You Tube interview with the Prez

The president of EG is interviewed by the BBC in an edition called Hard Talks. I found out about this video recently when I had the good fortune of attending the US Ambassadors 4th of July celebration here in Malabo. While at the celebration, a couple introduced themselves whom had mentioned this interview so I thought I'd check it out. I'm intrigued that for such a small country the president has only 4 palaces (read sarcasm), and speaking from my own observations, poverty is rampant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw-HY9FAZBs

Striving

My Facebook access is officially blocked, all  of the modes I was using to get around the blockage have been cut off. While it's not really all that big of a deal, I've been able to realize how much time I misuse on FB, nevertheless it's a nice way to promote my page here. 

I've been co-planning for a series of five day summer camps, meeting with the various government ministries, visiting schools, interviewing new trainers, catching up with the current trainers and continuing to navigate a one room office work environment. Cubicles all of a sudden don't look so bad!

I was reviewing some readings from UMT and came across this Carl Rogers quote:

“The actualizing tendency can of course be thwarted or warped, but it cannot be destroyed without destroying the organism.  I remember that in my boyhood the potato bin in which we stored our winter supply of potatoes was in the basement, several feet below a small basement window.  The conditions were unfavorable, but the potatoes would begin to sprout — pale white sprouts, so unlike the healthy green shoots they sent up when planted in the soil in the spring.  But these sad, spindly sprouts would grow two or three feet in length as they reached toward the distant light of the window.  They were, in their bizarre, futile growth, a sort of desperate expression of the directional tendency I have been describing.  They would never become a plant, never mature, never fulfill their real potentiality.  But under the most adverse circumstances they were striving to become.  Life would not give up, even if it could not flourish.  In dealing with clients whose lives have been terribly warped . . . I often think of those potato sprouts.  So unfavorable have been the conditions in which these people have developed that their lives often seem abnormal, twisted, and scarcely human.  Yet the directional tendency in them is to be trusted.  The clue to understanding their behavior is that they are striving; in the only ways they perceive as available to them, to move toward growth, toward becoming.  To us the results may seem bizarre and futile, but they are life's desperate attempt to become itself.  It is this potent constructive tendency which is an underlying basis of the person-centered approach.”  Rogers, Carl. The Foundations of a Person-Centered Approach. La Jolla, California: Centre for Studies of the Person, 1979; pgs. 2-3.

We're striving to become something a little more and hopefully, unlike the potato sprouts, we will become closer to our full potential. 

Living In Malabo and Beach Day

Arena Blanca Beach, Luba, Ecuatorial Guinea

Today, Sunday June 16, 2013, we decided to finally take a break (I’ve been working up a storm and one of these days I’ll share a bit about that with y’all, however I’m being called to share some of my joys and travel experiences with you today). By us, I am referring to my roommates and I. I haven’t shared with you the details on my living situation here in Malabo. I have three roomies, interns for an American NGO Startup which has provided my housing. While our three bedroom apartment is by no means luxurious, thankfully we tend to have electricity nearly 24 hours a day, allowing such luxuries as a refrigerator that keeps our food and water cold, air conditioning to cool down the house from the steamy heat outside and we can charge our electronics just about whenever we please. We’ve had a few power outages here and there, but thankfully up to now it has neither been with much frequency nor does the power stay out for too long.

Hermit Crabs Chowing Down

The most inconvenient part of living in our house from my perspective is our situation with running water, or lack thereof. In the two weeks here, we have gone for two separate periods of 3 to 5 days without running water. Gracias a Dios on more than one of those days it rained and I was able to collect rainwater and our neighbors/landlords/the American NGO Leadership team allowed us to fetch water from their third floor apartment. When the water does arrive, it arrives between the hours of 6am and 8am. We have a few buckets, about 50 gallons, of which we can fill up and store the water for use later. While it’s definitely inconvenient, it’s certainly not the worst problem to have. I am thankful I don’t have to walk 100 yards or further every day to fetch water for bathing, washing and cleaning, although I am remembering to be judicious with my water usage.

Still going to town on the seed

My roommates have become friends with a community of oil industry workers who are here on the island. Through their friendship, our new friends invited all of us to the beach for the day near a small town called Luba on the southern coast of the island of Bioko. Our new friends drove us, thankfully, since public transportation around the island is basically non-existent. Within the city public taxis are plentiful. They’re white cars with a red hood, roof and trunk. The taxis don’t have any fixed route, which can be a bit frustrating because you have to continually ask where they are going as they pass by common commuter paths.

This guy was casually walking down the beach with a Shark!

The beach we hit up is about an hour away, had a few tables set up in front of small shacks serving food and beverages. The water was warm and inviting, the beach itself was a nice small spot. I had my first taste of Antelope, or maybe it was venison, which if it was venison it was the best I’ve ever had. The day was a much needed respite from the city, work and it was refreshing to see a new part of the island and spend the day with quality and relaxing group of people who are quickly becoming my friends.

Lava Rocks on the Beach

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

“Anxiety is experiencing failure in advance. Tell yourself enough vivid stories about the worst possible outcome of your work and you’ll soon come to believe them. Worry is not preparation, and anxiety doesn’t make you better.” – Seth Godin, V is for Vulnerable, Life Outside the Comfort Zone.

