Now is the time to add your part!

Hello blog readers!

As you saw from the last post, I am now starting the process of giving projects to the families I have been working with. I am going to need some help from you folks back home! Now is your time to shine and become part of my projects by making a financial contribution. What ever you feel you can give will be much appreciated by the women and their families. And if you can't give financialy prayers are always appreciated too :)

You can send your cotribution in the form of a check to the following address:

Friends of Guatemala

P.O. Box 33018

Washington DC 20033

Please add "Kelsey DeMull Cat. II" to the memo line so it makes it to my account. 

Donations can be made until the end of February. 

Let me know if you have any questions. In the mean time check out the pictures of some of the families you will be helping out with your donations. Many of them will be receiving new cook-stoves, cement floors, or latrines. These projects will help reduce the rate of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections.

Thanks so much!

Kelsey

It's Project Time!

So yeah, checking on my last blog update and seeing that I was at the end of August, I decided that I better make time to update my blog for you readers that have been patiently waiting for me to get my act together and update. I think I have some form of seniorits as I am on the downhill slop of my time of service.

A few months ago we training with Peace Corps staff on the planning and execution of projects and with this all of my focus went to thinking about my projects. I started visiting homes last month, checking in on the needs of the women that have participated with me. I made it a requirement that in order to be considered for a project, they had to attend the majority of my meetings, meaning no more than 4 absences. My reasoning for this, is that I am looking for beneficiaries that I know are dedicated to improving the health of their families and their community and I feel that their attendance and participation is the best way I have to gauge this. I have one last group of home visits to complete this week and then I will be done with the first round. I hope to return to their houses at least one more time before making the final decision, to build relationships and make sure their are dedicated to the process and understand it well

.After the first set of  home visits are complete, I will be starting on giving infomational charlas about the process of them getting projects and what their participation needs to look like. These will be mandatory for all those that will receive projects and those that miss 1 or more will no longer be on the list to receive projects. I am looking at about 50 projects but these numbers may come down if women decide not to show up.

Once I complete the informational charlas and determine more accurately the number of beneficiaries, I will work on competing my grant application to receive money that comes from USAID SPA (Small Project Assistance) fund. In order to make the process more sustainable, the community has to contribute at least 30% of the total cost. This is a requirement of the SPA grant and with out the contribution of 30% from the community, I cannot receive the grant for the rest of the cost.


So for now, this is what my job is looking like. I am getting away from the bimonthly charlas, but I hope to get back to some form of health promoter training to better prepare the women I have been working with before I head out of here. I have also been invited to start another women's group in a different community. I was contacted by a family member of a women that has participated in one of my groups and asked if I could start working with a new group of women. I gladly accepted this invitation. I was excited to have them initiate the group. I plan on keeping this group pretty low key, not going for any training but just showing up monthly and giving charlas on preventative health topics. I will also be working with my sitemate Marlaine and tag teaming this group. We had our first meeting at the end of October and will be doing it again at the end of this month. The women seem pretty interested, so I am pretty excited to get going with them.

In other news, I helped out translating with a group of dentists that came down to do a dental mission near my site. It was a two day event and pretty low key and fun. It's always nice to have community with people from the States, sometimes I miss being surrounded by people from the same culture as me. I got hooked up with this through one of the ladies that attends the missionary church I have been attending. They were looking for translators and I was free so it worked out well.

So I guess that's all I've got for now. Here are some prayer request:

-A note of praise that my sitemate Marlaine and I have been growing in our friendship and we are able to work quite well together.
 -For a friend, that God would open his heart and that he could experience God's love and salvation.
-For wisdom and patience as I carry out the process of projects.
-Another note of praise, that the recent presidential elections went over with minimal back lashing and prayers for the governemental future of Guatemala, that it may move in a positive direction.

Thanks for reading :)

Month of August Update

Hello there,
I hope that all of you that are reading this are well and that is not so with you please let me know that I may pray for you. So here I am at the near end of August, time sure is flying. I still have some moments where I stop and think for just a second to myself and I say "wow, I am really doing this. I am really here." Even though I have been in country for around 17 months, every once in a while I am just amazed at myself, surprised that I have made it this far, makes me feel like I can take on anything! But with the 17 months behind me that means that there are only 10 ahead...that to me is crazy too! I feel like I have so much more I want to do here and I am not sure that 10 months will allow for it all, but on the other side I am ready to get back to what I left back in the States, of living in a culture that I understand and being around a language that I am completely fluent in. At the same time I am thinking of how much I want to get back to the States, I am really trying to take it all in here, knowing that one day I will be among the beautifully simple culture here. I am trying to absorb as many of the moment that I can, storing them away for a day when I will look back in my life and remember this experience.

