How the PC thing works

So I realized that most people probably don’t know how the PC program works…so here is an overview:

Staging: 1 day orientation in Miami, Florida
• 18 trainees from all over the US, met each other for the first time, completed some paperwork, did a few ice breakers, learned the basics of the how the next few hours and months would work, and then boarded a plane for Asuncion, Paraguay via Sao Paulo Brazil.
• Upon arrival in Asuncion we were taking to the CHP via van to their training center. After a few hours of activities, and an interview to determine host family placement, we were driven to our school, CHP’i, located in another community where we would live with our host families and attend most of our classes.

11 weeks of training through CHP
• CHP, which used to stand for ‘Center for Human Potential,’ is an international language and technical training program the PC uses in many of their countries to transform trainees into high performing volunteers.
• A group of volunteers is given a letter and number. Our group of 18 volunteers is G30. I think the ‘G’ stands for ‘Guarambare’ which is the name of the city that CHP is located in, but we use in the same way we would use the word ‘group’. There are 3 G’s per year. A sister G is the group 1 year behind/ahead of you.
• My group of volunteers, G30, is divided into 2 areas: Rural Economic Development [RED] and a subsector of RED called Municipal Services Development [Muni].
• During training, trainees live with host families who are paid a small about per day to cover meals and living expenses. Muni live in J.A. Saldivar; RED live in Paso de Oro.
• Trainees are given 15,000G [$US3] per day as spending money to purchase personal items, take the buses [2,100G], buy snacks, etc.
• Classes last from about 7:45am to 5:00pm Monday-Friday; 8:00am-11:30 on Saturday.
o The morning session lasts from 7:45am-11:30am and usually consists of language classes.
o The evening session from 1:30pm-5:00pm is usually technical training. Usually RED and Muni have these classes separately, however on Wednesdays we go to Guarambare for sessions together.
• During these 11 weeks, trainees complete two face-to-face interviews and one final questionnaire in order to help determine what is the most appropriate future site. During Week#9, trainees are assigned their official site and visit it for about 5 days. After the visit they return to their training communities for 2 more weeks.
• During their future site visit, trainees also meet their Community Contact. Ideally the Community Contact is someone who works in the Muni who will first helps the volunteer find a suitable place to live and then helps them identify community needs and start working on projects.

Final Site
• After the 11 weeks, the trainees are sworn in a ceremony at the US Embassy and become official volunteers.
• After swearing in, the volunteer must then pack up their belongings, leave their host family in their training community, and move to their new site.
• Volunteers are committed to working in their site for the next 2 years.
• After 2 years the volunteer can choose to return to the US, or they can extend their service. If a volunteer chooses to extend they can continue working in their site, they can start working for an NGO, they can work in the PC office in Asuncion, or they can become a site coordinator [the people who go out and find and evaluate potential sites as well as place volunteers in those sites.] Extensions are for a minimum of 3 months, though 6months-1 year is more common. However some volunteers have been known to extend for 2 or more years.
• Extending is a very popular option for volunteers in Paraguay and our Country Director, Don, highly encourages it.
•

G30-RED vs Muni

Rural Economic Development [RED]
RED volunteers will be working in rural areas with small businesses and cooperatives to help them start new businesses and improve the existing ones. Their training community, Paso del Oro, is a slightly more rural community which will help them prepare for their future living conditions. There are 10 volunteers in the RED group.

Municipal Services Development [Muni] *My Group*
Muni volunteers are supposed to work with local governments in cities ranging from 2,000 people to 100,000 people. Technically Muni is a subsector of RED, though the programs are completely different. I suspect that the Muni program will be taken out from under the RED umbrella within the next few years.

The official goal of this group is to 1) increase transparency 2) improve public services 3)increase public participation in the community. However the actual trend is for Muni volunteers to work less and less with the local government itself. Even though the communities have specifically requested to have a volunteer help at the Muni, the reality is that many local governments are not really ready to make the kinds of dramatic internal changes that Muni volunteers are supposed to create. While there are some exceptions, many Muni volunteers have such a hard time developing projects with the local government that they take on secondary projects in other areas to fill their time. Because, Paraguay is often ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, the goals of the Muni program are very important for the development of the country, but extremely difficult to actually achieve.

