Una Gringa en Honduras

Exit Survey

2008-04-15T10:09:00.003-04:00

Name: Sarah Anne Jablonski Guagliardo

Site: Cabañas, Copan

Sector: Health

Nicknames: Sarita, Sari, la brazileña, la italiana, la gringuita, Poindexter, Jablonski, Rainman

Biggest accomplishment: surviving.

Biggest disappointment: not actually saving the world.

Biggest regret: Regret? Que es eso?

Biggest fear during Peace Corps: Dying in a bus accident.

Defining Peace Corps moment: Too many to list here.

Things you will miss most: the kids from my street, being part of a community, morning sunshine and afternoon rains, mountains, mangoes, español, reading, Hondu-8

Things you will miss least: manteca, plastic chairs, unfinished cinderblock houses, cohetes, serenatas, and noises of the like.

Biggest Irony: getting hooked on Japanese food in Honduras

Worst illness: roundworm infection- I pooped out a worm that was 7 inches long!

Biggest freak-out: After the bus crashed outside of La Entrada. I saw my life flash before my eyes.

Strangest chisme you heard about yourself: That I am actually a Brazilian doctor that came to Honduras to find a husband.

Most useful things I brought: chacos, ipod, quick-dry towell

Least useful thing I brought: my computer, which crashed the day I got to my site

Favorite activity when bored: writing asinine songs about Honduras

Weirdest thing I did when bored: Once when the electricity went out, a few of us attempted bending spoons with our telekinetic energy. Afterwards we held a séance and tried to summon the Egyptian goddess Isis. Neither activity worked… but the lights came back on!

Favorite Hondureñismo: Vaya pues sometimes pronounced vaya pue or vay pue

Greatest lie I told at my site: That never, under any circumstances, have I ever touched alcohol

Favorite Honduran inquiry: Sarita, ¿verdad que usted tiene sangre latina?

Best Honduran gesture: the simultaneous wrist flip/ chin-up

Favorite CD/song during service: “Sin Documentos” by Julieta Venegas

Song I would be content to never hear again: any Ranchera

Favorite book(s) during service: The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett, Infections and Inequalities by Paul Farmer, and Collapse by Jared Diamond.

Favorite Honduran fashion: The jeans, tshirt, mustache, cowboy hat ensemble. So creative.
Worst jalón: The one where I fell out of the back of the pickup truck.

Best bus ride: any one on the Hedman Alas

Worst bus ride: this is too difficult to answer. Between the hangovers, chickens, vomiting children, and sweltering heat, it’s really all one big, hellish blur.

Favorite food: la baleada

Worst thing I ate: Consomé-flavored armadillo meat. Yum.

Worst thing I smelled: Nances.

Stupidest thing I did in the last two years: At Ben and Kelly´s house, I had accidentally left the gas stove on after cooking breakfast one morning. Then lunch time rolled around and I went to light the stove and KABOOM! Thankfully no one was injured. But my eyebrows are still growing back.

Untrue fact told to you as undeniable truth: “Fijese que es prohibido por Cuerpo de Paz” - for pretty much anything I didn´t want to do.

You know you’ve been in Honduras too long when…: you are pleasantly surprised to find toilet paper, running water and soap in a bathroom.

I never thought I would…: Discuss my bowel movements so openly and in such vivid detail.

When I grow up I want to be…: a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer investigating outbreaks of hemorragic fevers caused by unknown pathogens in the jungles of Africa.... Or a housewife.

If I had to do it all over again I…: would.

Favorite Aralen dream: What's Aralen again?

Favorite Ropa Americana T-shirt: There’s an eighty-year-old campesina from a nearby village that always wears a playboy bunny tshirt. She told me that she “just loves bunny rabbits”!… I didn´t have the heart to explain to her what that little bunny actually means.

Favorite animal story: One morning I awoke to find my kitchen in total dissarry. What could this be? I thought to myself. As I bent down to pick up some books on the floor, a strange black and white twitch in the corner of the room caught my eye. And there it was. My own personal Pepe Le Pew! After much deliberation about the appropriate course of action, I eventually resolved to open all the doors and windows in the house and simply allow the skunk to exit at its own will. But my darling neighbors, being as friendly as they are, popped in for a visit. When I told them of my predicament, Don Moncho immediately charged the skunk with a broom in an attempt to scare it out of the house. And, as skunks tend to do when threatened, it of course sprayed its putrid perfume. My house reeked for weeks.

Best habit acquired: Patience, not being so serious.

Worst habit acquired: Tssssing at people to get their attention.

Thing you missed most from the US: family, friends, anonymity, red wine, good food, stimulating conversation, live music

Thing you missed least from the US: materialism, media

Favorite location in Honduras: 1.my site 2. Ben and Kelly’s house 3. The Via Via

Things you’d wish you had known when you signed up: Two years is actually not that long.

Best advice for Honduras 12: Suck it up, it ain´t that bad.

Brush Your Teeth!

2008-03-07T15:29:00.011-05:00

I recently implemented a oral hygiene education program in a few schools in rural areas. The program includes a talk on the importance of brushing your teeth, a story, a demonstration and a song. At the end of the program we give out toothbrushes and toothpaste to the kids, with the expectation that after their lunch break at school they will all brush their teeth together.

