Profe in the DR

jueves, 6 de octubre de 2011

Profe in the DR 25

October 5, 2011

The cry can be heard through out the batey, yeaaaaaaaaah! The electricity has come back on. I had better take advantage of this and write a bit before it goes back off again.

The 19^th of September marked 13 months in country. On the 20^th, they finally hooked up the internet to our computer center. Unfortunately the electricity was still not hooked up. Our computer center entered the 21^st century before it entered the 20^th.

On the 21^st I headed to the capital for meetings on Thursday and Friday. I stayed with a friend, a former volunteer now working for an NGO. He has a nice apartment in the colonial zone. Friday night we tried to barbeque but the charcoal was super cheap and hardly burned so we gave up and ordered a pizza. The next day we tried again with different charcoal and it turned out great. It was nice to have a little taste from home.

I got back to my site on Sunday. Some of the guys here were already using the internet; they had run an extension cord from a nearby house, powering 3 computers. On Thursday and Friday, they finally came out and replaced the transformer that led to the computer center. (I was told it burned out 5 years ago.) So now all 10 computers have power. The commotion that followed was crazy. Everyone and their brother wanted to use the internet, the place was packed, lots of noise, and people arguing and yelling. (Why would this be any different from anything else here in the batey.) And of course almost no one knows how to use the computers so I was being bombarded with questions. Everyone wanted to get to facebook (or Fasbuk as some where spelling it) but didn’t have accounts or email accounts to form an account. The kids were all coming to me begging me to let them go use the computers since they know I have keys to the center. Today, a fellow volunteer came over and set up the computers, with a master computer to control the others. Starting tomorrow we will begin to charge to use the internet. We are going to use the money to maintain the center. (Classes using the computers will be free.) Hopefully this will end all the problems we have been having, since one’s wallet will regulate how much one can use the computer. We are also going to (try to) regulate the number of people who can enter at one time. This is far more difficult than in the US, since everyone here just walks freely into everyone else’s homes, and thinks nothing of it.

The speed of the internet here is slower than dial up but it’s better than nothing.

This morning I woke to the sound of a small airplane circling around the batey. It appears that the sugar consorcio has started working on the next sugar harvest. The plane sprays a chemical on the sugar cane fields that makes the sugar cane plants dry up so they can burn the leaves, making it easier to cut. This plane flies right over people and animals, and the fields are all around the bateys, so I have to ask myself what affect the chemical has on humans. I am told it kills fish, and plants that people are trying to grow in their conucos. I just can’t imagine it’s too good for us.

Oops, did it again. I always forget when I am boiling water to cook noodles, and end up boiling away all the water and have to start over. Late dinner tonight.

Elections are coming up in 2012, and campaigns are in full swing. Current mayors and governors are starting to work on public works projects such as fixing roads, etc. to get votes. Most of these projects have laid half finished since the last election. Here in the batey, the mayor is fixing the park. The park had been built some years past by some other mayor trying to get votes. He didn’t involve the community at all, and when he was done building it, people here ripped it apart to rob the electric wire to the lights. Children and goats took care of the rest. I’ve been asking people here what is going to be different this time. No one seems to know. Some hope that remorse over what happened the last time will keep people from destroying the park again. Hopefully it will be finished before the election. Hopefully the community will take care of it.

About a dozen men were loading up a truck in front of my house. Once they finished they all began to argue. I can’t hear what they are arguing, or for that matter in which language they are arguing. My best guess would be over money, since one of the men came in to ask me what was 28 x 2. If someone were to ask me what the national past time in the DR is, I would have to say “arguing” (that and sitting all day watching cars go by.)

Now I just had a dozen or so boys come in my house bombarding me with questions about soccer, chess, English, and computers. I think they just don’t have anything else to do right now. After more than an hour, I finally booted them out. (It’s after 9pm.) I am trying to get this, and several other bits of work that require the laptop, done before the electricity goes out again.