They say here that for most volunteers, the second year is a whole lot better than the first. I think mine will definitely be going that way. My first year was a challenge to find my bearings and figure out how to best carry out my work here. I still don't feel like I understand it as much as I would like to but I have a pretty good grip of how I can best work here. Between now and the end of my service, I will have the opportunity to carry out health infrastructure projects that will help families improve their health. Projects could be one of the following: Improved Cookstoves (to help decrease exposure to smoke that is plentiful when they cook over open fires), Cement floors (helps decrease cases of diarrhea and respiratory illnesses), and latrines (again helps decrease cases of diarrhea with the proper disposal of human waste). We had a conference 2 weeks back with Peace Corps on how to build these projects and also in the management of the projects. It's going to be a good chunk of work but I am looking forward to taking it on for the sake of learning this new skill. We will have to do some grant writing to obtain funds for our projects. I am anticipating it to be stressful experience but a great learning opportunity. And for those of you who may be wondering about making donations, at this time I don't believe that I will be needing them. Peace Corps has a decent amount of money to help with the projects but I might find a need for funds in other areas and in case I will let you all know.

Happy August everyone. God's blessings to those who are heading back to school soon!

Kelsey

How's it going?

So it’s about that time….I should be getting around to another blog post. Not really sure what to write about, guess I will just give a well rounded update on life here in Guatemala.

This past weekend marked the year for my service here in Guatemala. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long but then again it does. I remember getting to my site last year and checking out facebook pictures of people enjoying the summer in Michigan and getting jealous of the beautiful weather and all the fun activities that were being had while I was gone. Now I feel a more comfortable about being here, enjoying what Guatemala has to offer instead of missing what Michigan has going on. I am ok not being in the heat and humidity that Michigan has right now.

I am slowly coming to appreciate the things that Guatemala has to offer. Right now it’s a bit difficult because we are in rainy season and it rains pretty much every day to varying degrees. Right now as I write this the sun is shining, which doesn’t happen too much right now. I sat in it for a while but then my work beckoned me and I had to leave. It’s hard to stay dry and dry things that get wet but it gets done in due time. I am happy that rainy season has it’s time here and it will soon be over.

I am coming to enjoy a simpler way of doing things, of stopping to smell flowers or watch children play. I am coming to find joy in the simple things in life which I think can sometimes be a challenge with all of the distractions that we have in the US. Here there is so much less to distract a person and often times the only things a person has are the simple things. I have learned the art of doing nothing, not sure if it’s an accomplishment that I should be proud of or not.

For those of you who are thirsty for details, yes I have started dating a Guatemalan. His name is Carlos. He is 27 years old and it one of 10 kids. He is the third oldest and works for my old host family which is how I met him. He makes t-shirts that get sold in the markets around where I live. He is a Christian too like I am and was very open about his faith when I first met him which is what drew me in. He is very respectful, which cannot be said for many Guatemalan men. We don’t spend much time together as he works a lot but I think its better that way, taking it slow. We plan on taking it nice and slow to make sure we create a good foundation for our relationship because if it’s something that is going to take some work, we want to know that it’s going to work.

I told myself when I came here that I wasn’t going to date a local because it would be difficult once my service ended and I head back home. God works in some pretty crazy ways and right now I am just trusting him with my future and hoping for the best. If anything it is an opportunity to grow and learn. We have talked about the future and honestly it’s pretty scary and a lot to think about. I just need to have faith that what God began between us He will finish in a way that benefits us both.

I have really enjoyed having Carlos around because he has been a great encouragement in my faith. It isn’t anything that he actively does but just by his actions and how he pursues his faith, it makes me all the more want to pursue mine. On another note of pursuing my faith more here, I have started going to a church that meets about an hour away from where I live. It is a missionary church that consists of missionaries that work in and around the city where we meet. It has been a great blessing in my life. I have made some great connections there and have been encouraged in the work that I am doing here. The service takes place in English which offers a break from the Spanish and Quiche I hear around here. I have also been to a church with Carlos, in the same city. That service is in Spanish and it has a wonderful praise and worship band. I like that it is something we can do together.

Prayer request:

·         For my relationship with my sitemate, that we can have a good working relationship and support each other.