A big thank you to those of you that dontated toothbrushes and toothpaste - namely Anna Smith from Life to Life Honduras, Lesley Ham who came with a Canadian medical brigade, and to Mary Collins a missionary working in health education. And a HUGE thank you goes to Tomoko Kawamoto, who lived in Copan for 2 years working as a JICA Volunteer. (JICA is like the Japanese version of Peace Corps.) Tomoko wrote and illustrated the children´s story that goes along with the program. The kids love it! I am just said that she is no longer here to see how much the kids enjoy it.

Pictures!

Thank you – Biostatistics Center and the residents of Kemp Lane

2008-02-22T15:43:00.008-05:00

The clothing drive was a huge success! Along with the local public health center and the Municipal Women´s Office, I decided to distribute the clothing at the monthly meeting for pregnant women. Most of the women that come to these meetings live in very rural areas, and have to travel more than 3 hours just to get to the closest clinic. We decided to distribute the clothing during these meetings in order to encourage women to come in for prenatal care, where they can recieve valuable information the importance of micronutrient consumption during pregnancy. (The vast majority of women in the Copan area do not have access to such information, in fact many are illiterate.) Because of the distance and cost of traveling, attendence at these meetings has been historically low with about two women showing up on a regular basis. But recently we have had about 20 women coming to the meetings.

We divided up everything so that each woman would recieve two items wrapped up in a plastic bag. (Usually one bag would include an item of clothing and another donation such as vitamins, toys, baby shampoo, etc.) The women were very happy to recieve the supplies! Gracias!

I also gave away the children´s books to a local bilingual school where kids learn English from a very young age. The school, Dos Pinos, gives children from poor families the opportunity to learn English and therefore equips them with the tools they would need to find good jobs in larger cities such as San Pedro Sula or Tegucigalpa. Approximately half of the kids at the school are on scholarship.

Here are some pictures of the event:

People waiting outside the health center.

Here are the donations, which we divided up into plastic bags. That way, people wouldn´t get jealous of one another and could trade items later when they returned to their villages.

The doctor, Cesar Cueva, talks to the women about the importance of folic acid.

The nurses compile a list of all the pregnant women in county.

We called the women up one at a time to pick a plastic bag with the clothing in it.

Two children reading Green Eggs and Ham

Wash Your Hands!!!

2008-02-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

Finally, people are starting to appreciate my genius... I am famous! Well, I´m on You Tube anyway. Here is a video of me playing the song that Tomoko and I wrote for kids about handwashing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtnIbgm9O9w

Sing along:

Lavarse, lavarse las manos
Lavarse, lavarse para la salud
Antes de comer y despues del baño
Combatimos los microbios
Combatimos los microbios

Los microbios no se miran... pero!
Hay muchos en el cuerpo
Si no se mantiene limpio
Tendra muchos microbios
Que feo!

Lavarse, lavarse las manos
Lavarse, lavarse para la salud
Antes de comer y despues del baño
Combatimos los microbios
Combatimos los microbios

Gracias por su ayuda!

2007-12-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of you that contributed, this year´s World AIDS Day event was a huge success! Together with Arte Accion, Com Vida, Vision Mundial, Vida a la Vida, and the local health center, we were able to organize a series of events to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS. I personally worked with a youth group (Com Vida) throughout the month of November and trained them in subjects such as gender, stereotypes, self-esteem, and HIV/AIDS prevention. The majority of participants in the group came from aldeas (very small villages) in rural areas and had recieved no prior training in such important issues. The Com Vida kids played a key role in organizing this year´s event, by preparing information stands in the parque and helping to answer questions. I am hope to continue working with them in 2008. Here are some photos and descriptions of the day´s activities:

This is the Com Vida group I have been working with.

We literally kicked off the day with a soccer tournament that lasted until 1pm- we had 12 different teams participate in the tri-county area! Afterwards, we talked with the participants about HIV /AIDS and encouraged them to look at the information stands in the central park.

Later, in the afternoon, we set up tables in the central park with information corresponding to the various aspects of HIV/AIDS, including stands for general information, transmission, prevention, statistics, and a table for the health center. We also had a 25-question "test your knowledge" quiz available at the general information stand. Those that scored above 90% won great prizes such as free meals provided by local restaurants.

The Com Vida murals on display in the park.

We were able to buy tshirts for the Com Vida kids as well as for the other event organizers. The slogan reads "Assume leadership, stop AIDS, keep the promise!"

We held a "mototaxi parade" whereby the mototaxis circled the town of Copan and distributed condoms to the public.

The local health center provided free HIV testing in the park. (Obviously privacy norms are a bit different in Honduras.) The personnel reported that they were able to test 50 people!

Below are the information stands that we set up. It was packed!

The statistics stand. Honduras has about 35% of all AIDS cases in Central America, while it only represents about 17% of the population. Que baribaridad!

People observing and learning! In the background there is a posterboard with faces of various people. Participants had to guess who had HIV- the point of the activity was to demonstrate that HIV has no symptoms and that you cannot tell just by looking at someone.