I have been in Equatorial Guinea for the past ten days and realized that I’ve been blogging about South Africa and Cape Town and my time with Grassroot Soccer (GRS). So, now I am in Equatorial Guinea (EG), a small coastal country underneath the horn of Africa composed of five islands off the coast of Cameroon and the mainland tucked in between Cameroon and Gabon. The capital city of Malabo is located on the largest of the five islands, Bioko, and the most populated city of Bata is located on the mainland. Here's a link to google maps.

I am living and working in Malabo with a small NGO which focuses on promoting youth volunteerism as well as women’s health, employment and empowerment.  Much of their work is rooted in HIV prevention and life skills training. Grassroot Soccer partnered with the NGO about a year ago and trained a good number of coaches (they are youth leaders or peer educators) to teach an HIV and malaria prevention curriculum. Grassroot Soccer and their Partner NGOs tend to see a large amount of success upon partnership. However, the situation in EG has been quite different. GRS has seen an unusually low number of interventions.  Hence, yours truly steps in to try and support a wonderful group of dedicated individuals and an organization unlucky enough to work in a country steeped in bureaucracy, pessimism and lack of trust. 

My goal now is to make plans for a beach trip, be flexible in work and have fun with my roommates, co-workers and neighbors. I just realized I haven’t done a dinamica in almost ten days, since I’ve been here in EG and I’ve yet to meet the team of coaches. I think I need to do a dinamica and laugh. To date in Malabo I have seen a Gospel show, timed the national youth development swim team at the Olympic center, been on national television and am living without running water in the middle of the city (I woke up at 6am today to fill up 30 gallons of rainwater in our storage tank which is a pink trashcan). Fun has definitely been had and the only thing to really do about the water situation is just laugh and hope the water comes tomorrow. I’m learning to get clean with a liter of water, which is a skill I’m definitely putting on my resume! Definitely feeling the balancing-act right now…

“Birl that log. Find your balance by losing it, and commit to feet in motion until you’re birling and the log is spinning. The log isn’t going to spin itself, you know. A spinning log is stable for a while, but not forever. That’s why birling is worth watching.” – Seth Godin, V is for Vulnerable, Life Outside the Comfort Zone.

Dinamicas

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning do to do afterward.” - Kurt Vonnegut

Laughter, fun, joy, simple as they are, seem distant when one is under pressure, stress, operating from a fearful, judgey, dark place. Living, working and experiencing the culture of the DR was both frustrating and exhausting at times, especially in the beginning when everything was new, different and unexpected. I remember feeling in quite a dark spot at points during the first year of my PC service. Something that truly helped bring lightness into my Peace Corps service in the DR were Dinamicas. What are dinamicas? Simply put they’re icebreakers. Dinamicas could be a song, dance or interactive game, get to know you activities and a promotion of fun and or solidarity. Yeah, I hated this kinda stuff for a long time, like I said, I was in a frustrating and dark place. Somewhere along my journey my attitude flipped when I saw how much fun everyone was having and I was exhausted sitting on the sidelines being unhappy. I wanted to feel part of something greater, bigger and well, have some fun! Laughter brings light to the darkness. In my case, dinamicas brought light to my darkness.

I embraced the use of the mini-teambuilder/energizer/song and made it work to my advantage. I became more at ease beginning meetings with an icebreaker. I imagine you might say, “icebreakers changed your service Dan? Really? You went halfway around the world, left behind your family and friends and a decent job to ‘discover’ a songs from third grade grammar school?”

Uhm, yeah!

I can remember being quite nervous standing in front of an audience, no matter how large or small, and trembling at the prospect of speaking with all eyes on me. I remember thinking, “What are they going to think of me? Are they going to believe I’m some kind of idiot up here blabbering on about nothing? I’ll go blank and forget what I was going to say, lose my train of thought! They’re going to JUDGE ME!” I’m certain to actors, teachers, and public speakers may experience this, especially when they are novice.

So, the icebreaker or dinamica gave me the opportunity to shake off the nervousness, let the negative feelings drip off my pores and release, allowing me to embrace my joy, laughter and have  a little fun. It gets me out of the dark place. Dinamicas became part of my routine, working with kids or adults, professionals. I would start off most any class, presentation or meeting with a dinamica.

I was very excited to learn upon my arrival to Cape Town and the offices of Grassroot Soccer that the culture of using icebreakers and songs is deeply embedded in the experience. I can tell you the joy I felt in the first encounter with the GRS representatives from all over Africa, at a professional development conference where thousands of dollars were spent getting people to the event, was a DINAMICA! LOVE IT.

I’m posting a video of one of the dinamicas which was led by two of the Grassroot Soccer staff members during our second day of training. I caught a majority of the icebreaker on video, which is a new one to me I might add. The leaders formed two groups, one who prefers coffee and the other who prefers tea. Watch what ensues!

I hope you integrate laughter into your life with kids, adults, and humans! I continue to doing my best to keep laughing.

 “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

“And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up” – J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

Oh yeah, I can identify with Salinger, I’m that guy in the movie theatre and yes, people, mostly loved ones are usually telling me to shut it.

To be of Use

I was going through some of my old graduate school readings and came across this poem. It spoke to me and still does. Thanks Nancy! 

