Many of the most memorable conversations I´ve had with people in my site are about health and home remedies. People here rely on botanical medicine and some of the local healers have extensive knowledge of the local plants that cure a wide range of ailments. What they know is impressive and to be respected. The only objection I raise to the use of natural medicines is in serious cases, when a person fails to get better, or needs urgent care, and the family inevitably waits too long to take the person to a doctor. Some of the medicine men´s remedies are guesses, and they have no ¨real¨ training beyond tradition. There are limits to what they do, although the people I live with will be just as quick to remind you that the same is true of doctors.
As a volunteer, it´s important for me to walk the line of acceptance and support for local knowledge, while also offering some ideas and tips from a more modern, clinical perspective.
During my time here, I´ve learned a lot about the basic beliefs and superstitions of the people in my area. Here are a few of the most common :
1. For parasites, diarrhea, stomach ache, etc., follow the following recipe:
Boil very stong coffee in only a few ounces of water. Add the juice of one lemon and dissolve an Alka Seltzer tablet. Drink it all and expect relief within a few hours.
Note: People swear by this. I doubt what value it could possibly have, but it certainly sounds like something that would flush out the pipes.
2. Skin infections. When I was having a lot of problems with infections of my legs and feet, people were always asking who I had been hanging around with. This question made little sense to me, until they explained that the sort of infections I was getting are usually contracted when the afflicted person spends time near a pregnant woman. They say that the ¨heat of her belly¨ causes the outbreak. Don´t worry though. There is a simple cure. Go to the woman´s house and ask her for a glass of water. Drink it all and the infection will go away. But it is important that you drink her water, or else it won´t work.
They are aware that this sounds a little fanciful, so they usually say, ¨I know it seems like a lie, Cati, but it´s true.¨
3. People believe very much in curses, and for people who are chronically ill and don´t get better, or who visit a doctor who cannot render a diagnosis, it is assumed that they have been cursed. The doctor can´t see the disease because it is only the manifestation someone´s ill wishes against them. For this reason, people often don´t take medicine given to them if they believe the root cause of the illness is really a maldicción. (Medical compliance is a whole other issue, which could be a post in itself.)
4. Relationships of hot and cold are extremely important and can explain away the onset of virtually any sickness. For example, one must never bathe right after working, because the cold water combined with a hot, sweaty body is a recipe for disaster. You should also only drink hot drinks when it´cold because that is the only time your body can truly handle them. I have offended more than a few visitors by offering hot coffee on a warm day.
I once baked using my neighbor´s stove, and she came in and told me not to bother washing the dirty dishes. She mentioned how I would get sick if I washed them, because I had been so close to the hot oven and taking pans in and out all afternoon. I thought this was her way of telling me she didn´t mind cleaning up my mess, but I washed the dishes anyway. I received a very angry scolding afterwards, and she checked up on me for days afterward to see if I was okay.
5. Worms (of the intestinal variety) are so normal that people believe they are necessary to digest food. When I talk about eliminating contaminants from drinking water, people have asked, ¨but how can we keep eating if we don´t have worms?¨ I didn´t quite realize how strongly people believe in worms being necessary for sustaining life, until a child asked me if I had worms, and when I said no, both he and his cousin asked in unison how I was still alive.
6. You must never eat pork if you have any kind of medical condition, real or imagined. Any kidney condition will be especially aggravated. (Many have already told me I will have to buy chicken for them when I have my goodbye party, because that pig I have been raising is no good to them.)
7. People usually don´t attribute diarrhea to bad water or unwashed hands. It is almost always caused by fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, or virtually any food that that they don´t eat every day. And you know, this may actually be true because some things are so unfamiliar to them, they may upset stomachs. Nonetheless, this belief is a serious inhibitor to good nutrition.
It´s always a challenge to determine if I should offer counter information and when to do it. Even though these things sound ridiculous to us, I am conscious of the fact that me explaining ideas like solar disinfection of water sounds just as preposterous to them. The invisible rays of the sun are killing the invisible microbes in the water? Sure, Cati. How can I convince them that their baby really shouldn´t pick things up off the floor and put them in her mouth when babies have always done that, and most of them grow up to be healthy, functional adults?
When I first came to my community, I was shocked at what I perceived as a blatant disregard for basic cleanliness. What I now realize is that people are very conscious of cleanliness and their family´s health, but their reasons for preventing or explaining illness are very different, and unfortuantely, in many cases, misdirected. They take great care sweeping out their houses, bathing their children, and generally making sure their homes look as neat and tidy as possible. They are doing what they think is best to be clean and healthy. Every mother loves her child and wants him to be well. She does everything with his best interests in mind. This is a universal human trait. If she fall short, it is almost always due to a lack of education or simply traditional beliefs that offer different explanations.
A friend recently explained it this way, and it makes total sense: Very few of us Americans have ever actually seen a germ. By this I mean, to have looked through a microscope and seen a cold virus, bacteria or anything else that causes disease. But we believe it because we have years of education and resources that tell us that it´s so, and we accept it as fact. We have had access to scientific information and education, and that is what informs our thinking and behavior. For people who haven´t had that access, there are other explanations and reasons for things that seem as plausible to them as a cold virus does to us.
Thinking of it that way, how can we look down on someone who has a lifetime of experience that indicates to them bathing right after work might cause the flu? It seems irrational to an American, but we sound equally so to them when we explain that there are harmful things in their water that looks perfectly clean to them.
Part of my job has been to touch on that common desire we all have to be healthy and offer some new ideas and strategies to be even healthier. And sure, I´ll drink that pregnant lady´s glass of water to clear up my foot infection, if she meets me halfway and puts bleach in it first.
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Water
PCV Michelle recently finished a huge water project that included many houses in her community, and several others in three other towns. Quebrada Pastor was lucky enough to receive three 300-galllon rainwater tanks bought with funds from her project. A few months ago, when Michelle offered the materials to me, she asked if I had some families in mind. It worked out that there were three in particular who had spoken to me many times about their struggles with water and wanted to figure out what we could do. They all lived far out of reach of the community´s aqueduct, and two of them drank out of a contaminated spring in which they also bathed and washed clothes. Worm infections were common among the families, and on more than one occasion, they had found a dead animal upstream from where they collected water. The third family lived in another remote part of town, and the spring they used often dried up in the summer. The family often packed up and stayed at their grandmother´s house because there was no other source of water nearby.
Michelle came by last week to help with the tank installations. You can read about her project here. Many thanks to her and the project´s donors for providing an essential resource to three families in QP.
Michelle came by last week to help with the tank installations. You can read about her project here. Many thanks to her and the project´s donors for providing an essential resource to three families in QP.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Small-scale health promotion
As PCVs we are always thinking about new ways to acheive our goals. Get people to wash their hands more often. How to encourage them to care about water contamination. To take steps to prevent disease transmission.
