From PCT to PCV in ten weeks

On Thursday I'll be officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Immediately after the swearing-in, I'll head to the eastern city of San Miguel along with the rest of my training group, where we'll spend the night and meet our new community guides in the morning for a half-day orientation. On Friday afternoon, I'll head for the first time to my community of Caserío Toreras with my community guides Carmen, the director of the school in my site, and Crisanto, the president of Toreras' ADESCO (in whose house I'll be living).

Wearing hats with my host siblings 

I'll miss my host family here in Nuevo Cuscatlán, but I'll be back at the end of November for two additional weeks of training, and I plan to come back a couple times after that to visit them. Fancying myself a pretty distant person, I didn't expect to develop any kind of emotional connection to a host family in just ten weeks, but they're such sweet people that it's definitely going to be hard to tell them goodbye on Thursday morning. Just this afternoon my host parents took me out thrift shopping in Santa Tecla to buy warm clothes (my site is way up in the mountains -- who knew I'd have to buy thermal long-sleeve tees in El Salvador?), and then my host mom taught me how to wash them (this of course elicited laughter all around, as men in El Salvador never wash clothes). Laundry without machines is as labor-intensive as you would expect.

Yesterday I experienced my first "Fiesta Rosa" (Quinciñera)

I don't know the exact nature of my internet situation in my site, but it'll likely be less ideal than here in my training community, where I've had internet access every day through a USB modem for only $15 a month. Peace Corps staff told me that there is an internet connection at Carmen's house, which is a 45-minute walk away from mine. Hopefully it's wifi, so I can connect my own devices to it, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high. In any event, I'm going to try to put up at least one blog post a week, and do my best to keep up with the news, which falls somewhere between food and shelter on my list of needs.

Speaking of which, for anyone getting bogged down by article after article about Congressional dysfunction, I invite you to read this Nicholas Kristof op-ed about some human achievements we can be proud of. Also on the topic of achievements, this week health care exchanges open throughout the U.S. to offer low-cost, often subsidized plans to Americans who lack coverage. Kudos to those who have worked so hard to pass, preserve, implement the Affordable Care Act.

In case you're wondering about Peace Corps and the potential government shutdown

According to Peace Corps' contingency plan, PCVs and PCTs will likely not be affected significantly in the event of a federal government shutdown. I confirmed this with my training coordinator, who told me that indeed our living stipends would continue to flow and in-country staff would continue to work during a funding haitus, as staff and stipends are considered essential for volunteer health and safety. A significant amount of headquarters staff would be furloughed during the hiatus, but this would not have a substantial effect on PCVs (assuming the shutdown is brief).

Hopefully Congress can get its act together and avoid inflicting undue damage on the U.S. economy, but if the shutdown does ensue, PCVs at the very least will retain access to the support they need to stay safe.

One week and two years to go...

Hi all –

Not too much new news to report. I have exactly one week until my swearing-in, immediately after which I'll head to the east of the country to begin my two years of service in Caserío Toreras. In training we're mostly wrapping up—turning in final essays, giving final presentations, and preparing ourselves for our first couple months in site, during which we'll be conducting community censuses and some other assessment activities, getting to know the people in our sites, and adjusting to our new environments.

For lack of anything of else interest to share, here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

My host brother about to march in the
Independence Day parade

The main square in Suchitoto, in Cuscatlan department. My
training group tagged along on an Embassy trip there.

Waterfall in Suchitoto

A lake in Suchitoto. El Salvador has huge tourism potential,
 but its security situation is holding back the industry.

A few days ago some of the trainees helped translate for
some chiropractor students from the Bay Area who came
to give free bone evaluations to Salvadorans through an
NGO called Spinal Missions.

My site assignment

My training group right after receiving our site
assignments. The map on the right is La Unión
department, and the lonely pink arrow on it
represents my site. (Photo credit: Catherine Lampi)

Yesterday was site assignment day, so now I know where I'll be dispatched for the next two years starting October 4. My community is Caserío Toreras, Cantón Lajitas, Municipalidad Polorós, which is located in northern La Unión department, just below the Honduran border. I'll be the only Peace Corps Volunteer in La Unión for six months, until the next batch of PCVs is sworn in. The other fourteen people in my training group are being sent to nearby Morazán department (9) and San Miguel department (5).

The tentative details I offered in my last post, before I knew the name and location of my site, still stand: it's isolated and mountainous; it has a population of about 230, with around 50 households; it has a school that goes up to sixth grade, a somewhat functional ADESCO, and has undertaken some projects recently with Engineers Without Borders. The community's economy is based mainly on subsistence agriculture and cattle raising, though the ADESCO recently funded the construction of three tilapia tanks, and the community is working to monetize this project. About 50% of the community lacks running water. The alcaldía (municipal government) of Polorós, to which the caserío of Toreras belongs, does not support Toreras due to some tension between the mayor and Toreras residents (I'm sure I'll mention this in future posts once I have gained a better understanding). Two Peace Corps volunteers have served in Toreras in recent years (one from 2008-2010 and the next from 2010-2012), and both have said the community is extremely safe.