Here are some kids taking the "test your knowledge quiz". We gave away over 40 prizes for those that scored over 90%.

The Com Vida group put together condom packets with instructions.

World AIDS Day 2007 - Help is Needed!!!!

2007-11-09T17:58:00.000-05:00

I recently have been working with an NGO called ComVida in preparation for World AIDS Day on December 1st. Last year we organized a full day of activities to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, including a World AIDS Day Soccer Tournament, an information campaign in the town’s central park (including stands with information on HIV transmission, epidemiology, prevention, etc), in addition to an open-air film festival at night.

This year we would like to organize World AIDS Day again and we need your help! We need funds to provide the soccer tournament participants with a snack after the game, to make copies of materials and purchase supplies for the information sessions, and to help pay for the video equipment that we need to rent for the film festival in the evening. We would also like to give the kids who will be helping us out during the day a snack and some soda as a token of our thanks.

It is our goal to raise about $300 (which goes a very long way here!), so any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated. You can donate directly to ComVida through Paypal using the arteaccioncopan@yahoo.com email address. ComVida, means Life Communication and deals with the broad specter of how to plan ones life; how to say no; Machismo; and HIV/AIDS prevention. ComVida currently falls under Arte Acción Copán Ruinas, a Honduran NGO, but after this year’s World AIDS Day it will run by Life to Life, a local NGO with a 501©(3) approval in the United States.

Thanks for your help!

For more info on Arte Accion, visit www.arteaccionhonduras.org

Workshops

2007-10-04T17:40:00.000-04:00

I just spent the past couple of weeks attending to Peace Corps workshops in Siguatepeque and in Tegucigalpa. The first was for midwives and emergency obstretrics, where we basically trained community health workers how to recognize signs of danger during pregnancy and reanimation techniques for new borns. I am hoping to take the information back to Cabañas and do a similar workshop for the midwives there. In Teguc I helped with a Men´s Health and HIV/AIDS meeting by... playing the guitar. All I actually did was play a few songs at the beginning of the meeting as "an interesting way to start a meeting." (NOT my idea, by the way.) But the workshop was a great way to introduce leaders of NGOs in Teguc to Peace Corps´nonformal education methodology for teaching men about HIV/AIDS...

Posters illustrating signs of danger and reanimation for recien nacidos

Listening attentively

A midwife explains reanimation

One of the activities for the men´s health meeting

Presentation in Teguc

It´s all in the numbers...

2007-08-04T13:41:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be interesting to publish some statistics of the development situation in Cabañas (where information is available) and Honduras and compare the information with some other countries around the world. Obviously these numbers don´t take into account disparities within each country, but it is interesting information nevertheless. (All information from the Human Development Report 2006, United Nations Development Program)

Population
Cabañas 2,000 (town)

10,375 (county)

Honduras 7,000,000
USA 295,000,000
Japan 127,900,000
Niger 13,500,000

Human Development Index
Cabañas 0.437
Honduras 0.683
USA 0.948
Japan 0.949
Niger 0.311

Adult literacy rate
Cabañas 44%
Honduras 80%
Niger 28%

Combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio
Cabañas 37.6%
Honduras 71.4%
USA 97%
Japan 85%
Niger 21%

Percent of undernourished people
Cabañas 56.1%
Honduras 22%
Niger 32%

GDP per Capita ($)
Honduras 2,876
USA 39,676
Japan 29,251
Niger 779

Life expectancy at birth
Honduras 68.1
USA 77.5
Japan 81.2
Niger 44.3

under 5 mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)
Honduras 41
USA 8
Japan 4
Niger 259

HIV Prevalence rate (ages 15-49)
Honduras 1.5%
USA 0.6%
Japan 0.1%
Niger 1.1%

Access to education, clean water, and health services are huge problems in my community. Although Cabañas is located close to the wealthy tourist attraction of Copan Ruinas, it is one of the poorest counties in Honduras.

In terms of health, there are 2 doctors and 4 nurses that serve a population of 10,375 people. There are two public health clinics in the county which are financed mby the federal government, and there are no private health care options or emergency clinics in the county. The most common illnesses include diarrea (dangerous in young children), parasitic infections, upper respiratory infections, anemia, and other forms of malnutrition. Dengue fever is not uncommon. Awesome.

Here are some more interesting facts about my life in Honduras.

1:20 - The ratio of the dollar to the Lempira

$200 - My monthly salary,* not including rent
*I DO ACCEPT DONATIONS!!!

$75 - My rent per month

$5 - The amount I spend on electricity every month

$4 - The amount I spend on purified water every month

3 hours - The time it takes to get to the nearest hospital by bus

3 hours - Amount of time it takes to get to the nearest mall (Wendy´s, Subway, Nine West, Dunkin´Donuts included)

5 hours - Amount of time it takes to get to the closest beach by bus (Tela)

9 hours - Time it takes to reach Tegucigalpa

18km - The distance to the closest international border (Guatemala)

6 inches - The length of the roundworm parasite that I saw come out of my butt. To give you a better idea, here is a picture of some roundworm parasites.