Here are a couple of simple ideas I´ve been spreading around. I wish I had started sooner, because people are responding really positively. Fellow PCV Louis told me about the success he´s been having with Tippy Taps, which are hands-free hand-washing stations. They conserve water, make hand-washing convenient, and what´s more, fun! In my community, kids have been the real change agents in adopting these, but the adults are coming around too, once they saw that it costs nothing and that this method can help keep their family´s water cleaner. Current hand washing methods involve dipping a cup into a bucket of water, pouring the water over your hands and trying to wash that way, then sticking the contaminated cup back over and over. For this reason and others, most people, don´t do it so often. Here is what the tippy tap looks like:
Education about hand washing is one thing. Behavior change is another. I think the Tippy Tap removes many of the barriers to action that existed before and is a great way to encourage families. And the couple of hours it takes to assemble everything allows me to sneak in a few tips and pieces of information in a non-formal environment where people are more likely to listen and engage.
I have also been working on improving the faucet-in-bucket design. Everyone stores water in buckets, and sometimes leave them untapped, or acts carelessly with regard to contaminating the water inside. Using dipping cups to get water out for drinks, plate and hand washing and other tasks makes the water dirty awfully fast. Amoebas, giardia, worms, and bacteria can thrive. I have explained to families interested in the bucket how to chlorinate their water, and then tap the bucket and only take water out of it through the faucet. People are a lot more open to chlorinating their water than when I first got here and many people have shown a lot of interest and understanding reagarding water contamination at the household level.
The more time I spend in my community, the more clout and confianza I have with the people. In recent months, I have noticed them latching on a little more willingly to my ideas and showing more initiative with regard to asking for my help. I have improved the leakage problem with the buckets by placing two small pieces of plastic between the wall and the nut that fastens the faucet in place. I am going to continue working to streamline the process before showing a community counterpart how to do it (they currently regard me as a magician). When things go poorly or are difficult, people can get negative and write things off really fast. The method needs to be quick and easy, and I want to make sure it´s just right before unveiling the tricks behind the magic show.
Here are a couple of simple ideas I´ve been spreading around. I wish I had started sooner, because people are responding really positively. Fellow PCV Louis told me about the success he´s been having with Tippy Taps, which are hands-free hand-washing stations. They conserve water, make hand-washing convenient, and what´s more, fun! In my community, kids have been the real change agents in adopting these, but the adults are coming around too, once they saw that it costs nothing and that this method can help keep their family´s water cleaner. Current hand washing methods involve dipping a cup into a bucket of water, pouring the water over your hands and trying to wash that way, then sticking the contaminated cup back over and over. For this reason and others, most people, don´t do it so often. Here is what the tippy tap looks like:
You use the foot pedal to pull the jug forward, and the water spouts out of a small hole made a few inches beneath the cap. Rain-guard soap dish made out of sardine and tuna cans hangs to the left.
Education about hand washing is one thing. Behavior change is another. I think the Tippy Tap removes many of the barriers to action that existed before and is a great way to encourage families. And the couple of hours it takes to assemble everything allows me to sneak in a few tips and pieces of information in a non-formal environment where people are more likely to listen and engage.
I have also been working on improving the faucet-in-bucket design. Everyone stores water in buckets, and sometimes leave them untapped, or acts carelessly with regard to contaminating the water inside. Using dipping cups to get water out for drinks, plate and hand washing and other tasks makes the water dirty awfully fast. Amoebas, giardia, worms, and bacteria can thrive. I have explained to families interested in the bucket how to chlorinate their water, and then tap the bucket and only take water out of it through the faucet. People are a lot more open to chlorinating their water than when I first got here and many people have shown a lot of interest and understanding reagarding water contamination at the household level.
The more time I spend in my community, the more clout and confianza I have with the people. In recent months, I have noticed them latching on a little more willingly to my ideas and showing more initiative with regard to asking for my help. I have improved the leakage problem with the buckets by placing two small pieces of plastic between the wall and the nut that fastens the faucet in place. I am going to continue working to streamline the process before showing a community counterpart how to do it (they currently regard me as a magician). When things go poorly or are difficult, people can get negative and write things off really fast. The method needs to be quick and easy, and I want to make sure it´s just right before unveiling the tricks behind the magic show.
the face of a happy and crazed inventor
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
We Heart Seminars
In the last month, I´ve helped out with three seminars in three separate volunteer sites. We PCVs have become savvy to the fact that our community members respond better when we call something a ¨seminar¨ instead of a charla, and invite a few other volunteers along to help out over the course of a few days. I think they like the idea of a one-time commitment and a more formalized environment of a seminar or workshop . Oh, and the free food. The PCVs always get a kick out of the fact that participants LOVELOVELOVE the visiting volunteers when they seem so luke-warm about the ones in their own sites sometimes.
In mid-July, my friend Dan held a two-day health seminar for the women in his community. I came for the second day to do a charla on S.T.I.s and HIV/AIDS.
Here is a woman receiving her certificate of particpation:
More interestingly, Dan has a monkey:
This is his house:
From there, I headed straight to the Comarca, and after a 90-minute hike, arrived in Aleah´s site to help with a water seminar. They are becoming very popular activities for EH-volunteers. Over the course of a few days, we educate water committee members on virtually everything they need to know about their systems--the nuts and bolts of how the water travels through the tubes, how to clean the tanks, how to repair damages, how to decide on a quota, how to run better meetings, you name it. Aleah has a beautiful site on a ridge, and this is the view from her house (sooo jealous):
One of my favorite participants:
Another PCV Dan, leading a session on thermoforming-- a method of molding tube using hot vegetable oil. Creates tighter fits and is safer than the more popular burning-PVC-over-open-flame method.
Then, last weekend, I went to other PCV´s Myles site, close by here in Bocas, to do a PML with his junta local and water committees. Here I am talking about how to work in teams!
On my side,I have been continuing with the sex-ed and life skills charlas with the 8th and 9th graders in my school. It´s going well, and they´ve impressed me with their candor and willingness to ask questions. More on this to come.
I´ll be bringing whoever I can convince to go from my community to a water seminar in nearby Punta Peña for them and three other volunteer sites in mid-September. They are daunted by the overnight stay and the four-day length, but with my diligent persuasion techniques,I hope to wrangle in a precious few. Sigue la lucha...
In mid-July, my friend Dan held a two-day health seminar for the women in his community. I came for the second day to do a charla on S.T.I.s and HIV/AIDS.
Here is a woman receiving her certificate of particpation:
More interestingly, Dan has a monkey:
This is his house:
From there, I headed straight to the Comarca, and after a 90-minute hike, arrived in Aleah´s site to help with a water seminar. They are becoming very popular activities for EH-volunteers. Over the course of a few days, we educate water committee members on virtually everything they need to know about their systems--the nuts and bolts of how the water travels through the tubes, how to clean the tanks, how to repair damages, how to decide on a quota, how to run better meetings, you name it. Aleah has a beautiful site on a ridge, and this is the view from her house (sooo jealous):
One of my favorite participants:
Another PCV Dan, leading a session on thermoforming-- a method of molding tube using hot vegetable oil. Creates tighter fits and is safer than the more popular burning-PVC-over-open-flame method.
Then, last weekend, I went to other PCV´s Myles site, close by here in Bocas, to do a PML with his junta local and water committees. Here I am talking about how to work in teams!
On my side,I have been continuing with the sex-ed and life skills charlas with the 8th and 9th graders in my school. It´s going well, and they´ve impressed me with their candor and willingness to ask questions. More on this to come.
I´ll be bringing whoever I can convince to go from my community to a water seminar in nearby Punta Peña for them and three other volunteer sites in mid-September. They are daunted by the overnight stay and the four-day length, but with my diligent persuasion techniques,I hope to wrangle in a precious few. Sigue la lucha...
