last Volunteer collected during her community diagnostic. Community Diagnostic is the term Peace Corps uses to describe the research Volunteers are supposed to perform during their first three months at site. A typical community diagnostic includes interviews, participation in community meetings, and observations in local institutions such as schools. At the end of the three months Volunteers attended a conference and present their findings along with a representative from their community. Everyone discusses the work together and then the Volunteer and community partner plan out their projects for the next year. I have my conference in three weeks.

I've already begun to prepare my presentation so I'll give you all a sneak peak. The following are graphs based off the information collected by the previous Volunteer. She did a survey of 124 houses in the community - by my count there are 145 houses in the community.

Average Income in my community is $6,233 pesos monthly, or $135 US dollars. I make about twice that, and I only have to take care of myself - not four people, which is the average family size here in my community. Luckily, it seems everyone here either works in agriculture or has family who does, so hunger isn't that big of an issue here.

Monthly Income in my community

Another positive is housing structures. There are only three houses in my community made entirely out of zinc, and about a third of houses are made out of cement and cinder blocks - nice and sturdy for those pesky tropical storms.

Housing Materials

 I have mentioned in the past that there is no running water in my community. So where do we get water from? Rain (Lluvia), Wells (Pozos), Rivers (Ríos), or we buy it (Comprar). I was surprised by how few people said they collected rain water. The questionnaire left water sources open ended so I think people forgot to write that they collect rain water because they just assumed that it was redundant to write down what everyone uses. I have yet to meet someone who does not use rain water.

Water Sources

Before I left for the DR, I spoke to my Church's youth group about my decision to join the Peace Corps. We also talked about my potential living situation. When I mentioned that I might have to use a latrine one boy asked why I couldn't just use a port-a-potty. We then had a discussion about the logistical difficulties of giving everyone with a latrine a port-a-potty. Since I have arrived in the DR I have only had to use a latrine during a visit to another Volunteer's site. In my current house I have to walk outside to use the bathroom but it does have a toilet. Since there is no running water here, I do have to bucket flush (pour water in the bowl to manually flush) but it definitely beats a latrine. Anyway, here in my community I am in the minority. The majority of families use latrines, and some do not even have those. Note, the Volunteer before me installed 7 eco-latrines, so the number of people without latrines is inaccurate in this graph. My best guess would be there are three or four families lacking bathroom facilities. Also, for the non-Spanish speakers: Inodoro = toilet, Letrina Individual/Colectivo = Latrine Individual/Shared, No Sanitario = No bathroom.

Bathrooms

Now wasn't all that exciting and interesting! At the very least I hope you appreciated the colorful graphs. When my presentation is completed I'll make it available to all you data loving nerds - warning it will be in Spanish. A question for my data loving nerd friends, do any of you know of any good papers that discuss the relationship between frequently reading, having access to books, and adult literacy? If so send them my way!

School's IN for Summer

 Rotten mangos are gross, especially when one is thrown into your classroom.

This summer I have been spending three mornings a week teaching Summer School. The program is for students who are behind their peers in reading and writing. I have 20 students who have shown up over the past month. The majority of my students have attended sporadically. I sometimes ask where they have been and the responses vary from, "I was sick" to "I needed to braid my hair." The summer rain storms have not helped. One rainy week attendance was as follows: Monday - 5 students, Tuesday - 3, and Wednesday - 7.

Some of my students need more help than others; I have 3rd graders who can't write their names, 1st graders who know the alphabet, and frequently students bring their toddler siblings with them to class. Irregular attendance and skill levels has made teaching a juggling act. I regularly have three different activities going on at the same time. Needless to say, things can get a little crazy at times.

All of my students crave attention and approval. Mostly it is a lot of shouting, "Susie, Susie, look what I did." But sometimes the kids act out on each other. Last week one boy hit a girl, and while I was telling the class that they know better than to hit others, another boy smacked a different girl with a pencil. It, sadly, has become clear to me (and other volunteers in similar situations) that nothing I can say will change my student's behavior because instead of growing up with a dread of disappointing adults, they have grown up with the belt.