·         For a brother of a friend from church who is 55 and is in heart failure. He is a believer.

·         For my work here as the time to being projects is approaching. Please pray that I may have discretion in my work as it can be a challenge to do sustainable work and also give out projects.

Thanks,

Kelsey

5 gallon bucket

So today I decided to hang out at my house and get some cleaning done and just relax. I slept in and started my day with leasuire and so far it has been pretty relaxing. As I was working on my cleaning, I noticed how useful my 5 gallon bucket is so I decided to share that with you.

1.      1.  One of the most frequent uses for my 5 gallon bucket is to collect and wash my clothes. I use it as a dirty clothes basket and then when the amount of dirty clothes builds up, I either wash them myself or bring them to the lady that washes my. If I decide to wash them myself, which happens every once in a while, I add some powdered laundry soap and then water. I let my cloths soak for about a half an hour. After the half an hour, I take the bucket down to the pila and pull out pieces one by one and scrub them by hand with a bar of laundry soap. After they have been thoroughly, I rinse them out and then wring them out. After I all of my clothes are washed, I throw them back in the bucket and take them back up to my balcony and hang them up on my line. I have been told by my old host sister that I can’t wash clothes very well. I think I am doing pretty well for only having a year of experience compared to her 10.  

Most of my clothes however are not washed by me but I take a load weekly to a lady that lives down the street. She washes them for me in exchange for a small fee. There are women in the community that wash clothes for others to earn money. It is a very traditional society here in terms of gender roles. The women’s place is in the house and the man leaves to work and earn money for the family. The woman that washes my clothes has an alcoholic husband. He doesn’t work very much and when he does the money goes to buying alcohol, leaving little to nothing for the family of 7. She works odd jobs like washing clothes or dishes to earn money for to support her and her children. I don’t really want to wash my clothes all the time and if I can help this woman earn some money to support her family, all the better. 

2.      2.  The second use I have for the 5 gallon bucket is mopping the floor. I try to mop my floor weekly because I teach the importance of having a clean house and feel that I must practice what I preach. Things here just seem to get dirty a lot faster than when I was in the States. 

3.      3.  The third and final use for my bucket is for bathing. No, I don’t hop in the thing and wash myself but use it to hold the water that I pull out with a smaller dish to bathe. They don’t have big water heaters here but have a small device the more fortunate use to shower. I had one at my old place but am not as fortunate at my new place. The device is a larger shower head that heats the water that flows through it. I think I may have mentioned it before. Where I am now there are just shower heads but just the simple ones that you would find in an American home. I guess the landlord thinks that I like taking cold showers? So now instead of taking a cold shower, I heat up a big pot of water on the stove, pour it into my bucket and then add cold water to make it a comfortable temperature.  I take my soap and bucket to where the shower area is and use a small dish to pour the water over myself to bathe.

So yeah, my bucket comes in pretty handy for life here in Guatemala and for how useful it is, maybe I should have more than one. Happy Saturday everyone! God’s blessings!

Kelsey  

Link to pictures of my new place

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100105362834055.2528725.22423429&l=a635537032

Finally!

So for those you who haven't heard, I moved! I was more than ready for it and am happy that it finally happened. I had given my number to the landlord and he said he would call when it was ready for me. Well, that never happened so I decided to call him and he told me that it was ready. That was the middle of May. I stopped over and talked to him and also to get a good look at the place to make sure that it was truly finished. I visited the place on Thursday and was hoping to move in that weekend but I opted to finish up the month with my host family as I had already payed for the month.

I moved my stuff on the 27th with the help of some co-workers from the health center. That's one thing I really like about everyone I work with, they are willing to lend a hand. I have accumulated lots of stuff in my year here. I remember coming into country with my two suitcases, now I think I have 3 times more stuff.

I went out Saturday and bought a new bed. The one I had before was a wood frame and a mattress pretty similar to a futon mattress. I was getting used to it but I am happy I made the purchase of my new bed, a whole lot roomier and much more comfortable.

So I was going to rent the three rooms on the back part of the house on the second level. He originally told me it would be 600Q a month but then upped it to 900Q a month so I opted for two rooms. One is the kitchen area and the other my bedroom. I pay 550Q a month. It is a much nicer price than I was paying before. Another good thing is that I don't have to pay electricity but it's included in the rent. They installed a water tank so that I will have water all the time even when there isn't any in the town. I am supposed to have my own bathroom but it doesn't have a door yet so I don't use it too often. There is another bathroom on the roof that I use more often. They installed a shower but it isn't the one that heats the water so I haven't used that (and don't really plan to). I am hoping to get a shower head that heats water installed but until then I will either be showering at the health center or heating up my water and taking bucket baths.