I am having problems with rats this week. On Sunday a rat came scurrying out into the main room, saw me and ran under the little refrigerator. I grabbed a broom and went after it. Two rats came running out. It was actually quite amazing watching them flee. They jumped from one thing to the other, jumped up, grabbed some wires and escaped where the tin roof meets the house. They are very talented. Tuesday night I put some rat poison in several piles around the house. The rats ate all of the poison, and half of a bar of soap that smelled like fruit. I figured that would be the end of my rat problems, but the next night they came back again. It was raining that night, so the rats left mud everywhere they went. They finished off the other half of the bar of soap, and got into the garbage. I’m thinking about asking to borrow a cat or something.

We just had to fill out our VRF (Volunteer Reporting Forms) again. The computerized form just asks for numbers of participants in primary projects, and is used in Washington D.C. It always depresses me when we have to fill these out because it does not reflect all that we do here. (It doesn’t even come close.) So much of what I do on a daily basis can not be measured, and my work and influence goes way beyond my primary projects.

Jairo is participating in a business plan competition. After taking a course on how to write a plan, he wrote up a 12 page plan on a business he would like to start. The winner of the competition gets 60,000 pesos to start their business. The competition is funded by Plan International and Peace Corps Volunteers run it. I spent countless hours, over several months helping Jairo with the course and with the plan. When I was in the capital, I found out he was selected as one of the 24 finalists. They returned his plan with some suggested changes to improve it, and he had until the following Tuesday to re-submit it. Since I couldn’t read my email for two weeks, I didn’t know he had been selected until a week and a half later, and by the time I got back to my site, it was Sunday and he had only two days to make all the corrections and re-submit the plan. The two of us worked on it until late in the night Sunday and Monday, and all day Tuesday, and sent it in a half hour before the deadline. Now Jairo is preparing his presentation. He has to speak for ten minutes in front of a panel of judges made up of prominent business people. He then has to field five minutes of questions. Jairo is a good public speaker so I am hopeful.

Jairo hasn’t been waiting to win this competition to start his business. He is starting a cleaning products company. He first took classes on how to make cleaning products. He then took a class on how to run a business, and then the course on how to write a business plan. He started little by little buying the things he needs. And a few months ago he started selling his products right here in the batey. He then started little by little selling them in nearby towns. He is doing all of this outside of the hours of his current job. Each month his sales are growing. He needs a small truck, and is hoping to win the business plan competition so he can buy one. He just showed me last night the new labels he had printed up for his products, very professional. He hopes to increase sales enough by the end of December that he can quit his current job and devote all his time to his new company.

martes, 27 de septiembre de 2011

Profe in the DR 24

It gets dark around 7pm these days, and when there is no electricity in the evening there isn’t much to do. It’s hard to see by the lamp light, so I can’t read or study, and it’s hard to play cards or chess. The lamp also makes my house too hot. I often find myself sitting on my porch and watching people walk by in front of the house, just like so many other people here in the batey.

Sharing is a big part of the culture here. People share almost everything. It is very common to see a child with a sucker in his/her mouth take it out and give it to another child (who may then share it with a few others). If you stop by while someone is eating they will say “a buen tiempo” and offer you their food on their plate. People will often accept and use the same fork or spoon the person who offered was using. (You can politely refuse the offer by saying “buen provecho”.)

Sunday I rode my mt. bike for four hours. I headed up into the mountains and back. Deep in the mountains, I saw an old man tilling his field with two cows harnessed to the till. In the afternoon we determined the chess rankings. The kids write down who beat who for two weeks, then we go through that and determine who is number 1, etc. There are currently 31 kids participating in the rankings, and even more playing chess. Since we started doing rankings back in May, Juan Carlos has been number 1, but he finally lost his position to Adoni. Jaro who is ranked fourth, played 49 games in the two week period. In the evening I played volleyball, and after dark I had my usual houseful of kids playing chess. When you think of people playing chess, you usually think of people sitting quietly and moving the pieces. It’s not quite like that here. The way they play here, it’s more like a playground basketball game with all its trash talking, hoot and howling, and frequent arguments. (Nothing in this country seems to be done quietly.)

