Another tragedy

Yesterday, I found out that yet another youth (in this case, a man probably not older than 25) died in the nearby town in a tragic accident. This guy was speeding downhill on a bicycle in the dark when he lost control and flew over a ledge, landing on a shingled roof below. The clay shingles pierced one of his lungs, and he died before he even got to the hospital.

What is is about El Salvador that makes so much stuff like this happen? A girl in my town already drowned at the beach; another boy in my friend's site was decapitated while thrown from the back of a pickup truck speeding around a curve. Are people just more careless here? Sure, there are so many deaths by car accident in the States, but I wouldn't be surprised if the overall percentage was higher here. A while ago I heard a news report about a driver in the city center of San Salvador who was driving recklessly and ran over some pedestrians...while they were on the sidewalk. And while the streets here aren't as chaotic as Bangladesh or Vietnam, I would still be scared to drive around in this country.

It just seems like so many of us in the Peace Corps are exposed to these freak accident tragedies at least once during our service here. Maybe it has something to do with poverty -- the town might have been poorly lit, leading to the cyclist's fall. Poor Salvadorans don't get swimming lessons, hence the drowned girl. And the kid was decapitated on a barbed-wire fence, which you mostly see in poor rural areas. And maybe American streets are more orderly because we've all been able to afford cars for decades. I don't know. Maybe poverty has nothing to do with it at all. Theories are welcome.

Paz y amor.

CENTA

Well, Friday, the long-awaited day finally arrived: the 7th, 8th and 9th grade field trip to CENTA (the national department of agriculture, basically) and ENA (the national agricultural university). I had come up with the trip and solicited the transportation, but luckily teachers, parents and the principal got really excited about it and helped me organize. So at 7 a.m. 90 kids, 10 parents and 5 teachers boarded two buses and off we went.

We got to CENTA at least an hour late because a landslide was blocking the highway (thank you, rainy season) but got to see a lot of cool stuff with members of the fruit program, which I picked since our site has so much fruit in it and one of CENTA's fruit guys is from our area. It was really hot outside, and one kid who hadn't eaten breakfast fainted, but was soon brought around and stuffed with bread. By the time we finished our tour of the ENA, at 3 p.m., teachers and students alike were saying things like, Ya no me aguanto! (I can't take it anymore!) But I think all of them were excited to get out of school for a day -- they NEVER get field trips here, and I remember in elementary school we would get field trips like once a month. Even the bus ride was a treat for them, as we drove several departments away and most of these kids have rarely been farther than the nearest city. A lot of kids spent the whole two-hour trip hanging out of the windows like dogs, watching the scenery pass by.

I, of course, was tired and headachy by the time I got home, but happy that something that I had planned for months was finally over -- and apparently a success.Chopping pineapple roots using a special guillotine (yes, that's what they call it.)
The rose garden. Of course kids started picking the specially bred roses...
A tilapia pond. Mmm...tilapia...

Paz y amor.

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday, Sept. 16, was the one-year anniversary of our arrival to El Salvador. Some people have been saying this year went by so fast, but I definitely feel that I've been here that long.

A lot has changed. I, formerly the D.C. bright-lights big-city girl, now live in a rural farm community and for the most part am used to it. I don't go out on Saturday nights, or really ever after dark. My projects involve building and growing things (NOT my area of expertise) instead of observing and writing things. I used to always be going a mile a minute and now I have a lot of time alone.

But, like I said in my earlier post, I really miss my old life, maybe too much. Thanks everyone for their advice on what I should do.

In a year, I don't feel I've achieved a ton, but that's actually OK -- the big stuff doesn't usually get done until a volunteer's second year. I have taught A LOT of English classes, some environmental classes, helped the youth group organize trips and fundraisers, helped the school with various events, gone to a few trainings. Tomorrow is our field trip with all of 7-9th grade to the national agricultural university and agrotechnology center, which has been months in the organizing, and we're about to start computer classes too. And I've just gone to a lot of village events and worked on projects with pending outcomes -- getting stoves built, getting scholarships for some high school and college students. And I've been put in charge of the Peace Corps traveling theater group. It sounds like a lot, or maybe it doesn't -- it doesn't to me because there's still so much time spent not doing much of anything. I've made a few friends in my community, but my best times have been with my fellow volunteer friends, in the capital or travelling around the country.

I guess we'll see what the second year holds. If I make it that far!

Paz y amor.

Happy Independence Day, Again

Tomorrow, Sept. 15, is the day El Salvador, and much of Latin America, celebrates its independence from Spain. But schools in rural areas were forced to celebrate this yesterday (probably so everyone could attend the urban celebrations tomorrow?) So my school put on a big parade and it was really exciting. For a school with next to nothing in terms of money and resources, they really pulled it together. The band (drums and trumpets) sounded good and the parade costumes (made by the director's wife) looked great.

I had not planned to march in this parade. Instead, I was standing in front of my house on Sunday morning in faded jeans, a soccer jersey and shower sandals snapping pictures as it marched by. Then my school director, the mayor and the asesora departamental (think county superintendent of schools) passed by, dressed to the nines, and literally dragged the raggedy gringa into the limelight with them. Thanks guys.

Marching in a Salvadoran parade is an exercise in patience. It took us an hour to cover the microscopic distance between my house and the school -- done in slow, mincing steps and long motionless pauses. Luckily this gave me lots of time for pictures:An unfortunate biker tries to wend his way throughArriving at schoolKindergarteners are cute.