This week I tried the carrot approach, I didn't let the kids draw until the end of class on Monday. This worked OK until students for my next class arrived. The first class was staring to rowdy  so  I told them that their class time was over and I would see them the next day. Most American kids would immediately run out of the school with shouts of freedom. Instead, my students were upset that I was kicking them out. I suppose I should be flattered that my students were having so much fun they didn't want to leave but their actions just made me annoyed, and dare I say it, angry.

Seven students wouldn't leave the school and kept trying to re-enter the classroom. I closed the door and they shouted through the window to let them back inside and they promised not to be a distraction. I ignored their requests so they began to throw trash and leaves into the classroom (you can open the windows from the outside). One child even threw a rotting mango through the window.

I was peeved. When I walked home I told the parents of the two top offenders what their kids had been doing. That was a mistake. One grandmother told me that she would not allow her grandson to go back to school. I then tried to tell her that I wanted her grandson at school but my pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears because neither of the two boys showed up for the rest of the week. Ooops.

On the bright side because the trouble makers were not in class I was able to give more specialized attention to the other students. However, I am sad that the boys are not at school because they are two of the students that need the most help. One of the boys was just starting to write his name without help.

Fellow Volunteer, Julie, with our orderly students from training.

If there are any teachers reading who have ideas on how I can better control my students please send me your suggestions! The director of my school told me that next time my students cause trouble I should lock them out of the school.

Outside of the classroom I have been spending my summer meeting everyone in my community. I basically walk around, stop by houses of people I have not met, introduce myself, and then chat with them for an hour or so. I am often given juice or coffee during my visit and some fruit to take with me when I leave. It's not something I could ever accomplish I the States. People back home are too wary of strangers, and generally can't pick a pick fruit off their trees. During my visits I have also been interviewing families for a community census - no one knows how many people live here.

I have so far done 119 household interviews. I only have 10-12 houses to go! Hooray! My next step will be to put all the info into Excel and pick out the important info to present at a conference I have next month. One thing I have already noticed is that most adults have not completed primary school. Until 17 years ago it was difficult to go to school past the 4th grade. Upper levels of school were all located 5km away in town, and only accessible by a dirt road. Today students still have to travel to town for high school but the road is paved and transportation is better (students still have to pay for transportation). Also, most families do not have books in the house (if they have one it is the Bible). These two factors make me wonder what is the literacy rate of adults in my community. Most adults have not been reading much since they left school. (Almost every family here farms, which isn't a job that requires heavy reading.) I, therefore, think it will be important for me to find books that are for adults but at a basic reading level. In other words, while Don Quixote is an important book I doubt that many adults in my community are up to the challenge of reading it - not many Americans would want to read it either. I need to find books that will encourage my community to continue reading, instead of alienate them.


Other things of note:
A community member has done construction work for the reality show Survivor! He has worked for the show here in the DR but also in Panama and in Istanbul. Crazy. I had to ask him to explain his job to me again just to be sure I understood him. He said Istanbul was really cool; he visited a church is Istanbul which has diamonds in the ceiling.

The DR got it's first tropical storm of the season, Chantal. She apparently caused a lot of flooding along the southern coast of the country but here in Samaná we didn't even get a full day of rain. Apparently storms don't tend to cause too much damage in the region. However, 8 years ago Hurricane George hit Samaná hard and a lot of people went hungry in the following months because all their crops were destroyed.

Gutters are useful during tropical storms

My group lost our first Volunteer, she will be missed. Peace Corps sent her packing after it received reports that she was riding motorcycles without her helmet. The DR is the only country where Peace Corps permits Volunteers to ride motorcycles so they have strict safety rules. A Dominican actually asked me yesterday if I was a volunteer because I was carrying my helmet; not many people aside from Volunteers use them here.

Going to the River

 "Suuuuussssie can we go the the river PLEASE," pleads my host sister

"Okay," I say

"I LOVE YOU," screams my host sister and she hugs and kisses me and the other neighborhood kids cheer.

     If you couldn't tell by that brief conversation, the river is the place to be once school is out for summer. But most parents don't let their kids go to the river without supervision, hence the kids always ask me to take them to the river. Getting to the river is an adventure in itself. The path to the river winds through cow pastures which mean in addition to dodging cow pies,  I also have to carefully cross several barbed wire fences. Sometimes there are gates, sometimes we have to get creative, and sometimes we get sliced.

