courtneybriar's Xanga

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:04:53 GMT

Christmas time is near again and the tradition here is everyone cleans and paints the house and everything in it. I love all of the bright vibrant colors of the houses here. I chose a bright peach paint for my room to keep with the tradition. Well for me it doesn’t feel much like Christmas time, as I said before, the only thing that reminds me of Christmas around here is all the red flowers (what I call Christmas flowers) that grow naturally here. The people here call them “pasqua.”

The month of November, I continued with the weekly health classes in the high school, with very little support from the professors… This has been a huge frustration of mine, one that I continue to struggle with. Because of the little support I find it very difficult to find motivation within myself. Here is an example, December 1 was World AIDS Day; I spend weeks organizing an assembly with all 150 students an educational video about a Dominican women living with HIV. School was canceled the day before, so I decide to show the video the Monday after. The most important part of the presentation in my opinion is the discussion I prepared the professors to have with the students afterwards. There was no discussion, not one of the professors I prepared came forward, I was left alone standing in front of 150 youth with my broken Spanish and my face as red as the ribbon pinned to my chest.

I was home in Providence for Thanksgiving. My trip home went well, I have to be honest I was very glad to get back. Why would I say something like that you ask? Well here I have very little options. My life is much less complicated that way. All of the things I felt were complicating my life the things I was trying to escape from when I left for Peace Corps was still there when I got back. I realized I haven’t changed as much I thought. On a more positive note, it was really nice to see everyone, I can’t believe how fast children grow and change in one year. My sister’s baby was 5 days old when I left; she is already walking and talking…I realized how very blessed I am that I have such a supportive family, especially my mother. The dental office where my mother works donated 10 blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes for the first aid course I am preparing with the health promoters. They also donated lots of used clothes for my family and friends here and had them shipped over. Thanks everyone!

I got back from the states, to learn that not only had my World AIDS day assembly been canceled but that my friend Teresa had been sick. Teresa works in our campo variety store (colmado). Everyone told me that she ha been “mala” so that weekend I hiked up to her house to visit. There she was with her face blown up like a chipmunk. “I caught a wind” she explained, this is a “resfriado” she says and explained the cause to me in great detail, a wind that was trapped under the skin. To me it looked like a huge tooth abscess. The next time I saw her was on Monday morning but by that time she had been crying the pain was so bad. Christina, who is our town’s natural medicine expert, whipped up a natural remedy of boiled herbs, leaves and aloe from around her house (the mixture smelled very much like an antibiotic), Christina put hot compresses on her swollen face. We all decided this was no resfriado but an infection and that Teresa would need a doctor. I accompanied her in the bread truck for the bumpy hour ride down the mountain. Even though they have very little money, her husband decided it would be worth it to pay a doctor in a clinic rather than bring her to the public hospital. For 800 pesos (25 dollars) she was seen by a very nice young doctor who sent her home with prescription for pain med and antibiotics…she’s doing much better now. Gracias a Dios!

I have a few thoughts about poverty. I don’t know if everyone would agree with this statement but here it goes. I think there are 2 kinds of poverty. There’s poverty (people having little to no money) and there is also poverty of the mind. I’m calling this poverty of the mind because I don’t know what else to call it. I have been evaluating my stove project these past few weeks visiting all 55 families for whom we did stoves. I have been evaluating a bunch of things, but most importantly, if the mothers are adjusting to cooking with the new style stove. One of the most important things required having a Lorena stove is that you take care of it. If it is not painted or cleaned every other day with the same clay and water from which it is formed (and the clay is found everywhere in these mountains)…it falls apart eventually. I found 2 mothers in particular who received stoves in one months time have already let the stove fall apart and are back to cooking over open fires allowing their small children to inhale the same smoke, even though these women understand the health consequences. If you look around you see the houses and the children of these women are also filthy. So how am I supposed to expect them to take care of a stove? Poverty isn’t the reason these women have to cook on the traditional open fire but poverty of the mind. After feeling very bad for myself, and for our stove project, I enter another dirt floor small wooden house of a mother who is 17 and holding her 3 month old baby girl in her arms while cooking on her new Lorena stove. The house is spotless and so is the baby. I am so pleased to see that while the mother is cooking neither she nor the baby is inhaling smoke. The stove is in excellent condition and the mother tells me how proud she is of her new modern stove and how she cleans it every day. Poor people really can make rational decisions for themselves and their children.

Well I have an exciting second year planned and it looks like 2007 promises to be BUSY! Wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I will keep everyone posted for 2007, si Dios quiere.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:44:06 GMT

I know its been a long while, I hope no one is worrying. Today I luckily caught a ride down our mountain so that I could get to a computer to let you know I’m OK and BUSIER than ever. This past September I completed one year in country! I never think of it as “One year to go”!! Its not like that. The truth is, my time here feels like one month. As I said before, my service is happening all TOO quickly. I try to take pleasure in it and thank God for everyday with my Dominican family, friends and the work. I don’t like to think that this ride is coming to an end. Last week I was on a bus from Nagua coming into the capitol and having a conversation about life with a Peace Corps friend of mine Daniela and we both agreed, unquestionably it will be tough going back to the United States with any other job because this job has set the bar too high. I cant imagine loving another job more than what I’m doing right now. Its so true what they say “its the toughest job you’ll ever love.”

I spent a few days in Nagua presenting reproductive health practices of Dominican women in rural areas to the new group of health trainees. It was a nice change to get out of my site, see the beach, and to visit again the family that had hosted me during my training. The new group of health trainees are a diverse group, all of them extremely qualified with amazing experiences in development and health. It makes me proud to know that I’m serving among such a qualified group of Americans. Nagua is beautiful, the sun, the ocean etc… .The second morning I had some time to kill so I went to visit a place called “blue water”, a swimming pool that formed naturally from rock with spring water that is clear as glass, I have never seen water that clear. A hidden treasure!