TO BE OF USE

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Marge Piercy

South Africa, Cape Town, First Impressions

South Africa, Cape Town

After living in the Dominican Republic for 33 months, I went to Indianapolis for about five days then journeyed off for my first trip ever to what my friend Laura calls the “Mamma Africa” and on to the small coastal town of Cape Town. Cape Town South Africa! Never in a million years would I have thought I would arrive here in Mamma Africa. It always seemed so distant, foreign and unreachable. Africa was the place for, well I don’t know really what I had made up, however it was just too far removed from my experience. I think I had put up economic barriers, like usual, along with which came a variety of other barriers (mostly psychic and make believe but man those seem so darn real sometimes) which really aren’t helping anything or anyone in the long run.

Anyway, perhaps you aren’t reading this necessarily to see the inner/outer workings of my thought processes. I’m going to take a stab at doing this blog again, to keeping you updated to my physical, emotional, professional, cultural and various other meanderings.

To catch you up on my life most recently, one of the projects I worked on in the Peace Corps Dominican Republic was an HIV prevention curriculum based on teaching basic HIV knowledge through the use of games, activities and fun. The curriculum was developed by Grassroot Soccer, an NGO based in South Africa, and we (Peace Corps DR and DREAM Project) adapted the lessons to fit the cultural context of the DR and named the curriculum Deportes para la Vida or Sports for Life. The lessons are simple, easy to teach, easy to learn and in the end of each lesson a simple preventative message is taught. In addition, the program is not only a curriculum, but also a leadership development program. Typically the lessons are taught by host country nationals, in my case by Dominicans, Haitains or Dominico-Haitianos. The local leaders, whom at the end of the five day training earn the title of trainers or coaches, are taught the program methodology through the five day course which includes teach backs, a variety of ice-breakers, leadership, planning and becoming part of a larger community of volunteer leaders. The trainings and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the coaches are supported by the DREAM Project (a local Non-Governmental Organization or NGO) and the Peace Corps Dominican Republic. I had the good fortune to work with the program delivery (teaching) for essentially my entire service. I was directly associated in working on program administration and delivery with the inspiring National Director of the Sports for Life initiative who is a DREAM Project employee. Throughout my project I collaborated with a great number of highly dedicated, motivated and passionate Volunteers, staff and Dominicans.

In the DR we have literally BLOWN UP (this is a good thing) this program by developing a large number of trainers who partner with Peace Corps Volunteers in their communities to teach the program. We have seen success implementing the curriculum in terms of number of youth reached (the target age range for recipients is 12 to 18) and number of trainers/coaches developed. Peace Corps Dominican Republic, in partnership with DREAM Project, had developed a leadership and incentivizing structure which includes a way to move up the ladder to becoming the next level coach. I have seen some incredible growth amongst the youth leaders who at each step of the way are able to take on more responsibility, leadership and ownership of the program.

That’s the short of it…I’ll write more about it when I get down to finally writing my masters paper…

So, through what I call my good fortune, I was offered an opportunity to come to Cape Town, South Africa to spend a week with the Grassroot Soccer staff before heading off to Equatorial Guinea as a “Consultant” on one of the Grassroot Soccer programs in development here on the great “Mamma Africa.”

The flight to Africa was surprisingly smooth. With the exception of a two and a half hour delay at the commencement of my flight in Indianapolis, all of my connections were well timed and the international airlines have their shit together. I got food and tons of it (I can’t even venture to remember the last time I received one full meal on an airplane much less three), all you can drink beer and wine (I only took advantage of having a couple beers) and the movies and television were all you could watch. Needless to say, I felt like a kid in a candy store, much like I felt for the entire week in Cape Town.

Upon arrival in Cape Town, my first impressions of the GRS staff was absolutely incredible; warm, friendly, kind, sincere, authentic, energetic, professional and fun. Whether or not the office climate is truly that way when there isn’t a conference or major event is to be determined, nevertheless they seem to know how to put on a good face. I immediately felt welcomed both professionally and personally. I spent a week representing the Dominican Republic, Deportes Para la Vida, Peace Corps DR and DREAM Project (despite not being directly asked to do so by any of the organizations nor GRS, I just did it).

The conference I attended has been developed to connect the GRS programs operating throughout Africa and allows their leaders the opportunity to meet, share best practices, discuss solutions to common problems and overall participate in the family atmosphere of GRS. Included in the conference were representatives from Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia and South Africa. GRS operates in partnership with either local NGO’s or have fully developed an Affiliate program in these countries.

I was able to take advantage of getting to know my Equatorial Guinean project partner a little more and learning about the multi-faceted GRS operation on the continent of Africa was, to say the least, exciting and stimulating. Throughout the entire week I felt encouraged to express my opinion, fully participate in the conference and generally get to know the GRS culture. The environment created was just what I needed coming off of a three year stint as PCV. While in Peace Corps I did experience aspects of what I will call “learning culture” it definitely did not permeate throughout Peace Corps. While it is possible I have been blinded by my excitement upon arrival to “Mamma Africa,” I trust my feelings to guide my experiences and I have an optimistic feeling about it.

One of the commonly shared frustrations amongst program managers was difficulty in motivating volunteer coaches and specifically how much to pay them, if anything. After struggling with this very issue with our Dominican Republic program for the last year of my Peace Corps Service, it was reassuring to note we aren’t the only program feeling as such. While GRS doesn’t offer any tried and true solution to any issue (they certainly do not offer a one size fits all answer), I was encouraged to learn GRS has organized a Coach Development curriculum and are invested in the coaches learning and futures beyond working in the capacity of program delivery.