I'll be living in the home of the ADESCO president and his wife, whose house is located in the middle of the community. I'll have my own room and access to running water and electricity. I should be able to access the internet at the home of the school director, who will be one of my Community Guides and someone I'll likely work closely with during my service. The nearest towns where I can buy groceries and access other basic services are Polorós and Nueva Esparta. To access these places I'll need to hike about forty minutes to the neighboring cantón, where the bus stop is located, then take the bus about forty-five minutes south.

Those are about all the details I have of my community at the moment. In about a month, once I've spent some time there, I'll be able to offer more than a superficial description. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Some site intel, Independence Day, and more

Hi everyone, and a happy Central American Independence Day to all!

This weekend has been filled with parades and traditional music and dance, all in celebration of the day in 1821 when El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Guatemala became independent from the Spanish Empire. Local students have spent hours upon hours practicing their marching, dancing, and band music, and it was great to see all their efforts come together this morning in a rather elaborate patriotic display that the whole town—regardless of party allegiances—came out to enjoy. Here in the Garcia household we have a guest this weekend: Jackie, the PCV who lived with my host family early this year when her group was in training. My host family has enjoyed having both of their gringos in the house at the same time, and it's been interesting hearing about some of the unexpected challenges Jackie has faced in her first few months in site.

As far as Peace Corps goes, I'm now seven weeks through the ten week training program, and last week I finally received some information about the site I'll be working in for the next two years. Without learning the name or exact location of my site (that's for Tuesday), I was informed by Peace Corps staff that it would be very rural and isolated and at a high elevation, meaning cold temperatures at night (forties and fifties) and pleasant daytime weather. I was also told I'll need to buy a Honduran SIM card, as Honduran cell towers reach the community better than Salvadoran ones (meaning, logically, that my site is very close to the northern border). The community has about 230 residents and is sparsely populated, meaning lots and lots of walking up and down the community's steep hills. Getting to the nearest town that has modern amenities like a grocery store takes about an hour and a half, a combination of walking and a bus ride. The site has previously had two PCVs, both of whom were very successful. I'm happy about this, as it means the community will have high expectations for me.

The only priority I expressed when voicing my site preferences was that I'd like to have internet access, as reading news is a hugely important part of my daily routine (and my identity) and the thought of being without it on a consistent basis caused me concern. To my delight, I learned that in my site, I'll be able to access the internet at the home of the local school director, with whom I'll be working regularly.

As far as potential work projects go, based on the information I received, it sounds like I'll be working to strengthen the local ADESCO, as well as working with a group of women looking to start a tilapia-farming business (so if you have any background in aquaculture, let me know!). I may also collaborate with Engineers Without Borders on latrine and water projects and the agriculture ministry on a small-scale farming project. I'll likely also work with youth in some capacity, perhaps by giving computer or English classes. Of course, I could arrive at my site and discover needs unrelated to what I just listed, so take anything I say at this point with a grain of salt. I won't know what I'll be doing for months, after I've conducted my census and community assessment.

Overall, I'm feeling very excited to wrap up training (as much as I will miss my host family in Nuevo Cuscatlan) and start getting to know my new community and figuring out ways I can add value there.

Stepping out of El Salvador, I've of course been following the developments on Syria. Like many, I love the idea of Syria surrendering its chemical arsenal to international authorities, as doing so would avoid a Western military strike while eliminating Assad's capability to use chemical weapons against civilians. But also like many, I have serious doubts about the plan, given the ruthlessness of Assad's regime and the dubious role the Russians are looking to play in the process. On the domestic front, I'm following with great interest the Tennessee Volkswagen plant whose management is supporting unionization of its employees and the creation of a German-style “works council”. Strong labor unions played a huge role in creating a largely middle-class society in the fifties, and the decline of union influence in recent decades is one of the factors that has allowed income inequality to grow to record levels in the U.S. Any news suggesting a possible resurgence of unions in any sector of the economy should be welcomed with enthusiasm. Disappointingly, numerous Tennessee Republicans have scathingly criticized Volkswagen for its support of its employees' unionization effort, and have called for the company to reverse course. I'd urge those politicians to let Volkswagen executives run their companies as they see fit, provided all applicable laws are followed.

Some mid-week 7 editorializing on Peace Corps recruitment

It's the middle of week seven of Peace Corps training. Just three-and-a-half more weeks and I'll be off to my site. I learn where exactly that'll be on Tuesday, just six days from now.