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Best-Laid Plans
I was excited last week. I had a bunch of things to do, and everyone seemed ready to do them with me. But, whenever I start to get too optimistic, or start thinking ¨Hey, this isn´t so hard¨, reality comes, slaps me around and says ¨Hush now, gringita. You don´t know a thing.¨
I was talking with another PCV the other day on the phone, and told him that it´s clear to me now that we must cycle through at least three dates for an event before we actually do it. People cancel, don´t come, or something comes up and I can´t make it. Here is an example of what last week was like for me:
Tuesday: Planned a self-esteem and values charla in the junior high. Actually did it! Score! It was so-so. My audience wasn´t quite captive.
Wednesday- At long last, the second planned day for our water-level survey. This takes all day. At 8:30 when the President had not yet arrived at my house to begin working, I called him. ¨I have another commitment.¨ That came up awful fast. He said he was ready to go when I went and confirmed Tuesday afternoon. We agreed to do it Sunday. Our other worker, who arrived on time, was unable to do it Sunday. You need at least three people to work with the water level, four is better. I´d have to spend some time chasing down some other people for Sunday.
I was later met by my counterpart, who asked me if I had plans for Thursday. I had reserved that day to prepare a training for Friday about disease transmission with my latrine committee. He informed me that the next day a Bocas organization was holding a meeting in my school, and could I please house 8-12 people on Thursday night? And could I also please attend the meeting on Thursday and Friday morning because ¨movers and shakers¨might be coming, and there could be potential funders for our latrine project. I agreed, but ask him, what about the training we prepared for Friday morning? We agreed to change the date.
Thursday- Sat-in on meeting. Did not need to be there. Brought four participants back to my house in the evening only to realize my rain-water tank had been left open by kids and I had no water for them to bathe with. Luckily, my first host-dad was there to witness my discontent. He will hopefuly speak to his family who comes to use the water to wash their feet when they arrive barefoot from arriba. Leaving the faucet running is a rain-water tank is not good.
Friday- Training session cancelled. Sat-in on rest of meeting. Still not needed.
Saturday- Cleaning of water tanks and spring box planned for the morning. Especially motivated to do this because the aqueduct´s operator told me he had climbed naked into all three the day before to dislodge blockages. Please pass the bleach.
Too few people showed up, so we could not clean the spring box because at least six men are needed to lift the cement tops. We settle for cleaning the reserve tanks, which I pointed out is a little silly if what is arriving from the source is still dirty, but to clean something is better than nothing. Then I see that the aqueduct president did not bring any bleach, only dish soap. I point out that this is not sufficient, bleach is needed. He mutters some excuse. He responds poorly to criticism, especially if anyone else is around, so I bit my tongue and started scrubbing and catching the live crabs that were being thrown out of the water tanks.
I am glad I drink rain water now.
So in the afternoon, we were supposed to have our first English class since the recess began in March. As I was hiking down from the tanks I pass a member of my latrine committee on the path going up. She had the days confused about our training, and thought it was for Saturday. She asked me why I made her walk for no reason! I cleared up the confusion, and asked her what about the English classn in the afternoon? Because I was only expecting 3-4 students, her presence was important. She tells me my other star student was in Almirante and would also not be coming. We agree to cancel the class and pick another day to start over.
Do you see? Some weeks are like this. Despite preparation and plans, none of it actually really happens. Oh well, we´ll try again this week.
I was talking with another PCV the other day on the phone, and told him that it´s clear to me now that we must cycle through at least three dates for an event before we actually do it. People cancel, don´t come, or something comes up and I can´t make it. Here is an example of what last week was like for me:
Tuesday: Planned a self-esteem and values charla in the junior high. Actually did it! Score! It was so-so. My audience wasn´t quite captive.
Wednesday- At long last, the second planned day for our water-level survey. This takes all day. At 8:30 when the President had not yet arrived at my house to begin working, I called him. ¨I have another commitment.¨ That came up awful fast. He said he was ready to go when I went and confirmed Tuesday afternoon. We agreed to do it Sunday. Our other worker, who arrived on time, was unable to do it Sunday. You need at least three people to work with the water level, four is better. I´d have to spend some time chasing down some other people for Sunday.
I was later met by my counterpart, who asked me if I had plans for Thursday. I had reserved that day to prepare a training for Friday about disease transmission with my latrine committee. He informed me that the next day a Bocas organization was holding a meeting in my school, and could I please house 8-12 people on Thursday night? And could I also please attend the meeting on Thursday and Friday morning because ¨movers and shakers¨might be coming, and there could be potential funders for our latrine project. I agreed, but ask him, what about the training we prepared for Friday morning? We agreed to change the date.
Thursday- Sat-in on meeting. Did not need to be there. Brought four participants back to my house in the evening only to realize my rain-water tank had been left open by kids and I had no water for them to bathe with. Luckily, my first host-dad was there to witness my discontent. He will hopefuly speak to his family who comes to use the water to wash their feet when they arrive barefoot from arriba. Leaving the faucet running is a rain-water tank is not good.
Friday- Training session cancelled. Sat-in on rest of meeting. Still not needed.
Saturday- Cleaning of water tanks and spring box planned for the morning. Especially motivated to do this because the aqueduct´s operator told me he had climbed naked into all three the day before to dislodge blockages. Please pass the bleach.
Too few people showed up, so we could not clean the spring box because at least six men are needed to lift the cement tops. We settle for cleaning the reserve tanks, which I pointed out is a little silly if what is arriving from the source is still dirty, but to clean something is better than nothing. Then I see that the aqueduct president did not bring any bleach, only dish soap. I point out that this is not sufficient, bleach is needed. He mutters some excuse. He responds poorly to criticism, especially if anyone else is around, so I bit my tongue and started scrubbing and catching the live crabs that were being thrown out of the water tanks.
I am glad I drink rain water now.
So in the afternoon, we were supposed to have our first English class since the recess began in March. As I was hiking down from the tanks I pass a member of my latrine committee on the path going up. She had the days confused about our training, and thought it was for Saturday. She asked me why I made her walk for no reason! I cleared up the confusion, and asked her what about the English classn in the afternoon? Because I was only expecting 3-4 students, her presence was important. She tells me my other star student was in Almirante and would also not be coming. We agree to cancel the class and pick another day to start over.
Do you see? Some weeks are like this. Despite preparation and plans, none of it actually really happens. Oh well, we´ll try again this week.
Monday, May 24, 2010
PML: The build up
I was nervous. I hadn´t been able to pasear that week to remind everyone about the workshop I had planned. Sure, they all received their formal-letter invitations, but that was weeks ago. And if there is one thing a PCV knows, it´s that sometimes you need to chase people down to get them to your meetings. I had been battling another foot infection (don´t ask), so my mobility around the community was limited. The intended audience was only about 10 people in my latrine and water committees, so you know, if half the group didn´t show up, there would be problems. I had to track some of them down to make sure they remembered.
I had been very clear with everyone when I initially invited them that they had to tell me if they couldn´t come, because I was looking for donated materials, had to buy food, and had invited other PCVs to accompany me. I needed an exact number of participants. Earlier that week, my counterpart Lucas and former host-dad Angel had stopped by my house. They were both supposed to participate, and Lucas was supposed to help me facilitate some sessions, as he had attended this Project Management and Leadership (PML) workshop in March. We had a conversation that went like this:
Lucas: So, I can´t come on Saturday, I have another committment. But I will definitely come on Sunday.
