So its what... the third week in site? I was freaking out for the first one and a half weeks or so... i think i'll be ok. the town is quite a quiet town. i have started to get to know some people and it seems like everyone is interested in know who this gringo (le gringe in kiche btw) and what is she doing here/what is she going to give us.
that btw is something that has been bothing me a lot since i've been here. the whole, what project is this gringo going to bring culture. i was talking to one of the health educators today as we were doing some house visits and she totally agreed with me. she works for this governmental program called mi familia progresa and they just recently handed out a bunch of vegi seeds to the families for them to grow their own vegis with the hope that they will provide a more balanced diet for their families. anyway, the educator was saying that yea, there was another program that handed out seeds but the stipulation was that you had to use only organic fertilizer and some other rules which led to a bunch of families dropping out because the organic fertilizer is difficult to make/maintain. she told me that a lot of people here want these things, like free vegis or in my case latrines, water tanks, improved stoves or cement floors, but they don't wan to work hard for it. its what they call the project culture, and i guess it happens in a lot of "developing" nations. places like the US and Japan etc. come here and dump projects on the people and then they leave. on the surface it sounds like a win win, these people get stoves and the americans get a sense of pride. but what does that do for the guatemalan sense of self determinaiton. they didn't have to work for these project and the are essentially getting hand-me-downs or excess from the providers.
its something that i really don't want to do, so when people ask what i'm doing here i focus on the education portion of the work i'm doing, but they all know that i am a potential project for them. bummer dude. while talking with the educator i was telling her that i don't want these families to change their health practices while i'm here just to get a project and when i'm done or they finish the project they can just go back to pooping on the floor or eating corn and beans all day. you know what she told me? yea that will probably happen for the majority of families. WHOMP. But, she said that maybe a few will actually change their habbits. one can only hope.
other than that not too much going on here either. this week has actually be a lot better than last week. i've been keeping pretty busy all week. i've been going out with the health educators and doing some house visits to families participating in this government program for poor people. its pretty interesting to see the poorest of the poor here. the less fortunate families have houses made out of adobe (bricks made of mud and straw) and have no cement floors or flusing toilets etc. the animals just run around doing whatever they like. yesterday i remember i went to visit a house and there was a little girl around 2 or 3 and while we were talking with the mom i hear this farting noise. i turn to see what made the noise and it was the girl popping a squat, taking a piss and poop right in the middle of the patio. that's not even the hardest part though. there's one familiy (not sure if i told you about them) that has two little boys 3 and 4 years old. they are so malnourished its insane. a lot of kids here are malnourished becuase they're so poor and because all they eat is corn and beans, but these kids are crazy sick. the 4 year old only weighs 15lbs and is 70cm tall and the 3 year old weighs 15lbs 12oz and is also 70 cm tall. it just blows my mind.
the good thing is that the health post is keeping a good eye on them. this week they are getting a visit 3 times, although we'll see what good that does. they also get packets of nutrient boosing peanut mush. its all the kids eat. the packet is about the size of a deck of cards and sometimes the kids won't even finish the whole package in one day. i think there must be something else worng with them.
anyway. other than house visits i've been sitting through some meetings. yesterday there was a meeting of midwives and that was interesting (and by interesting i mean incredibily boring). it was about 3 hours long and i didn't understand a word because it was all in Kiche, but it was good to be there and the ice breaker i did with them really seemed to tickle them. speaking of kiche, i had my first lesson on monday. its such an interesting language and i'm really excited to learn more of it. i'm trying to pick up a few phrases here and there outside of the class. like today i learned the difference between saying good bye to someone you know and a stranger. i also learned how to say esta bien (its ok/very good). small victories i guess.
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