Monday morning while out for my morning ride, I came around a corner and met up with the largest bull I have seen so far in this country standing right in my path. He didn’t seem inclined to give right away, so I convinced him to leave with a couple of rocks thrown in his direction. Now that school has begun, I had to change the time of my English classes. The kids here either go to school in the morning from 8:30am to 12:00 or in the afternoon from 2pm to 5pm. I now teach the kids who go to school in the afternoon at 11:30am, and the kids who go to school in the morning at 2pm. I also have some kids who don’t go to school, and they like to come to both of my classes. Many of the kids who are in the higher grades are learning English at school, and come by all the time asking questions on how to pronounce something they learned that day.

Monday evening, after my English/Creole class with Emanuel, I had the first soccer practice for the winter league. We included two more bateys into the league this time. Since Blanco quit as coach, I am coaching the team myself this time. Blanco had so many problems with lack of discipline and respect that I have decided to work hard on teaching these concepts to the team. My plan is to make them a more coach-able team so that I can once again find someone from the community to coach them and that person will not have the same problems as Blanco. I am always working towards sustainability in my projects, and the only way to do so with soccer is to have someone from the community coaching the team.

Tuesday I had to go to Neyba in the morning. I had to download a form for a grant from my email. I also had forgotten my memory stick in the computer I was using there Thursday. I didn’t think there was much of a chance of recovering my memory stick, but when I arrived at the internet center, the owner was sitting outside and upon seeing me, quickly got up and went inside, and pulled my memory stick out of a drawer and handed it to me. I was very thankful he is an honest man. In the afternoon, I worked on the grant which is asking for money for transportation for the winter soccer league. It’s not like back home where everybody’s parents can just drive them over to the field, or there’s a school bus to take us there. We have to hire someone with a truck to get the kids to the other communities to play, and gas is expensive here. While I was trying to write, a million kids of all ages were playing cards, chess, or studying math flash cards in my house. During the day, lots of really young kids like to come in and play their own version of chess. They sit and play for long periods or time, seemingly following some sort of rules, although I can’t seem to figure them out. It seems their favorite part is capturing pieces, so that is how their games go, one piece capturing another until all the pieces are gone. I keep trying to teach them the real rules of chess, but they seem to prefer their own versions better.

Around 4pm, the national president of World Vision and a few other directors stopped by to discuss the lack of electricity for the computer lab they installed way back in January. The ten new HP computers they installed have been just sitting there collecting dust because they never connected the electricity up to the center. The WV president promised to have it connected within two weeks. He also promised to connect them to the internet, but didn’t say when. I used the opportunity to bring up the problems I was having in receiving any support from their local office. I have been asking for simple things like art supplies, and sports equipment for more than six months with no results. The person in charge of this kept promising me to get me them soon, but never came through, even though I have been helping him with his projects here. The WV president promised to get me these things and told me to go through the regional director from now on. I am really hoping that he makes good on his promises.

Tuesday evening we had a great soccer practice, we got a lot done and the kids enjoyed it. After Monday’s Practice I had to have a firm talk with one of my best players, Adoni, since he continuously didn’t want to do what the team was doing, and kept doing his own thing. I let him know that if he wanted to play, he had to be part of the team. Adoni is one of those guys who when you say up, he says down, so he said he wasn’t going to play anymore. I was pleased to see him show up on Tuesday, and I was even more pleased to see him participate just like everyone else.

Wednesday, I got out for an hour on the mt.bike, and then had my usual English classes. I continued working on the grant, and on making more materials for the English classes. Emanuel never showed up, so I didn’t have my English/Creole class with him. The majority of the kids showed up late for soccer, but the practice went well. Blanco came out to watch. I am hoping that he will decide to get involved with the team again. He seems to really like both the sport and the kids. He’s short tempered but probably about as good of a coach as I will find here.

Thursday morning my neighbor turned on his stereo full blast at 5:51am. When I mentioned something about the early hour of his music, he said it was OK because it was Christian music. Several of the Evangelical churches here like to play loud music, or sing and play drums while walking up and down the streets in the middle of the night or the very early morning (like 4am). They too seem to think it is OK to wake people up if its Christian music.

I spent the morning working on multiplication facts with teenagers and one twenty year old. After lunch I took Papito out for an hour and a half mt.bike ride. Soccer practice then chess.