Cati: What are you talking about? I gave you a month´s notice about this, and you were really enthusiastic about offering this training to the groups.
Lucas: I know, but I forgot I have this thing...
Cati: What´s the thing?
Lucas: A baseball game we´re playing, and I have invited a lot of people, and so now I have to go.
Cati: THAT IS NOT A COMMITTMENT THAT IS AN AMUSEMENT!!
Angel: Yeah...Cati, I am not going to come on Satuday either...
Cati: Huh?! What? I told you earlier I needed you to tell me if you couldn´t come last week. Why can´t you come?
Angel: So much work in the finca!
Cati: But I already bought all the materials, the food, and I have agendas to gift to every participant. And if you don´t come Saturday, no agenda.
Angel: Oh? An agenda? Okay, I will come.
I felt deflated. Lucas left me high and dry, and Angel was only coming to collect his gift. I had spent almost the entire month of May preparing for this workshop, and was displeased to see a lack of enthusiasm and understanding. This seminar is something I really believe in and am enthusiastic about teaching, and I wanted them to be enthusiastic about it too, or at the very least, show up. I was in a huff the day, but thankfully, Lucas came by later to apologize for his short-sightedness, and told me the workshop was a priority, and he would be there. We planned our sessions together, and I felt excited again.
Fast-foward to Wednesday. I am in a panic thinking no one remembers about the workshop this weekend, and I am wondering how many houses I can hit without putting on boots and getting my foot dirty. I arrive at one of the water committee members houses early. He and his wife are in foul moods because their water got cut that morning for lack of payment. He tells me he can not come. I shoot him my most withering gaze, and hobble off, round-shouldered and flustered. He also had a month notice and explicit instructions to tell me if he couldn´t be there. Two other members of the water committee couldn´t come, and I was wondering if I should cancel the seminar all together. I didn´t want to waste other volunteers´ time, and I didn´t want to have to do the seminar again just for them. I had planned much of it with the aqueduct committee in mind.
I arrived at a house just before the water committe president´s home. I fell backwards twice on their hill, once with my back landing hard on the sharp edge of a rock. They laughed, and I wondered to myself if I might actually cry. It was throbbing and I was already on-edge about everyone having forgotten about this workshop. I head to the President´s house, and he isn´t in. I fall again, in front of his dad and a teacher from the school who rents a room there. The teacher gets a glass of water and starts cleaning my arms, while they both mutter ¨Pobrecita¨in between pitying glances. I explain that Willy, the president, HAS TO confirm with me that day that he is coming, otherwise I think I might cancel the whole thing.
On my way back to my house, with a bruised ego and feeling less-than-thrilled with my community, I run into another member of the aqueduct committee, Rafael, who had forgotten about the seminar, but confirms he will come. I ask him to relay the mesage to his sister, who I was almost sure would come anyway. He agreed.
That night Willy, the aqueduvt pres., arrived, and told me that he cried that day because his father told him that if he couldn´t attend the seminar, Cati would go back to the United States, and that she was very angry with everyone. I, of course, said nothing of the sort, but I am guessing by the pain and furstration written on my face when I was there in the morning, he figured he should at least throw in something dramatic to help sway Willy to my side. Willy said he had church on Sunday, and hadn´t been in a month and really wanted to go. He is the town´s only Jehovah´s witness, so he has to take a bus to a nearby town to attend services. It is an all day affair.
I rallied. I had to be persuasive, take advantage of those tears he had shed on my behalf. I delivered a motivational speech about being a proactive leader and seizing this once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about how he can be better and instigate change on an individual, group, and community level. I told him he is already a great leader, and has accomplished a lot for the community, but that every group has problems, or obstacles, and this workshop will help him figure out how to overcome them, and have a better functioning group. And once he has that, he can have more success working with government agencies. I fed him dinner, and at the end, I asked if I had convinced him. He said yes. Great success.
Fast-forward to the morning of the seminar. A PCV couple, Gary and Peggy, and one of my PCV neighbors, Cat, had arrived the previous afternoon, and we had done some final preparations and planning. We were heading to the school to set up, when Julio, another attendee, meets me at the door of the school.
Julio: Cati, I don´t know if I can come. I have an obligation with the church.
Cati: With the church? What is it?
Julio: Do you want me to come? If you really do, I will.
Cati: Of course I want you to come.
Julio: Today I have to decide between God and Cati.
Cati: Oh, um, that´s a lot of pressure.
Julio: I am choosing Cati.
Cati: Wow, thank you. I am very grateful. That means a lot.
Julio: But I will pray for His forgiveness for you, and myself.
Cati: Good, I will pray for us too. Thank you for coming!
I usher him in. The first hurtle of the day was beating God. Now that I´ve done that, what can get in my way?
The two women I asked to cook the day´s snacks and lunches have arrived. They advise me that the water is out in the school, and ask how can they cook? I had water in my house that morning, so I walk back along the line and see a broken tube just below the school shooting water up into the air. We cannot be without water. I run to the aqueduct VP´s house, who could not attend due to a sick son, and I plan to BEG HIM to repair to the tube, even though he always refuses to do any kind of maintenence or repair work. I talk to his Mom. But he had already left for Almirante. He couldn´t do it. I eventually solve this problem by closing the valve for the water for the school, and ask one of the cook´s son to haul water from his house. He agrees and I promise him lunch.
Many people have arrived. I am waiting on one young man named Gregorio, who is also part of my Panama Verde group. I didn´t go to his house on Wednesday, because he has previously assured me he would be there with 100% certainy. I ask Julio where Gregorio is. It is already 45 minuites past starting time. He says Gregorio left for Punta Peña, a community 90 minutes away to visit his mother the other day. He won´t be coming.
I steam. I ask Julio if he knows about Rafael and his sister Amalia. He says ¨ They told me they would try to come.¨Try to come? I step outside to take a deep breath, and just as I do, I see them climbing the hill from their house. ¨GOOD MORNING MY CATI!!!¨Amalia yells. And just as she does, I see Gregorio, coming up the path.
Everyone actually came. We were ready to begin.
(To be continued...)
I had been very clear with everyone when I initially invited them that they had to tell me if they couldn´t come, because I was looking for donated materials, had to buy food, and had invited other PCVs to accompany me. I needed an exact number of participants. Earlier that week, my counterpart Lucas and former host-dad Angel had stopped by my house. They were both supposed to participate, and Lucas was supposed to help me facilitate some sessions, as he had attended this Project Management and Leadership (PML) workshop in March. We had a conversation that went like this:
Lucas: So, I can´t come on Saturday, I have another committment. But I will definitely come on Sunday.
Cati: What are you talking about? I gave you a month´s notice about this, and you were really enthusiastic about offering this training to the groups.
Lucas: I know, but I forgot I have this thing...
Cati: What´s the thing?
Lucas: A baseball game we´re playing, and I have invited a lot of people, and so now I have to go.
Cati: THAT IS NOT A COMMITTMENT THAT IS AN AMUSEMENT!!
Angel: Yeah...Cati, I am not going to come on Satuday either...