So what’s news? They told me I was on the TV news here in the Dominican Republic, even though I didn’t see it. The birth certificate project came to a close last Friday. My friend Jessica and I passed out 85 birth certificates to little kids. ( Jessica is a business volunteer that I’m so glad to be living and sharing a lot of experiences with her). The press was there because the problem of declaration is a hot topic in the country also the DGDC, the government organization that helped us pay for the project and the PC were looking for a little promotion. I was disappointment there wasn’t enough press given to the community health promoters of FUSABI the group of women who in my opinion did everything. I tried to call attention to them during the activity but despite my efforts, the headline was Peace Corps and DGDC (no mention of the health promoters). That’s alright… they know, I know, and the families know who really deserves credit! The families also received, free gifts i.e., rations of food, mosquito nets, (dengue epidemic in this country) lots of condoms and of course some toys for the kids. But even with all of the things I had no control of and would do differently next time, 85 little kids are now declared “Dominicans” and all is well.

The stove project is wrapping up. We built stoves for 53 young families who were in need. I think it went well considering it was the first time I have ever organized a project or was responsible for a budget that big. I learned a lot, I would change a lot of things and do things very differently if I had to do it again. And that’s why I will be very busy in the next week documenting how went the 2 projects and documenting the things I would change for the next volunteer that comes along. I have some great photos of Dominican women building stoves for families, I have decided to bring a few sacs of the clay home with me to build myself a Lorena (fogon) stove when I return.

I started doing weekly health classes in the high school, I’m working mostly with the freshman and sophomore (I was so terrified at first to work with such a big group of kids) but its really going well, the youth are awesome, its interesting… I try never to preach too long, I try more instead to do fun (dinamicas) or activities with the kids to reinforce the theme of the week. I cant imagine boring the youth for the 30 minute class. However the teacher in the class seems to think they listen and pay more attention to me. The kids are dynamic and have great personalities, and I think a lot of them are getting some information they might have never gotten. At first the school was opposed to me speaking about topics like birth control methods for example…however the secretary of education and now the director of the school agree it is their right to know and not only encourage me but have offered full support. The secretary of education is really pushing the teachers in this country to include in the curriculum more of the themes that I touch on because of the high rates of teenage pregnancy and the growing HIV rates. I’m not preaching HAVE SEX, actually its quite the opposite I spend most of my time talking about abstinence. These kids have a right to know how to prevent pregnancy or avoid an illness. Its isn’t fair just last week a 13 year old gave birth in my community and if you think that it is shocking or uncommon your wrong. Everyday in these campos 13 to 15 year olds are “marrying” I pan on dedicating a lot of time next year to these initiatives.

On Monday, a little friend of my host sister Kati, Eunice is her name, 13 years old decided to get married (interpretation: have sex and live with her boyfriend)last week with a man who is 30. My frustration is I can do nothing! This culture doest allow it. Anyway, I don’t think I need to say anything, everyone knows its wrong, however nothing will be done. I pray God someone told her to use a method of birth control, maybe her 30 year old husband. Through Eunice, I see the power the socioeconomic situation or the social injustice has on the spread of AIDS and teenage pregnancy in the world. Look at Eunice… here is a little girl who lives with an alcoholic father (who cant find a job because there are none), her mother was forced to leave her and her 2 little sisters 2 years ago to clean a house in Jarabacoa so that the family has some sort of income. Miserable and desperate Eunice decided to escape her life, escape from her authoritarian father to go and live with a man (who doesn’t have a job either) that took a great interest in her about a year ago when she was 12. She thinks her life will be better…If Eunice contracts a sexually transmitted infection or becomes pregnant, the reason isn’t because she was this promiscuous 13 year old, that was careless. Her situation is more complex than that. I will be keeping my eye on her from a far. She wasn’t in school this week, they tell me because she still embarrassed, but she will be back next week once the smoke clears.

Other than that, everyone is doing well here in Angostura, (Gracias a Dios). Christina had a thyroidectomy in August and she’s been recovering from that. She decided to spend money she doesn’t have on the surgery in a private clinic to avoid being butchered in the public hospital and she was still butchered, in my opinion. I went with her to the private clinic however the surgeon wouldn’t let me accompany her into the operating room, so I waited outside with Sensa. To make a long story short, there were a lot of complications I felt the doctor was incompetent, he had to operate twice for lots of bleeding… After the surgery they put her in a recovery room and not even so much as measured a blood pressure. I had to go out and ask the nurse if she was planning to measure a blood pressure at any point in the day? I find that so many people here have been approaching me lately and asking me to be with them when they go to have their babies or have a surgery. Even though they know I’m not a doctor they know I’m educated and I know what quality care is. Although the standards of quality exist in this country, they are written, they are not followed.

My goddaughter Anali is getting so big, she crawls now and I love that she knows me. Every time she sees me I say HELLO! I only speak English with Anali. She smiles, drools and laughs, she’s teething and I plan to be the first to find her first tooth. I explained to my family here, in my tradition back home, the first person to find the first tooth of a baby has to buy the first pair of shoes. Marina (Analis mom ) explained Dominicans have the same tradition but only here you have to buy a chicken. If I find Analis ´first tooth she’s getting a chicken and a new pair of shoes.

Looks like Ill be coming home this month. My mom bought me a ticket. Ill be in the states from the 23^rd until the 30^th. I hope to see everyone!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 14:58:50 GMT

The most important news of the month is that I'm going to be a "madrina" (godmother)!!! Marina said because I was present when Baby Anali was born, we have a special relationship. I agree. I have 2 other goddaughters in the states and I was there when they came into the world as well. One of the greatest things about being a Dominican godmother is not only did I gain a goddaughter I also gained a "comadre" (Marina) and a "compadre" ( Edi). I don't think there is a word in English to translate the word comadre. The best I can do to explain it is, I have a special place or relationship with Edi and Marina, and now instead of calling me Courtney they refer to me as comadre. Its like I was promoted!