I was quite simply excited, honored and felt very fortunate to be the Dominican Republic representative chosen to come to the Promised Land of GRS. We speak often of GRS in the DR and to actually see and experience the oft referred to office, meeting the founders and the experiencing the caring staff was like going to Mecca for me and likely would be the same for many of my fellow PCV’s and DPV colleagues. I perhaps have seemed to put GRS on a pedestal, making them out to be this wonderful and perfect group of people, perhaps they are. Nevertheless, if I have put them on a pedestal, they asked me to join them on that podium as part of their family and firmly embraced me with thoughtfulness, support and love on my journey.  

Please excuse my friends...

Please excuse my friends, the Girasoles…

Hi Sunflower Wirth friends and family! Hope this letter finds you well.  Actually, this is meant to be more like an old fashioned excuse slip… Remember the kind you’d have to turn into the teacher when you were absent? You all are the teachers and I am the cool best friend who is forging an excuse slip so they can play hookie from writing a blog post.  And to explain to all their loved ones why you probably not have heard from Phoebe and Dan in a while…

 I am Pheobe and Dan’s closest neighboring volunteer and a close friend.  I live in a community about 10 minutes away.  And if it makes you feel better, I just recently met their ‘new’ cat, Chocolate, who they’ve had since December. It’s definitely not that they don’t care. And they certainly haven’t forgotten about you.  It’s partly because there is no dawgone signal where they live.  And they’re, well, busy.  “Busy with what?” you might ask.  They live in a tiny rural community where it is actually considered a pastime to sit under a tree all afternoon for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the shade and breeze. 

Let me clarify; in their free time - when they are not heading up initiatives, writing grants and manuals, preparing for and facilitating classes or painting murals - they are sharing their time with other people. Compartiring, as the Dominicans say.  And Phoebe and Dan are expert compartirers.  They are the masters of small talk. “How was your day?” Sometimes the response goes something like: ‘yes, yes, wonderful now let's talk about mine.’  Most other people have a small circle of friends that they will actually devote 20 minutes of honest effort and attention to listening to the rather insignificant details of their day.  But Pheebs and Dano really want to know and extend this courtesy to just about everyone in their community.  (NPH has over 200 youth, and that’s just the kids; Batey Montecristi has over 2000 people).  Imagine that.  If you have any unlived dreams about being famous or getting elected to some sort of public office, I recommend you pay Phoebe a visit in her community. Walking down the street with her is pretty darn close to getting a sweet taste of what celebrity must feel like.  With every step you take, people are shouting her name.   “Gira! Gira! Girasol! Girasol!!”  Spanning 50 yards takes a little over 45 minutes because everyone comes over to shoot the breeze and Pheobe artfully gives everyone her unrushed attention. (Let me also add that much of the small talk that happens in such tiny, rural communities is a repeat of previous conversations, for instance, if someone stole a goat you’re probably going to get the same story fifty times with only slight variation.)  So as you can see, this is a pretty amazing skill. 

Pheebs recently planned an Awesome field trip for International Women’s Day.  It was one of the most memorable things I’ve done during my time in the country, (and not only because the bus got stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out with a 35 year old tractor.)   It was partly so special because the group of girls and volunteers got to meet and talk to Dede Mirabal, the only living Mirabal sister, whose family resisted the Dominican dictator Trujillo and who are now national symbols of anti violence campaigns across the DR.  Dede is now 87 and still receives groups regularly who come to home to answer questions and tell stories.

 Let’s be honest, we all really struggled trying not to act like star struck preteens.  We couldn’t exactly run up to Dede jumping up and down like I know we all wanted.  I think we successfully didn’t freak her out.  But I couldn’t help but to think that the whole situation reminded me on a smaller scale of Pheobe in her community. I kept thinking Why? Why give so much time, effort and energy to people you don’t even know?  When someone asked Dede something similar, she said, “Why not? Other people are deserving of my time.”  Huh, good answer.  One that Pheobe later told me struck a chord in her.  Go figure.

Again let me reiterate that it’s not that they’ve forgotten you, it’s just that the level of dedication they give to their Dominican neighbors is extraordinary.  Please excuse them, it not their fault for seemingly falling off the face of the planet.  This is just the way they are, very generous with their time, a very rare quality in any country. Vicky Harbison, YFCD 517-10-02 

Estamos Perdidas!!!

Phoebs has a new blog for all of her rambles. Check it out and follow it at this link!

http://plgirasolsunflower.blogspot.com/

Deportes Para la Vida (Sports for Life)

This summer I had the opportunity to work with the professor of physical education at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos giving talks about HIV/AIDS prevention and sexual health education. we had a group of 17 participants aged 10 to 14. Why HIV/AIDS prevention and why would I be working with a physical education teacher you ask? Well, let me back up a bit and tell you more.

During our first ten weeks of Peace Corps Training, we learned about a variety of programs that already exist in the DR and in which we could participate or develop in our site. HIV/AIDS prevention is one of the driving forces behind funding here in the peace corps DR, therefore programs that educate youth on HIV/AIDS prevention are popular. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) website in 2009, in the world there were an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.5 million children under the age of 15. In 2009 an estimated 1.8 million people died worldwide, including an estimated 260,000 children under the age of 15. Here in the Dominican Republic, WHO in 2007 estimated that 71,000 people were living with HIV and an estimated 3,300 children were living with HIV. During our Peace Corps Training, we were given information that suggested closer to 1.8% of the Dominican Population is living with HIV/AIDS. With a total population of 10,090,000, this would put the HIV/AIDS estimate closer to 180,000 people. It is difficult to get an accurate read on the number of cases of HIV/AIDS in the DR based on a variety of reasons including stigmatization of the disease. In the Dominican Republic individuals are 6 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than in the United States.