Cati: Huh?! What? I told you earlier I needed you to tell me if you couldn´t come last week. Why can´t you come?
Angel: So much work in the finca!
Cati: But I already bought all the materials, the food, and I have agendas to gift to every participant. And if you don´t come Saturday, no agenda.
Angel: Oh? An agenda? Okay, I will come.
I felt deflated. Lucas left me high and dry, and Angel was only coming to collect his gift. I had spent almost the entire month of May preparing for this workshop, and was displeased to see a lack of enthusiasm and understanding. This seminar is something I really believe in and am enthusiastic about teaching, and I wanted them to be enthusiastic about it too, or at the very least, show up. I was in a huff the day, but thankfully, Lucas came by later to apologize for his short-sightedness, and told me the workshop was a priority, and he would be there. We planned our sessions together, and I felt excited again.
Fast-foward to Wednesday. I am in a panic thinking no one remembers about the workshop this weekend, and I am wondering how many houses I can hit without putting on boots and getting my foot dirty. I arrive at one of the water committee members houses early. He and his wife are in foul moods because their water got cut that morning for lack of payment. He tells me he can not come. I shoot him my most withering gaze, and hobble off, round-shouldered and flustered. He also had a month notice and explicit instructions to tell me if he couldn´t be there. Two other members of the water committee couldn´t come, and I was wondering if I should cancel the seminar all together. I didn´t want to waste other volunteers´ time, and I didn´t want to have to do the seminar again just for them. I had planned much of it with the aqueduct committee in mind.
I arrived at a house just before the water committe president´s home. I fell backwards twice on their hill, once with my back landing hard on the sharp edge of a rock. They laughed, and I wondered to myself if I might actually cry. It was throbbing and I was already on-edge about everyone having forgotten about this workshop. I head to the President´s house, and he isn´t in. I fall again, in front of his dad and a teacher from the school who rents a room there. The teacher gets a glass of water and starts cleaning my arms, while they both mutter ¨Pobrecita¨in between pitying glances. I explain that Willy, the president, HAS TO confirm with me that day that he is coming, otherwise I think I might cancel the whole thing.
On my way back to my house, with a bruised ego and feeling less-than-thrilled with my community, I run into another member of the aqueduct committee, Rafael, who had forgotten about the seminar, but confirms he will come. I ask him to relay the mesage to his sister, who I was almost sure would come anyway. He agreed.
That night Willy, the aqueduvt pres., arrived, and told me that he cried that day because his father told him that if he couldn´t attend the seminar, Cati would go back to the United States, and that she was very angry with everyone. I, of course, said nothing of the sort, but I am guessing by the pain and furstration written on my face when I was there in the morning, he figured he should at least throw in something dramatic to help sway Willy to my side. Willy said he had church on Sunday, and hadn´t been in a month and really wanted to go. He is the town´s only Jehovah´s witness, so he has to take a bus to a nearby town to attend services. It is an all day affair.
I rallied. I had to be persuasive, take advantage of those tears he had shed on my behalf. I delivered a motivational speech about being a proactive leader and seizing this once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about how he can be better and instigate change on an individual, group, and community level. I told him he is already a great leader, and has accomplished a lot for the community, but that every group has problems, or obstacles, and this workshop will help him figure out how to overcome them, and have a better functioning group. And once he has that, he can have more success working with government agencies. I fed him dinner, and at the end, I asked if I had convinced him. He said yes. Great success.
Fast-forward to the morning of the seminar. A PCV couple, Gary and Peggy, and one of my PCV neighbors, Cat, had arrived the previous afternoon, and we had done some final preparations and planning. We were heading to the school to set up, when Julio, another attendee, meets me at the door of the school.
Julio: Cati, I don´t know if I can come. I have an obligation with the church.
Cati: With the church? What is it?
Julio: Do you want me to come? If you really do, I will.
Cati: Of course I want you to come.
Julio: Today I have to decide between God and Cati.
Cati: Oh, um, that´s a lot of pressure.
Julio: I am choosing Cati.
Cati: Wow, thank you. I am very grateful. That means a lot.
Julio: But I will pray for His forgiveness for you, and myself.
Cati: Good, I will pray for us too. Thank you for coming!
I usher him in. The first hurtle of the day was beating God. Now that I´ve done that, what can get in my way?
The two women I asked to cook the day´s snacks and lunches have arrived. They advise me that the water is out in the school, and ask how can they cook? I had water in my house that morning, so I walk back along the line and see a broken tube just below the school shooting water up into the air. We cannot be without water. I run to the aqueduct VP´s house, who could not attend due to a sick son, and I plan to BEG HIM to repair to the tube, even though he always refuses to do any kind of maintenence or repair work. I talk to his Mom. But he had already left for Almirante. He couldn´t do it. I eventually solve this problem by closing the valve for the water for the school, and ask one of the cook´s son to haul water from his house. He agrees and I promise him lunch.
Many people have arrived. I am waiting on one young man named Gregorio, who is also part of my Panama Verde group. I didn´t go to his house on Wednesday, because he has previously assured me he would be there with 100% certainy. I ask Julio where Gregorio is. It is already 45 minuites past starting time. He says Gregorio left for Punta Peña, a community 90 minutes away to visit his mother the other day. He won´t be coming.
I steam. I ask Julio if he knows about Rafael and his sister Amalia. He says ¨ They told me they would try to come.¨Try to come? I step outside to take a deep breath, and just as I do, I see them climbing the hill from their house. ¨GOOD MORNING MY CATI!!!¨Amalia yells. And just as she does, I see Gregorio, coming up the path.
Everyone actually came. We were ready to begin.
(To be continued...)
Monday, April 19, 2010
Drinkable water in 9 steps
1. Move to a rainy climate. Preferably Bocas del Toro in Panama.
2. Excavate a hole using a machete and shovel, as I did, or site another location for your tank.
3. Cut 3 or 4¨PVC tube lengthwise with hacksaw, place on roof with elbow at the end.
4. Remove tank top with hot matchete and hammer. (this takes hours)
5. Poke hole for faucet with heated peace of rebar.
6. Tap threads for faucet with metal-thread-tapper thingy.
7. Wrap faucet in teflon tape, screw in, and seal with caulk.
8. Place mesh over top to keep the creepy-crawlies out.
9. Place tank and enjoy the parasite-free fruits of your labor.
(fellow PCVs used as models)
I use my rain water for everything. In good, steady rain, this 55-gallon tank fills in 20 minutes. I still bleach it just to be safe (who knows what´s living on my roof?), but this is the cleanest water I can be drinking.
Note on water use: A lot of contamination in my site happens in the house when people are dipping their dirty hands into buckets of stored water to make drinks or food. I installed a faucet in one of the five-gallon buckets most families use for storage, filled it with juice, and brought it to a meeting to share. I discreetly called attention to it after a latrine charla, which included a lot of talk about water contamination, and would you guess? PEOPLE WENT WILD. They roared! They hollered! They could not believe my brilliance, and more importantly, that bucket is cool, they said. Everyone wanted one. I promised that if they buy the faucet and nut, I will happily do the work for them. I used their enthusiasm as an opportunity to continue discussion about disease transmission and contamination at the household level. It´s a cheap, easy solution for a big problem.
Total cost of rain-water catchment system: $60.
