check out this link for a posting of more pictures (and no you don´t need a facebook account to see them):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2402086&id=22423429&l=4cf6e686dd
if you can´t click on this link just copy and paste it into the address bar
happy viewing!!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A different voice
Hello fellow blog readers,
I spent the second half of this last week visiting another volunteer. This time there were two other trainees and I visiting a volunteer and getting a better idea of what the day to day experience of being a volunteer is like. I was able to come up with a topic and prepare a charla (spanish for a talk) on the cycle of contamination, that is the flow of fecal matter from it's original point of deposition to being consumed by humans and thus causing diarrhea and other sicknesses. I touched on ways that this cycle could be stopped and contamination prevented by things like washing your hands or cleaning your fruits and veggies before you eat them. It was a relaxing experience with a pace that was a lot more relaxed than training. It gave me a heads up about the adjustment I will have to make once I get to my site, living life a little slower, which I am pretty sure right now I am ok with.
Stemming from the experience of this past week, I have realized how much different I am from the average PC volunteer. I have realized that the typical volunteer is a whole lot more liberal than I am. Many of the people have come in contact have lived lives so different from mine. Growing up in West Michigan was almost like living in a box of conservativeness (for lack of a better term). Before coming here I have had little contact with people who have such drastically different views of the world than I do. A lot of times I just sit and listen to conversations that are happening around me without opening my mouth for fear that I will be targeted or belittled. After talking with individuals from my training group I have found out that even though there is a drastic difference between our views of the world they are respectful of differences. Some of them have encouraged me to put my opinions out there and let people know what I think. I have come to realize that maybe God has called me here to be a different voice among the crowd of liberal individuals and I pray that I may have the strength and courage to voice what I believe and stand up for my opinions.
I have wanted to share this entry from my journal that I wrote when Agatha was coming thru so here goes it:
5/29
Its raining today, I've heard its a storm thats coming thru. It's been heavy since around 2am and it is now close to 10am. Just sitting outside thinking and pondering on why I am here, not in a negative sense, there is nothing troubling, simply a welcomed pause in my training to ponder. From my perspective I couldn't have told I was going to do this as I went thru college, such an "easy" way of taking care of the next two years of my life. The physical process was easy but the emotional is another story. To be here stretches every part of me sometimes to the point of wanting nothing but to return back to the way things were, easy and comfortable, but I know why I am here, at least to a certian extent. I am here to grow and discover things that I never knew about myself, to have experiences that will challenge my thoughts and cause me to evaluate my life. Realizing that maybe I didn't have everything figured out, maybe life is ment to be lived to such a deeper extent than any American had ever lived. This is a big leap of faith, bigger than I realize. Me being here and following the calling makes my faith all the more real. If I am willing to take up an action for my faith how much more reald does my faith become. I am someone who chose to follow a calling in my life. I don't see myself as courageous just as one who is following her directed path in life. If only I could know where it will all lead and what adventures it will hold. But this experience isn't ment to be totally unrolled at the beginning but slowly laid out. Its a journey and it's not just about the destination. So I say to myself and also to you: May your always grab life by the horns and never settle for less than the best. Always leave your hands open so that when you give you may also receive.
I spent the second half of this last week visiting another volunteer. This time there were two other trainees and I visiting a volunteer and getting a better idea of what the day to day experience of being a volunteer is like. I was able to come up with a topic and prepare a charla (spanish for a talk) on the cycle of contamination, that is the flow of fecal matter from it's original point of deposition to being consumed by humans and thus causing diarrhea and other sicknesses. I touched on ways that this cycle could be stopped and contamination prevented by things like washing your hands or cleaning your fruits and veggies before you eat them. It was a relaxing experience with a pace that was a lot more relaxed than training. It gave me a heads up about the adjustment I will have to make once I get to my site, living life a little slower, which I am pretty sure right now I am ok with.
Stemming from the experience of this past week, I have realized how much different I am from the average PC volunteer. I have realized that the typical volunteer is a whole lot more liberal than I am. Many of the people have come in contact have lived lives so different from mine. Growing up in West Michigan was almost like living in a box of conservativeness (for lack of a better term). Before coming here I have had little contact with people who have such drastically different views of the world than I do. A lot of times I just sit and listen to conversations that are happening around me without opening my mouth for fear that I will be targeted or belittled. After talking with individuals from my training group I have found out that even though there is a drastic difference between our views of the world they are respectful of differences. Some of them have encouraged me to put my opinions out there and let people know what I think. I have come to realize that maybe God has called me here to be a different voice among the crowd of liberal individuals and I pray that I may have the strength and courage to voice what I believe and stand up for my opinions.