That barbed wire will get you!

     Once at the river, the coolest thing to do is to tirar, literally throw yourself,  off a ledge. It's not that high, but the kids were really impressed when I tirared for the first time without hesitation. Their minds would be blown if they went to an American amusement park.

The River

Climbing up the ledge

     Before you leave the river it is expected that you whip out your soap and start scrubbing. Since there is no running water in my community and trip to the river kills two birds with one stone; you get to play and you save water. I am not super knowledgable about the environment but I still feel a little uneasy when I see people putting all those chemicals in the river. I also learned that people use the river to clean out cow intestines for the classic Dominican dish Mondongo. I laughed when my host sister told me she was grateful that I don't like Mondongo because she helped was the cow intestines once at the river and she has never been able to eat Mondongo again. Sister Solidarity.

Also going on:

     I am very grateful for my mosquito net:

I have several of these guys in my room.

      The Governor kept one of his promises; bags of food were given to every house in the community. Apparently the bags typically only arrive when politicians come to town, so basically right before elections. Also, the desks at the school are being repaired. Hopefully the Governor will keep up his promise about funding for the library. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 Showing off their rice and beans.

The Governor Comes to Town

     "The governor will be here at 5pm so let's start the meeting at 4pm to make sure everyone arrives before him." - Mayor

    And so it was that a little white lie was spread around town ensuring a packed room to greet the Governor of Samaná, Enriquillo Lalane. Some people were so excited about the governor's arrival that some people arrived early. I had never witnessed Dominicans at an event early; having the governor visit was a big deal. When the governor arrived, on time, there were over 40 residents present to discuss the needs of the community.

    The first concern brought to the governor's attention is the lack of running water in the community. Water is by far the top need in the community. As I have previously mentioned, everyone here collects rain water and when it doesn't rain people either have to carry water from rivers or purchase water, which many residents have told me they consider expensive. Unfortunately the governor's response to this need was not the most compelling. He said there are engineers investigating the issue but as my community is at the top of a hill, water would need to be pumped up hill, so its going to take some time. One resident after the meeting told me he was, like many, unsatisfied with the governor's response. He said if the government truly cared they would have fixed the problem already. He noted that the president travels around the world for meetings and that the money spent on his trips could do a lot of good inside the country.

    The governor was also vague on some of the education issues presented such as the lack of reliable and affordable transportation for high school students (HS is 5km away), and the condition of the chairs at the primary school, which are falling apart after 17 years of use. He said he would call the Ministry of Education and see what they can do. Regarding the library project the mayor forced the governor's hand on this point by presenting a letter from the previous governor pledging his financial support, which never came through. The governor said that the letter embarrassed him and he pledged to fund the repairs to the community building where the library will be located. 

    The governor's response to other community concerns were much better. The governor promised to provide funds to repair a local road, fix several houses, and supply food baskets to all families in the community. I was actually surprised by the level of support offered by the governor. I had been at a similar meeting in the town of Samaná the week before and he did not pledge any concrete action to the concerns presented. I think the meeting in my community was more successful in part because the governor grew up nearby; many residents are family friends and/or were taught by the governor's mother. He probably doesn't want to let people down that can trash talk about him to his family and friends. I am hoping that the local factor will ensure that the governor will come through with his promises but only time will tell.

     In other news:

•  People cannot stop giving me food! In one week I was gifted the following: 2 bags of mangos, 1 bag of passion fruit, branches of limoncillo, toasted corn on the cob, cacao, some leaves for tea, dulce de coco, and coconut water (straight from the coconut).
• My family has a new baby kitten, my host mom says that our other cat isn't a good mouse hunter but she is going to train the kitten properly. I also got to see 10-day-old kittens at a neighbor's house and was told I can have one when they are bigger! Yay for no rodents! For the record I have yet to see any rodents here but I don't want to take any chances.

  

  Newest Member of the Family

• I rode on a motorcycle without holding onto the driver but don't know how if I am willing to try riding side-saddle.
• I am teaching my host sister how to use a computer. Before we started classes she only knew how to turn a computer on and off. We have yet to have a lesson with internet, as I do not have access at my site, but I am excited to show her Google and Wikipedia - she does know what Facebook is and she really wants to make an account. I'll leave you with a photo us taken while playing with Photobooth.