Total cost of installing faucet in a 5-gallon bucket: $1.65, if tape and caulk are provided.
2. Excavate a hole using a machete and shovel, as I did, or site another location for your tank.
3. Cut 3 or 4¨PVC tube lengthwise with hacksaw, place on roof with elbow at the end.
4. Remove tank top with hot matchete and hammer. (this takes hours)
5. Poke hole for faucet with heated peace of rebar.
6. Tap threads for faucet with metal-thread-tapper thingy.
7. Wrap faucet in teflon tape, screw in, and seal with caulk.
8. Place mesh over top to keep the creepy-crawlies out.
9. Place tank and enjoy the parasite-free fruits of your labor.
(fellow PCVs used as models)
I use my rain water for everything. In good, steady rain, this 55-gallon tank fills in 20 minutes. I still bleach it just to be safe (who knows what´s living on my roof?), but this is the cleanest water I can be drinking.
Note on water use: A lot of contamination in my site happens in the house when people are dipping their dirty hands into buckets of stored water to make drinks or food. I installed a faucet in one of the five-gallon buckets most families use for storage, filled it with juice, and brought it to a meeting to share. I discreetly called attention to it after a latrine charla, which included a lot of talk about water contamination, and would you guess? PEOPLE WENT WILD. They roared! They hollered! They could not believe my brilliance, and more importantly, that bucket is cool, they said. Everyone wanted one. I promised that if they buy the faucet and nut, I will happily do the work for them. I used their enthusiasm as an opportunity to continue discussion about disease transmission and contamination at the household level. It´s a cheap, easy solution for a big problem.
Total cost of rain-water catchment system: $60.
Total cost of installing faucet in a 5-gallon bucket: $1.65, if tape and caulk are provided.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Notes from the Clinic...Again
In my last post, I briefly mentioned the raging infection that was waging war on my delicate, ballerina-like size 11 boat feet. It was maybe a little worse than I was willing to admit, but I really wanted to get to this conference I was attending with my community counterpart. I had taxi´d myself back to the bus terminal, where I ran into my friend Louis, another Bocas volunteer.
¨Good GOD WOMAN! What is that on your feet?¨
¨Oh, does it not look good? It´s just a little infected...¨
¨You need to go to the clinic. That is, um, well-- I just can´t believe you haven´t gone yet.¨
But...but... I already bought my bus ticket. I hobbled off to buy a sandwich and contemplate the value of my health when I received a call from my biological brother James, who told me had he had been to the hospital with a septic foot infection, caused by some kind of strep bacteria. (Which he got when we went snorkeling. I officially retract my approval of that activity. Snorkeling is a dangerous, deadly activity, and you should never do it. Who wants to see fish anyway? They are ugly creatures and coral deserves to be in danger of disappearing forever. Coral is a dummy.)
¨You really should go to the clinic,¨ bio bro James advised.
Well. Septic foot infections and strep bacteria sounds kind of dangerous, so I called my Peace Corps doctor, Lourdes, for her advice.
¨Catherine, now more than ever, please please please go to the clinic.¨ Lourdes doesn´t play around, so I hopped in a taxi and headed to David´s Clinica Cattan, and after a five-day stay, I bring you:
TOP FIVE LESSONS LEARNED WHILE HOSPITALIZED IN PANAMA
Because, while my Mom can´t laugh about it, why can´t we? (Seriously Mom, stop reading.)
5. Medical confidentiality does not exist. Every nurse who took care of me told me that my compañera, Mary, who I have never actually spoken to, was also admitted to the clinic. ¨ She has diarrhea,¨ they said, while making the Panama diarrhea gesture. No such things as HIPPA here, people. Good thing PCVs share this information with each other anyway. When Mary was released, I heard about that too, and the nurse gave me a sly smile and said, ¨ She beat you.¨ Thanks for rubbing my interminable stay in my face. *Mary´s name has been changed because no one needs to know about her diarrhea.*
4. Panamanians like to make you feel lonely. Everytime my phone rang or buzzed, they began:
¨ Is that your Mom?¨ No.
¨Is that your boyfriend? ¨ No.
¨Is that a friend? ¨ No. It is my cell phone provider, offering me a promotion, THANKS FOR ASKING.
"So, you are here all alone? No one is coming to see you?" Yes, for the hundredth time and I didn´t mind until you started pointing it out every hour on the hour. My friends, Tyra Banks, Chandler Bing, Bree Van de Kamp, Paris Hilton and Dr. Derek Shepard, are on the TV. I haven´t seen them in months, and could you just leave us alone?
3. When I arrived and showed the doctor my foot, the only thing he said about it before he admitted me was "That is ugly." I did not hear from him again until the next day when he announced that it was a little bit more pretty, but still not good. The next night, the Mean Nurse who cleaned the wounds with such vigor that I cried myself to sleep, announced the infection on one foot was pretty, but the other one was still feojito, the dimunitive form of the word feo, meaning ugly. Apparently this is the only means medical professionals here have of assessing illness. James joked around that all their medical charts consist of are boxes that say Ugly or Pretty, and you check one, and makes notes in the margin. I am afraid to say I think he might be right.
2. There is no need to check on you, ask if you are comfortable, and if they forget to bring you dinner, that is okay and no one will apologize or find you a suitable meal. They did manage to change my sheets every day, once waking me at 4am to do it. Florence Nightingale would be thrilled. But basics such as providing me with water or meals were forgotten. One night when they didn´t bring my dinner, I eventually asked for it, and a wash of guilt swept over the nurse´s face. She came back in 20 minutes with cold broth and a cup of jello. Not enough, people. Not enough.
1. There is absolutely no reason to provide a patient with a diagnosis, any information about the medicine you are giving them, how long you expect them to stay, or what progress they are making.
I hail from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, home of Mass General, Brigham and Women´s and some of the top physicians and specialists in the world. I am not used to this sort of neglect and ambiguity when it comes to medical care. Everytime they put something in my IV (and oh, in five days there was a lot going into that IV), I would ask what it was, and the nurses would look slightly annoyed with me for asking, and offer a vague answer like "for the pain" or "for the swelling" or "to make you stop asking questions, gringita." Okay, they didn´t say that last one, but I think they wanted to. One time, the nurse came in with a huge tray of about 8 syringes filled with medicine, and started shuffling through them before she asked, "What´s your name again?" Good grief. Needless to say, I tried to double check as much as possible.
As far as a diagnosis, the doctor did not tell me what was wrong with me until Wednesday, my fourth day in the hospital. And you know? When someone has a FLESH-EATING STREP INFECTION in both feet, it is something you might want to tell them. Just as a rule. I didn´t realize how serious it was until that moment, and I kept thinking each day might be the day they let me out. Thanks for the memo, doc.
So yesterday they released me with a bag of medical goodies and lots of instructions about how to take care of my wounds in site. They are almost all better now, no swelling or redness, and about half their original size. Despite this list, I think they did a good job overall of taking care of me (by Panama standards...) and providing me with an outstanding amount of antibiotics to kill the infection. But I will say the experience made me appreciate American medical care, flawed as it is. We are used to doctors telling us what´s going on and how they will treat us. Not so much here in Panamania, but that doesn´t mean I will stop asking for information. Gotta be your own advocate. I go back on Tuesday to make sure they are healing and to yet again revel in the world-class medical care they provide. Let´s hope I don´t come back from that experience with enough material for another Top 5 list.
