|
« July 2007 |
Main
| September 2007 »
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ August 22, 2007 }
Slow month
August has gone by quickly but, as far as work is concerned, has been pretty slow. Two weeks ago I went to the capital for (another) fair, this one was for FIPA (the investment fund for environmental protection) projects- various organizations received loans to do environmental projects including organic production, renewable energy, water conservation and others. The Association had received a loan to build our ecologic beneficiado where we depulp and process coffee. It was interesting to see other projects and I made some good contacts that will hopefully come in handy at some point in the future.
Tomorrow I am making another trip to the capital because there is a coffee committee meeting on Friday and also because I have to get a green card. Fortunately, the Peace Corps takes care of all the paperwork and all I have to do is show up, wait, and get my picture taken. I only need it if I have to leave the country which I don't plan on doing until Christmas, but I may as well get it since I will be in the capital. Sadly Sarah, the woman who works at the Embassy whom I normally stay with in Santo Domingo, is moving to Venezuela. I have been very lucky to have the opportunity to stay with her and get to know her but it is a great opportunity for her to work directly with the Ambassador. No doubt that will be a challenging and interesting assigment. This will be the last time I stay with her before she heads out in September.
This past weekend was the first hurricane scare since I've been here. There were warnings from Hurricane Dean, which never touched down here but did send us a good amount of rain. The Peace Corps has a safety system for weather, political unrest, etc. with different levels and regions. I was on stand fast, so I couldn't leave my site but some volunteers in the South and the East had to consolidate in hotels. A friend was going to come visit but unfortunately wasn't able to. I put up some more pictures on my picture site from the wedding I went to, the youth groups' trip and a few other random pictures.
Last week I didn't have water for almost three days, then I finally did but the electricity went out for about the same amount of time, then I didn't have water again for almost 2 days. Oh, the joys of living in a developing country!
Posted by katie at 06:38 PM | Permalink
| Comments (2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------{ August 02, 2007 }
A breath of fresh air
Last week the East Lake Community Church HS youth group was in the DR for a missions trip in Jarabacoa and a campo outside Jarabacoa called Boma. Getting to spend the whole week with them was so refreshing, not only because I got to speak English and be with awesome people, but also because I have not been communicating with God lately and being around youth enthusiastic about serving the Lord was truly a breath of fresh air for me and my faith.
I had a hard time getting in touch with them to meet up due to some cell phone problems but I thought I would do the Peace Corps thing and wing it by jumping on a moto and hoping to find them. How many groups of Americans can possibly be in a small campo at one time? Fortunately it worked out fine and I ran into them on Monday while they were bringing in supplies for the week to the campo. During the week the group worked on various projects including digging a latrine, clearing away and digging out the foundation of a house, clearing rocks from a pathway to make it passable when it rains, hauling sand from the river to mix cement, putting on tin roofs and conducting 2 childrens' services. The kids worked really hard and did an awesome job. Some of them were the youth I was with when I worked with the junior high group and they have grown in every possible way- physically, emotionally and spiritually- and it was so amazing to see them getting their hands dirty and also forming relationships cross-culturally when they don't speak the language. There were also several youth that I didn't know or not very well before and I really enjoyed getting to know them and see how God is working in their lives. Lexi brought me some goodies from Cory (thanks!) and the new Harry Potter book (gracias a Ashley and Bill), which I have already finished. So nice of them, and Lexi for bringing it all! The youth also gave me a bunch of their snacks that they didn't eat on the trip so, all in all, I left with considerably more than what I came with. I was definitely tired when I got home because we all got up at 4 am for them to get to the airport with enough time on Saturday but it was a great trip and I hope they come back while I am here for another trip.
Saturday and Sunday after they left I wound down a bit and prepared my talk to the Agroforestry and Environmental volunteers on Monday, which went ok but they were mostly tired from having a good time the night before. I did get to see a pine tree nursery run by Plan Sierra and a beautiful botanical garden in Janico, as well as hang out with one of my favorite Spanish teachers from training. This week has just been busy catching up at the office and doing a lot of work- yesterday we had a visit from CODOCAFE and the French Development Agency, which funds part of PROCA'2, the loan side of CODOCAFE. I talked with the 2 guys from the Development Agency and it was interesting to hear about some of the other countries they have worked in, including Morocco, Chad, Lebanon and others.
Right now I am in the technology center while my adult English class takes their exam. Several of the class members did not show up so I will have to decide what to do about that. I'm not overly suprised, although somewhat disappointed.
Next in the office is to really get into Cafelio and get the loans all computerized. I know I have talked about that for a while but one computer isn't a lot, especially when there is always something going on that needs to be done. Little by little we are moving forward and I am pleased with how far we have come even though there is always more to do. I am fortunate in that I have people that want to learn and work because just that can be a challenge here sometimes.
Posted by katie at 09:19 PM | Permalink
| Comments (0)
| 