I have never had an answer when someone asks me to recount my most embarrassing moment but I may have achieved just that at the regional 50th anniversary party that we held for Peace Corps recently in the municipality of my capitol city. We had been planning to celebrate President Kennedy's signing of the order to create Peace Corps for many months and had put together an elegant event with photo exhibitions of our work, testimonials from volunteers and counterparts, and words from the Peace Corps Peru director. There were quite a few authorities and important people present and my body thought that it was the perfect time to come down with the flu. I had been unable to eat much that morning so when it came time for snacks I went to town on the finger sandwiches and tiny empanadas. I approached the director of the national park that I live near to thank him for the support he had given the most recent reforestation effort that I have been working on. This man is pretty important in the Peruvian equivalent of our National Park Service. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into when I started a conversation with this man and how sick I was actually feeling. As he got increasingly excited about new ideas to save the forest and help the people who live off of it, I got increasingly woozy. My vision started to get blurry and my sampler of snacks started to make its presence known in my belly. Finally I interrupted a monologue about organic gardens that I would have been very excited about ordinarily and asked if I could sit down. As soon as we reached the trash can by the wall I started hurling everything in my stomach into said trash can in the middle of this elegant event. I was somewhat discreet but the VIP guest I had been talking to felt obligated to take care of me. He gave me toilet paper to wipe my face and a pill that he had from his recent illness. I called one of my friends over to help me out with a plastic bag so that I could get to the bathroom and relieve the park director of his duty. At least I had a hair tie so he didn't have to hold my hair back.
Going along with the theme of uncomfortable situations and bodily functions, I would like to describe what it is like going to the bathroom in my house. I have a real bathroom so I am ahead of many of my friends in terms of amenities and I am not complaining. Many people that I know have holes in the ground and I have heard about encounters with snakes, black widows, tarantulas, and other fun creatures in the bathroom. Luckily I only have to deal with roaches in the bathroom but I often have "why did I decide to do this?" moments when I walk into the bathroom. I usually take a deep breath, wave away the roaches so that they scurry off the toilet seat back into their holes, and then position myself on the cement toilet bowl that is less than comfortable to sit on. The funniest but most disgusting thing about using my bathroom is that it is so hot that I am usually dripping sweat. The sweat droplets are often an indistinguishable sensation from flies or roaches crawling on the skin. I know that this is all a serious overshare but the small stuff like going to the bathroom is so different from my life in the United States that I think it deserves to be explained. It helps to set the scene so that some of you at home can laugh at/with me about my experience.
Workwise, I am trying to train recycling promoters and coordinate a work plan for this school year. So far I have had a good amount of success with both goals thanks to the very active groups that already exist in Pacora. I am working with the women's organization, the university student's association, and the health promoters who I have been training in HIV/AIDS prevention. We are doing door to door training in recycling and giving each household a sack to put next to their garbage can. This strategy will require a lot of follow up but I think that executing this project will be a great way to keep busy until November when I finish my service. There is a lot of potential for me to finish strong as I enter the last third of my time here in Peru and I know it will fly by. Now it is a matter of me cutting back on my reading, movies, and podcasts in order to do some serious work.
Peace Corps funding has taken quite a hit due to budget cuts mandated from Washington. Because of this, some of our larger projects need to be funded through the "Peace Corps Partnership" program. We ask friends and family to donate to our projects through the Peace Corps website. I am starting two projects that we need to fund this way so PLEASE PLEASE help out. The first is a leadership camp for boys where we each invite outstanding young men from our sites who we will train in healthy habits, environmental consciousness, leadership, and other important topics. All of this learning will be mixed in with a soccer tournament and a cross-cultural lesson in s'more making. Last year's event was a huge success and we will need your help to make this year's equally successful. I will be getting the link to donate up as soon as possible and I will also be sending out an email with more details.
Along the same line, I am also working on a calendar recognizing powerful Peruvian female leaders who support volunteers in their work. We made this calendar last year and it has been a huge success in calling attention to the wonderful efforts of ordinary women in our sites. Last year we held a celebratory conference in Lima to which we invited all of the women featured in the calendar. This year we will hold conferences in each of the departments (Peruvian equivalent of states) that has a woman featured in the calendar. We hope that this will allow the women to celebrate their achievements among their own peers and keep our travel and lodging costs down. The calendar last year was the highlight of my Peace Corps experience so far and if you have more interest I can send you a PDF version. We will also be asking you for money for this project as well so expect to receive a link to the project on the Peace Corps website. All donations are tax deductable and these projects will undoubtedly cause a direct impact in many lives. Thank you very much for your support and I hope you will get involved. Tell your friends and family!
As I was posting this blog the project got posted! Please donate!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=527-036
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