Initially there were supposed to be 9 people in the Muni group, however one lady just didn’t show up to staging. Evidently she sent the coordinators an email the day we left for Paraguay that basically said she wouldn’t be able to make it this time. Personally I can’t imagine going through all of that application process and then just not getting on the plane. There are currently 8 in the Muni group.

Other Types of Volunteers
• Environmental Education [EE]
• Agriculture [includes bee keeping]
• Urban Youth Development
• Health and Sanitation

Vacation Time
• Volunteers can travel anywhere they want during their service, including the US, but they have to use vacation time and pay for their own travel expenses.
• Volunteers receive 2 paid vacation days per month which can be saved up over time.
• All trips have to be preapproved and cannot conflict with mandatory trainings
• Taking vacations without permission is grounds for ‘Administrative Separation’ aka getting fired.


Language Training
As mentioned before, most of the training for the 2 groups, Muni and RED, is done separately. The Muni group is divided into 2 language groups, 3 who are studying Spanish and 5 who have strong enough Spanish skills to start learning Guarani. The RED group has 3 language groups, 2 for Spanish and 1 class with 3 Guarani students. All trainees much reach a level of Intermediate Spanish to swear in as a volunteer.

Technical Training
Muni and RED each have training sessions and field trips related to their work area. The RED group has visited cooperatives, farms, reviewed business basics, etc

Muni group visits local governments and offices where social services are distributes, learns about the governmental structure, how local government earn and spend their money, Itaipu Royalties, basic laws affecting the Munis, challenges faced by the Munis, corruption, how to help with project management, feasibility studies, etc

Guarambare Training
In the Guarambare Training Center each Wednesday, the REDs and Munis receive training together on PC regulations, medical issues, safety guidelines, how to make sure our water and food is clean properly, sexual/physical assault, gender awareness, culture shock, gardening, ice breakers, team building activities, group dynamics, PACA tools, etc.

Medical Session 7_8_09

This week with Medical Mary and Doctor Luis I had the pleasure of learning about all of the fun skin problems I might run into from boils to bot flies.

Bot Flies:
I’ve heard of bot flies before and they creep me the hell out more than anything I’ve ever encountered. Ugg my skin is crawling just thinking about them. Basically the fly larva burrows into your skin and begins to grow. Initially the spot looks like a mosquito bite except there is a small hole in the center of the bite that the larva needs to breath. To kill the fly all you have to do is cover the breathing hole with something like Vaseline. Sometimes you can also push the larva out like popping a zit. Another technique is to put a piece of raw meat over the bite in the hopes that the larva will crawl out of your skin and into the meat. However, evidently the larva do not like it if you cover their air hole, they will probably start to sting you and it is possible to feel them moving around. If the larva does die for whatever reason and you can’t get it out, your body will either absorb it or the wound will get infected and the larva will have to be removed by Doctor Luis. Evidently Dr. Luis takes great pleasure in this particular surgery because he has the biggest grin, and a glint in his eye when Mary started talking about it.

Fleas:
There are also a type of flea that burrow into your skin, usually the feet, and lay eggs. 2 people in the RED group have already gotten them. The flea itself just looks like a little black dot that itches. The eggs are little white clusters that also itch. Fortunately removing them is easy. You can dig them out like a splinter with a needle.

They also warned us again bed bugs, athletes’ foot, jock itch, boils, and these bugs that live in the walls of non-brick homes that cause a disease called Changas.

Ahh the wonderful rewards of being a volunteer.

Transformers

PYTraining_Blog_7_15_09_MovieTransformers

We recently went to see Transformers at a theater in Asuncion. It was in English with Spanish subtitles, which is normal for adult movies from the US. Children’s movies, like Harry Potter, are usually dubbed. Personally I hate dubbed movies, but I do understand why it is preferable for the kiddies.

One interesting thing was that this theater added an intermission. Unfortunately they didn’t do a good job of planning which scene would have the intermission. They paused the film at a spot that disturbed the overall flow of the story. I also think the movie itself was still playing because the scene we returned to wasn’t the same scene that we left off at.

