Projects!

Photo Reel! Update Below














El Factor Compostable Latrine workshop with my carpinteros Chiche y Papolo.














Base of Compostable Latrine. Volunteer Mark and his mason will hopefully make it up to my site to host another workshop.














Dra. Alfa helping teach Hygiene and water seminar to El Firme















Filter Maintenance course














Reading club going at the cancha's unruly grass. Project still in progress...














Before and after photo of fallen my fallen greenhouse... And there wasn't even a hurricane! The power of termites. Good news is that this is where we'll have the Compostable latrine workshop to teach surrounding communities how to build them because the termites also have really gotten my latrine and the family that lives there after me will be able to use the compostable one.

















AND I got my landlord to build me the Enramada pictured above. I built the little benches to the right which we are now using for reading club. It's a better option to have it outside now with unfortunate theft problems and the blazing summer heat. I love it.



















My new little cacao sack hamaca :)
Made with 2 Cacao sacks, rice sacks stuffed inside for extra cushion and butt mosquito protection, two bien fuerte sticks with holes manually drilled (it was hard), lasso string, and a rick sack stuffed with other rice sacks for a little pillow. Milagro helped me sew it because I've somewhat forgotten how to gracefully use the sewing machine I used to make the volleyball net.















And here is a picture of my friend Carlos excited for his birthday cake.




OKaaay! Hiya.

Sorry for the really long delay between updates. Thanks again for reading :)

Ok so lets start with the bad:
16 houses in my community, including mine, lost electricity in May due to a reportedly blown up transformer. To put it lightly, once accustomed to having electricity, well yes it bummed me out. I had to walk to the nearest Colmado to charge my phone and computer and most importantly my fridge is out of commision. I really like cooking so that is actually the hardest part, not being able to store food. We since have hooked up a wire to the next nearest transformer and I am getting Luz Flojo (sort of like brown out electricity)....meaning that only certain things at my house can get charged. The Luz flojo burned out my camera charger and one of my lightbulbs but luckily it seems to charge my phone and my computer. I have a surge protector on my computer and it appears to be fine. My fridge still doesn't work. Good news is that without being able to easily cook for myself I'm going to Rosa's house and talking with her a lot everyday and feeling better and better about my spanish and also the fact that I get a lot of community gossip from her. I like that she trusts me.

My backyard greenhouse fell over. One night around 3 am, Bija and I awoke to the sound of tearing sheet metal. I thought, hmm....that's a new sound - god this country is noisy, and then fell back asleep. The next morning I find the above picture. I stood at my back door laughing. The power of termites is intense. My landlord knew about it and did nothing and then once the greenhouse was on the ground they left it there for about 3 weeks. I didn't want any visitors during that time because my house looked like it was hit by a hurricane in the back but then amazingly one day Clide came by and helped clean it all up. Then even more amazingly was how I told my landlord I'd like an enramada so I can teach my reading club outside and then within the week it was up. All of my plants inside the greenhouse survived and I got an even sweeter hang out spot....I'm glad the greenhouse fell now. We are going to use the space to put in a compostable latrine since my latrine is now deemed dangerous to use. I'm also going to take advantage and use this as a Latrine Workshop for all interested masons in surrounding areas to learn a new design. In the meantime I'm visiting Rosa's house and my little bedpan. Don't knock it til you've tried it.

Good News:
Filters - Although a little frustrating, finally they are here and I'm installing them little by little. The transportation was an issue because the filters way 250 lbs each and I think in total we had over 7500 lbs trying to climb the hills to reach my community....not possible in the smallish truck we had. We took half, the driver left me stuck with the other half in another community and then it took 2 weeks to convince the drivers in my community to help me transport the other half to individual's houses. I also am having issues now with 10 families coming to claim their filter (10 are located in a colmado that I used to store them). I have gotten to the point of being rather short with the laziness. Other Donas are mad at me for not gifting them a filter. Other community members are proclaiming that I'm selling the filters....Ay dios. On the other hand, it's been wonderful going to the different houses and installing them because I really like hands on projects. I get the whole family together after I've installed the filter to review with them how to use the filter and then I check back to tell them the filter is ok to use and see if they appear to be taking care of it. All in all - it's looking like the project is going to be successful but I highly doubt I will do another cement filter project. I wouldn't mind bringing in plastic ones though. I also would like to note that the only person who really helped me with any transport issues was Clide...who at the time had serious kidney stones and was helping to lift the filters into the bed of his truck. We need more Clides in the world.