Friday I was planning to go to Barahona but my plans got changed at the last moment. I had art club at 11:00. We have been drawing faces out of old magazines. Mistelin, a 12 year old boy who lives next door is getting quite good at drawing faces. His mother had one of his drawings hung up in her store yesterday. English class with Emanuel at 3pm, soccer at 5:30pm, chess at night.

Saturday I again rode my mt.bike up into the mountains, this time for 5 hours 15min. I enjoy the peace and quiet and solitude the mountains offer, a big switch from life in a batey. I then attended a meeting with the Sugar Consorcio about the soccer tournament they are putting on for the men’s teams. The captain of the men’s team from here was supposed to go, not me, but he never showed up, so they called me and asked if I could go instead. We started planning this tournament back in January, forever pushing back the date of the tournament. It was going to be Sunday but Sunday morning about 9am, I got a message saying we would have to push it back again.

I spent Sunday studying, got out on the bike for an hour, and just basically recovering from the week. Having kids in my house all the time, them forever arguing, fighting, all the noise, the negativity, the mess, etc. really wears you down. I decided that from now on we are no longer going to do activities in my house anymore. From now on we will do everything in the refugio. If World Vision connects the electricity like they are promising, then we can play chess there at night.

jueves, 8 de septiembre de 2011

Profe in the DR 23

Profe in the DR 23 Wednesday, September 7, 2011

On Tuesday August 23^rd, we finally did get some rain out from Irene in the evening. It rained for a few hours. Most of it dried up the next day. Wednesday and Thursday were like normal, working on all my normal projects and helping Jairo write his business plan. Friday morning I started back up the Art club after summer vacation. I still haven’t received any art supplies from World Vision, even though they told me they would give me some six months ago. In the afternoon, I found out that my soccer coach Blanco has quit (for the fourth time). The other coach Samuel says he will take over. Sunday morning however, the day we have the championship for the summer soccer league, Samuel gets up and leaves town, with out telling anyone but his neighbor. He said he was heading back to where he used to live. In two days I went from having two coaches to none. So I coached the final game myself. My team played great, but lost to the first place team, we finished up the league in second place. I had a normal busy Monday, and in the late afternoon I headed in to the capital to see the doctors again. I managed to catch a ride with my APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director) who happened to be in the area. I had to see the doctors because I had a middle ear infection, and the left side of my left foot was numb. The doctor said my foot was numb because nerves running through my lower back, were most likely being pinched. My back has been giving me a lot of problems still. She gave me muscle relaxers to try to solve the problem. I came back to my site Wednesday. Thursday I had a Peace Corps Trainee (Dustin Wood) come visit me. As part of their training, in the third week, trainees visit a current volunteer to see first hand the life and work of a volunteer. He stayed with me here through Saturday, observing/helping with projects. Everyone in the batey came by to see the new American. People asked if Dustin was my brother, some asked if he was my son, (he is 24 years old), one person even said that Dustin looked older. At the bus stop, someone said I looked Dominican, but Dustin looked American.

Saturday afternoon, after working in the play for a while, cutting back thornbush, the trainee and I headed off to Barahona where we met up with eight other volunteers and two trainees. We then headed off together to San Rafael on the beach and spent the night in a house on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Sunday we swam a bit and relaxed in rocking chairs on the porch with an incredible view of the sea. I don’t take a lot of time off, even though we are allowed to, but it was nice to play tourist for the weekend. At noon, we headed further down the road to Los Patos and had lunch then swam some more. At Los Patos they tell me is the shortest river in the world, as its source is only a 100 or so yards from the sea. We caught a Bola (free ride) in the back of a large truck back to Barahona and arrived a little before four, but since it was Sunday there were no longer busses (old vans) heading towards Neyba. A guy who drove a van to a different location offered to drive us at higher price than normal per person, since there were six of us heading that way. He then proceeded to pick up other passengers, so we objected to paying taxi prices if he was going to pick up people like a normal bus route. When he disagreed, Cameron told him to drop us off here, and that we would then walk up ahead of the van and then get back on as bus passengers, not taxi passengers. Everyone laughed at that and in the end, we only paid bus prices.

Monday was fairly normal.

Tuesday most of the kids finally started going back to school, even though school officially began August 17^th. A few kids have not gone back yet, and when I asked, one 14 year old girl said she is waiting for her mother to buy her school supplies before she goes back. She said maybe next Monday she will start. Two boys said they are waiting for their parents to buy uniforms.

I have been using my laptop to teach typing, and also math. I have also been working with younger children on math using flash cards. Compared to US students, they are so far behind their age level in math that it’s unbelievable.

I started off today with an hour ride on the mt.bike. My back is still very sore so I took it easy. I then taught three English classes and had Creole class. Any free time I had up until 5:30 was taken up teaching math. I got out the flash cards and was working with whatever kids came in the house. I had five years old to seventeen year olds all practicing math. I headed out for soccer, and volleyball, then spent the evening like always, with a house for of teenagers playing chess. After they left at 9:30pm, a friend stopped by to use my laptop for an hour while I read Charlotte’s Web in Spanish. (I never read it in English.)

jueves, 25 de agosto de 2011

Profe in the DR 22

August 23, 2011

On Wednesday the the 10^th, I spent the morning in Neyba running errands, and downloading photos of Japan for the boys presentation on Japan for Celebrando el Sur. I taught 3 classes of English in the early afternoon, then Batey 7 came here to play soccer. My team won 4-0.

Thursday the five boys and I prepared for Celebrando el Sur. We were in charge of putting together an obstacle course. The boys also had to do a presentation on Japan. At about 5pm we realized that the pictures we downloaded on Wednesday didn’t work because the computer in Neyba had a virus. I then had to get a motoconcho to Tamayo to try and get some more photos. However, Tamayo didn’t have electricity. So then we went to Batey 4. I had to wait a half hour for them to get their computer and internet up and running, but eventually I was able to get enough photos. The boys and I then prepared and practiced the presentation until about 10:30pm. Friday the six of us set out for San Juan. The army officer at the security check point asked all my kids for their papers, but no one else. My kids were the only really dark skinned people on the bus. The checkpoints look for Haitians, and my kids all look Haitian. We spent three days at the Celebrando el Sur conference in San Juan. About 53 kids participated in all sorts of workshops and activities celebrating diversity. They also had a lot of fun, and probably learned more in three days than they would in a month of school. For the 16 volunteers who put on the conference, it was a lot of work and little sleep. (I crashed for 13 hours once I got home.) On the way back, we had a trouble getting a bus. The locals told me it was because I had five Haitian looking boys with me and that the buses didn’t want problems going through the checkpoints. Luckily, after an hour of trying to catch a bus, a man pulled up in a large truck, and offered us all a ride. (I hope God blesses him.)

Monday the 15^th, I had all my normal activities, but in the early evening I was informed that the soccer coach (Blanco) had quit (again). He was once again upset with the lack of respect from the players. (Dominican parents don’t teach respect, but Haitian parents strongly do.) About the same time, I was introduced to Samuel who was a soccer coach and ref in Santiago. I went and spoke to Blanco and he agreed to continue coaching. I introduced him to Samuel, and the two agreed to work together. I was leaving for the capital for five days and wanted to get things set right before I left so I called a meeting with the team (it was now 8pm.) and we had the team come up with a list of rules that they agreed to follow from now on. (The list included “No eating sugar cane on the soccer field.” It makes a mess.) At about 10:30pm the transformer on the electric pole down the street started shooting out sparks everywhere, then the lights went out. Tuesday morning I headed to the capital to have more physical therapy on my little finger. It still doesn’t bend all the way. On Wednesday the 17^th, Batey 9 came here to play soccer. Cameron came with them and told me that it was the best soccer game he had seen yet. Both sides had tons of great shots on goal, but defenses held tough, and in the end it was a tie 0-0. Friday marked one year in country. I came back one day earlier than planned, and arrived in my site late Friday. Saturday our soccer team traveled to Batey 9. Once again it was a great game. Our team managed to keep the ball in front of their net most of the time; however our defense didn’t do so well and let them score. They won 1-0. Their fans were quite obnoxious, running out on the field after Batey 9 scored and at the end of the game, yelling and screaming and shaking things in the air (chairs, sticks, machetes, etc.) Our two coaches were upset at the refs calls and the fact that he didn’t add any extra minutes for all the stoppage earlier. The two sides didn’t want to shake hands, and this made their fans even more obnoxious. Cameron and I got them to all shake hands, but as my team loaded into the back of the small pickup, their fans blocked us from leaving, chanting, dancing, waiving things in the air, drumming, etc. This lasted for 10-15 minutes, until finally an old man from Batey 9 told them to go away. They continued chanting and dancing down the road through the rest of the batey. As we were driving out, just about at the edge of the batey, we met up with this group of fans again, now mostly teenagers and children. They started to throw rocks at us. The driver, coaches and I got out and yelled at them. I then stayed there to keep them from following the pick up, and I caught up with the pick up a little later.