I learned a lot of interesting cultural practices with Anali I never knew. When a baby in the campos has the hiccups, they put a little piece of string in between her eyes on her forehead, I kept seeing this piece of what looked to be lint or a piece of string from her clothes on her face all the time and I kept picking it off. Finally after the 4th time, I said to Marina "Is someone putting this piece of string on this baby on purpose"? "Yes" Marina said, "to take away her hiccups". I felt so bad I keep taking it off. " Another thing, women with their periods (menstruating) cant hold a new born baby. I tried to hand the baby over to the younger sister of Marina one day and she said "I cant hold her, I have my period." like I should know. Why? I investigated with Crisitna, its because it causes the baby to have green poop. Third, they tie a black ribbon around the wrist or sometimes pin a small black horn to the clothes of the baby to ward off the "EVIL EYE" Dominicans feel if someone says "Oh what a cute baby" and they don't back it up with "Dios le bendiga" ( God bless her) the baby is now JINXED! The ribbon will protect her from the evil eyes of the people. I remember one day, I don't know it might have been gas or diaper rash, (its only so many things it can be with a baby) Anali was very bothered and wouldn't stop crying. Marina was convinced she was jinxed by someone and on went the black ribbon.

I continue spending my days working on the "acta de nacimiento" (birth certificate) project. I have now a group of 80 children I'm getting ready to help declare. Can you imagine being born and your not counted, like you don't exist, not having any rights. I cant believe how fast the number is growing and word is spreading, They come at all hours of the day and from all over 15 different communities looking for me so that I can take a picture of the child, and then sit with the parents for 5 minutes, hear the story why the child was never declared and help them organize the necessary documents. I am also continuing to write and send out proposals to help the people of my community find funding for their hydroelectric project. I just finished writing a proposal for the Peace Corps Partnership Program which is a GREAT way for my friends and family to support my community. Ill let everyone know when that is posted on the Peace Corps website.

Now that the "mujer en el espejo" has ended, my nights 7-8 are filled with teaching Cristina (Sarahs mom) to read. She wants to be able to read a bible. When I first mentioned it...she was discouraged "I'm too old to learn!" "I don't want to waste your time" But I told her, if you give me one year, I think I can help you to read a little bit. She said if you can help me read even a little bit Ill be so grateful. Its been 1 month and she almost knows the sound of every letter, she is a fast learner and I think that she will succeed because I have never met anyone more determined. I even catch her studying on her own during the day. I love it when we are working and all the little kids want to be around us I guess to them what we do looks like fun. "Pero dejame tranquillo, estoy estudiando!" ( leave me, she says, I'm studying!)

Last week my friend Nanas husband Jose took me up to the other communities about an hour rides on a motor in La Cienega to do some work for the acta de nacimiento project. Nana sends me with a glass bottle (an empty Brugal Rum bottle) filled with milk from her cow to deliver special to her dad that lives in one of the communities. I successfully handover the milk to her dad who received it with great joy. Meanwhile little kids from community start coming to the house to see who is the "rubia" (white women) that speaks Spanish funny with the funny purple helmet. For this reason I am always surrounded by children, I guess I'm very interesting for them.

So this one little "muchacho" about 9 years old "muy gordito" (chubby!) while exiting the house, crashes into Nana's dad, BOOM goes the milk to the ground SMASH goes the bottle, milk everywhere! Well you would have thought this boy killed the old mans best friend. The old man whips off his belt and starts going after the boy "CONYO!!!!" (dam it) he's yelling... the muchacho hides in the house with me. Maybe he's safe with the "Americana". The other men are trying to hold the old man down and calm him but the old man doesn't want to calm down after the boy destroyed his special delivery. I see the old man (through the walls of the house) coming around the back, belt in hand. "Corre!!!" "RUN!" I yell, the muchacho takes off running out the front door, he runs right through the milk, BOOM hits the ground like a sac of potato's. Of course the old man catches him and is giving it to him with the belt, there was nothing I could do. The boy was screaming, the men are trying to hold the old man back...The muchacho is trying to get up but he keeps slipping in the milk. Finally he's up and he takes off running to his house with he old man yelling and waving his belt "CONYO!" What a scene.

On my way out I found the muchacho sitting under a tree with his knees in his chest, "Where's my sandals" he says, "they fell off and I thought you would bring them" Nana husband says better send one of your little friends because the old man is still fired up. Why did I tell you this story? Sometimes I cant explain it...(because I'm like a magnet for children and I'm around them constantly) sometimes I feel I relive or revisit the feelings of childhood. Its like watching a old home movie of myself. My other point is I hope I never get that upset over spilt milk.

Last week we celebrated "Patronal" which is a celebration of "San Pedro" (Saint Peter) who is our patron saint of Manabao. It rained everyday but there was a mass and activities through the church for 9 days. They also elected young women in the communities to be the queen, and princess. The girls were present at every event with their prom dresses and crowns on. I don't know what the purpose of the royalty is. My friend Alicia explained its probably just to get youth more involved in the church. It really has no significance. Anyway it was fun and I really enjoyed going to the services and the activities. Prayer services at night in peoples houses, saying the rosary and then drinking the ginger tea (I will send the recipe in a separate entry its the best!) with bread. The best part was walking home in the dark with Cristina and the other women at night our only light, was the moon, a million starts in the sky (so close I thought I could touch them) and hundreds of "coocooyo" (fire flies) their green lights flying all around us. Times like that I'm so content and I think how blessed I am to be here.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! Love Courtney

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 13:49:31 GMT

Can you imagine living in the mountains of the Caribbean, sunny warm, cool breezes, surrounded by flowers, every color growing naturally. Can you imaging what it would be like to live in a community without electricity or paved roads, so there is never any traffic or noise. I wake up every morning and all I can hear is the sound of the river, I love not having to wake up because my alarm clock is telling me to...

Lot of exciting things happened the month of May, first of all "la luz llego!" The electricity arrived in Manabao last week. Rather quickly for the Dominican Republic. Manabao is a small town that is about a 45 minute walk from my community. A calling center is being installed and they tell me that will have a computer with Internet so I will have better access to computers! Fortunately and unfortunately the lights wont make it up as far as my community because of the difficult infrastructure of our roads....yet. I continue to support Angostura acquire,very necessary for development, hydroelectric energy. Angostura needs to come up with about $45,000 US dollars to see that happen. For an average family earning around $80 a month. 45 thousand might as well be 45 million.

This month I experienced a frustration that I remeber my good friend Teresa a former Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon spoke about. The problem of outsiders, outside organizations coming to our community and spending, wasting I should say, money on what they think is important and is in deed NOT a priority nor sustainable in the eyes of the people of Angostura. I cant give any details but lets just say a few thousand dollars will go into fixing something that that isn't broken!

My parents came to see me for my birthday. We spent the week together in a all inclusive resort... hot showers, now I prefer cold....no rice and beans, now I look forward to my rice and beans every day. I think I gained 5 pounds back eating American cuisine for 7 days. It was a very relaxing and memorable 30th! It was great to see my parents. It was the first time we have ever experienced resort life. My parents said if it wasn't for their daughter living on a tropical island they would never have come. I'm glad they did and I know they really enjoyed the week. I was very glad to enjoy myself, dance again. When I got back to Angostura I made a chocolate cake for all the people born in May. Because it was Sensas 40th birthday as well as Nana my project partner and friend turned 41.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the month of May was "haciendo las flores" or doing the flowers. Every single day at 4 pm the bell would ring, ringing the bell is banging an old oxygen tank, and all the women join together and bring flowers to a house that we use as a church. We said the rosary, sang songs of praise and then all the women present their flowers to "Santa Maria" Mary. After a few weeks they started passing the rosary to me to lead the prayers. That made me feel good that they accept me in this way. I have to say, I really valued that time of meditation and spending time with an amazing group of women everyday, and I know Chrisitna, Sarah's mom did too. One of the women "Lolita" they call her, she's about 70 or 80, the cutest little thing... Right before we place the flowers on the alter one of the woman would begin by singing a song "These flowers that I have..." One day Lolita begins the song and after only a few words she goes silent, everyone is quiet and waiting until Lolita says "Ay comadre me olvido las palabras" she said oh, I forgot the words. No one in the house could keep a straight face after that one. You know what is so amazing I realized, these women can sing every song, quote the bible chapter and verse. Christina can tell you where in the bible a reading is, I know I couldn't and I realized I was the only woman int that room that can read.

I thought a lot about Sarah during that time, yesterday was 5 months since Sarah's accident. Chrisitna is doing well, she still cries everyday somedays more than others. On Sunday her daughter Milagros, Sensas sister, who lives in Manabao comes up to visit with her 3 little girls. The baby Cristal is the cutest little thing and loves Americans, if I'm holding her she wont let anyone take her from me. Chrisitna said to Cristal...Cristal do you remember Sarah...Make sure you show her a picture every day Milagros...don't let her forget! My mom brought a beautiful picture of Sarah that she had made as a gift to Christina with a poem that was translated in Spanish because Christina wanted memories of Sarah in the house. Every time I come into Jarabacoa I pass by the windy road where Sarah's accident was. Sometimes people make a comment like "Weren't you the American that was with the girl who died here, it was here wasn't it." Sometimes I strike up a conversation about youth driving so fast on these dangerous roads. One man I told about the sign I am petitioning the town of Jarabacoa for. "That's not the problem" he said "the problem is you have to know the roads". I think maybe a sign can still serve as a reminder.

What else is happening my work here continues to be very busy...I'm concentrating now on my "acta de nacimiento" or birth certificate project. The health promoters and I found almost 100 people 80% children that haven't been declared yet. Can you imagine you were born and your parents never declared you as if you didn't exist. Its easy to do here in these campos where people don't go to school, where people never travel, never really leave there communities. I'm going to work hard to help these parents obtain a birth certificate for their children and continue to convince the people the importance of having one. Most people already realize the importance but its too expensive and too much bureaucracy. There is a Haitian women Simona in one of my communities, both of her children were born here in the DR both speak Spanish better than they speak Creole. By law being born here makes them Dominican citizens right. WRONG. It nearly impossible to get birth certificates for Haitians. I was trying to explain the importance of getting her 2 kids declared so they can go to school, so they can access health care. At least get them a Haitian birth certificate if you cant get a Dominican one. I investigated at the Haitian embassy...$60 US dollars. Simona looked at me like I had 2 heads, 60 might as well be 60,000.

I really enjoy all of my interactions with the kids here. The children are what makes me smile the most...I went to visit one of the health promoters I work with yesterday. Her 3 yr old grandson was alone and playing inside the house. I asked "Josue...where's Tala". "She out, he says but come in and sit a little while until she comes." Can you imagine 3 years old. They start training the children here very early the importance of respect and being courteous. Baby Anali is getting so big. She changed so much the week I was gone. She got so fat. yeah for breastfeeding! She very light complected like her mom with light eyes. but everyone thinks she is going to be darker skin like her dad ..."Haitiana" little Haitian they call her. It seems even though I try, none of the kids here are catching on to English. I still have hope for Anali.

Well that's all for now. I have a PC meeting in Santiago today will be back later today "si dios quiere", if God wants. I don't like sleeping away from my home. I love and miss you all.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Sat, 06 May 2006 18:40:44 GMT

We have a new addition to the family. Baby Anali arrived on April 28th safe and healthy (gracias a dios) she weighs 7 pounds and has the most beautiful little face. She has a full head of black hair and I think she might have light eyes like Marina. I was so honored that I was there to participate in the birth and to be a support for Marina. After only 48 hours in the hospital Marina was home and is doing very well.

It was very interesting to me to have the chance to observe the differences in care between here and the states. Ill share a couple of them with you. So...Marina and Edi are poor, but because of the reputation public hospitals have in this country, Marina chose to have all her prenatal appointments and her delivery in private facilities. Each prenatal visit cost her and Edi about 100 pesos ($4) and her delivery was about 10,000 pesos or $300 dolars. The prenatal visit I would say was pretty much the same as the states, but the delivery experience was very different. First of all the surgery itself the amount of materials sutures and sponges etc...used during the surgery was very minimal compared to the states. Lets just say there was a lot less precautions taken as well. The anestesiologist checked her blood pressure once at the beginning of the surgery and that was it. The doctor had no assisitant only the scrub nurse, in the states there are always 2 present. The recovery experience made me a little nervous. After the c section the doctor made sure she wasnt bleeding,checked her uterus once. In the states after a c section we take vital signs and check for bleeding every 15 min. Here they dropped her off in recovery, told her to lie flat and dont talk. No vital signs in recovery no one checking her to see if she was bleeding. I couldnt help but peek under her blanket every so often to make sure she wasnt bleeding... but she didnt, it was the best and fastest recovery Ive ever seen. If that is the private clinic experience is, Im very interested to see what the public hospital experience is.