$0.10 - The cost of calling the US per minute

2,000 - Number of people in my town

1,992 - Number of friends I have in my town

1,000 - Number of kids we vaccinated this year

500 - Number of kids I talked to about the importance of handwashing

200 - Number of eco-stoves (with a chimney) we built last year

12km - Distance to closest Peace Corps Volunteer

2 - The number of times I´ve fallen out of moving vehicles

1 - The number of skunks I´ve found inside my house. Yes, you read that correctly. Inside.

2 - Number of dead bats I´ve found inside my house.

56 - Number of marriage proposals I´ve recieved (and turned down) since I´ve been in Honduras.

18 - The number of months I´ve been in Honduras

9 - The number of months I have left

899,345 - Number of times I´ve considered quitting

0 - Regrets

∞ - How much I miss my family!

Mechanics, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and House Hunting in Honduras….

2007-07-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

You´re wondering, how are these things related?

Allow me to explain. When I returned to Cabañas last week from a trip to Tegucigalpa, I was shocked to find four pickup trucks, three boys, and three men in my backyard. I asked one of them what was going on, he kindly let me know that my landlords had decided to start an auto mechanic workshop in my backyard. Awesome.

So I spoke to my landlord about the situation and explained that it is not acceptable that strange men are loitering around my house. He said, oh, well, I guess you need to move then. Clearly, I was not happy about this. Here is the expression on my face when I found out:

QUE?!!

To make things worse, I also discovered a dead bat in my pila (a thingy for water storage). We all know that SARS come from bats, and that I am very paranoid about microbes. So in order to avoid being infected by SARS and attacked by strange auto mechanics, I needed to start house hunting. These were my priorities for finding a new house in Cabañas:

1.) No strange men loitering in backyard.

2.) No dead bats in pila.

Fortunately, I was able to conseguir a house that is ... BRAND NEW!!! It has tiled floors and a real roof! Here is a comparison between my old and new houses:

Old, Crappy House ____________________ New, Pretty House

Mechanics in backyard.....................................No one in to be found!

Dead bat in pila....................................... Just water here!

Electrical wires close to showerhead............Light fixtures on safely ceiling

Massive, cave-like hole in wall............No holes here, just cement!

New, pretty house is much, much better. Me = happy!

"Futbol no es para las mujeres"

2007-05-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

Soccer, apparently, is not for women.

To my surprise, a group of girls in my town recently organized a soccer team that was to compete in a local league of about four other teams. Of course I was happy to help them out with coaching, and I began practicing with them - showing them drills and giving them tactical advice. I thought, "This is great. Here we are, in one of the most machista countries in Latin America, in one of the most machista towns in the country, and yet girls are playing sports."

Well one unfortunate afternoon I was out practicing soccer with the girls as usual, when I fell in a hole on the field. Well, if you've never been to a soccer field in the developing world, here is what they usually look like in contrast with the US:

HONDURAS:

UNITED STATES:

Ok, slight exaggeration. But the point is the field was really bad. When I fell I heard a few pops in my ankle and I knew it was serious. Miraculously I limped back to my house and called the Peace Corps doctors, informing them that I thought I had broken my ankle. Two days later I went to the closest hospital (3 hours away) where they put a cast on half my leg and informed me that I tore a ligament. Nice.

So I hobbled around town for 3 1/2 weeks, answering the same question over and over again. "What happened?" "Does it hurt?" "Is it broken?" "Why did they put a cast on you if it's not broken?" "When are you gonna play soccer again?" "If you want, I can take the cast off with my machete. That way you won't have to go back the hospital to get it taken off." (Needless to say, I declined the offer.)

Here is one particularly interesting conversation I had.

Fat ugly Honduran dude who doesn't bathe regularly: "I know why you got hurt playing soccer."

Me: "And why would that be?"

Fat ugly Honduran dude who doesn't bathe regularly: "That's easy. Because you're a female. Soccer isn't for women, you know."

Me: "Oh?"

Fat ugly Honduran dude who doesn't bathe regularly: "It's true. Only men should play soccer because we are stronger. Women get hurt easily."

Me: "I had no idea! Men don't get hurt playing sports? You're kidding!"

Fat ugly Honduran dude who doesn't bathe regularly: "It's a fact. Men don't get hurt because we are genetically better than women."

So there you have it, Honduran wisdom at its best. Men never get hurt playing sports because they are genetically better than women. They say you learn something new everyday.

11 bus rides, 4 boat rides, 4 countries in 2 weeks

2007-04-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

OK, I guess I can´t count Honduras (because I live there) or Nicaragua (because we just drove straigt through it), but at least I´ve still got Costa Rica and Panama. We took the 18 hour directo bus from Tegucigalpa to San Jose, arrived tired and wondering about our mental health. Nobody should have to sit on a bus for 18 hours.

Costa Rica is a developed country. I think I saw maybe one kid walking around without shoes on. "Am I still in Central America?" I thought. There are trees everywhere, infrastructure and road signs. Imagine that! In CR we visited a volcano crater which I´m sure would have been stunning if it weren´t for the clouds.