While sexual practices in the DR may be improving, the society has a reputation of promiscuity and infidelity and the use of contraceptives is also stigmatized. I write this neither to pass judgement on the country, culture, the people nor society of the Dominican Republic. I am writing this to give you a background and context to the situation here. Not all Dominicans are promiscuous nor are all husbands/wives cheating, however the general likelihood that this would pass is much higher here than it would be in most parts of the United States. The danger with this type of behavior could be a rapid spread of HIV, making it a worse situation than it already is, which is where the Deportes Para la Vida, (DPV) program comes into the picture.

DPV was started as a grassroots program in Africa, Grassroots Soccer, Because soccer is the most popular sport around the world, the developers of the program used games and soccer drills to break the myths, stereotypes and stigmas of HIV/AIDS amongst youth. The program in the DR was started as a pilot in 2005 specifically to work with at risk population sin Bateys, Haitian immigrants, Dominicans of Haitian descent and Dominicans. Within the past year, the Peace Corps partnered with the Deportes Para la Vida program and has offered two trainings to volunteers and youth counterparts.

Back in March of this year, both Phoebe and I attended the second training for DPV with our community counterparts. I am working at an orphanage therefore I was able to bring two members of the community; employees, with whom I thought I could work to develop the program for the kids and staff at the home. This summer, we started our initiative with our target group of 10 to 14 year olds at the home. We had a group of 17 kids, 9 girls and 8 boys who completed the program. Working with the kiddos was excellent, but working with the physical education teacher was a the most rewarding experience. Seeing how well he was able to pass along the information to the kiddos, use the games and curriculum of the DPV program to teach HIV/AIDS awareness, I truly believe that we could be making a difference in the lives of youth at the home.

Partnering with the physical education instructor was suggested to me by the Peace Corps because often the youth do not have much organized nor structured learning in the physical education courses. DPV is made to be fun, interactive and educational; perfect for a gym class. The kids we taught are now not only more conscientious of how to support members of society with HIV/AIDS, but also they have learned ways in which they can live their lives in a healthy manner.

We are planning to continue the courses this fall and hope to work with the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classes at the orphanage. Gym class will now be educational!

National Camp Superman

I recently had the good fortune to participate in a 5 day national boys camp here in the Dominican Republic called Campamento Superman. The Peace Corps Dominican Republic boys initiative was started relatively recently, within the past couple years I believe, and is a nice compliment to the tremendous work that is taking place with the young women of the Dominican Republic. The boys initiatives, from my experience, are really beginning to grow and we are fortunate to be developing opportunities for young men aged 10 to 14 to experience teamwork, talk about gender roles, play, exercise and visit parts of the country they have never visited and may never visit again. We camped in tents for 5 days, an experience that many young americans have not had. For others, camping as youth was an integral experience in our development as young people creating a lifelong appreciation for the natural world.

Our tent city

Camp Superman involved 16 lucky volunteers and 45 young Dominican boys in a beautiful location in Los Bueyes, in the Dominican province of Espaillat. I was able to bring three boys from my boys science group at the orphanage. The boys and I left the home at about 8 am and arrived at the lovely site of our camp around 3pm, after riding in several busses and topped off by an amazing two hour truck ride up the mountains! We camped on the the banks of a gorgeous river, which also served as our afternoon showering hole and swimming hole. The boys, divided into five teams, were placed in a variety of situations to work together, improve their teamwork, communication and problem solving skills and promote their individual self confidence. I led a couple activities and I witnessed my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers leading a variety of powerful and memorable activities and discussions throughout the long weekend.

boys chillin at the regional superman

The boys walked blindfolded in silence through a grove of trees following a rope. The boys had to find their way through a labyrinth using a process of trial and error. They worked together to get the entire team across a rope representing the obstacles in their lives. The boys constructed boats out of sticks, tarps and cardboard one afternoon and then floated them down the river. They boys learned about nutrition, made masks, and conducted a wide variety of science experiments. We visited a waterfall, went on a hike and enjoyed watching a movie while eating popcorn one evening. They learned Karate, did warm up games and exercises every morning, and learned about HIV/AIDS prevention through a program called Deportes Para la Vida (Sports for Life).

One memorable moment for me was listening to a fellow volunteer narrate the story of "Where the wild things are" while seated around the campfire and watching the story acted out by volunteers and the boys. My favorite part of the story was watching many of the boys join in the "monster party" by dancing around the fire with wild abandon, getting in touch with the playful and joyful little monster inside of us all.

Another memorable moment was witnessing and participating in a discussion about gender roles in the Dominican Republic. The boys are confronted with a machista culture, a.k.a. male dominant. What this means in practical terms is that boys are not encouraged to take on tasks or chores that are seen as stereotypically feminine or female. This translates into boys learning at a young age to defer household work to the girls or women in the home, often times with a very degrading attitude towards the women and those who partake in this type of work. What my role is, as I see it and as many volunteers see it, is to open and create a space where these roles and stereotypes can be questioned and discussed and potentially redefined. It was a requirement of the camp for the boys, in their teams, to do the dishes. While this is a small step, it may be the first time in some of these boys lives they have been required to do the dishes. I hope they went home to help their family out!