  

  Funny Photos are a Hit Everywhere

Observations

     I am now a full fledged Peace Corps Volunteer! Hooray!

Me and the other Education Volunteers lookin' spiffy at our Swear-In Ceremony

     So what have I been doing for the past two weeks in Samaná? Making observations. This is what I have found out:

- People here are super friendly and welcoming!

• I have been walking around my community quite a bit and everyone always says hello. Whenever I stop by a house I am always invited to sit down and chat. Often I am offered food or given food as I walk by a house.
• So far people have given me papaya, mangos, pears, bread, fried chicken, and a plate set. The last one was part of a Mother's Day event, even though I am not a mom I will be working with the community's kids so they felt I deserved a gift.

- Living without running water  isn't the hardest thing in the world.

• Taking cold bucket baths in the cool mountain air is the hardest. Hence, I have started exercising every evening. I now have a group of four girls who exercise with me. One of the girls everyone calls gorda (fat) so I hope exercising will get people to stop harassing her and boost her self-esteem.  Side note - running up mountains is hard!

- Meeting start about an hour after they are scheduled.

• I have been to at least 7 meetings in the past two weeks and none of them started on time. I even caught one of my project partners telling someone that a meeting started half an hour earlier than it was scheduled. When I corrected the time she said, "Susan, you know how Dominicans are with meetings!"

- When it rains things don't happen.

• I went to school one day when it was raining and there were less than 50% of the kids at school. As a result, school was in session for only an hour and then everyone went home.
• I waited an hour for a meeting to start with other members of the community but because it was raining not enough people came and the meeting was eventually cancelled.

Aetobatus Narinari aka Chucho aka Spotted Eagle Ray

- There is a diversity of wildlife here.

• I have seen a ton of different lizards, some sizable spiders, and a sting ray just to name a few of the creatures I have spotted.

 - The school is in need of a lot of help.

• There are no reading books, and sometimes not enough textbooks for all students. There are no English textbooks, and the teachers do not know English well enough to teach their students effectively.
• The seats and desks are falling apart and like the textbooks there sometimes are not enough to go around. Some seats are made out of cardboard, others just have the bars.
• Teachers sometimes spend half an hour on one or two problems.

- Students and teachers are motivated.

• All the teachers welcomed me into their classroom and acknowledged the limitations of the school. They want the school to be better and sometimes get used materials from other schools.
• Students asked me to teach them English. I now have a class on Saturday mornings. How many 9-15 year old American kids do you know would be willing to walk more than .5 miles to have Spanish class on the weekend?
• The students love to read. I bring books (lovingly donated by the Peace Corps librarian) to the school everyday for the kids to read. There have been a few occasions where I have had to break-up fights over the books. Again how often would that happen Stateside? 

- There is a lot I have to offer the community.

• Aside from my English skills there is a lot of stuff I know and take for granted that I can use to help my community. For example, my host sisters asked me to teach them how to use a computer. They don't know what Google is. Also, the members of my community's library committee have never been inside a library. That means they don't know what are typical library rules, how books are arranged, etc.

Overall, my observations have given me a lot of hope and inspiration of how I can help my community. Only time will tell what I am actually able to do but I have a lot of ideas so stay tuned!

Susie's in Samaná

                           Me: "Hola, mi nombre es Susan" (Hi, my name is Susan)

                           New Host Mom: "Suuuzzzaan"

                           Me: "O Susie" (or Susie)

                           New Host Mom: "¡Susie es preciosa!" (Susie is precious!)

View of Samaná from above

     And like so I have been re-named. To my new community in Samaná my name is Susie. Yes, I have arrived at my permanent site here in the DR, and it is in the lush peninsula of Samaná! I live in a small community of 800 people along the side of the road between the towns of Samaná and El Límon. I have already visited all the families in my community minus one or two. There are also two corner stores, a church, hairdresser's, a bar, a lottery, a community building and, a four classroom school. The homes are made of cement or wood, some have zinc roofs others cement. The region of Samaná is a mountain range, which means I can see the ocean from parts of town. The ocean itself is only a 10 minute drive from my house and happens to be the launching off point to go see the humpback whales which come to Samaná every January-April to find love.