All of the family was allowed in to see her immediately. They needed to be there because her family were her care givers. Yes there was a nurse to give medication but all of the care, washing her, emptying out her foley, helping her breastfeed, attending the baby was all done by her family.

On the same day, another women from my community had a c section right after Marina, Ledi (pronounced Lady) a young mom I think 19 years old was having her third c section that day. Her baby boy Eli, was obviously delivered a bit early... In the recovery room the baby was having difficulty breathing but his "nurses" (Marinas mom Mercedes and the grandmother Lucia) were right on top of it. "Hes complaining" "this baby is not right" they were saying and they ran out to bring the doctor and nurse to come.

Why I mentioned this baby is because one of the public health concerns I observe in the campos of Jarabacoa are the use or abuse of medications specifically antibiotics and injections. These people are so INJECTION happy, head ache...give me an injection, sore throat...inject me, black and blues...Injection. Im also witnessing many of the dangerous affects of these practices. Anyway, back to Eli, 48 hours later baby Eli comes home with mom. The doctor sends his 19 yr old illiterate mother home with Gentamycin (a potent antibiotic that can cause deafness ) injections. The next day the grandfather of the baby comes to find me to ask if I can come to the house and inject the baby. I get to the house and the parents have a prescription that they cant read, one needle that they were planning on using for all 6 injections and an 80mg vial of Gentamycin....Situations like this are common in my communities. You can imagine I havent only been very busy doing my Peace Corps work but also being the nurse for everyone which I love to do because it makes me feel good that Im able to be there for them.

One of the communities where Peace Corps is building an aqueduct called "Arollo Frio" I have been going up weekly to do health education with a group of women. Im focusing on child health and illness, but I said to the group of women. I have to talk about child health but what are some of the health priorities in this community what do you all want to talk about, all of them said "show us how to give injections!" So my last meeting with them on Wednesday I put together a class about the dangers of medications, and how to give a safe injection. Everyone always gets a big kick out of my drawings. Im not an artist by any means but thanks to David Werner (Where there is no artist), they get the picture.Also bringing banana bread helps to keep everyones attention.

Im lucky because as I mentioned before I live in a house with a solar panel so we have electricity from time to time. My family also owns a small black and white television which is watched by not only us but a group of about 20 other poeple from my community. Every night 7 pm everyone brings there chairs because we are all, myself included, addicts to the soap opera "La Mujer en el Espejo." We havent had electricity in my house in weeks because the panel is damaged. The other night after doing the injection for baby Eli, I realize his grandmother Lucia has a television. I got a front row seat to the soap opera and a warm glass of hot chocolate for doing all the injections. I love how Dominicans are so animated and emotional, they cant help but yell out at the characters on the TV sing along to the music. Its 7 pm everyone is singing ..."Tengo la alma en pedazos, la vida en tus manos desde que te fuiste....." especially when its been a while that we havent seen it.

Interesting... one thing I realized about this culture, very different from that of American culture is the majority of people are not legally married. Here is one example of how cultural misunderstandings can create conflict. In Rhode Island there are a lot of Dominicans, in this culture women have children young, tie the tubes young. When I was working at Women and Infants, there were a lot of Domincan young girls having babies "out of wed lock" and I got the sense that there was a lot of negative attitudes on the part of Americans towards this because the assumption was "they dont get married because if they do they cant get their check from the government" I doubt very much in most cases that was the intention. Here is the reason why. OK.. so Dominicans in the campos believe when you have sex with someone your married. In the campos you hear everyday did you hear "fulana" (so and so) got married last night? What this means is, fulana didnt have a wedding ceremony and reception, it means she didnt come home to her parents one night and so her parents assume shes at her boyfriends house. From that night on they are offcially man and woman in the eyes of everyone in the community. A few days later when the smoke clears fulana comes homes to collect her things. From then on she is living in the house of her husband. Example, my friend Nana, her daughter is 22 married having her first baby in a few months. Nana expalined my daughter was never " legally married" because we didnt approve of her husband. Same thing with Inocensias 18 year old daughter Verenisi, she simply didnt come home one night...shes been married for a year now. In the case of Marina and Edi they have in their home photos of a wedding ceremony, Nana told me they are legally married because both families were very happy when Edi and Marina decided to marry. One of the interesting cultural differences.

What else is happening? Well elections are coming up on the 16th. Everyone is telling me election time is very interesting because Dominicans get very excited around this time. I plan to lay low be safe and not go out of the community during that whole week because some people get a little too excited! I did get the chance to go to one political rally it was a PLD rally (the party of president Fernandez). I went because I have been petitioning the current local politicians and candidates for a sign in the area of the road where Sarahs accident happened. 2 months after Sarah died there was another motorcycle accident in the exact same spot. This particular area of the road is extremely dangerous with barbed wire on both sides. Its a death trap so I have been busy trying to do something to prevent future accidents. I think the current Mayor is going to do something for the "Americana" We'll see. I'll let you know.

My parents will be here in 2 weeks I cant believe its already May, Im going to be 30 years old this month. Im glad Im going to be sharing it with my parents.(Please excuse all the errors and bad English Im out of practice.) Thats all the news for now I have to get back to work. Come vist me! Love and miss everyone.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 17:27:22 GMT

I had every intention of making an entry monthly, I honestly cannot believe how fast the time is flying by. Its already April!! Ive been so busy with the work here. Its not a 9 to 5 kind of busy but working... working on a report for Peace Corps, working on a health education for women in a community where PC is doing an aqueduct, working on applying for funding for my specific projects, etc... and life too is very busy, doing things with my friends and family. One of the biggest surprises for me about 2 weeks ago, was my partner Eric left. I already told you about Eric, a friend of mine from Texas. The PC decided to put with me, working together, becasue I have experience in health and he didnt. He was about a 40 min motor ride from me in the mountains. He was working in 4 communities and I have 6. About 2 weeks ago we met to talk about a project and he tells me I have something to tell you...Ive decided to go home. I feel bad for the communities that wont be able to appreciate the benefits of having a volunteer, but on the other hand PC is not for everyone some realize that sooner than others. I realized very early on it was the right path for me, so far.