¨Good GOD WOMAN! What is that on your feet?¨
¨Oh, does it not look good? It´s just a little infected...¨
¨You need to go to the clinic. That is, um, well-- I just can´t believe you haven´t gone yet.¨
But...but... I already bought my bus ticket. I hobbled off to buy a sandwich and contemplate the value of my health when I received a call from my biological brother James, who told me had he had been to the hospital with a septic foot infection, caused by some kind of strep bacteria. (Which he got when we went snorkeling. I officially retract my approval of that activity. Snorkeling is a dangerous, deadly activity, and you should never do it. Who wants to see fish anyway? They are ugly creatures and coral deserves to be in danger of disappearing forever. Coral is a dummy.)
¨You really should go to the clinic,¨ bio bro James advised.
Well. Septic foot infections and strep bacteria sounds kind of dangerous, so I called my Peace Corps doctor, Lourdes, for her advice.
¨Catherine, now more than ever, please please please go to the clinic.¨ Lourdes doesn´t play around, so I hopped in a taxi and headed to David´s Clinica Cattan, and after a five-day stay, I bring you:
TOP FIVE LESSONS LEARNED WHILE HOSPITALIZED IN PANAMA
Because, while my Mom can´t laugh about it, why can´t we? (Seriously Mom, stop reading.)
5. Medical confidentiality does not exist. Every nurse who took care of me told me that my compañera, Mary, who I have never actually spoken to, was also admitted to the clinic. ¨ She has diarrhea,¨ they said, while making the Panama diarrhea gesture. No such things as HIPPA here, people. Good thing PCVs share this information with each other anyway. When Mary was released, I heard about that too, and the nurse gave me a sly smile and said, ¨ She beat you.¨ Thanks for rubbing my interminable stay in my face. *Mary´s name has been changed because no one needs to know about her diarrhea.*
4. Panamanians like to make you feel lonely. Everytime my phone rang or buzzed, they began:
¨ Is that your Mom?¨ No.
¨Is that your boyfriend? ¨ No.
¨Is that a friend? ¨ No. It is my cell phone provider, offering me a promotion, THANKS FOR ASKING.
"So, you are here all alone? No one is coming to see you?" Yes, for the hundredth time and I didn´t mind until you started pointing it out every hour on the hour. My friends, Tyra Banks, Chandler Bing, Bree Van de Kamp, Paris Hilton and Dr. Derek Shepard, are on the TV. I haven´t seen them in months, and could you just leave us alone?
3. When I arrived and showed the doctor my foot, the only thing he said about it before he admitted me was "That is ugly." I did not hear from him again until the next day when he announced that it was a little bit more pretty, but still not good. The next night, the Mean Nurse who cleaned the wounds with such vigor that I cried myself to sleep, announced the infection on one foot was pretty, but the other one was still feojito, the dimunitive form of the word feo, meaning ugly. Apparently this is the only means medical professionals here have of assessing illness. James joked around that all their medical charts consist of are boxes that say Ugly or Pretty, and you check one, and makes notes in the margin. I am afraid to say I think he might be right.
2. There is no need to check on you, ask if you are comfortable, and if they forget to bring you dinner, that is okay and no one will apologize or find you a suitable meal. They did manage to change my sheets every day, once waking me at 4am to do it. Florence Nightingale would be thrilled. But basics such as providing me with water or meals were forgotten. One night when they didn´t bring my dinner, I eventually asked for it, and a wash of guilt swept over the nurse´s face. She came back in 20 minutes with cold broth and a cup of jello. Not enough, people. Not enough.
1. There is absolutely no reason to provide a patient with a diagnosis, any information about the medicine you are giving them, how long you expect them to stay, or what progress they are making.
I hail from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, home of Mass General, Brigham and Women´s and some of the top physicians and specialists in the world. I am not used to this sort of neglect and ambiguity when it comes to medical care. Everytime they put something in my IV (and oh, in five days there was a lot going into that IV), I would ask what it was, and the nurses would look slightly annoyed with me for asking, and offer a vague answer like "for the pain" or "for the swelling" or "to make you stop asking questions, gringita." Okay, they didn´t say that last one, but I think they wanted to. One time, the nurse came in with a huge tray of about 8 syringes filled with medicine, and started shuffling through them before she asked, "What´s your name again?" Good grief. Needless to say, I tried to double check as much as possible.
As far as a diagnosis, the doctor did not tell me what was wrong with me until Wednesday, my fourth day in the hospital. And you know? When someone has a FLESH-EATING STREP INFECTION in both feet, it is something you might want to tell them. Just as a rule. I didn´t realize how serious it was until that moment, and I kept thinking each day might be the day they let me out. Thanks for the memo, doc.
So yesterday they released me with a bag of medical goodies and lots of instructions about how to take care of my wounds in site. They are almost all better now, no swelling or redness, and about half their original size. Despite this list, I think they did a good job overall of taking care of me (by Panama standards...) and providing me with an outstanding amount of antibiotics to kill the infection. But I will say the experience made me appreciate American medical care, flawed as it is. We are used to doctors telling us what´s going on and how they will treat us. Not so much here in Panamania, but that doesn´t mean I will stop asking for information. Gotta be your own advocate. I go back on Tuesday to make sure they are healing and to yet again revel in the world-class medical care they provide. Let´s hope I don´t come back from that experience with enough material for another Top 5 list.
Monday, January 25, 2010
So what exactly is it that you are doing?
Up until now, I have written mostly about the relationships I´ve formed and the cultural adjustments I´ve made since arriving in site. Our first three months are dedicated to an in-depth community analysis and building trust and friendships within the community. This is an essential part of Peace Corps service and sustainable development. Communities must be able to think critically about the resources they have, what they need, and how they can acheive it for themselves. Decades of paternalism and the delivery of ¨projects¨ for which they neither had to work nor plan end only in more dependence on government agencies and NGOs to bring villages what they need. When people participate and work for something, success rates are much higher.
The cornerstone of Peace Corps and sustainable development revolves around the idea that I teach as I go along, and that the community participates, plans, and manages its own project with my help. If they do this, when I leave, the knowledge and skills they have gained will stay, and the can continue forward in the future.
It´s a great idea, but it´s harder than it sounds. There are plenty of people in my village who believe all gringos are bad guys, who still don´t invite me in when I come to pasear. Many children and adults alike thought I came to take their kids back to the United States to be sold. Some think gringos eat people. A fellow volunteer lives in a community where everyone thought she was a spy and didn´t want to share anything with her for fear of where the information was going.
I´ve come a long way in my community since I arrived at the end of October, but you can see why the first step of building relationships is so important. We are up against a lot of ugly history, cultural boundaries, and foundationless fear and rumors. The first step of our Environmental Health project framework is to motivate and organize community members. To help them form committees, understand how to run meetings effectively, and to get people to actively participate in their own development. People in my community rarely attend meetings, and those who do are the same people over and over. Most of these people view ¨the community¨as only the 30-ish houses nearest the road, and ignore the remaining 65 that are spread out over hills, across rivers, and as far as two hours or more from the street. To advise every house of a meeting requires at least four days of walking. The disperese nature of the community, and the overall lack or motivation and organization will be one of my biggest challenges.
