Sunday, August 12, 2007

Life in Cubulco…


Sorry it has taken me a while to post an update, the Internet connection here is painfully slow so I haven’t been able to connect. I’ve been in Cubulco for about 3 weeks now and it feels as if I’m starting over again. The Peace Corps says that the hardest time in a volunteer’s service is the first 3 months at their site. It has been a challenge, sometimes I think about how life was in the States and I start missing home. Work is what has really kept me motivated. There is tons of work to be done. So what do I do? Well currently I have been familiarizing myself with the areas in which I will be working. I will be working in 14 different communities in an area called Chitanil. The only catch is that these communities are pretty far from Cubulco. So my typical commute to work goes something like this: 45 minutes to 2 hour motorcycle ride through the mountains (no paved roads), it’s kind of like dirt biking…except that you start walking funny after the 2 hour rides. The motorcycle ride only takes you part of the way there, since the paths are pretty treacherous. We have to leave the motorcycle at a certain spot and then start hiking. Some hikes are better than others and they range from 1.5 hours to 4 hours. So I’ve definitely been getting my exercise in the mornings. Because of the extensive commute, sometimes we have to stay the night in the community…this is the tough part. I’ve only had to stay 1 night out so far, but it is exhausting! Not really any food in the towns, we usually eat eggs and tortillas, so I usually pack a couple of sandwiches to take with me. The living conditions in the communities are pretty harsh. Water and food are scarce and only few houses have latrines. My job now is to map out the communities needs i.e. figure out what they have, what they need, and then prioritize those needs. Once we figure out the needs of the community we will put a proposal together to get funding for the projects. The hardest part is getting people in the community organized and motivated to help in these projects. We want to get as many people in the community involved so that these projects are sustainable…meaning when we leave they will be able to maintain and if needed replicate the technologies. But people in the communities have to work everyday just to survive so asking them to give up a day of work to help build latrines, for example, is asking a lot.

As for me, I’ve been doing well health wise. There are lots of mosquitoes here so I’ve had to put a mosquito net around my bed and build screens for my windows. The weather here is pretty nice, it’s hot but without humidity and at night it gets cool. I had the opportunity to visit some really scenic waterfalls around my area and also a huge rope bridge hanging over a river. I will try and post something at least once a month, if possible! Thanks for reading and for the emails…they are encouraging!!

Here are some pictures that I’ve uploaded: