Nine Months Deep (and still not sick of beans)

Unbelieveble that we´re already on the verge of May! I´m only 3 months away from my one year mark…where has the time gone? I´d be lying to say it wasn´t a slight harsh awakening to jump into work again after so much extreme beachside relaxation on the Belizean coast. But, the initial sting wore off quickly and I´m in full-swing again with my English group, teacher tutoring, and Club Cheras. The English group has just sent off letters to their Spanish class penpals in Pennsylvania. They were so excited to receive letters from the States a couple weeks ago…The students at North Hills sent really interesting letters with pictures that gave MC youth an taste of American life. My enrollment has increased as word of the penpal program spread and right now I have a very full class…which is wonderful! I continue tutoring the school director and English teacher with their English throughout the week. I´ve started some long-term planning for a future day-long teachers workshop on inovative, interactive, teaching activities for their classrooms. Students, in my experience, seem to be accostumed to being ¨talked at.¨ This allows them to pass through year after year without ever really having to think critically or participate actively. Not cool…They have a lot of great knowledge to contribute in a classroom (or in our case, in the shade of a morro tree)!!
My girls group seems to have re-sparked after a couple Sunday meetings of dissapointing attendance. Yesterday´s meeting I brought in my friend and special guest, Dr. Sarah Gongora to give a charla on healthy relationships. The girls loved it! Sarah rocked and really got them to open up and talk about the qualities that all women deserve in a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse. I had to break some sad news to them that our grant application for Kids to Kids was not accepted this cyle. I was really disheartened, as I was pretty confident we´d be accepted. I worked hard on that thing! We´ll resubmit and hope for the best…the girls were so excited about starting a Jewelry-making workshop. Anyway, we are moving on to other things and keeping our heads up. The group is organizing a soccer tournament for girls and boys teams throughout the cantón as a community event and a group fundraiser. The date has been set for May 22nd. We are currently working on invitation distrubution to see just how many teams we can round up. The MC girls are hot to play, after a recent confidence boost of winning 2nd place in a local tournament, beating rival team San Carlos. We will be selling pastelitos, fruit, and water on the big day to bring some money to the group. I love my Club Cheras, but we need regular commitment to sustain it. I´ll keep you all in the loop with how things progress.
Fomilenio has just opened a branch in Dolores! The goal of the organization is to stimulate the economy and promote growth in the poorest regions of the country using funds from the Milenium Challenge Account (http://www.mcc.gov/mcc/about/index.shtml) of the US. The organization has initiated a project in Dolores that trains locals to use cow horns to to create artisanal products like candlestick holders, belt buckles, pendants, etc. I think it´s a great initiative since the region has an abundance of cows and the material is easy to access, not to mention, something that usually gets discarded in the fields. Milagro, one of the organizers of the workshop which will take place every Wednesday afternoon, has informed me that free transport may be in the cards for the young women of my community, most of which are single mothers with no source of income. Hopefully, this upcoming week we will be able to start attending the workshop. Currently I have signed up 6 young women. I´m really excited; I think it will be an awesome opportunity!
At the end of this month, Peace Corps has a 3-day training scheduled for us in the Western part of the country. After the training it will only be a week until I turn (gulp) 24!? And one of my favorite people, Jaime Ulrich, comes down for a visit on the 7th! So fun times to come! Below is a picture of me with my winning girls soccer team! Felicidades mis cheritas! I hope you are all well….I´d like to send a shout-out to cousin Dave and his fiancee Vanessa! I love you both and am excited to have Vanessa as an offical part of the family! I´ll be at the wedding!!





¨For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.¨ Nelson Mandela