On Monday, the Acting Director of the Peace Corps was in country for a regional conference, and dropped by the training center for a couple hours to observe our sessions and sit down for a chat with my training group. Among other things, which included a pair of extremely inspiring stories from her own life, she told us about a planned revamp of the Peace Corps application process, which sounds like a huge step in the right direction for the organization. I'm not at liberty to go into details (nor do I have all of them), but I can say that the new recruitment process is designed to make the process more streamlined, shorten the time from application to invitation, and, most importantly (in my opinion), give applicants more opportunities to specify their preferences for service (with respect to geographical location and work sector). 

The latter change has the potential to land more applicants in programs that fit their past experiences and career objectives. Previously, expressing a geographical or thematic preference on a Peace Corps application was viewed as an indication of inflexibility (and flexibility is a huge requirement of PCVs, so applicants hesitated to specify preferences for fear that doing so would diminish the competitiveness of their applications), but this mentality is rightfully being abandoned as Peace Corps becomes more welcoming to applicants who hope to accomplish specific career objectives through their service. I hope this reform helps Peace Corps attract high-achieving and serious applicants who view Peace Corps service as a integral component of an envisioned career path. I think it will, thereby enhancing the professionalism of the organization without sacrificing its commitment to improving the lives of people in under-developed countries (in fact, attracting more focused and ambitious people should enable Peace Corps to serve these populations even more effectively).

The more I think about how Peace Corps can boost its standing with high-achieving college students who want to achieve specific goals though their first job out of college, the more I wonder how much Peace Corps could learn from the success of Teach for America*, which attracts tremendously accomplished applicants and enjoys excellent brand equity at top American universities. (I might elaborate on this in a later post, but I'd need to do more research first).

*That being said, a wonderful peculiarity of Peace Corps that a program like TFA does not share is that Peace Corps is not just geared toward recent graduates, but to people of all ages, some of whom have amassed significant work experience in fields relevant to Peace Corps service. For this reason, I am not suggesting that Peace Corps should exclusively look to high-achieving college students and recent graduates as its recruitment targets.

Field-Based Training and More

Hola todos –

This last week I've been out and about – first on a weekend trip to Playa San Diego with my training group, then to complete my Field-Based Training at the site of a current Peace Corps Volunteer, Rachel, in San Juan Las Minas, Metapan, Departamento Santa Ana.

I don't have many interesting things to say about the beach other than it was very pretty (see pictures) and the water very warm. Vacationing has never been an integral part of my lifestyle, so the trip didn't feel necessary (I'm not a “Gosh, I could really use a vacation right now!” kind of person), but I got to spend many hours reading in a hammock next to the ocean, so I'm not complaining.

Field-Based Training with Rachel, just like Immersion Days a couple weeks ago with Cesar, was a very illuminating experience. Rachel's community is just a stone's throw from Cesar's, and equally charming. The family I stayed with had moved back to San Juan Las Minas just two years ago, after spending fourteen years in San Francisco, where he worked in a restaurant and she cleaned houses. They were wonderful people to begin with, but sharing a San Francisco connection made me feel even more at home with them. The dad, Flavio, is a really impressive man who takes on a lot of projects to benefit the community. For instance, he used his own money to construct a pond near the local school so that it would have agua potable all year long. He told me that he often finds success using Facebook to organize community members living in the U.S. around a common fundraising goal.

(A little background on this: There are six million Salvadorans in El Salvador, and two million in the U.S., meaning almost every family has at least a couple relatives abroad and many households depend on remittances from these relatives. Remittances [remesas, in Spanish], will be a recurring topic in future blog posts, as these money transfers have a huge impact on the Salvadoran economy and mindset.)

Activities we (I visited Rachel with two other trainees) did with Rachel included two charlas at the school (see photo), lunch with local schoolteachers, a meeting with a tienda owner, a tour of the Unidad de Salud (a health clinic administered by the Ministry of Health), house visits with the Promotora de Salud (an employee of the Unidad de Salud who visits people in their homes to educate them on relevant health issues and check up on their medical issues), and a meeting with the community's ADESCO. I won't delve into the details of each of these activities, but I'll say that interacting with different facets of Rachel's community—youth, educators, healthcare providers, community leaders, etc.--was a fascinating exercise that got me very excited to soon be done with training and to begin integrating into a host community of my own, and identifying how and where I as a PCV can add value.

San Juan Las Minas

I also saw my first snake in El Salvador during Field-Based Training, which was made all the more shocking by the fact that it was dead and tied to a boy's bicycle while he rode ferociously toward me.

This weekend is a normal weekend in Siete de Marzo with my host family. I plan to relax, catch up on homework assignments, spend some time with the family, and read. My sprained ankle episode two weeks ago gave me an excuse to go to the Peace Corps office, where I was able to pick up books from the little library the staff maintains, so in the last two weeks I've had the pleasure of reading The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman, and Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days that Created Modern America by Adam Cohen. Hope bought me some Kindle books for my birthday, so I'll get started on those soon, starting with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.

That's all I've got for now. I realize I didn't offer many details about the beach of Field-Based Training, so feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions. Hasta luego!