Speaking of patience, I am also going through a really rough patch in the Peace Corps right now and started thinking last weekend about coming home. When I joined the Peace Corps, my biggest concern was that two years would be too long for me to be missing my friends, the reporter's life I loved so much, family etc. I told myself I would definitely stick out the first year and then see how I felt. Well, now I'm coming up on a year in country, a ton of my friends who went on one-year abroad programs are coming home, and although a lot of this year has been great, right now life is extremely frustrating. So I'm doing what I did after my grandmother died, the only other time I've felt like bailing...I'm giving it a month and then deciding. If I feel better, I'll stay; but if I don't, I could spend a miserable year waiting for things to turn around, or I could come home feeling good about living in El Salvador for a year and contributing to my village in a few small ways.

Thoughts would be appreciated. Paz y amor.

The 9/11 Post

I didn't get on the Internet today intending to write about 9/11, although I did remember that today was the anniversary. But then I saw so much in the news, and on Facebook...God help me, I jumped on the band wagon.

My life is currently flooded with patriotism, because today is El Salvador day at my village school, in anticipation of the Independence Day festivities Sept. 15. But in a teachers' meeting to plan El Salvador day, even the Salvadoran teachers remembered the date as "cuando las torres se cayeron" (when the towers fell.)

First, about Obama's proposal to turn today into a day of service: as a Peace Corps volunteer, my opinion might be obvious, but I love it. It doesn't cheapen the mourning -- people can still remember their loved ones and honor their memories by contributing. Wouldn't that be what the NYC firefighters and the passengers on United 93 wanted?

Second, I'll join the throngs of people who are posting on the Internet where they were when they found out: I was in the new wing of Eleanor Roosevelt High School, waiting outside the door of Ms. Burr's Spanish class for homeroom to start. A friend came up to me and told me what had happened, and I laughed because I thought it was a joke. Then I thought it was an incredibly strange freak accident, and we really need better commercial pilots. Only when we all sat down and watched the news in my next class, World History, did I realize it was a terrorist attack.

Thirdly, I couldn't believe this story in The Washington Post about high school juniors who don't remember 9/11 and have to learn about it in history class. God, do I feel old.

This week I attended a training on child and maternal health in El Salvador with my community counterpart, who is a volunteer health promoter in my village. It was crazy to hear some of the myths Salvadorans believe about pregnancy, like that boys are only born during the full moon or that if you have a premature baby, it means you can't get pregnant again, or that you should never have your baby in a hospital because they do the epistomy afterwards (they do it at the right time here, it's just that the mother doesn't feel it until afterwards.) Some of these myths, as you can imagine, can hurt the mother and baby.

I wanted to put up some photos I've taken recently, but this computer hates me (a computer in a Salvadoran cyber cafe, not working? Never!) Next time, maybe.

Paz y amor.

Some stats that make me feel lucky...

From the Peace Corps/El Salvador Women and Youth Development Committee:

While basic public education is free and high school matriculation is also paid for by the Salvadoran government, families still must pay for school uniforms, books, transportation to and from class, as well as bear the burden of funding extracurricular activities. Many rural families, earning an average of $4 per day, struggle to put food on the table, making it even more difficult to provide for their children`s education. No student loans are available through the government.

Furthermore, the gap between rich and poor citizens, within both developed and developing nations, is growing, according to the UNDP 2007 report. While the richest two percent of the world's adult population owns more than half of global household wealth, over a billion people worldwide in 2007 had an income equivalent of a dollar a day or less (UNDP Report 2007). Thus, for more than a billion people worldwide, education has become a privilege instead of an inherent right.

Of Salvadoran youth,
• 48% aged 15-24 attend school
• 88% of those who study belong to the upper-class
• 40% say they are optimistic for a better future
• 50% live on a disposable income of less than $2/day

On graduation rates:
• 36% of Salvadoran youth who are studying finish 9th grade
• Only 12.6% will graduate from high school
• 1.26% of those will study in college
• 0.013% will graduate from college
• 25% of all Americans have a Bachelor’s degree

Of the 52% of Salvadoran youth aged 15-24 who are not studying at any level,
• Some work as farm hands picking coffee, cutting sugarcane, and growing corn for $5 per day
• Some work 12-hour days in clothing factories for $50 per week
• Some work as maids in wealthy households far from their families for $4 per day
• 42% of youth currently seek jobs
• Only 36% of youth say they are confident they will find a job

*Source: 2005 Government youth survey from the National Secretary of the Youth, La Prensa Gráfica

For these reasons, a group of Peace Corps volunteers formed a committee with local nonprofit organizations to provide scholarships to poor, rural Salvadoran girls who without outside assistance would discontinue their studies. This scholarship program, called Mujeres y Jovenes en Desarrollo (or Women and Youth Development) not only provides the means for girls with the aptitude and desire to continue their studies, but also provides them with technical training that compliments their studies (under themes such as leadership development, women's empowerment, equality, and community development).

Northamerican friends and neighbors along with Salvadoran businesses donate each year. We sincerely thank those who have donated already this year, as we have met our current goal of raising $2400 by Labor Day.

We will be continuing to accept donations in order to award an increasing number of scholars for the 2010 school year.

---

I always complain about how hard it is to afford higher education in the States, but obviously the situation here is far worse. It's so sad to see, as I see in my community, talented and motivated youth who will not go to the university because of money alone. My family couldn't even afford state school for me, but luckily scholarships are widely available in the States and I benefited from a ton of them. Salvadoran youth don't have the same good fortune. I am pushing one of the girls in this community to apply for this scholarship; she is one of the hardest workers I've ever met and will not go to the university without financial aid.

To donate to WYD: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=519-122

In other news, we swear in the new volunteers tomorrow, so it's party time! I also officially take over the Peace Corps/El Salvador theater group tomorrow.

Paz y amor!