I covered my first health topic with one of my promoter groups today, the first group of the week. It didn't go as well as planned and it made me re-think how I am going about my job. My plan is to create health promoters by educating them on various health topics in terms of prevention. After receiving this education, they will begin to work in their communities educating others in preventive health. My original plan was to give six months of health talks, meeting twice a month. After giving this first talk, I am not sure that six months will be enough time to get these women to a level that they can work in their communities on their own. My first group is more of a challenge to work with. My translator didn't speak Quiche but another Mayan Language close to Quiche. I don't think the women understood too well because they were having many side conversations and not really paying attention and when it came time for me to ask questions they just had a lot of blank stares, although a few did speak up and answered. I am trying to find the best way to educate these women because most if not all of them are not accustomed to formal education. They aren't used to learning lot of new information. I try to keep in mind when I give my talks that even if only one or two people understand and gain even the littlest amount of knowledge that it was worth my time to teach them.
I have found that in this job as a PCV, it's a lot of learning as you go and quickly implementing what you've learned, for the best results, it's got to be a quick transition from learning to putting into practice. It keeps me on my toes and challenges me to constantly evaluate and improve what I am doing.
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