Latrines -
I took Chiche and Papolo down to El Factor to learn the first steps and design of the compostable latrine with fellow PCV Mark who is in the middle of his latrine project right now. They learned a little but I'm thinking it'd be a great idea to pay for Mark and his mason to come up and host a workshop at my house. I'm also thinking of inviting several other interested volunteers and surrounding communities to have a big latrine party :)
I just submitted my grant that will allow me to receive money for the project. My church back home raised $1881 for the project with a pancake breakfast and individual donations and this is AMAZING. Thank you so much for those that helped and I'll be posting more soon regarding this once the website it up. The grant coordinator isn't known for his efficiency so it may take a while.

Cancha-

Stillllll working on resurfacing. It's really hard to motivate the kids to help me clean the grass and break up the ground. I did have a friend, Manolo, help me one entire afternoon doing this and we covered 1/4 of the court with a new level of cement.
Eva and her girl group came up yesterday and at church I had invited all the kids in my community to come play volleyball and although the net isn't quite what it used to be...we managed to have a mini volleyball game between the two communities after I tried teaching everyone the basics again. I always lose my voice whenever we do a cancha activity and therefore I am trying to solicit an adult in my community to help me do activities like this with the kids especially now that summer has started.


Otherwise I am doing really good! I am feeling and all realms of my life seem to be back in order. I am really excited for this weekend also because Jean and her friend Sarah are coming to visit today at my site and then we are going hiking to El Limon's waterfall, Playa Fronton, and then doing the volunteer thing again in Las Galleras for 4th of July. I'm a'bringin my guitar and a'sing'n my heart out.

Also am planning on taking the Reef Check instructor course so I can help teach the class to the new volunteers. I'll post photos from my last dive in Catalina...Mark has some. Here is a picture of where we were in Catalina.

Thanks so much for the continued correspondence - especially the lovely long letters. The packages have been really slow but I'll email you when I get them.

Hope all is well!
Pronto,
Sarah

Earth Day 2010

Hiya,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY MOM! I LOVE AND MISS YOU!

Here are some photos of Earth Day in El Firme!

We did talks on the Sodis water purification project which Jas told me about and I’m trying to implement in my site before we get any filters. I don’t always have purified water on hand and I can’t say no to kids who ask me for water. I also won’t let them take it straight from the cistern….but now I always have some purified on hand outside on my roof so it’s been quite a handy little project for my own purposes plus it’s another way to recycle. I’m trying to focus as much as I can on the reduction of trash, specifically plastic in my site so picking up finding uses for plastic bottles is always a win.

We also did talks on composting and showed them my compost pile, the difference between organic and inorganic material and why you shouldn’t burn either (instead compost organic and try to reduce production of inorganic through reusable materials), and I had our reusable bag competition winners talk about the dangers of plastic bags and how easy it is participate in the competition. We did a drama, earth day song, and I got an applause for my Brindis (Snack) which made me very proud because that’s a big deal for me to get that respect from the Donas. We also transplanted sunflowers with the kids incorporating the compost and then everyone got a sunflower and we sang and danced a bit. By the way Ryan, you got serious dancing props after shaking your thing. I haven’t stopped hearing about it since you left.

I overall thought the day went really well and wouldn’t mind doing it again next year. I had planned on trying to make organic soap (yes I know it’s caustic and I’d be super careful) and taking kids to the waterfall to do a treasure hunt while simultaneously teaching about the water cycle….so that’s an idea for next year. We might do a test run before earth day just because it sounds fun and Eva and I love going to that waterfall since it’s starting to get way hotter.

The water filter course is going to run May 4-6 and I am still figuring out all the logistics. I was just talking to Jas about how everything just takes so long to get done here that it’s better to put in the solicitude now since we’ll probably be waiting for a few months to actually get the filters. I hope only a few months. I’m excited about the course though for sure. The Dr I’m working with is way different than a campesino which throws me off a bit. I’ve got to set up my talks for the last day and also arrange the snack. The Doctor told me the participants will be expecting snacks and I was like, well hmph…I’ll be expecting them all to learn and not talk. Then they’ll get tang and crackers. Dios mio.