I have discovered my new favorite game, Alka Seltzer Tag! We played this at the regional camp superman and it is quickly becoming the keystone game to the field day activities. For those of you who are not familiar with the game, you poke a hole in an Alka Seltzer tablet and thread a string through the hole. You now have a necklace which members from the opposing teams attempt to get wet, so as to activate the process of dissolving the alka seltzer tablet. Once the tablet is dissolved, you are out of the game. I think I'll bring this one home to the family reunion!!

Camp Superman wouldn't have been complete without an epic soccer game during a rainstorm. A couple of the volunteers played college soccer and a couple others, like myself, played throughout high school. We gathered our teams, chased the ball around the slick grass and jumped around in the mud. It was an absolute ball!

While there are many more memories from the camp and very special moments that were shared amongst volunteers and the youth, these memories will be left for another day. I'm lucky to live in a country like the DR and work with volunteers as dedicated and professional as the volunteers in the DR.

Peace Out, Danno

Me and my boys in front of the waterfall

Karate!

The view above our camp

Construction of the boats

Attempting to float

Sinking before he had a chance!

Girls Group take one

My girls group started with the most excitement that I have seen in this country. The girls were excited to have a new event, new group and have the focus be solely on them providing them a space for empowerment, learning and fun. However, with all good intentions, I still get to make mistakes and learn from my missteps. So, with that in mind, here is part one of a multipart blogpost about the journey of me and my girls group. The journey is not yet over, it's only just begun. So any potential negative ending hasn't really happened yet, it's my pessimism, being balanced out, or sometimes making me loco, by my hopeful idealism; I won't stop believing. The more I reflect on my girls group, the happier I am that I am working with them.

My group started when I took two girls to a regional girls conference and after the conference we met, planned for the following weeks meeting. They decided who they wanted to join the group and we all worked together and wrote invitations. The first meeting was awesome! There was lots of energy, the girls were leading the icebreakers, name games, discussions and I was getting to know the girls more. We used a few get to know you techniques from the girls curriculum which was developed by other peace corps volunteers. I found the worksheets extremely helpful and it gave the girls something to focus on during the class and helped to ease them into the curriculum of the program and gave me an opportunity to get to know them a little better. For example, we shared our nicknames, hometowns, how many brothers and sisters we have in our family and things like that. We had about two or three classes with this type of getting to know you activity.

When the group was starting, I had applied for and received a grant to celebrate international women's day, march 8th 2011. We celebrated the event on March 12th 2011 and several of the girls helped me in planning the event. Reflecting on the planning for this activity, I may have made one of my first missteps. I asked four girls, girls who didn't go to the conference, to help me in the planning...eh, my analyzing mind thinks this may have thrown off the event or the group as a whole or perhaps I offended the two girls I took. (I haven't worked with teenagers, much less teenage girls, in this capacity for quite some time and sometimes perhaps I forget to be more conscientious of my audience). I also may have offered this activity too soon in the existence of the group and didn't quite have the confianza, trust, needed to pull of the activity successfully.

Despite my analysis and reflection now, generally the women's day event went off well. The girls learned to make several different art products from recycled materials; tambourines, maracas, drums, mirrors and little lizards. I gave a talk about gender roles in the culture with one of the girls in the group (one who came with me to the conference) and about 35 girls from the home came to do art activities in the neighboring community. It was really cool to see the girls working with community members and doing different types of artwork that they may not have worked on before. The girls worked alongside members of the community, their caregivers and a few internationals, myself included. Some pictures of the event are below.

My awesome welcome sign made with the help of my wife

The youth hard at work learning their craft

The youth working on their mirrors

Finished products

One of the lizards finished and painted

Overall, the event was a success. The girls got out of the orphanage for an afternoon, shared learning a new activity with the neighboring community, used some of their creative/artistic mind, and were able to take a little souvenir home with them. Moreover, they got to see that they can be artistic with products they have lying around the house or can be easily found for little cost. I thought it was cool.

What I'm learning is that I can be pretty hard on myself. I had one idea of how the event would go and lo and behold, the event went a completely different direction. Does that make the event a failure or my girls group a failure? No, not at all. I'm learning to be easy on myself and let events and moments unfold as they're meant to. With all the planning in the world for an event, aspects will end up differently than I had imagined, and that's okay. In the end, the girls learned something and had a new experience. I hope I can, and I will, continue to provide that opportunity for them.

Boys Group

BOYS GROUP

Imagine a room, a school classroom in the Dominican Republic, where 10 young boys learn basic science skills, listen, are attentive and interested in the subject matter. It's not possible you say, I didn't think it possible...on a certain level of my consciousness I did believe. After my first three classes failed to keep the interest of the boys I was hoping would turn into my rockstar leaders, I decided to forge ahead and hope that some of them would stick around and stay interested. I mean, I was dealing with some serious behavior management stuff that I haven't dealt with since those old AYA days and I was dealing with the behavior without any apparent structure nor consequences. For example, in the middle of explaining the days lesson during my second class, not rocket science stuff I know, they were to pick out a picture from a magazine, cut it out and glue it to a piece of cardboard (they would eventually cut the picture and cardboard up to make their own puzzle), one of the kids gets up out of his seat, walks over to the other side of the room and roundhouse punches another kid across the back of his head. The assailant then strolls back to his seat, sits down and continues flipping through the magazine looking for an appropriate photo! I'm thinking to myself, what did I sign up for? and WHY DID THIS KID CLEAN THE OTHER ONES CLOCK?? I still don't know why and likely never will. The kid who got his noggin smacked didn't even bat an eye nor try and fight back.