So I decided Im going to start talking less about work and more about my family and friends becasue they really are wonderful people and I want you all to know them. Sensa is wonderful as usual. Her mission the past few months has been to make me fatter and I think she is going to be successful becasue Im starting to love rice and yuca, (which I never ate in the states.) Frank is her husband, I havent said much about Frank but I should becasue he is a good man, very "tranquillo". He spends his days either selling the Tallota from the community (the main crop in the mountains is coffee and tallota.)or traing his "gaillos" (cocks) to be fighters. He is very involved with the cock fighting in this area which is big all over this country. I love to watch all his training tactics like, blowing in the faces, dunking the chickens under water, tying them up, massaging them etc... some are pretty fun to watch. Melvin is Sensas son. Hes 23 and a few weeks ago he moved to Santiago to work and go to school. He is studying to be an electrician which will come in handy some day becasue as I said before it looks as if the lights will be coming some day, they started putting up the electrical poles in Mananbao ( a community nearby ), however the people here tell me that doesnt mean a thing. Projects get started here and never finish. They tell me the lights could come in 1 year, they could come in 10 years... We'll see. Anyway Melvin is like his mom and dad very tranquillo, a good man to have around. Kati is the 16 year old Sensas daughter. I love Kati she is like the little sisiter I never had, very funny, very thoughtful and I have to add very patient especially with me. Never minds repeating things 5 times to be sure I understand. Being with her reminds me so much of being 16 again. Shes asks me so many questions about boys and sex and other mysteries in life, sometimes the questions are challenging but I feel glad that she feels comfortable enough to come to me with her questions becasue she knows Ill tell her the truth.

We might have some new additions to the family, I dong know yet. Sensa takes care of 3 young kids during the day becasue their mom is working in Spain, we just found out that their Dad got a VISA and will be leaving the 13, 6 and 3 year old behind, for how long, I dont know. I think they might live with us. The oldest her name is Isa, and the 2 youngest boys Jolbi and Jourdi. The 3 year old is SOOOO cute. I will post some pics of him soon. Im constantly taking his picture, He can be fresh some time but hes spoiled! I think after 5 months Ive become a part of their lives, a member of their family becasue unlike a lot of volunteers in this country I chose to stay living in the house. We are all together 24 hrs a day. Kati sometimes sleeps with me. She is so funny, I remeber the first time she wanted to sleep in my bed she said to me "Can I sleep with you, Ive always wanted to sleep with an American."

This week is Semana Santa, a religious week so everyone will be coming home to celebrate. I think I might be goiing to a concert on Sunday in Jarabacoa. Its been a while that Ive gotten out. Since Sara died, there isnt any music or dancing in my community. To be honest I understand that tradition. But I want to spend some time with my friend Jessica she is a buisness volunteer who lives only an hour from me down the mountain, she has a new house and I havent seen it yet. What else is fun and exciting.... well my neighbor Marina, who is Sensas sister in law invited me to accompany her when she has her c section next week. Her doctor said it would be OK if she brought "the American" so Im very excited and very honored that I will be a part of that and to be honest after Sarah died, I decided if anyone in my family or friend here have to go to a hospital I want to be there to make sure the care is OK. Marina tells me, unlike other maternity hospitals in this country, the one in Jarabacoa is OK. We'll see. Marina is married to Edi, Sensas brother he is, like every man in my community an agriculturalist and a guide for Pico Duarte, which I hope to climb someday, (si dios quiere). Marina and Edi have 1 son, Carlos Manuel who is 4 but he acts about 40. Hes hysterical, I love having all the kids around, they make me laugh. One of the things I love the most as I said is having everyone around. In the states I was living alone, I had a great apartment but somehow I felt something was missing and I think I figured out what it was during this experience. I realized I dont like living alone. I like having family around. Also everyone that lives close by is related somehow which is a really nice support to have in life. For example Marina is very preganant and very uncomfortable. If she doesnt feel like giving Carlos a bath or cooking or cleaning she has about 20 women (family and 1 American) that can fill in for her.

Next month my parents will be coming to visit. I know the time will be here before I know it. I will be taking a vacation with them for a week. I want everyone back home to be able to come and visit me especially to see where I live and meet my family here. I have 2 rooms now that Melvin moved, if anyone is interested. I promise it will be comfortable. Im the most comfortable here Ive been in a long time. Anyway, this entry is kind of long so I will write again soon. I miss everyone back home!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 17:30:40 GMT

I know its been a while since Ive written. Sorry about that, I know I promised everyone I would keep you all updated. My life here continues to be busy. Over the last 2 months, I finished my investigation in my 6 communities, finished all my interviews and measuring children. This month I will start analyzying all my data that was collected and writing my report for the Peace Corps. In March I am expected to start preparing ideas for health projects, Im not sure yet but so far from my investigation I think I will probably be starting with an "acta de nacimiento" campaign. Acta de nacimiento is a birth certificate. You would be surprised how many children here in my communities dont have them for different reasons. Some, because there parents are illegal Haitians working in this country, some because of lack of education, parents dont realize the importance and just never declared their children. This probelm of undeclared children is a serious one in this country, and a priority of the Dominican government. Children without nationality will not have the same opportunites others have, access to health care and education to name a few. The other project Im thinking about is a stove project. Almost all of the families in my communities cook over what they call "fogons" or open fires. These wood burning fires are a problem for women and especially children that are the people most often the ones inhlaing the smoke. Its no wonder respiratory infections in children are so common here. So, I would like to develop a project that will bring better designed "fogons" with chimneys that will evacuate the smoke.