Mural in Santa Barbara de Samaná

    Rest assured, live in Samaná is not going to be one long vacation for me (although you are welcome to use your vacation time to visit). My primary project is going to be establishing a library in the community. There is a space set aside for the library but it needs some TLC, such as a floor, a 3rd wall, and books. While I am not working on the library I will be working on other education related projects that are TBD. Part of the beauty of Peace Corps is that the first three months I am in my community I am supposed to focus my attention on getting to know my neighbors and along the way the strengths and weakness of the community.

     For example, while visiting my community I learned that there is no running water in town. All residents collect rain water and when that runs out they gather water from nearby rivers or pay for water to be delivered. My community is the only one in the area without water and they feel neglected by the government. Last year they held a peaceful protest about the lack of water and a man in the community was shot and killed by the police. My host sister said that the dead man did not approve of a policeman who liked his married daughter, and the police used the protest as an excuse to kill an innocent man. It made national headlines when it occurred. And you thought telenovelas exaggerated things. I would like to help improve the situation but I am not sure in what way I can be of best use for my community in this situation. Hopefully, I will figure something out in the next three months.

   To end on a positive note, next Saturday I am going here with a church group from my community:

Las Terrenas

Dominicanisms Part 2

It's time for the second installment of my Dominicanisms series! (Check out part 1 here) If you know of more please let me know!

• Funda - bag (for shopping or a purse). Do not use “bolsa” it is a vulgar term (Email me if you want to know what it means. I have to keep this child friendly!)
• Flow - Someone’s style. For example, my host mom got a new hair cut and she asked, ¿Te gusta mi nuevo flow? or Do you like my new flow?
• Guagua - bus, also can be used to refer to SUVs, and trucks.
• Guapo - angry, NOT attractive, which is what it means almost everywhere else Spanish is spoken
• Guindar los tennis - said when a person has dies, literally they hung up their sneakers.
• Hablador/a  - a talker, can also mean a liar
• Heavy - cool or serious
• Jevi - Awesome
• Lambon - moocher
• Luz - electricity. “La luz se fue” - the electricity went out, literally the light left. “La luz llegó” - the electricity returned, typically someone will shout this when the lights come on thus letting the neighborhood now they can go back to blasting their music and watching telenovelas.
• Mangar - to obtain, a popular song has the line “para manga mi visa” referring to getting hitched to an American so they can get their visa to the States.
• Motoconcho - motorcycle
• Motoconchista - driver of a motorcycle taxi
• No quiero morir contigo - jinx (what you yell when two people say the same thing at the same time), literally translates to “I don’t want to die with you.”
• Pariguayo - party watcher, creeper
• Pelota - baseball (the sport), or any kind of ball used for sports
• Piropo - cat call
• Pley - baseball field
• ¿Qué lo qué?: Used as a greeting, especially among young people, equivalent to “What’s up?”
• Rebulú - a physical fight with many people involved
• Tapón - heavy traffic
• Toyo - something that didn’t go well, something that fell, something written poorly
• Tramposo/a - cheater (at a game) or sneaky. Example: grabbing someone’s
• food when they are not looking.
• Tiguere - gangsta, hoodlum, ne’er-do-well, delinquent, stylish male youth.  A tiguere is difficult to describe, I think of a tiguere as they guy who can be nice but also gets into trouble and spends most of his time around the neighborhood. Tigueres are very machismo, they hiss and throw cat calls at women passing by.  They also dress in a style similar to the guys on the Jersey Shore, dark wash jeans with details, and shirts with angel wings and rhinestones; only difference is tigueres tend to also wear baseball caps. Tiguere can also describe someone who is good at something. Sample sentences: “Mira, no andes por el pley de noche por que los tigueres te atracan.” = “Look, don’t go near the baseball field at night because the delinquents will mug you.”  “Jimi es un tiguere de domino!” = “Jimi is surprisingly good at dominoes!”
• Vaina - Anything (an object, a situation, a behavior, an idea).  People use it to refer to anything they can’t remember the word for or to discuss something when they don’t want to name what they are talking about. Almost interchangeable with cosa (thing) except vaina can be considered vulgar. You would not use vaina in a professional setting. It is more commonly used in the countryside than urban areas.