I'm not a school teacher. I have little training in teaching and much less experience. I'm much more comfortable in settings outside the confines of a four walled classroom (I would have been more comfortable and at home under the shade of a tree in the town park or in the mountains, not in a classroom. And for my AYA'ers this kid and I are going on a long long long walk and it'll be me, you and gavin, or simon, or andrew, or jack, or dustin or...you get the point). Not only is teaching both my boys and girls group a personal challenge, but also I find myself conflicted because I have this resource (an actual classroom) which so many of my fellow PCV's don't have, would kill for (are writing grants for) AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!

Well, thankfully I know an excellent school teacher and I get to speak with her everyday, my wife. She has been helping me set up a classroom management structure that the kids sometimes respond to and other times, well... After my first three disastrous boys classes, I created the sticker chart AND knew that I had to do a science activity the boys would love. I got lucky, I think. I found a used two liter bottle of coke, bought a liter and half of cooking oil, filled a 12 ounce coke bottle with water, bought alka-seltzer and borrowed food coloring from the volunteer house at the orphanage. I showed the boys how to make a lava lamp and they were transfixed. At the end of class I introduced the sticker behavior chart which would reward the boys for their participation, attendance and behavior during class. Even in the DR, stickers work, more or less, to entice the boys to come and participate and most importantly, their behavior has improved. I haven't had any clock cleaning incidents. I feel like my classroom is much safer for the kids and maybe they are learning, a little.

My favorite class, since blowing their minds with the homemade lava lamp, has been teaching the boys about movement/flight/force. I gave a brief lesson on measuring and force (Remember I'm a psychology major so Anthony go easy on me). The boys taped a string on one wall, measured it and marked it every 10 centimeters with a black marker, blew up a balloon, taped a drinking straw to the balloon and slid the straw through the string. Next, of course, they let go of the balloon as it flew in their faces because they put it on backwards! Once they figured out which direction to put the balloon on the string, they were laughing and jaws were wide open as they watched the balloon slide down the string and slap against the wall as the string ran out.

I loved seeing the smiles on these boys faces, their giggles of laughter as they enjoyed themselves in attempt to get their balloons to smack harder against the wall. For 15 minutes, they let go of their incessant need to fight, be bigger, badder and cooler than one another. They were just kids playing with balloons. Then they went back to "normal" and asked me for more balloons so they could chew on them like pieces of bubble gum. Okay, no you don't get another balloon kid. We did put washers on the balloons, making them weigh more. I attempted to teach them that the heavier an object is the more force is needed to move it along the string. I'm not sure if they got it, and may never be sure, but at the end of every class, when the boys give me a handshake, or fist bump or a hug, I get something.

Web Articles

My friend Christina wrote threes very flattering articles about some of the work I've been doing. Push THIS BUTTON, follow the link and you can read what she wrote about my work with the girls group.

I've also been teaching a small group of kids swimming. Follow the links on the NPH homepage to read the article about the swim club.

No government shut down in the cane fields

No government shut down here in Batey Monte Cristy. We received a formal letter from our Peace Corps Director this week. Volunteers don't stop working :) We are doing well and very busy. Our internet service is either really great or non-exsistent so hang in there friends and family. Hopefully, this weekend we will have decent service and we can respond to several of the looming unanswered questions and e-mails. Both of us have been working on different projects with the Youth in our project sites and this weekend we are off to a conference focusing specifically on families as a whole unit. Hooray!!! We are looking forward to a visit from Dan's Mom next week, our first visit in country! And then, Cortney & Kylie (CO friends) in June and Phoebe's parents! More soon, sending you all peace and best wishes, Phoebe and Dan

Is anybody out there...

Hi friends and family,

We would like questions, prompts and any ideas for blog posts...Please comment, please let us know what you are curious about...we would love to fill you in.

Danno and Phoebs

La Luz Se Fue...The Electricity Went Out

So last night we were battling with our new friends and neighbors a group of bats rapidly multiplying in our wall. We were trying to close off the eaves of the house with a plastic bag and duct tape, well the little buggers were crawling under the plastic bag barrier and crawling around on the wall then flying through the house. We were trying to shoo them out the door, Dan is howling in fear swinging the broom around, while Phoebe is laughing...and in the process we hit the main wire of electricity running into the house and unbeknownst to us, it melted and fried when one of the currents was eliminated. This is only the beginning of our night adventure. At 9pm the electricity turned back on for the evening. The only reason we knew it was because our 70-year-old nearly deaf neighbor had the TV on so high we could hear the program in our living room. We both looked at each other confused because our house was still dark. So, we went over to our neighbors house, which led to her screaming at our other neighbor to confirm we had luz/electricity. What a mystery? Then all four of us in our pajamas started poking around the house with candles and flashlights until it was found and confirmed several times, yes the wire coming into the house must have disconnected, pure genius. So, you would think any normal person would have said goodnight and gone to bed, waiting for a professional in the morning; oh, no...not in the DR. Both neighbors told us to immediately turn off the breaker in the house. The next thing we knew all of the 3ft extension cords from both houses (four total) were being connected and then through gruff commands were being run from the window of a neighbors house into the window of our house, and that's where it got really interesting. They gave us the male side of the extension cord? We asked them to give us the female so we could simply plug in our fan and go to bed. "No, foreigners they told us, we know about this and you do not. Poor foreigners don't know anything about being innovative with electricity" they said to each other. We were dumbfounded. If it wasen't for our basic understanding of D/C and A/C currents at this point we would have thought they were going to blow up the house. Then, our little Dona neighbor unhooked the wire from the socket, inserted the positive and negative into the female part of the socket, wrapped a bag around it and screamed to us, "Plug it in!" We both looked at each other and in unison said, "You!" Then the lame Americans waited for the gutsy grandma from next door to come over, plug it into to our socket and, lo and behold, our electricity was back. Impressive. Today a professional came over and fixed the disconnected wire in about 5 minutes. We were more then grateful and so was the yogurt in the fridge. This taught us two very important lessons, to never doubt ingenuity, and to leave fixing electricity to professionals and grannies...also, an industrial extension cord might be our next purchase or wish list item for a suitcase in the states.