Sunday I spent helping Jairo again. Yesterday, I had my normal Monday classes. At 5pm, I headed out to set up volleyball. I am trying to get a volley ball program going here now that soccer is well established. I bought one net in the states, and got a second net from the Department of Sports here. I also got two balls from a grant I had written. I am trying to get some metal poles. We are currently just using long sticks.

Tropical storm Irene is passing by, and we are on alert, but here in the Deep South, all we got was about a minute of rain. Not even enough to keep the dust down, however it seems it was enough for the principal to delay starting school for another week. (They use any excuse they can to cancel classes.) I did hear that several people died near Bani which is closer to the capital.

Profe in the DR 21

August 6, 2011

I spent two weeks vacation back in Michigan. We had a family reunion the first week, all my brothers and sisters were there. It was great to see everyone. I was amazed at how much bigger all my nieces and nephews are. It was wonderful seeing my wife, and difficult saying goodbye again. I really appreciate all the sacrifices she is making so that I can be down here.

I arrived Monday afternoon and headed straight to my site, pulling in around 8pm. I got a very warm welcome back from everyone. Thanks to the generosity of several people in the U.S., I was able to come back with a suitcase full of soccer cleats for the teenager team I work with. Tuesday we started matching shoes up with owners. We were also donated goalie gloves, goalie pants, goalie shirt, soccer socks, and uniform tops from the Plymouth Reign soccer team. They donated tons of stuff, but I only had room for one suitcase full. We are thankful to them and everyone else who donated to our soccer team. Thank you very much. So that the kids will have ownership in what they received I charged them a small amount of money that I will use for something else later, and they agreed to do a certain amount of work on the soccer field.

Wednesday the volunteers in this part of the country were consolidated in Barahona because of hurricane Emily. We had to stay there until Friday morning. Emily did not hit the island nearly as hard as they thought it would. We received a good bit of rain, but that was it. Unfortunately the rain was enough to flood the soccer field in Batey 7, canceling our game there on Saturday. Our own field has a lot of water on it, and we are going to head out today with buckets to clear off what we can. Our field is getting better as we continue to fill in low spots, and it is drying out faster and holding less water than before.

August 9, 2011

I spent Sunday working with Jairo on his business plan. The deadline for entering his plan in the competition got moved back thankfully to September 1^st. He has a lot of work to do on it still. Monday I taught three English classes, and studied Creole. After that I had soccer. Two women in their late 20’s joined us. It was the first time we had any women come out and play. In the evening I continued to help Jairo as kids played chess all around us. Tuesday morning I had a meeting about the Men’s soccer tournament that we have been planning since February. It is finally looking like it will happen in September. The meeting ran all morning, although I think we could have covered everything in 20 minutes if they had tried. After the meeting, Juan Carlos and I went to Tamayo to use one of the slowest internet centers I have come across so far, to try to look up information for a presentation on Japan that he and four other boys will give at a three day camp we are going to called Celebrando el Sur. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping Jairo while younger kids were in the house playing jacks, cards, and chess. In the evening I spoke with Gitana about the soccer league for some time, while having the usual houseful of kids playing chess.