The other reason I havent written in a while is because I knew this would be a difficult entry for me,.... I have to talk about Sarah. Sarah was my friend. My first 8 weeks here, the 2 people that I stuck to most were Kati my 16 year old host sister and Sarah, my Dona Inocencia's little sister. Sarah was a beautiful 24 year old, she was a student at the University in Jarabacoa. On January 8, I went with a group of friends, including Sarah to a nearby community to celebrate Dia de Reyes. On the way home the motorcycle that Sarah was riding on lost control and Sarah was thrown. The driver walked away with minor injuries, however Sarah sustained very serious injuries. I was a nurse for 7 years before I came here, I worked in intensive care, I have never seen injuries like I saw that night. I cant get into the details of that night, because its still too difficult for me to talk about maybe some day I can say more. The only thing I can say is that I stayed with Sarah by her side supporting her until she died. Sarah died on January 9th at about 6 pm in an "intensive care unit" in Santiago. An intensive care unit in a public hospital that was non functional. All of the people here will agree, the public health system here doesnt function. "No sirve" they say, and I got to see first hand, they are all right. For this reason I beleive Sarah died. Ill never know for sure, but I believe, if Sarah had had the access to quality emergency care that we have in the states, she might have lived. I dont how to feel about this. Sarah died because she was poor. That night was a nightmare for me, I think I can say the worst night of my life, a nightmare that Im just recently starting to wake up from, but only to realize it wasnt a bad dream, it really happened and Sarah is gone.

I want to tell you all that, Im OK and even though this tragedy happened and I lost a dear friend, my family here is all that I need to recover. The Peace Corps also has been wonderful and very supportive of me during this difficult time. The only remedy they say for this is time. I hope to recover from this with my Dominican family, who I call my family because they truly are like my family. They treat me as if I was their own daughter with so much love and support. Like I said in a previous entry, the family here reminds me so much of how my family in the states used to be when we would spend summers with my grandmother at her little beach house. Life was simple and all the family was together. During Sarahs "novenario" or the 9 days of morning after her death, we were all together constantly. During those 9 days, at night all the women and kids would be together in the bed room of Christina, Sarahs mom, laying on her bed with her sharing memories of Sarah and talking. These are the kinds of moments that remind me so much of memories I have with my own grandmother and my own family. I dont want the time to pass so fast because my life here is happy and I love these people. One last thing I want to mention is, one of the most important things the Peace Corps experience has brought, are important lessons I have learned about myself and life. The most important thing I learned from loosing my friend Sarah is that family is the most important thing in life more important than all the money in the world.

I will write again soon, I love and miss you all!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 15:03:38 GMT

Yesterday I realized I have been living here in Angostura for 1 month. My time here, so far, is passing by so fast! I think my next 2 years here will fly by. I have been loving everyday. Its true what they say, this experience can be best explained by comparing it to a roller coaster ride, (ups and downs.) For the last month, things are looking up! So what have I been doing for the last month. Well my first few weeks, I spent my time visting each day my six communities where Im going to be working with my friend Isabella (Nana) a health promotor who lives in Angostura.

I have to explain quickly that Dominicans have a million names. They have the full name which is a first name, middle name and 2 last names because they keep the mothers last name. They also have what they call an "apodo" or nick name which you develop over time. This is the name that everyone knows. For example my friends name is Isabella but no one says Isabella, in fact if you ask for Isabella they probably wont know who your talking about. Everyone knows her as "Nana". Everyone knows me as "Americana" but this may change. Courtney is IMPOSSIBLE for Dominicans to pronounce, so thank god for apodos. I prefer to be called "Americana" rather than Carny, Horny, Wendy etc...

Anyways, so each day I visited a different community, meeting the people, being introduced to community leaders, friends of Nanas etc... At the same time I have been making a map of the community noting where the homes are, buisnesses, places that are important in the community. This has been a great way to get to know my way around. And maps of the communities have never been done before so it will be nice to have them and very useful from a public health perspective. Im focusing a lot of attention on the houses that have children less than 5 years old. Since this is where Im going to focus my health survey. This is a lot of work for several reasons, first becasue the infrastructure, the roads are so bad in most of the communities I can only get to a lot of the homes on foot. Since Im living in the mountains you can imagine I need to walk uphills for miles. One of my communites its called Mata de Cafe, (Coffe Trees) I walked 2 miles up a mountain to get to the last house. I thought I was going to die! What I love most about walking through the communities is meeting everyone, and everyone wants to know the "Americana". I love Dominican customs.

A side about the customs here, especially in the campos, because I love them so much. When anyone is passing by your home, its customary to invite them in for coffee. "ENTRE!" they say. "Sientese! Toma un chin de cafe" (Sit down drink a little coffe.) So naturally I have to sit for a while with everyone. I started drinking coffee too which I never drank in the states, but Dominican coffee is like drinking sugar with a little coffee. If there eating something when you arrive, they say "buen tiempo" this means they are offering you some food. You can either accept or politely decline with "buen probecho" which I think translates good digestion and you have to follow this with a polite excuse why you dont want any of their food like, Im full or Im going to be eating soon etc...So then when your leaving, even if the people really dont want you to stay, its customary to beg you not to leave. While your leaving the house they say "Pero no te vayas!" (Dont Go!) Its really comical. I love all the little customs. Another thing they do in the campos is share food. Even though the family I live with has enough food and the neighbors have enough. The woman I live with always sends a plate of food with a small sample of everything to the neighbors and vice versa, the neighbors send food to us too. Its nice to have a little variety. The people here are so kind and so thoughtful. Everyone kisses me hello or shakes my hand. Hellos are really important, Goodbyes I noticed arent as important.

So another thing I did over the past month was I completed my health survery in the high school. Part of my overall health survey is to investigate the level of knowledge teens in the different communities have about sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS etc.. So I went to the high school to survey 100 teenagers. This was a frightening experiecne to stand up in front of a bunch of teenagers and explain myself and my purpose for being there in Spanish. That was hard but the health organization Im going to work with FUSABI sent a representative for support and I had my friend Nana with me so they helped me a lot with the Spanish. I also have spent a lot of time revising my survey that I will be conducting mostly in January. Its taken a lot of time to make sure the language is right, and that my questions are culturally appropriate. I had to test the questions with a small sample in my own community, it seemed to go OK so Ill be working hard visiting my communities and conducting the interviews in the month of January. The MPH was an excellent training for my work here. I think so far the work here has been an excellent practical experience, and Ive only just begun!