Educational Entertainment...Need a new book?

A few folks have asked us for a list of books to read we could recommend about the DR, andmovies to suggest...these resources touch on the culture we are immersed in, the population weare working with and the history of the region we live in...this is a work in progress:

Fiction...

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alverez

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Dantica

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junet Diaz (Crude language and a lot of Spanglishbut very realistic)

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracey Kidder

Non-Fiction...

The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky

The Devil Behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republic by StevenGregory

Why the Cocks Fight Dominicans, Haitians, and the Struggle for Hispaniola by Michele Wucker

Movies...

Road to the Big Leagues Starring David Ortiz and Vladimir Guerrero 2008

Sugar Starring Algenis Perez Soto and Andre Holland 2009

The Price of Sugar Narrarated by Paul Newman

Enjoy!

Chicas Brillantes

Hi friends, family, and followers,

We are up in the mountains of San Cristobal for the weekend for a gathering of girls of all ages from all over the southern half of the Dominican Republic. The conference is called, "Chicas Brillantes" or in English, Brilliant young ladies. We both brought two girls from each of our work sites along with fifteen other volunteers to a weekend camp...girls only; Dan and the other four male volunteers don't count. We are all sleeping in bunk beds for the weekend, eating group meals and well...doing girl stuff. It is our first official, "Camp" and we are feeling very psyched about being here and having the privilege of bringing girls from our proper sites.

Girls in our Batey and in DR society in general are encouraged to stay in the house helping their families with daily chores, rearing children, etc. Often in our presentations in the community or informally during visits we will hear older women or older girls telling younger girls, "Tu no sabes.." meaning in English, "You don't know" this phrase said over and over again, resulting in cultural oppression among the female gender. Education is valued in an urban setting more than a rural setting based on access and resources...so it is not always an easy feat to rally girls to leave the community, this is a very big deal!

During our Chicas Brillantes Conference, The girls have had presentations and discussions on topics such as; self-esteem, conflict resolution, parts of the body, teenage pregnancy, health, gender equality, and heroines. Dominican nationals as well as volunteers have led the presentations, and many questions and insightful dialogue has been presented in the process of talking about many issues that are naturally silenced within this society. As the weekend progresses the girls have become closer, forging friendships with other girls from other regions and more sensitive topics are being presented based on the level of trust.

We watched Mulan, great movie if you haven't seen it! And then discussed how women are capable of changing gender roles and doing nearly anything a man can do, exceptionally empowering. We are both feeling inspired, and content, and having moments this weekend when we are beginning to realize, "Ah...yes, this is why we are here!" as we witness and participate in a genuine experience with our Peace Corps peers.

Wishing you all the best. We love questions and comments and love,

Danno and Phoebs

Daily Schedule

A few folks have asked about my (Phoebs), “Daily Schedule”…most days

• Wake up and make the bed 6-7am, tuck in mosquito net to prevent creatures in bed
• Make breakfast with windows and doors closed (Coffee, oatmeal, homemade yogurt and cereal and/or fruit)
• Dishes in two dish bins (similar to camping) in the house
• Sweep and Mop the floor while spraying for roaches and moving around rat poison
• Look for Water at the neighbors and fill up h2o tank, then clean the shower before the electricity turns off in the whole Batey
• Yoga 10-12, shower with a bucket afterwards (Always)
• Make and eat lunch with all the windows and doors closed
• Walk around the community, have a bit of coffee and chisme (gossip) and tell community members and parents about the classes offered tonight
• Reading hour with whomever comes to read, hopefully the students whom need to practice their literacy skills, the electricity comes back around this time….
• Meeting in the afternoon with one of the organizations or/a break to prep
• Make a snack and eat it in the house or eat a snack at the meeting
• Go running with a group of wild girls
• Teach English, girls group, adult literacy, or Sexual Education until the electricity goes…when the light goes, class is over…
• Make and eat dinner with Dan…and yes everything closed again
• Sometimes visit and play cards
• Wash feet, hands and face…very important to prevent parasites
• Off to sleep…ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz, and then we wake up when the electricity goes

*Please note, no internet access in my life on a daily basis…this is very special when I get to use it. For meals, all the windows and doors must be closed while eating or preparing food or we are expected to provide food for anyone that walks by…tall order when a dozen people walk by the house sometimes. We are learning more and more daily…Peace, Phoebe