What we were supposed to see:

What we saw:

...Close enough! Later we hit two beach towns on the Carribean Coast, Cauhita and Puerto Viejo. Lots of rastafarian dudes, hippies, jewlry makers. And of course the beaches were pristine and lovely.

From there we went to Bocas del Toro, a group of islands off the Atlantic coast of Panama. I loved Panama. Loved it. Here´s why:

(Haha, I guess there is more to Panama than it´s beer...)

Gillespie en Honduras...

2007-03-28T13:07:00.000-04:00

Sarah Gillespie, my BFF from college came last week to visit yours truly. She flew in to Guatemala City (the flights tend to be cheaper there), and from there we immediately caught a bus to Atitlan Lake.

The trip got off to a rocky start, as we had to duck under the windows so the cops couldn´t see us. The bus driver tactfully explained that it´s actually illegal to buy tickets from the office of the bus company, and that we were supposed to have purchased them at the actual terminal. Oh well. We had to take cover for about 10 minutes until we arrived at the terminal. See below for appropriate hiding position:

After the 3 hour bus ride we finally arrived at Atitlan. At the reccomendation of a friend we stayed at the Hotel Casa del Mundo, built on the side of a cliff. I kept thinking to myself ¨"I am in a hotel built on the side of a cliff, overlooking a lake made of collapsed volcanic cone. This can´t possibly be true." But I do have the photos to prove it...

From Atitlan we headed to Antigua for half a day, and rose early the next morning to catch the bus to Copan at 3:30am. Wow, that was really fun. Let me tell you how much I love not sleeping.
As soon as we arrived in Copan we headed directly to the ruins, of course during the hottest time of day. We toured the famed ruins, went to the scultpure museum, pretended to be cultured and then caught 2 buses to Cabañas, my beloved home town.

We spent a day in Cabañas, floating from casa to casa, introducing Gillespie to my friends in the community. Same conversation every time. "You both are so tall." "Your friend speaks a lot of Spanish." "You both have the same name? How come you don´t look anything alike?" Seriously, we did have a great time.

Afterwards, we headed back to Antigua. This bus trip was much more enjoyable, as it left at 12 noon, and the views were stunning. In Antigua we went out to dinner (I enjoyed a wonderful piece of dark chocolate cake!) and spent the next morning strolling through the streets, admiring the alfombras of Semana Santa. After an awesome brunch we headed to the airport to say our goodbyes. Who knew a week could go by so quickly?

Six days, two countries. Maya ruins, volcanic lakes, colonial cities.

Gillespie said it best, "I did not come here to relax."

I have the best site in all of Honduras... Here´s why

2007-02-20T18:36:00.001-05:00

...Coffee!!!!

...Natural wonders

...Hot guys

...Exotic and ferocious beasts

...Cute kids

...Wild parties!

...More coffee!

...Fine homes. Every house in Cabañas has a roof.

Peace.
Great lovers of diplomacy, the people of Cabañas have never been involved in any international conflict.

Infrastructure!

Diversity.
There are TWO foreigners living in or working in Cabañas, bringing the total number of languages spoken to three. (Japanese, Spanish and English.)

Avian influenza virus H5N1 has never been found in Cabañas.

Proximity.
Cabañas is closer to Washington DC and New York City than any place in South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia.

Accessible health care.
The local health center is a five minute walk from anywhere in town!

Fine dining.
(Here is some sushi that Tomoko made.)

Did I mention coffee?

... It´s all here!!!

One Year In!

2007-02-07T16:32:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it! It's just not possible that I've been in Honduras for a YEAR. To celebrate a few of us took a trip to Trujillo, a sleepy beach town on the North Coast. We hiked up a mountain and got some beautiful shots of the coast from above... Absolutely gorgeous!

Also got my nose pierced! (Sorry, Dad!) It's not that bad I promise. I think it actually looks quite good. Here is a picture of me with my friend Meghan - if you zoom in you can see it.

Ok, lots more going on, will update when I get a chance ...Does anyone read this other than my father?

Cuando vinieron mis padres

2006-12-19T14:46:00.000-05:00

Photos (from top) Cathedral ruins in Antigua, Guatemala; from the top of a volcano in Guatemala; My chaco tan; Maya ruins of Copan, Honduras; View of Copan from above; Virgil, the tour guide at Copan; View of the Copan Valley; My campesino friends; Tomoko and I hitching a ride; Neddy (the vice-mayor of my town), Dad, Mom and I; the dirt road into Cabanas; the view from our hotel; Mom with two parrots; Dad with a Macaw bird; Me with a Macaw bird; the Catholic church in Cabanas; Mom and I at a waterfall in San Manuel; My friends at San Manuel.

I have a kitty!

2006-11-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

His name is Silvestre Estalone (Sylvester Stallone), and no, I haven’t the slightest idea why he is called that. About 3 weeks ago one of my neighbors brought him back from a surrounding village as a surpise gift. At first I wasn't too excited about the prospect of caring for an animalito in the house, but he's grown on me and I can't bear the thought of leaving him behind when I have to go. *Sorry Jeffrey! You know I still love you!