Overall I liked the movie, but what made it such a memorable movie-going experience was the fact that it because very clear that we were the only ones in the theater who were native English speakers. The three of us, Jenna, Elmer, and I sat together in the middle of the small theater. There were many times where we started laughing…but no one else did… because the slang, when translated, didn’t really make sense or wasn’t funny anymore. The fact that we were the only ones who understood all of the funny parts made the whole situation even funnier. We spent most of the movie, giggling to ourselves, in the middle of a full, but mostly silent theater. If you ever get the chance to travel to a non English speaking country, make sure to see a funny movie in English. It will be a notable experience

A rose by any other name…

When I was studying abroad in Chile I realized that my name ‘Lyndsay’ was very difficult to pronounce, especially for the older people. Young people knew how to say it only if they were familiar with Lindsay Lohan. Because of this, I started going by ‘Lyn,’ which they had no trouble with. The Chileans put the articles ‘el’ or la’ before names so I became ‘La Lyn’, which has a really nice ring to it.

I assumed Paraguayans would have the same difficulties with my legal name, so I shortened it right from the beginning. However I’ve come to realize Paraguayans pronounce the ‘n’ at the end of any word like an‘m.’ So they pronounce my name like ‘Lim’ (like a tree limb).

This also means one volunteer, Ron, is called ‘Rom’ which means rum; another volunteer named ‘King’ is called ‘Kim.’

While we’re talking on the topic of names, there is a volunteer named Shavonda in my G. Her name in Guarani is one vowel sound away from meaning ‘I’m a prostitute/loose woman’ = Che Vanda. ‘Che’ means ‘I.’ It also means that whenever I say her name, I’m also calling myself a loose woman. Our discovery of this little fun fact and the overall difficulty that Paraguayans have with her name has considered trying to rename her. Nothing has stuck yet, but a random man in a community she visited suggested ‘Juanita’ and an inside joke has also produced the name ‘Wonderful.’

Computers: I’d like my Google plugged back in, please.

Most people don’t have a computer, even fewer have internet access, even fewer have a personal computer. No one has virus protection, not even the cyber cafes. So I’m really paranoid about getting one on my computer right now because I can’t access the most recent virus protection because I don’t have access to the internet via my laptop. I backed up all of my information before I came to Paraguay and left the copies with my things in Texas and brought extra blank cds with me. However I forgot to bring the computer cds for my operating system and programs so that I can reload everything if I have to wipe the hard drive. My host family always wants me to put my photos on their computers, but because of their lack of virus protection, I’m hesitant to do so. They aren’t at a high risk for contracting something because they don’t have the internet and they almost never use the computer, but still.

I’ve put all of the documents that I’ve created on my pin drive and some of my photos in case my computer does die. At the end of training I’ll put it all on two cds and send one back to the US for safe keeping. I’ll do that periodically, just so I don’t lose everything. I also scan my pin drive everything I put it into my laptop to check for viruses. Again, I won’t be able to protect the computer from new viruses yet, but at least I’ll catch the old ones hopefully.

Internet Access

As far as internet access goes there are several cybers in our community, including one near my house at my training site with an average speed connection most of the time. One good sign that internet access and speeds might be increasing soon is that a few months ago the Paraguayan government opened up the internet market to increase competition. They don’t have wireless at the PC Asuncion office right now, but in the next few months they are working on setting up a hot spot. We had a session with Gustavo, the PC IT guy. Whose most memorable piece of advice for using the PC computers was ‘No porn!’

Many volunteers at their sites have internet access through their USB ports via their cell phone. Once I swear in, the PC will give me a cell phone and I can start looking into an internet plan through my phone carrier.

The best time for me to go to the cyber is after class sometime after 5pm. Unfortunately, usually it gets dark by then and I avoid walking alone at night. So I don’t get as much internet time as I’m used to. In some ways it is nice to unplug.

A CHP employee has come up with a series of expressions like ‘PowerPoint unplugged’ and ‘Google unplugged’ to describe the presentation and research techniques in a community where computer and internet access is limited. I’m fine without PowerPoint, but the ‘Google unplugged’ aka asking the people for information, isn’t something I like to rely on much. Paraguayans are very eager to please and friendly most of the time, so they will give you bad directions because they don’t want to admit that they don’t know or can’t help. History is also a topic that comes up frequently in class; the Paraguayan answers often differ markedly from the record accepted by most historians internationally including whether or not Paraguay won the wars it has been involved in.

In conclusion, I’d like my Google plugged back in, please.

We got a washing machine!!!

It’s bbbbbea-utiful. It only washes the clothes, it doesn’t rinse them, but it is still an exquisite piece of machinery as far as I’m concerned. Right now I only use it to wash my jackets and pants, because it’s a little hard on more delicate fabrics, but not having to scrub my pants is heaven.