I am trying to make it down to El Factor where Mark lives to spend a day watching him build the compost latrine. Here’s the story: 20 families in a site above my site are without any sort of bathroom facility. Therefore, it’s a big problem up there. I want to help them out and have gotten my community on board after talking about how the water cycle works (they are situated upstream from us and we just got that aqueduct remember?) and also using God and helping out your neighbor since everyone in El Firme already has a latrine, mine winning a prize for the worst. Just kidding. Not really. I thought initially I’d apply for the grants and do pit latrines. Then the main funding got cut. Therefore I am looking for funding now for the project under rocks and in crevices. I’m thinking about setting up a PCPP which is an account that friends and family back home can donate to so that we can get all 20 families a latrine. I am also now looking at the composting latrine because I think that with Mark’s help I’ll be able to sell it to the Dominicans without them being freaked out by the idea. It’s a much more environmentally friendly and sustainable option. Anyhow, it’s a project with immediate need and nobody can argue with the importance of sanitation for 5 communities. I’ll try to make a little website soon to explain more about the project and then explain where one can donate.

Hmm…in other news I have now completely switched to washing my laundry by hand instead of paying a dona that was ripping me off. I have to say that I actually kind of like doing it. It’s amazing how much water you need for just a few clothes. You should try it sometime to realize how much water your machine is probably using. I then just stick em up on a line I’ve set out and let the sun dry them. I have also been making homemade tortillas, falafels, and scones to vary it up in the kitchen. I really do wish I had some dark greens though – I’ve got to try and grow some spinach because that’d help my really colorful bruises. I’m heading out to Eva’s tomorrow to send emails and catch up with her. I also plan on sewing a hammock because she’s gone sweet sewing machines in her site. Plus internet now which is like….no way.

It was great to have my friend Ryan visit – we went diving in Sosua which was cool and notably filled with Lionfish, then jumped back over into my site where he met my friends, ate authentic Dominican food, made chocolate, built a sweet trashcan for the cancha, danced during earthday, watched me knock over my wine glasses, played lots of music, and then visited the little waterfall. He is currently the eco director on a camp on Catalina Island who just recently set up a WWOOF program there and is doing all sorts of wonderful green things including recently getting his LEED AP. Don’t I have the coolest friends? If u are reading this then you should agree.

Here are some photos from the visit also. Bija says hello! So do I! Hope all is well
Love,
Sarah

Project Update!

Heya!

Ok ok, so I’ve definitely been floja when it comes to keeping up the blog for the past few months. It’s hard! Especially when Bija bit thru my computer chord and I couldn’t write the blogs in advance of getting to the internet center. Ya tu sabes.

I don’t think I even updated with like the biggest site news – we got our aqueduct funded by the government and suddenly we have water. I’m still sort of in shock at how this came about…but just goes to show you that during election time, politicians can make some pretty big changes. It was done under Salud Publico with the intention that kids would be able to wash their hands at the school and when they couldn't tap into ground water at the school, they just funded the aqueduct that my community already had in progress from what I gather. It really was amazing to see the happiness written on my community’s faces as house by house families were receiving water lines and keys.

Thankfully, Jennifer Phillips and Ms. Patricia Sanders came to visit and they so kindly brought me my new chord. I lived for about a month and a half with no computer in the campo. That means I played a lot of guitar in the dark. I wrote a new song too! Maybe it was better that I didn’t have technology for a little while, because I sure do appreciate it now. It’s amazing how much more work I can get done. Speaking of which here is little update for anyone interested.