Anyway, in relevant news, ehem, my parents came to visit in late September and they had a blast. They keep telling me that they are going to write a blurb for my blogg, but seeing as it’s now mid November, I am dubious of this. While they were here we of course went to see the Maya ruins of Copan, visited a reserve of wild bird species, trekked through the jungle to see a beautiful waterfall, hiked up an active volcano (yes, I saw lava!) and visited with my friends in my village. It was definitely an adventure, and they are looking forward to coming back next year.

Last week I gave a series of talks in the local school about the importance of hygiene. My friend Tomoko (who is a volunteer with JICA, the Japanese version of Peace Corps) and I wrote a story and a song about hand washing, and performed an act in four different classrooms of first graders. It was great fun, and the kids loved it. Unfortunately school is now ending in time for coffee picking season, but we plan to continue the program next academic year.

(Preforming the hand washing song and Tomoko telling the story.)

Ah yes, and I am also coming home for Christmas, December 15th through the 28th! Who wants to take a poor Peace Corps Volunteer out to dinner?

Updates, etc

2006-09-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago I went to Antigua, Guatemala with my favorite married couple, Ben and Kelly, who live in Copan Ruinas. Antigua is absolutely ‘preciosa,’ like a tiny little piece of Europe in Central America. Shops, baroque churches, fantastic restaurants and volcanoes! What more do you need in life?

In terms of work, I am now working with the Oficina de La Mujer , which is a women’s group charged with promoting women’s rights in Cabañas and the neighboring communities. My role in all of this will be on the health end of things, and supposedly we will be working to promote stoves with chimneys and outdoor cooking, although we have yet to even create a work plan. I find the pace of work here to be frustrating, but I suppose it is a good exercise in patience…

Here are some funny and awkward things that have happened to me in recent weeks>

- my neighbors made ¨mondongo¨ soup which is basically boiled chicken liver and chicken heads. I politely declined, explaining that in my culture we never eat the brains of anything. Gross!

- I heard a rumor about myself - that Nick (one of the former PCVs in in my town) is my first cousin

- Another rumor- that I am Brazilian. I’ve actually heard this one from several different people.

- There are a group of 17 year old boys that are ‘in love with me.’ Everywhere I go I get catcalls, even from my neighbors. Never mind that I’ve been here for four months.

- my coworker is trying to hook me up with her son that is in high school. How weird

- People describe me as being ‘gordita’ or ‘chubby’ all the time and it drives me crazy, especially since I‘ve lost like 15 pounds!

- Last week we had our ‘Reconnect’ conference, where all the volunteers get together to share information about their sites and their projects. At the end of the conference, we had a talent show, and guess who took first place! I preformed about 7 songs that I had written about my experiences in Honduras. (One of these days I am going to find a way to record the songs and put them up online...)

Forza Azzurri

2006-07-12T15:24:00.001-04:00

I am so proud of my boys! They´re so cute when they´re happy! (Although some of them do slightly resemble apes) I believe this makes title number 4 for us, second only to Brazil´s 5.

Gianluigi Buffon won the Lev Yashin Award, reserved for the greatest goalkeeper of the tournament. I have been a long-time fan of Buffon because he is obviously the best goalkeeper in the entire world.

Viva Italia!!!

2006-07-05T10:55:00.000-04:00

Ya Dias

2006-06-20T12:47:00.000-04:00

June is almost over, and I am happy to report that it has been a much better month than May. I am still struggling to find work, although I’ve been able to fill my days by running, watching World Cup (Viva azzurri!) and studying for the GRE (to the great relief of my father). In July I am planning on starting a Community Health Campaign in which I will travel out to each of the aldeas (rural communities) completing an extensive needs assessment and attempt to prescribe remedies for the most salient of problems., possibly by giving charlas, raising awareness, and collaborating with other organizations. It’s an ambitious task, but I’ve got the mayor on board, which I am hoping will be a big help.

In other news I have discovered the glory of the salsa dance. Last weekend I met up with some friends in Santa Rosa de Copan (the departmental capital) and we had an instructor teach us a few salsa steps. Some of us are planning on taking a voyage to San Salvador to perfect our moves in the salsa clubs there. I am also going to be in Teguz in early July, and then in Ceiba the following week for a conference. July should go by pretty quickly, I am hoping ….

¿Trabajo?

2006-05-23T11:37:00.000-04:00

I have been in Cabañas for over a month now, and things have gotten to a bit of a slow start. My counterpart agency is a local women´s group that does support and leadership activities, some of which include health education seminars. Unfortunately the group is totally inactive right now, meaning there is little work for me to do…

Last week I spent some time in Copan Ruinas assisting with a vector control program for Malaria, Dengue Fever and Chagas Disease. I spent the day with the director of the program, surveying the sanitary conditions of houses in the community, mostly searching for the presence of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the vector for Dengue Fever. Among the houses surveyed, about 60% had the presence of the mosquito. There is no cure or treatment for Dengue. Needless to say, this made me very nervous. I guess the bright side is that if I get Dengue Fever, I probably get to come home for a couple days, right?

