jueves, 24 de noviembre de 2011

Profe in the DR 29

Profe in the DR 29
11-17-11
Saturday the soccer team had their first game of the new league against Batey Cuchilla.  They lost 1-0 even though they were a much stronger team with more experience.  For some reason or other they just didn’t have their heads in the game.  I suppose it was just as well.  After the game we had to wait an hour and a half for our ride home.  The people in Batey Cuchilla might have been less agreeable to us waiting around had they lost the game.
Saturday night it rained hard, filling the batey up with mud and puddles.   Sunday the soccer field was too muddy to play or work on, so they decided to work on the field on Tuesday. 
I spent some time Sunday and Tuesday loading a few children’s educational games into the computers.  Its difficult finding good programs in Spanish.  Wednesday, Aiden an IT volunteer came over and checked up on all the computers, fixing a few things and making sure they are all running well.
We have been having problems with young children while we are trying to play chess at night.  They are running around the outside of the refugio, yelling, throwing rocks, turning the lights off on us, and trying to bother us as much as possible.  No one ever watches over their children here and they all just run wild, doing whatever they please.  Like I said before, they remind me of a bad scene from Lord of the Flies.
Monday a general strike was called.  I don’t know if it ever actually took place.  They very seldom do.  However, most people stayed home anyway, some out of fear of a strike, others because it was a good excuse for not going to work.  (Strikes can be very violent affairs, usually ending in several deaths.)
My two Sala de tareas (tutoring class) are going well.  All or the kids are already showing progress in math.  All other projects are going well too. 

11-24-11
            Happy Thanksgiving.  Not quite the same when you’re away from family. 
Last Saturday the soccer team had their second game.  The kids played very well, staying in their positions, and passing the ball.  They won 7-0.  Three of the younger players all scored goals.   
            Sunday I headed to the capital for meetings Monday through Wednesday.  Today I am planning to head back to my site.  I have a lot of things to get done.

domingo, 13 de noviembre de 2011

Profe in the DR 28

Profe in the DR 28
11-3-11
Sunday the soccer team worked for an hour again cutting back thorn bush.   They are saying they want to do an hour of work on the play every Sunday then play soccer.  I met with the computer lab volunteers in the evening and went over how to run the lab.  Monday they opened the lab officially.  However, by midday it was clear that the volunteers weren’t charging everyone to use the internet.  Several of the volunteers were letting their friends use the internet without paying.
There was a large spider living in my shower for almost two weeks.   I was just about to give it a name, but another slightly larger spider came along and ate it and took up its place.  I didn’t trust this new one, but luckily it left after two days.
Tuesday I headed to the capital to see the nerve doctor.  I ended up having to stay until Thursday.  The doctor explained to me how the two herniated discs in my lower back were pushing against the nerves that go to my left foot, and that is why it is numb.  He said they shouldn’t need surgery, and prescribed two medicines and a wrap around brace.  No lifting, no riding on the back of motorcycles, boards under the mattress, and a few other suggestions.  Hopefully in 3-4 weeks things will be back to normal.
While in the capital I went to the movies for the first time in this country.  In true Dominican style, everyone was yelling at the big screen.
11-11-11
I have been super busy this week and there has been very little electricity so I have not had an opportunity to write at all.  I started up two new sala de tareas (tutoring groups).  I am focusing on addition, and am using older students to help the younger ones.  The first games of our new soccer league are this Sunday and I have been busy getting things ready for this.  Our league now has six co-ed teams of 12-17 year-olds, two more than last time.  Transportation continues to be our biggest problem.  My APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) dropped by on Wednesday to see how I am doing.  My art club has decided to display some of their drawings in the community center.  There has been a sudden surge in interest in chess, unfortunately surpassing the number of boards we have and leading to a little unrest.  The soccer team continues to work on cutting back the thorn bush and getting ready for this Saturday’s game.  I added another English class on Fridays. 
The computer lab continues to have problems.  There are a handful of young men who are dominating the lab, not allowing the kids to use the computers.  They spend all their time on facebook, and refuse to pay.  They bully the younger volunteer workers.  After speaking with the computer committee president Monday evening it was decided that we would block facebook.  Jason an IT volunteer came over on Tuesday to block facebook, but when the young men heard what he was going to do, they came over yelling and shouting and practically starting a small riot.  Amauris intervened and asked that we wait until they could meet with the computer committee that evening and discuss matters.  The meeting lasted about 2 hours.  The young men insisted that everything was fine and that we didn’t need to change anything.  (The children would all disagree.)  They also argued that the internet should be free.  (World Vision who donated the computers said we should charge for the internet and not for things that were educational so that the center could someday be sustainable.)  In the end, nothing was decided, three of the committee members left, possible quitting.  A meeting called for Thursday never happened and no new date has been set.   The computer center is still open.  The younger volunteer workers have been replaced by slightly older volunteers, and someone (not from the committee) decided that they weren’t going to charge anymore, but only allow people to use the computers for a half hour (some volunteers are already allowing some people to use the computers for an hour or more while other people wait outside).   Things are currently somewhat peaceful, but the state of the committee, agreement on rules, a final decision on to charge or not, a calendar of who is going to work in the center, etc. has all been left in the air.  I am speaking with the committee and other key people involved encouraging them to have another meeting involving the community to resolve these issues. 