All in all it's been a great experience living on my own. The family is around during the day so I have some company and then go home at night so it's nice an quiet. I am slowly getting used to being on my own, but I think I am really going to like it and I think I can get used to it.

Pictures to come soon!

Medical Missions

Today, I had the opportunity of working with a team of doctors that came in from the States to help with an NGO called Companeros de Salud (Partners of Health). They are an NGO that performs operations free of charge to those in need. They do surgeries to correct hernias, remove benign tumors, remove extra fingers or toes, fix scars (mostly from burns), cleft lips and pallets and others. Doctors come in from the States for 5 days to help do consults on the potential candidates. Once the candidates for surgery are found, logistics are set up and they receive their operation in one of the NGO's surgical centers. The operation is free of charge and patients must just cover transportation and food cost for the week but they are provided with a place to recuperate and space for family to stay with them.

All of the doctors spoke little to no Spanish, so that's were I came in to help translate. I was a little nervous yesterday wondering how I would do but once the day started I quickly gained confidence in my speaking Spanish. It was a challenge to go back and forth with Spanish. A few times throughout my time there I was speaking to the Spanish person in English and the English person in Spanish. There were some points too that the people only spoke Quiche, so I had to pull in my usual translator to have her tell me what was going on in Spanish to be translated to the doctor who spoke English. Oh the wonders of being bilingual!

All in all it was a great experience but mentally very exhausting. The team that came to work at the health center was very easygoing and friendly and really nice to work with.

Now I am going to head to bed, my brain needs some rest.

A Day in the Market

As most of you know, Sunday is the big market day in my town. Some of the bigger towns have a consistent market throughout the week that has a day or two when it gets engorged with sellers and buyers but in my site we only have one big day. The local people live off of the market and can find almost anything they will ever want or need. 

The market has been a constant source of fresh fruits and vegetables here for me. I have been overjoyed with the abundance of fresh picked produce and it has made it quite easy to eat healthy. I am so glad that my mother always made me eat vegetables. She has given me a habit that will benefit me for the rest of my life. Thanks Mom! 

Here is a breakdown of my purchase yesterday at the market along with the cost (note: the US dollar is now worth only 7.50 Quetzales):

1lb Tomatoes- 1.50Q

2lbs Potatoes- 3Q

3 Medium sized Mangos- 3Q

2lbs Green Beans- 5Q

3 Avacados- 3Q

2 Peaches- 2Q

Pkg of 4 ears of sweet corn- 6Q

Bunch of 10 small onions- 2.50Q

3 Peppers- 3Q

2 chocobananos (frozen bananas dipped in chocolate with nuts)- 2Q

½lb Campo cheese (cheese made locally, a mild white crumbly cheese) 6Q

Other things that I get from the market (just not this week):

Broccoli- 3Q

Carrots- 1Q/piece

Eggs- 10Q/dozen

Bread- 1Q/2pieces

Cauliflower-2Q

Black beans-7Q/lb   

Pineapple- 5Q

Cantaloupe- 5Q

Small Watermelon-5Q

I hope this gives you a better idea of my life here in terms of eating. I was a bit intimidated of the market when I first got here but now have grown more or less accustomed to it. The market starts in the early am around 5:30 or 6 and goes until about 1:30 or 2. I have found the best time to go is around noon. Going too early means fighting a big crowd of people which I am not a big fan of. You either have to go early early or late, close to ending time. The benefits of going later is that sometimes stuff cost a little less or you can bargain for a less because many of the sellers don't want to haul stuff back so they try to get rid of as much as they can.