Lately I have been hanging out at the Centro de Salud, observing and getting to know the nurses. Next week I am giving a ´´charla´´ (a talk) on tuberculosis prevention, which is ironic because I have developed a mild upper respiratory infection. (How funny is that?) Other than that, things are going ok. My community is fantastic and I have made friends with a few families, and I spend most of my time hanging out with them... One month down, twenty-four to go!

The Aedes Aegypti, which is going to kill me

Cabañas, Copan

2006-04-04T22:22:00.000-04:00

At last! This evening Peace Corps announced our sites. I will be living in a small town right outside of the Ruinas de Copan.This guy is practically my neighbor:

Copan is the western most province in Honduras, and my site is quite close to the border of Guatemala. By my calculations, it will probably be a shorter trip to Guatemala City than to Tegucigalpa. Which obviously means more traveling for me!

I don´t have very much information right now, other than that I will be working in maternal and child health and nutrition. My community counterparts are the Ministry of Health clinic and a local women´s health group.

I will be visiting my site this weekend and hope to take lots of pictures! My boss says that it is absolutely beautiful. I really couldn´t be happier.

Field Based Training

2006-04-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

For the past month or so I have been living in a city in the Department of Comayagua by the name of Siguatepeque for Field Based Training (FBT). During FBT the three Peace Corps projects (Health, Business, and Water and Sanitation) separately travel to different cities to receive more intensive technical training. I’m not sure what I was expecting but Siguatepeque is different, to say the least. True, it is much larger than Santa Lucia, with much more entertainment opportunities including a mall, two movie theaters and numerous restaurants. But it is also dusty, loud and polluted. Training has also been stressful. The days are longer and we have little time to socialize after school as most of us live quite far away from one another. It’s also difficult being away from trainees from the other projects.

On a more positive note, the weather is fantastic here- hot as hell during the day (which I LOVE) and cooler during the night. We´ve also had the opportunity to take trips on the weekends - to places such as the Cascada de Pulhapanzak (below), Las Cuevas de Taulabe (above), and the Lago de Yojoa. The days are flying by, and it’s hard to believe that training is almost over.

La Tigra

2006-02-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, about 35 of us took a trip out to La Tigra National Park to hike, observe flora and fauna, and of course have some serious fun. We hired out a bus to take us directly to the park, but to our dismay the bus would only take us to the bottom of the mountain. After consulting our guidebooks, we learned that the hike up to the hotel would only be a half hour. WRONG! It took us nearly two hours to hike up a very, very steep mountain. After a short rest the majority of the group took off to explore the cloud forest but I hung back with a few other volunteers and spent the afternoon relaxing.

The next morning we went for another hike (yes, this time I went) through the park and decided to catch the bus on the other side. We would then take the bus into downtown Tegucigalpa and find another one that went back to Santa Lucia. Well, when we got to the other side of the park the first bus never showed. After waiting for a few hours, we were informed that the bus had been hired out and that the next one would come until 3. We ended up hitchhiking to another bus stop, which took us to downtown Comayaguela (yes, the most dangerous part of Tegucigalpa) and from there we took a cab to another bus station near the Hospital de San Felipe. Again, we waited for the bus to Santa Lucia, but instead decided to take another bus to Valle de Angeles. Upon arrival in Valle, we hitchhiked to Santa Lucia. In all I think the trip took about 4 hours which is an eternity in comparison with our 30 minute trip up there. The journey home was a total disaster, but I can’t remember the last time I had that much fun.

Today I am going to visit another volunteer in San Jose de Potrero, Comayagua. Should be lots of fun… Things are going beautifully.

Al Mercado

2006-02-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

This morning we took a trip to the mercado in Comayaguela in Teguc to practice our bargaining skills in Spanish. The trip over here in and of itself was an experience. We took a public bus from Santa Lucia (very crowded, complimented with the musical stylings of Michael Jackson and Cindy Lauper) to the Hospital de San Felipe in Teguc. From there we took a cab out to the mercado. The taxi driver appeared as though in his late 80s, and I wasn't sure which was older: the driver or the car. Wires were dangling from underneath the steering wheel and everytime we took a turn the car made this really unsettling clanking sound. I was having trouble breathing from all of the pollution, and I was struck by the filth.

The market itself was also a bit chaotic. People shouting, tossing melons and bananas across the street to one another, raw meat setting out on dirty counters... It was great.

Training Week #1

2006-02-15T10:26:00.000-05:00

To my annoyance, training only officially began last Monday and Peace Corps doesn’t recognize the first week of staging, arrival and host family orientations. Even though I am enjoying myself, time is passing very slowly. I hope the next two years go a bit faster.

My typical day consists of waking up at 6:30 in the morning, dressing and heading off for “la escuela” which begins at 7:30. We have language classes for 4-5 hours each day, followed by a generous lunch break. After lunch I usually spend the remainder of my break playing soccer with Honduran boys, which is great fun. Technical training and cross-cultural sessions are in the afternoon and run until 4:30. So far technical training is somewhat of a disappointment, but it’s still early…

It’s a lot colder here than I expected it to be, and I am now kicking myself for not bringing more clothes. It’s difficult to buy things here unless you take a trip to Tegucigalpa, and I am still figuring out the bus system. Supposedly it will be warmer in a few weeks.