miércoles, 2 de noviembre de 2011

Profe in the DR 27

Profe in the DR 27
I spent six days in the capital last week.  I headed in on Monday afternoon, arriving around 5:30 pm.  Tuesday I had my mid-term dentist check-up, all good.  Wednesday was my mid-term medical exam; all good, except he thought I should get an x-ray of my spine.  The PC doctor felt an x-ray wouldn’t show what we needed to see, and sent me for an MRI instead.  So Thursday I had an MRI.  It took about 20 minutes.  The machine was very noisy and very confining, and the technician told me not to move.  So I lay there, inside the machine, with my hands up on my chest, slightly crossed, feeling a little claustrophobic, and thinking to myself “I wouldn’t make a very good vampire.”  
            Friday, Saturday and Sunday was the Construye tus sueños business plan competition.  The 24 semi-finalists were divided up in four rooms, six groups each room.  While the other competitors spoke of their plans for future businesses, Jairo had emphasized how much he had already done/invested to already start up his business.  He was hoping to show how determined he was, and to show that his plan was more than just an idea.  That it would be successful.  Unfortunately for him, the two judges in that room were weighing heavily a businesses need for the prize money.  The judge told me Jairo by far had the best plan, but that it was clear he was going to be successful even without winning the prize money (a strange kind of competition where the winners weren’t necessarily those with the best plans).   Jairo took it in stride, and we later discussed other ways to raise the money he was hoping to win to buy a small truck.
            I returned Sunday night, exhausted and back sore after six days of sleeping on beds that sagged so bad they resembled hammocks.  By 10pm I was out cold despite the blaring music from the colmado next door.
            Monday was pretty normal, three English classes, Creole class, working with a student on math, soccer, and chess at night.  In addition to that there was a meeting of the education committee, which is in charge of the computer center.  When the committee formed in January, it was thought that World Vision was going to hire someone to run the computer center, so people joined the committee because they wanted a job, not because they wanted to help the community, or even knew anything about computers.  Once they found out that World Vision was not going to pay anyone, they all quit, leaving only the president of the committee.  When there was talk of charging adults to use the center, they came back to the committee, hoping to get money again. 
            On Tuesday I woke up to the sound of women fighting.  It seems the fight was just a continuation of a fight that broke out the evening before over a man.  It’s not so much a case of love and jealousy as it is of protecting one’s economic interests.
            The results of my MRI came in, and the doctor said while I don’t have any single great problem, I have several smaller problems, and asked me to come back to the capital Wednesday morning.
I went to the capital Wednesday and saw the back specialist.  If I can remember well, I believe he said I have a herniated disc, arthritis, a nerve being pinched, muscle spasms, and something else.  He showed me the x-rays and said “ as you can clearly see here …”, however, it wasn’t so clear to me.  He prescribed me two medicines, and told me to bend my knees when I lift anything, even a pencil.  The Peace Corps doctor said she is going to consult Washington about what else I should do.   I got back to my site in the evening on Thursday.