Such work is the first goal of the Environmental Health framework. The other two revolve around water and sanitation. Depending on the needs of a community, EH volunteers may educate existing water committees about the maintenence of an aqueduct, basic aqueduct theory, trouble shooting, waterborne diseases and better managing of time, funds, and meetings. This is a huge felt need in QP, where broken pipes go unfixed for weeks, some houses connected to the aqueduct have been without water for months, and for the fun of the ick factor, our water reserve tanks have crabs and sometimes worms inside of them.
I attended my first water committee meeting this past week, and while it was an experience that was at times frustrating, and I still battle with Getting People to Listen To Me, it is also heartening because I know I have the ability and resources to help them in many important and sustainable ways. EH volunteers also help to plan for and design other water systems, be it aqueduct lines or rain-water catchment. About 70 percent of my community is without running water in their homes, and use springs, creeks or wells (many of which are extermely dubious) for drinking, cooking and wash water. I am still thinking about what can be done for these homes. They are all so spread out, it is impossible that one water system could serve them all, and they also lack organization of any kind. They tell me they want water, but they haven´t come to meetings, or done anything other than voice their need. Beginning to work with some leaders in small committees and planning for a future project, or at the least, rain-water catchment systems is something I hope to do as well, though as I see it now, it cannot be my first priority.
Santitation is the other element. EH volunteers educate about fecal-oral transmission pathways, and essentially, promoting the construction, proper use and maintenence latrines. In Bocas, living in an indigenous community, this is another element where cultural understanding is key. Most of our technical sanitation training revolved around building and promoting compositng latrines. In my community, only about 10 percent of houses (generous estimations) use latrines, and those are full or poorly maintained. All of them are pit latrines, and most of them have buckets of wash water to clean with after use. Toilet paper is used by only a few families, and the others have no interest in it becasue they feel cleaner using water.
Which is a problem for composting latrines, which must be kept dry. It is also a problem because so few houses have a nearby water source, so they are extremely unlikely to use composting latrines if they could just go to the creek, or in the woods, and wash afterwards. I am realistic about the fact that, right now, I know of only about five families who would properly use and maintain a composting latrine. For most, pit latrines are a better option. In time, many will be ¨ready¨ for composting latrines, but as of right now, few people have identified them as a priority.
I am running into a small problem because my counter part solicitied PC for the specific purpose of a compositing latrine project. He knows they are better for the environment, last longer, and of course produce a fabulous compost for the finca. I think he is unrealistic about the scope of a project we could undertake in QP, as he is comparing our situation to one in a nearby community where 35 latrines were built by a PC volunteer. But this is my job: assessment, and then education and promotion. I have plenty of time to gauge genuine interest (and not just what he claims when he went around and told everyone I was coming to work on composting latrines) and feasibile success rates. Many volunteers have built latrines in Bocas that went unused or were unfinished. I would hate to do that.
So that, in short, is what EH volunteers will do, and as I wrap up my community analysis, what I am imagining for my time here in Panama. As always, leave me questions in the comments.
The cornerstone of Peace Corps and sustainable development revolves around the idea that I teach as I go along, and that the community participates, plans, and manages its own project with my help. If they do this, when I leave, the knowledge and skills they have gained will stay, and the can continue forward in the future.
It´s a great idea, but it´s harder than it sounds. There are plenty of people in my village who believe all gringos are bad guys, who still don´t invite me in when I come to pasear. Many children and adults alike thought I came to take their kids back to the United States to be sold. Some think gringos eat people. A fellow volunteer lives in a community where everyone thought she was a spy and didn´t want to share anything with her for fear of where the information was going.
I´ve come a long way in my community since I arrived at the end of October, but you can see why the first step of building relationships is so important. We are up against a lot of ugly history, cultural boundaries, and foundationless fear and rumors. The first step of our Environmental Health project framework is to motivate and organize community members. To help them form committees, understand how to run meetings effectively, and to get people to actively participate in their own development. People in my community rarely attend meetings, and those who do are the same people over and over. Most of these people view ¨the community¨as only the 30-ish houses nearest the road, and ignore the remaining 65 that are spread out over hills, across rivers, and as far as two hours or more from the street. To advise every house of a meeting requires at least four days of walking. The disperese nature of the community, and the overall lack or motivation and organization will be one of my biggest challenges.
Such work is the first goal of the Environmental Health framework. The other two revolve around water and sanitation. Depending on the needs of a community, EH volunteers may educate existing water committees about the maintenence of an aqueduct, basic aqueduct theory, trouble shooting, waterborne diseases and better managing of time, funds, and meetings. This is a huge felt need in QP, where broken pipes go unfixed for weeks, some houses connected to the aqueduct have been without water for months, and for the fun of the ick factor, our water reserve tanks have crabs and sometimes worms inside of them.
I attended my first water committee meeting this past week, and while it was an experience that was at times frustrating, and I still battle with Getting People to Listen To Me, it is also heartening because I know I have the ability and resources to help them in many important and sustainable ways. EH volunteers also help to plan for and design other water systems, be it aqueduct lines or rain-water catchment. About 70 percent of my community is without running water in their homes, and use springs, creeks or wells (many of which are extermely dubious) for drinking, cooking and wash water. I am still thinking about what can be done for these homes. They are all so spread out, it is impossible that one water system could serve them all, and they also lack organization of any kind. They tell me they want water, but they haven´t come to meetings, or done anything other than voice their need. Beginning to work with some leaders in small committees and planning for a future project, or at the least, rain-water catchment systems is something I hope to do as well, though as I see it now, it cannot be my first priority.
Santitation is the other element. EH volunteers educate about fecal-oral transmission pathways, and essentially, promoting the construction, proper use and maintenence latrines. In Bocas, living in an indigenous community, this is another element where cultural understanding is key. Most of our technical sanitation training revolved around building and promoting compositng latrines. In my community, only about 10 percent of houses (generous estimations) use latrines, and those are full or poorly maintained. All of them are pit latrines, and most of them have buckets of wash water to clean with after use. Toilet paper is used by only a few families, and the others have no interest in it becasue they feel cleaner using water.
Which is a problem for composting latrines, which must be kept dry. It is also a problem because so few houses have a nearby water source, so they are extremely unlikely to use composting latrines if they could just go to the creek, or in the woods, and wash afterwards. I am realistic about the fact that, right now, I know of only about five families who would properly use and maintain a composting latrine. For most, pit latrines are a better option. In time, many will be ¨ready¨ for composting latrines, but as of right now, few people have identified them as a priority.
I am running into a small problem because my counter part solicitied PC for the specific purpose of a compositing latrine project. He knows they are better for the environment, last longer, and of course produce a fabulous compost for the finca. I think he is unrealistic about the scope of a project we could undertake in QP, as he is comparing our situation to one in a nearby community where 35 latrines were built by a PC volunteer. But this is my job: assessment, and then education and promotion. I have plenty of time to gauge genuine interest (and not just what he claims when he went around and told everyone I was coming to work on composting latrines) and feasibile success rates. Many volunteers have built latrines in Bocas that went unused or were unfinished. I would hate to do that.
So that, in short, is what EH volunteers will do, and as I wrap up my community analysis, what I am imagining for my time here in Panama. As always, leave me questions in the comments.
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