I’ve also learned a few washing tricks from a former volunteer. One is that I shouldn’t use OMO, the most popular washing detergent because is extremely strong and will strip the clothes of their color. She also told us that soaping up the clothes and let them soak for a while is just as effective as scrubbing the daylights out of the clothes and they will last longer. I also have to make sure to zip up my pants when they are drying on the clothes line; otherwise the sun will bleach one part of the fabric more, creating an arrow to my ‘particulars,’ to use Anne Marie exact terminology.

July 3,4th, 5th, 2009

Even though the PC is a US organization, we didn’t get the 4th of July off. On the 3rd of July however, my trainer Ricardo, had pity on us. We were supposed to do a field trip to a place that related to the municipality; however we went to the botanical gardens and the zoo in Asuncion. It’s a little bit of a stretch, but they do hold environmental education classes there, have a library, the employees do technically work for the Muni, and a lot of Muni volunteers take on environmental education projects as secondary projects [or primary projects if the Muni doesn’t cooperate]. The gardens and zoo aren’t big, but they are certainly a nice change from the surrounding city. IN the zoo I felt horrible for the chimps. Their cage was so small and there were only two of them. It upsets me to see a creature that is so similar to humans treated like this; it must be such a frustrating existence.

After we finished at the zoo we went 4th of July party at the US embassy. It’s huge! It’s a walled compound about 1-2 blocks wide and 3ish blocks long. There is a huge lawn with beautiful trees everywhere, a pool, a playground, tennis courts, a small soccer field, a volleyball court, a bounce house, and a few small buildings. Just beautiful. Can this be my site? When do I move in?

There was also a guy dressed up as Uncle Sam and some red, white, and blue decorations around the facility. Red, white, and blue are also Paraguay’s national colors, so I have a feeling the decorations are multipurpose.



For lunch they had hamburgers, vegeburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, an attempt at potato salad [small red potatoes halved with mayo], potato chips, chocolate chip cookies [though they weren’t quite the same as in the US], brownies, an attempt at cheesecake, fudge, and some apple pie with vanilla ice cream [which is never as good as Grammy’s pie].

But in comparison with the food that I have been eating lately, it was sooooo nice to eat something that I recognized. And no, the lunch was not on the taxpayers dime. We had to pay 20,000 each [about $4] I was lucky because I hovered around the buffet line so I was one of the first people in line. Even so, it took a while to get through line. Quickly the line got long and took forever to move.

After lunch we played soccer, volleyball, talked with current volunteers about their experiences, bought t-shirts [25,000G]and totes [20,000G] designed by the volunteers, I bought a PC cookbook for 25,000G[Medical Mary made the first one 10 years ago when she was a volunteer, this is the first time they have revised it]. I could have bought the disc copy as well for another 10,000G, but didn’t feel like spending the money right now. When you make 15,000G per day [$3] spending about 2,300G for the garden and zoo, 20,000G for lunch and another 35,000G for a cookbook with a disk copy just seems extravagant. I also saw the US ambassador while she made her rounds.

We left as a group around 3pm and came back to the training community. Initially we were told that we could stay in Asunción for a few more hours if we wanted, but we would have to find our own transportation back home, but CHP withdrew this option a few days before the party and said we all had to return as a group. There was a party hosted by PC volunteers after the embassy lunch for 80,000G [$16US] and I think they were afraid that we would try and go if given the free time. I personally would have liked to opportunity to go to a market and pick up a few personal items, but I think they were afraid we would party too hard to make it to class the next day. It gets a little annoying sometimes that they restrict us so much with the scheduling and where we can travel during training, and yet they expect us to become self-sufficient. If they want us to be able to learn to take care of ourselves here, perhaps they should give us more opportunities to do so.

Actual 4th of July
We had a history session all morning and had the afternoon, which is pretty much our standard Saturday schedule.

July 5th, 2009
My host mom cooked sopa Paraguay and chipa guasu, traditional Paraguayan dishes, that she doesn’t usually cook to do something special for the 4th of July since we didn’t really get a holiday. My host dad did a little too much drinking again, and then his favorite soccer team won the championship. So he got dressed up in all of his team gear, got a shovel and a hammer, and went around the neighborhood banging the shovel with the hammer in celebration.