Biosand Water Filters!
I went to Santiago to a mini course that Proyecto de Las Americas with Rotary International was offering to learn how to install these Biosand water filters (hydraid.org). They’ll be donating filters to my site and I’ll be installing them and teaching the Donas how to use them. The visiting Dominican Dr. and nurse in my site will be helping me with a course called ‘El Agua Sana y su Bienestar’ = Healthy water and your wellbeing. I’ve felt busy and productive again with this project which is a great feeling. I initially wanted to do ceramic pot filters because there are definitely issues with the biosand filters in terms of their maintenance and the fact that you can’t move them once installed (what I deem almost impossible for most Dominican housewives who like to clean everything thoroughly). That being said, I’m hoping it works out well – the course we’re offering is obligatory and we’re really trying to emphasize the education beforehand. I’m still thinking that ceramic filters might be something for the future in Loma Vieja, the campo that is situated right above us which in my opinion has greater need for these types of projects. That being said…

Sanitarios en La Loma Vieja

I’m working on a grant to try and get 20 wood/cement latrines to be installed in Loma Vieja. I have spoken with the animador/priest-like figure who told me that 20 families have no access to any sort of facility at the current moment. That being said, I’m working it into the water course we’re offering to get my community members on board in this way: We’re going to learn about the water cycle. Being that Loma Vieja is situated upstream from us and that we are now receiving water from the aqueduct that is pulling up river water….it is in our best interest to help Loma Vieja with a human waste problem. That being said, I am looking into designs that aren’t expensive and yet are better quality than my latrine which is made entirely of wood. I want the latrines to last a good chunk of time. The problem is that the funding for latrine projects was just cut, USAID for some reason thought it wasn’t necessary? I don’t really know why. Anyhow, I’m looking around for funding and if anyone back home knows of secret niches for sanitation projects feel free to shoot me a line.

Kids 2 Kids Cancha
Clide and I just went to San Francisco and bought the cement and paint to redo the court surface. I’m going to get a basketball when the court is done. I’ve talked with people in my site to say that I need help with the loads of kids and fact I lose my voice almost every time we get together. I’m thinking that with my PCV neighbor Eva, maybe we can do some sort of girl’s summer volleyball camp somehow. If not that, at least my reading club kids like playing on it so set up some sort of schedule with them.

Earth Day 2010
Ryan will be visiting! My reading club will be presenting to the Women groups – How to purify your water using Solar Power (http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN), how to make compost, how to replant seedlings (everyone gets a sunflower), and we also have a drama to emphasize the importance of reusing materials and a Earth day song! Haha...well it's something right? I’m really excited for this and I really hope that I get reasonable attendance. We went all over my site with formal invitations and I think I exhausted my kids. I’m going to build a little trashcan with wood and rabbit wire to demonstrate during Earthday that will end up at the Cancha and I’m hoping to arrange with one of my truck drivers to do like a little pickup to take to Castillo where they say there is a more legit dump. With no easy solution in sight, yes trash is a dirty problem. I told all the Donas that we won’t be producing any during earth day so bring your own cup!

Reusable Bag Competition
I am really happy with this project. We’ve saved over 1000 bags and over 20 Donas have participated. I expanded it into 2 other Colmados and am thinking that I’ll write a grant to help me cover the expenses for the prizes.

In other news…..I’m doing well! I really like feeling busy. Mom just sent me a GRE book and that is also good to have a night to change modes and think about the future. Bija kitty says hello and is doing quite well. We had a serious issue with him playing with little chickens. We’re figuring it out together. The best and really only way to build healthy relationships.

My friend Ryan from UCSD is coming today actually and I’m going to pick him up in the airport in an hour. Especially after backpacking with him thru Big Basin, I’m really looking forward to the visit because he’s just a great travel companion. We’re going diving in the north and then to my site. Not a long visit but I got some fun plans.

I’m thinking about building a hammock. It’s going to get so hot that it will be a necessity soon. Take in the breeze that comes up my little hill. I’m also planning the new garden layout. Reed’s Japanese cuke seeds are up are almost ready to transplant. I’m doing real cilantro, spicy bush basil, and am going to try onion and eggplant. I’m also installing little plant holders on my windows to have more space to protect the seedlings and make the house look super cozy. Nana taught me to do that, fill a space with books and plants. She knows what she’s talking about.

Thank you so much for the birthday packages. I’ll be sending out emails to confirm I got your loving.

Here are some photos of Jen and Patty’s visit! These are all Jen's pics taken from her FB account which has a bunch more.
Just for you Lea - Pa' movilizacion hacer una visita con Toby.
















Patty jumping that last Charco

















Patty and Sarah at Guyacanes Beach

















Patty, Jenny, and Sarah at el Sarto





















Patty jumping!
