            Friday I rode my mt. bike for an hour, then had art club.  About ten boys were drawing today.  After that several boys came in to play chess for a while.  I taught English and had Creole class, then headed out to the play for soccer.  As I walked out on the soccer field, there was a man with a shovel and wheelbarrow digging up the little bit of grass we have on the field.  When I asked him why he was stealing the grass and making holes in our soccer field, he said “It’s OK, it’s for the park.”   While I applaud his efforts working on fixing the park, I couldn’t understand why he would take the grass from the middle of the soccer field instead of walking just a few more yards to where plenty of grass grew behind the soccer goal.  What was even harder to believe was that half the soccer team was already out on the field while he was digging up the sod, and said nothing to the man, especially when you consider how hard they worked filling in all the holes on the field earlier in the year.  In the evening, while the kids played chess, I was reading Matilda in Spanish.  Some girls were asking about the book, so I read the first chapter to them.  It’s not as easy doing read-alouds in Spanish, but I’m working on it.  I have been reading to a few kids here and there, and plan to do more and more in the future.  It’s hard to find good books however.  Most books I come across talk about things that kids raised in a batey would not understand.  The kids here can hardly read, and need all the help they can get.
            Saturday I rode for an hour, studied Creole, cleaned house, supervised the kids playing chess, studied Spanish, had soccer practice, and ended the day with more chess.
            Sunday after riding for an hour, we calculated the bi-weekly chess rankings.  I also made a checker board using bottle caps for checkers.  We then worked on the soccer field, cutting back thorn bush,  adding more dirt to the field to fill in low spots, and removed glass from the field (no matter how much we pick up, there always seems to be more.)  The kids then played soccer.
            Normal busy Monday.
            Tuesday I had two meetings with representatives from World Vision.  One was to iron out some of the problems with the committee in charge of the computer lab.  The second was to discuss starting a sala de tareas.  They are asking me to start up a tutoring center.  I am going to use older students to help teach the younger students, using games, activities and the computers to do so.  We will start with math and then move into reading.  We will start November 7th with one group in the morning and one in the afternoon.
            My Wednesdays are pretty much like my Mondays.
            Thursday I had my first English class with Jairo.  We decided that he is around so many Americans in all the different conferences he goes to that he should study English.  After that I went with him to Neyba to buy some long-needed groceries and get to an ATM.  I was down to my last few pesos.  Jairo and his wife were trying to get a birth certificate for their baby born in August.  They have already made several trips to the government office, and were once again told to come back some other day.  Since both of them are very dark-skinned, there seems to be no hurry for the officials to register the baby.  In fact, they are being made to jump through a lot of hoops that someone lighter skinned wouldn’t have to.  They are also constantly being told to come back another day.  The officials are hoping that Jairo won’t have the money to keep traveling to Neyba, and will give up.  Discrimination against Haitians and anyone who looks Haitian is very strong here.  In the afternoon, I went to Batey 5 to further discuss the winter soccer league with Elia.
            Friday involved art club, English, soccer, chess, and in the evening a meeting of the computer committee.  I was supposed to meet with Yasily from World Vision but she never showed nor called.
            Saturday Yanlico arrived at noon, and after lunch we went to Batey 4 to conduct a coaches clinic.  Yanlico is from a batey in the north side of the country where they have a very well developed soccer league.  He played for many years and now coaches.  After the clinic we returned to Isabela and Yanlico conducted a practice with the team of teenagers.