I have wanted to share this entry from my journal that I wrote when Agatha was coming thru so here goes it:
5/29
Its raining today, I've heard its a storm thats coming thru. It's been heavy since around 2am and it is now close to 10am. Just sitting outside thinking and pondering on why I am here, not in a negative sense, there is nothing troubling, simply a welcomed pause in my training to ponder. From my perspective I couldn't have told I was going to do this as I went thru college, such an "easy" way of taking care of the next two years of my life. The physical process was easy but the emotional is another story. To be here stretches every part of me sometimes to the point of wanting nothing but to return back to the way things were, easy and comfortable, but I know why I am here, at least to a certian extent. I am here to grow and discover things that I never knew about myself, to have experiences that will challenge my thoughts and cause me to evaluate my life. Realizing that maybe I didn't have everything figured out, maybe life is ment to be lived to such a deeper extent than any American had ever lived. This is a big leap of faith, bigger than I realize. Me being here and following the calling makes my faith all the more real. If I am willing to take up an action for my faith how much more reald does my faith become. I am someone who chose to follow a calling in my life. I don't see myself as courageous just as one who is following her directed path in life. If only I could know where it will all lead and what adventures it will hold. But this experience isn't ment to be totally unrolled at the beginning but slowly laid out. Its a journey and it's not just about the destination. So I say to myself and also to you: May your always grab life by the horns and never settle for less than the best. Always leave your hands open so that when you give you may also receive.
Monday, June 14, 2010
A week in field based training
Hello all fellow blog readers,
I returned Saturday from a week of field based training which entailed a group of 6 of us staying and working with a current volunteer. We were able to put into practice the techinical skills we have been learning. It was great to get a taste of life on the other side of training. Days in training can be intense and full of technical training and language classes so it was nice to get out of that. We gave talks to food vendors on proper hygiene, to those working at the health center about how to work best as a team and a nutrition talk to a group of health promoters in a mayan village. It was great practice and interesting to be able to learn a little bit more about the mayan culture. The city where I am currently living isn´t really mayan but mostly ladinos which are a mix of mayans with europeans. It´s all been a great experience and I am looking forward to finding out my site on July first. I will post it when I find out. Sorry this has to be short but I need to do some research for a project.
Much love,
Kelsey
I returned Saturday from a week of field based training which entailed a group of 6 of us staying and working with a current volunteer. We were able to put into practice the techinical skills we have been learning. It was great to get a taste of life on the other side of training. Days in training can be intense and full of technical training and language classes so it was nice to get out of that. We gave talks to food vendors on proper hygiene, to those working at the health center about how to work best as a team and a nutrition talk to a group of health promoters in a mayan village. It was great practice and interesting to be able to learn a little bit more about the mayan culture. The city where I am currently living isn´t really mayan but mostly ladinos which are a mix of mayans with europeans. It´s all been a great experience and I am looking forward to finding out my site on July first. I will post it when I find out. Sorry this has to be short but I need to do some research for a project.
Much love,
Kelsey
Friday, June 4, 2010
Rain storm and then some
I was able to experience my first tropical storm last week Saturday. It rained pretty for around 20 hours. We lost power for a couple days and didn´t have water for a few days and had to carry it from a nearby source. We were supposed to attend a Mayan ceremony but that got cancled because of the excessive rain, so we had three days of rest because Monday´s activities were also cancled. I got in some good quality time with my host family especially my two host brothers who are 8 and 11.
I have sucessfuly made it to the spanish level required but the Peace Corps to be sworn in as a Volunteer but I still have a long ways to go. It´s a good feeling to have that down but I still wish I could be a lot further along. As they say here I will get there "poco a poco" or little by little.
We are heading out on Field Based Training which entails a group of 6 or so training working at a current volunteers site. We will be putting into practice a lot of the technical skills we have been learning for the past month. I am excited to get to the point of working hands on doing things that I could potentially be doing at my site.
I have sucessfuly made it to the spanish level required but the Peace Corps to be sworn in as a Volunteer but I still have a long ways to go. It´s a good feeling to have that down but I still wish I could be a lot further along. As they say here I will get there "poco a poco" or little by little.
We are heading out on Field Based Training which entails a group of 6 or so training working at a current volunteers site. We will be putting into practice a lot of the technical skills we have been learning for the past month. I am excited to get to the point of working hands on doing things that I could potentially be doing at my site.
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