Until next time,
Kelsey

A year in country

   Yesterday the new group of trainees came into country. A year ago that was me, excited yet totally freaked out about the endeavor in front of me. I have come a long way since then and I can't say that I would like to repeat the experience. It was quite a challenge, to come away from everything I have ever know, forced to take on a new culture, a whole new way of life. There were so many times in my journey here to where I am now as a Peace Corps Volunteer that I just wanted to give up, turn around and head back home, where things were easier and it didn't take so much just to get through the day. During training, I learned to take it one day at a time because any more would cause too much anxiety. I have since been able to look more into the future without getting too anxious.
   Seeing the last group of trainees come in, made me realize how far I have come. While being here, I have taken on the challenges and have grown and learned from them. It has been a gradual growth, not something can easily be noticed but requires a reflection and a looking back and perhaps a comparison to those just arriving in country. I have learned many things about myself, some good and others not so good. I have become more patient and understanding to others differences. 
      Yesterday my sitemate and I celebrated our year in country by baking brownies and talking about our experience so far. It was a great time of reflection and a good time of looking at where we would like to be when we end our service here. Through talking with her I was able to realize some of my weaknesses in leadership and figure out how I want to improve them. I want to use this experience to the fullest extent to prepare myself for my future job and life.                        
One thing that I am finding a challenge to learn is not to base my productivity on how busy I am or the changes that I see but more by my investment of time. I have learned the challenge of development work and have see that there are certain things that can only be accomplished through someone investing time in someone else. Development work is a challenge too because a lot of time gets invested in others and one doesn't always see results. The country director here in Guatemala (who served in the PC in the 80's) told us that we just have to know and tell ourselves that we are making a difference because we probably won't see results and it can get defeating putting in long hours teaching people better habits only to find them stuck in their old ways.

All in all I can say it has been a challenging experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. My experience here is working its way to the PC slogan "the toughest job you will ever love."

Will it ever get done? Coming to the realization

On Monday, I stopped into the place where I want to move to check in on the status. I didn't expect much because I have learned from time that if I have my expectations high, most likely I will be let down. I have dealt too much here with the occurrence of 'the boy who cried wolf', too many times I have been told a date of when the house would be finished, only to be left disappointed as the date came and went with no visible progress happening on the house. I originally when to ask about the room at the end of September and told the landlord that I had a little time left before I would be wanting to move. I guess maybe I shouldn't have told him that and maybe for this reason he still isn't rushing to get it done. If I were him, I feel as though I would get a rush going on things because the American is going to be living here and paying me rent so the sooner I get it done the sooner the money will be flowing it, guess he doesn't have that mentality. So after them telling me that it would be done at the end of November and having that date come and go, I inquired about moving in after my vacation in the States for Christmas, which they said wouldn't be a problem, but come back only to find the house in the same state as when I left it in December. From there I got the date of the end of February, which also came and went. I was then told the end of March and that came and went followed by the second week of April which as very quickly slipping out of my hands and I fear the same result will happen. 

I came to the realization on Monday that I need to move on. My patience has been tested to the max with this experience and I feel that I have grown a lot with it, but there comes a point where I need to be realistic and see it for what it really is and accept that fact that maybe it isn't going to ever happen. And with that realization, I decided to check out other places, something I should've done a long time ago.

I went out yesterday with Marlaine talking to all the store owners to see if they knew about places for rent. I found two places, looked at one of them and it seems promising although it is right next to the cantina so I am not sure what PC will say about it. The other place I will check out depending on what PC says about the first find that I have. I called my APCD (program director) about coming to see it and even he was surprised to hear that the other place wasn't done yet and though maybe it would be a lack of money that is preventing them from finishing. The next time I see my counterpart at the health center I am going to talk to him about the situation and have him call the owner to see what the issue is. If money is the issue, PC can front the money and then I can deduct it from rent I would have to pay. We shall see.

I would appreciate your prayers for continued patience and wisdom in this situation and pray that a new place may come through for me soon.

...To better blog posts!

ok so I guess I need to admit if you haven't discovered it already, blogging is not my strong point. I haven't been to regular with my updates and I have been struggling for topics, but after talking with my mom about ideas and finding out what she would like to see I feel like I have a better idea of how to do it. So here is a toast (lift your drink with me) to better blog posts...wish me luck!

So an update on my other house and my current one: I went to visit my future residence this past Tuesday and was pleasantly surprise.I believe there is only a week or so left. The only thing that needs to be finished is the bathroom which just includes installing a toilet and shower, roof and a door and also a door at the entrance at the back wall. It has been a challenge to gauge the amount of time until completion because I haven't really figured out how they work here, all I know is that it seems painfully slow by American standards. I hope to be there before the end of April but only God knows if that will happen.

As for my current house, they are adding a third level. I feel like it's more of a show than a necessity but that's just my opinion. So now on top of the noise that comes from the guys making shirts above me now comes more noise from the guys working on the third level. I am not a huge fan of the increase in people in and around my house. I enjoy my own space and I feel like it's growing smaller....one of the many reasons I am looking forward to my own place.

Hope you enjoyed the new and improved blog post and please feel free to leave comments about topic suggestions...thanks much :)

Kelsey