So Christmas was a lot of fun, even though to be honest, it didnt really feel like Christmas. The only thing here that really reminds me of Christmas are the Christmas flowers, poinsettas. (I think I spelled poinsetta wrong) Poinsettas are a tropical flower that grow naturally here. Domincians called them "pasqua". Also tangerines. Tangerines always reminded me of the holidays in the states. In my campo there are tangerine trees all around. These trees have huge tangerines, not like the little ones in the states. I must have eaten 100 tangerines over the past week. I spent the night before Christmas Eve at a party, ( a pig roast). So becasue where I live in the mountains is so beautiful, there are some rich Dominicans that have second homes here they call them "cabanas" They are really nice country homes. One of the owners of a cabana allowed us to use his home for this party. This was a lot of fun! We spent the night dancing bachata and merengue. There was plenty of pig too, which was great, the only thing I found very srange was Dominicans love to eat something called "Modongo" (pig intestines.) They cant get enough of the stuff! I couldnt touch it, too weird. They love to eat the pigs feet too. (No Gracias.) Christmas Eve I spent with the family, we had a big dinner, chicken, more pig, rice and beans and potato salad. It was a real feast. we followed dinner with more dancing at another party that was at the "colmado". I surprised everyone on Christmas because as it turns out, I know how to dance "Magulina" which is a traditional Dominican dance here, its a lot like Samba which I learned to dance in the states. I have a friend Frank who is Haitian, who lives here in the Dominican Republic, like a lot of Haitians. He and I were dancing the Magulina together ( This guy CAN DANCE!) and I think everyone got a big kick out of the fact that the "Haitiano" and the "Americana" could dance the Magulina like Dominicans. That was a lot of fun!

So thats about it for now, this entry was way too long. I will write again soon. A lot of the other volunteers were talking about spending News Years Eve at the beach in Cabarrete, but I think Ill stay here and spend New Years with my family. Im just really happy and comortable here for now. This place reminds me a lot of when I was young spending summers with my grandmother at the beach house. We didnt have all the "comforts of home" but life was simple. Everyday Im learning to do without all of those "comforts" the things that I think sometimes complicate life rather than make it easier. I love everyone, I will write again soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:46:46 GMT

Wow, I cant believe how fast the time is going by! Well I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer. I swore in last week in Santo Domingo. 11/23 Wednesday (I think). It was a nice ceremony, I took pictures. Our last week in Santo Domingo was amazing. On Thanksgiving Day, the Peace Corps treated all the volunteers from around the country to a Thanksgiving feast at a country club in SantoDomingo. All 150 volunteers from around the country came to this place to celebrate. It was a blast! The food was great, the turkey was a little "different", but at least it was turkey and not rice and beans. There was a spread of American cuisine including mashed potatos, cranberry sause, and SALAD! I havent eaten salad since I got here becasue the lettuce isnt safe in this country so that was a real treat. They had all kinds of desserts, pies, cookies etc.. There was a dance competition which was a lot of fun. The 2 traditional dances of this country are the bachata and merengue. I entered the merengue contest with my friend Randy, unfortunatley we didnt advance the firts round, but I think its becasue the judges couldnt see us very well in the crowd. My bachata is definately improving. I had a lot of practice during training. I think its surprising for Dominicans when a gringa can dance. They all say to me with surprise "Tu SABES!" (You know!) We also had a talent show at the Thanksgiving celebration which was alot of fun! I am making so many new friends, great friends! Like I said before, I cant really explain it, I guess its becasue we all must have that "something" in common to want to go through an experience like this, maybe its becasue of that when I meet a fellow volunteer, I feel like I have known them forever, we have so much to talk about like we are all old friends.

That Friday, 11/25 all of the volunteers went to an "All Volunteers Conference". This was alot of fun. It gave us to chance to get to know the other volunteers in the country as well a chance to learn about the resources we have here while we are working. Its great to know that there are many! Friday night the Peace Corps treated us to a night out at this really cool dance club. Its a cave, sort of an underground dance club. That was a crazy night. I didnt leave until 4 am. I though my feet were going to fall off. I forgot my heels at my site in Jarabacoa, so I was going to wear my black flip flops with my nice dance outfit (like a true gringa). However, the lady I have been living with, my host mother FORBADE me to leave the house with the gringa shoes, she insisted I borrow her high heels which were uncomforbale, but they looked good. You know Dominicans are very particular about things like that.

Saturday 11/26, the day before we all left for our sites, we were invited to a pool party at the American embassy. Very beautiful! The ambassadors home is amazing. The pool was great. We ate hot dogs and potato salad which was the best part. I met alot of new people, some good looking US Marines. That day was hard becasue we were all suffering from the night before and also we realized it was the day to say goodbye to all our new friends. One of the hardest things is being alone. The past 3 months have been easier becasue, when things got hard, I always had my friends to go to, to speak English to, people that understood where I was coming from. After Sunday I didnt have that. Although Im blessed to have my friend Eric, who is also a health volunteer, he lives an hour away.

So today is one week 12/3, that I have been at my site. Its going well I just take one day at a time. I really cant believe how fast the time is going by. The campo where I live is very poor but very beautiful. Im surrounded by mountains and white water rapids, water falls. I discover new places, new people every day. I cant explain it, although its poor and we dont have much, no electricity, no phones, everything is simple and I really have everything I need. Im very comfortable. (A little cold in the morning.) I really think Im going to be OK. This experience is like a roller coaster of emotions and I have just been taking it one day at a time. The next 3 months will be very busy. I live in Angostura but I will be working in 6 campos or communities. I need to get started with an analysis of the state of health in the communities, focuisng in on maternal health, knowledge about HIV/AIDS and nutrition. This will be hard to do with the holidays approaching. I have to have a report completed (in Spanish) by the end of February and then present my report at a conference. Until then everyday, I have something to do, the days are flying by...Im in bed everynight at 8 pm. Its the warmest place to be when the sun goes down. I wake up around 6 am, I think...Its nice not to have an alarm clock, I have no place to plug it in. But really, where I am, I dont need one.

I will write again soon, when I have time. Im going to try to catch a ride into Jarabacoa on the weekends to use the computer, the phone etc... I miss everyone back home. Dont worry about me, Im happy. I love you all.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 16:27:37 GMT

P.S. If anyone is interested in checking out some pics of the DR. You can check out my friend Dans site its below. His password is sk8life and his e mail is daniel_richard77@yahoo.com

http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp

Or you can check out pics on my friend Oravanh site, she is constantly taking fotos...just go to..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/silverdrmz/album?.dir=790f&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/silverdrmz/my_photos
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