Patty with Ali and Jenny with Estephany

Jenny and Sarah telling Lea to come visit.

Cuidate mucho! Oiste!?

Love,
Sarah

Blog for Lea

Pics of Jenny and Patty's visit to be posted soon....I need to be sent them, especially the sweet Charco jumping shots.


Thank you again for the birthday wishes and mail box loving!
Love,
Sarah

Picture update

Bluegrass night at Mica's. Patty and Jenny visita!!! I totally didn't pull my camera out enough Jenny and Patty - please send me some of your fotos.














Sweet Jams














Eva's new spice rack! This was my women's day workshop combined with little photo frames. This is seriously easy to make and is great if you like organizing your campo kitchen.














Eva's girls playing the parts of famous Dominican women.















Bija looking friendly. Or not.














Redix, Estephanie, and Brenda.














Vale's birthday with cake and entertainment from my kids. Ali 1 is the one in the front with big ears and missing teeth.



















Un tomate, I had a pretty good tomato harvest. Fresh tomato salsa is good.


















Trying to figure out if this is a vanilla orchid. The pods looked like it but I now have my doubts. It sure is pretty though.


















Bobo - Hispanolan Lizard Cuckoo I think it's called in English. My kids and I have been drawing birds to learn about their parts, their songs, the reason why they are important, and start developing the love for them. Then we practice with the Binoculars to spot real birds and also hide our drawing in the cacao to develop birder instincts hopefully to replace slingshot ones. These guys are actually fairly large and really cool.
















Here's my neighbor Eva! This is a beeswax candle we made. We have a list of things to do before she leaves and this was a checkmark. We are thinking about starting a small business....or maybe just save a bit of money on all the candles we use :)

Hope all is well!
Love,
Sarah

Not enough time to really write

Hey All!

Not enough time to really update at the moment but here are some pics I stole from Ben. Here is an actual whale we saw. Just to clarify I didn´t take that previous picture....but I did see that breachin´action happening!

Just finished up yesterday with a WONDERFUL WEEKEND of visits and International Women´s Day Celebration that Eva and I planned for our surrounding communities that was hosted in Rincon Hondo. I think it turned out really well and am really happy I could be a part of it!

Eva did a wonderful job of preparing her charlas and also decorating the club and being incargada (Big boss lady). She did talks on AIDS and women´s history of the DR with her girls doing little skits. Tamara came up and talked about domestic violence and equality in the household so super big thanks to her. She also caught me up on the office and Pam and Jim´s wedding which was pretty much amazing haha. Ben came up and helped me prep for my carpentry workshop which although might have seemed chaotic to most people ... I personally thought turned out quite well. I showed them how to make a spice rack with wood that the ferreteria was throwing away and then had teams of people build little photo frames. Eva is an artist and was going to have a little lesson on how to paint them but we ran out of time because with Dominican time...everything always starts at least an hour late. I also wrote a little song that went well trying to incorporate self esteem into my talk. It´s cute and cheesy ie Dominicans dig it. You´ll have to visit me to hear it! (I am so excited for Jenny and Patty!!!)

Yo soy Mujer

Yo soy el aire y la tierra
Yo soy la sangre y el corazon
Yo soy la fuerza y la belleza
Yo soy mujer, yo soy mujer

Yo soy la mente y el coraje
Tengo la gracia en mis pasos
Yo soy hermosa y poderosa
Yo soy mujer yo soy mujer

Coro:
Yo puedo hacer cualquiere cosa
Solo necesito tener la fe en mi misma

Yo soy las aves Yo soy las flores
Yo soy la luna Yo soy el sol
Yo soy la madre Yo soy la hija
Y tu amiga. Yo soy Mujer!
Coro

I tried to get my reading group to come up and help me sing and do the little motions with the song but there were quite a few people and I was even feeling a little timida at one point.

I don´t have my chord to plug in my camera at the moment but will post pics soon of the event. A huge thank you to the volunteers that helped out. If Gango, Eva´s carpentry guy, had internet and read my blog I´d send him the biggest thanks. I hugged him instead because he helped me so much hand cutting the picture frame pieces. We set them at 45 degree angles so they actually look cool.