Next weekend I am planning on taking a trip to La Tigra national park with a few other volunteers. We are planning on leaving on Saturday evening, spending the night in a hotel, and hiking all day on Sunday. To the left is a picture of our training site... Can we say Club Med Peace Corps?

Que Magnifica!

2006-02-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Tegucigalpa after a bumpy landing at the shortest runway in the entire world. As the pilot announced “Welcome to Tegucigalpa,” my eyes began to shed tears of joy. Fortunately my pride was strong enough to hold them back. I was so happy to be in Honduras.

Almost immediately we were ushered onto a bus headed for Santa Lucia. Driving through Teguc, I got a brief glimpse of the poverty that is rife in theis part of the world. There was trash everywhere, but the environment was so beautiful that it was difficult to concentrate on the negative things. The mountains are absolutely breathtaking, the sun is warm, and the colors of the buildings are a marked contrast to the dismal houses of the suburbs.

My Spanish needs a lot of work, so the first night with my host family was a bit akward. Luckily the language trainers are fantastic (and very patient) so I have learned a lot only in a few days. I’ve nearly doubled my vocabulary.

My host family is absolutely wonderful. They are so warm, conversive, and hospitable – I could not ask for anything more. There are two parents in their mid-thirties and one son who is 13. The porch provides an excellent view of Tegucigalpa, and I can see the stars at night.

I am the youngest of 50 other ‘aspirantes’ (Peace Corps Trainees), and we comprise a very diverse group. Sure, there are some Type A personalities, but in general this is a great group of people. I’ve already made a couple of amigos.

Here is a picture of our living room...

Coffee talk

2006-01-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

I realize Starbucks is lame, but I'm really gonna miss coffee talk. There's nothing better than arguing over a latte in the morning (or at night for that matter).

La Musica

2006-01-28T12:24:00.000-05:00

I bought an ipod and a solio solar charger today. I justify this by telling myself that music is extremely important to my happiness, and even if the damn machine lasts for a mere three months, it'll have been worth it. Besides it is pretty cool to have a solar charger.

On a related note, I've decided to buy a guitar while in Honduras rather than lugging my precious Yamaha overseas. This way I have less to carry and less to worry about. I hope to purchase a classical guitar (the kind with wider necks and nylon strings), which I've never played before. Music is a great way to relate across cultures, and I look forward to exploring different styles of play.

GIS in the third world?

2006-01-24T17:03:00.000-05:00

I've purchased a temporary version of ArcGIS suite that I may or may not use while abroad. I'm not exactly sure how I am going to use it (if at all) but I figure it couldn't hurt to have the option. One idea is to document the locations of primary care facilities and to a basic assesment of accessibility to health services. Of course the assesment would be confined to a single department or province, unless there was some opportunity for data-sharing and collaboration with the MOH (unlikely).

I'm not really sure that this is a useful tool, or even if my archaic laptop will last longer than a few weeks. But who knows? It's the New Peace Corps.

Mailing address

2006-01-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

Here is my mailing address for the next few months:

Sarah Guagliardo
Peace Corps HIV Prevention & Child Survival Project
Apartado Postal 3158
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Finally

2005-11-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

After over a year of what seemed like endless waiting, needless doctor’s appointments and paperwork, I have finally received an assignment from Peace Corps. My hands were shaking furiously as I tore open the envelope to read… HONDURAS!

What a great location. Beautiful coastlines, Maya ruins, and only a three hour flight from Miami! Honduras is also a relatively small country (approximately the size of Ohio), so I hope to have opportunity to travel substantially within country. I will be serving as a “Health Educator” in HIV/AIDS prevention and child survival activities – which essentially means I will either be working in a health clinic through the MOH or I will be paired with a local NGO. I will depart on the 3oth of January, 2006 for a one-day orientation, or “staging event,” after which I will fly directly to Tegucigalpa. From there I will move to a small town called Santa Lucia, which is about an hour to east of the capital. I will be participating in intensive technical, language, and cross-cultural training for about three months, at which point I will relocate to my site – location TBD. I will complete my Peace Corps service on April 21, 2008.

Here comes the story of the Hurricane…

2005-09-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

Scenes of dehydrated children, displaced families, crying mothers. People are madly looting abandoned grocery stores, searching for milk, bread, and water. The terrible poverty and segregation of New Orleans is sadly exposed – as thousands of impoverished Americans struggle for survival in a country that has never been convivial. The death toll is expected to be in the thousands. Is this my country?It’s been four days, and FEMA is nowhere in sight. The President flew over the disaster area once, released a generic, listless statement and retreated back into safety. If the victims of this calamity were rich and white the situation would be entirely different.
The Constitution mandates that defense and national security are fundamental responsibilities of the federal government. Is disaster preparedness not an issue of security? Are health and disease not concerns of defense? Apparently not for the indigent.
Katrina is the story of the Hurricane all over again. A discomforting reminder that racism and classism are alive and well in the “land of the free.”