Other than that all is well on my end. We had a fabulous weekend of cooking - Lemon Pesto Chicken on Penne, Lentil Soup, Oatmeal bread, Mozerrella CHEESE which is so cool by the way, peanut butter brownies, and pizza with everything from scratch topped with tomato and basil from the garden. I´ve been wanting to do that basically my whole life. It was a wonderful feeling. It was a wonderful weekend :)

Hope all is well!
Love,
Sarah

Flamingo Tongue

Hey there!

Sorry it has been a while since a little update. There is actually not too much new going on actually. It is very odd to think that I've been in country 1 year coming up early March. In certain respects it feels like a year. In others it seems like a blink.

I managed to make it out to see the Humpback whales in Samana thanks so much to Ben's family! He has the real pics but it looked a little something like this. I have always wanted to see whales breaching and with this trip I did! Thank you to Jeanie and Kathy again!

At the year mark I'm feeling much more of the urge to do some physical project to keep me busy with my community. I've made phone calls to find contacts with some organization to help me out with water filter installations. It's sort of a restless feeling waiting and not hearing back or having something on the horizon to make me feel busy. I was just telling someone that the most frustrating part of the job for me is not feeling productive every day. I like having things to look forward to and the lack of reliable communication to make plans is making it difficult. Waking up with a sense of purpose is key in one's mental sanity and happiness I feel.

My main focus at the moment are the literacy groups. I have about 5-10 dedicated kids that come to my house about 4 times a week and we read a different story out loud, ask comprehension questions, and for the kids that really are struggling we do little excercising with pronunciation. I've also converted this into a little nature appreciation club (the start of brigada verde possibly). I've been painting some of the local birds with the lovely art set my Nana gave me. The kids draw the bird of the day and then we go outside with the Binoculars that mom gave me and they hide their drawings around and have each other find them. Then we do a little talk about how important it is not to kill the birds with gomas (slingshots). I'm hopefully going to have a guy from the University of Vermot come out and do something in my site with respect to the migratory song birds because my site is an ecological corridor between two scientific reserves and there is a potential carbon credit/bird habitat conservation project to be talked about with him. I just hope that it is more than an idea.

My friend Eva and I have also talked a little about doing something for international women's day. She lives right down the road from me so we can collaborate. I'm thinking about doing a carpentry workshop as an activity for the women in our communities - teach them something like how to make photo frames (Eva is going to do an art workshop so that could go hand in hand) while also showing them a bigger project (like a stool or bench). I am teaching several of the adolescent boys in my site how to make benches and spice racks - but it'd be wonderful to get some girls involved so that is my hope. The same idea with guitar lessons - the only people that want to learn to play guitar are the men and it'd be great if some of my girls wanted to join in on the lessons.

I've been cooking a lot! I'm much better at making bread now and my garden just produced it's first ripe tomatos. I have so much basil I don't know what to do with it, although gifting pesto to other volunteer friends is a very fun passtime. It is very nice to make another volunteer smile - the volunteers express appreciation much more than my Donas and it's just nice to see it written on someones face accompanied with words (en vez de - Da me algo Sarah). Dominicans show it in different ways....just harder to see a veces.

Otherwise to fill my time - I just came down to the capital this weekend to get my ReefCheck Dive certification (reefcheck.org). It was basically a fish/invert ID class where you learn what you are actually seeing down during the dives and enables you to participate in these surveys that monitor reef health. We did our first survey this weekend and it was really great to get to go on another dive and get a change of scene from the campo. I am thinking about doing the advanced Dive class when the next one happens (which includes a night dive and a 100 ft dive) because it'd be awesome to have that on my resume (for possible marine research gigs) and also because it's really fun.

By the way - this is a flamingo tongue. We learned this in the ReefCheck course. It is awesome

I am SUPER DOOPER excited for Jenny and Patty to come visit me during my birthday week and the trip is starting to sound ridiculously fun. Ryan is coming out at the end of April and he also is dive certified so we are going to aprovecharlo (take advantage!). YES!

Here is a pic of some of my volunteer friends during the Superbowl. My computer is out of service for the moment and I can't upload some other pics I want.

Hope you are doing very well and update me your adventures soon! A special thank you to those that are writing me! SPECIAL LOVE for June and Michelle for their video they sent. Also Jess Wall for the special cameos. I watch it when I'm missing you guys.