Projects in guajayvi
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2007
1
21
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Trip End
Apr 24, 2009
Guajayvi,
Paraguay
Monday, May 12, 2008
First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who sent packages. We will be able to do many more activities now that we have more materials. Thank you!
Secondly, I thought I would write you all a little note to tell you what projects or activities I am doing in my site. I have been keeping busy with charlas (I´ll explain what this is later on), Reading-Arts class, English class, a girls sports group, a radio program, and dental health...well, some of these activities I´ve been doing for a while, some just starting, and some are about to begin.
In one of the local high schools and in a technical college, I have been giving charlas. Charla in Spanish means to talk or chat. There are many different topics that I give charlas on a few examples are- self esteem, leadership, how to look for work, sexuality, STI (sexually transmited infections), HIV-AIDS, gender roles and stereotypes. So, what I do is go into the classroom and teach about one of these themes each time. We try to make it as interactive as possible. Therefore, I do tons of activities with the students so that they learn about the topic without me just standing in front of the classroom talking for hours. In the high school I give charlas once a month for an hour. I just started in the college and I was there 2 days for an hour and a half and then 2 hours. I am hoping I will be able to work more with the college because the students are great to work with. They are are very inviting and are willing to share their opinions on the topics, which makes it easier to discuss.
Another project I have been doing for a while is a reading-art class in the elementary school. I have this class in the library. I bring books for the students to practice reading and we often do activities relating to the books. During a couple of weeks we talked about animals and their habitats and then each student drew animals in their habitat. Next week I plan on showing the film Ferngully...it is about deforestation...then I´m going to have a worksheet with questions from the movie to fill out. I work with 3rd-5th graders. I have been doing this project for a while and it is shortly going to be combined with dental health.
Colgate is starting a pilot program with Peace Corps. They are giving a number of schools Colgate kits and didactic materials for teachers. This program will affect 1st-3rd graders only and only 83 kids per volunteer, but it is better than nothing. In each kit is a toothbrush and toothpaste. We should be receiving the kits sometime mid June, so I am about to begin dental health charlas with the students. We will talk about everything from what is a tooth to cavities to how to care for our teeth. I am excited to start that project with the students, but most of them speak in Guarani and I have mostly been talking in Spanish here...so we´ll see.
Our radio show has been on for half an hour once a week since February. There are now 4 other volunteers doing the radio show with me. They come to my house on Saturday mornings and our show starts at 9. The radio is about a half hour walk from my house. A great workout uphill! Our radio program is educational and we are trying to touch on every topic you can think of. A few topics we have done already are- gardens, decision making, technology-computers, and education and why it´s important. Our radio program is called Hesa Porá, which means beautiful eyes in English. (Paraguayans just can´t stop telling us how pretty our light colored eyes are.) I was extremely fearful at first to speak on the radio in Spanish, but now I love it. I wish we had more time!
This Satuday I am going to start another English class. I´ve invited the youth and adults of the community to participate in the class. It will last for 12 weeks and it is 2 hours a week. The students seemed to really like the class last summer, so I hope it goes over well again. I am also starting a girls sports/health group. My plan is to practice and learn new sports (they really only play soccer here), teach about good nutricion, womens health, and maybe cook a few healthy snacks. I´ve invited the female youth to come to this group. It is also starting on Saturday.
Well, that is a brief summary of what I´ve been up to in Paraguay. I´ve also been trying to upload photos cause its been a really long time, but it isn´t working very well...hopefully they´ll be up soon. Miss you all.
Sam
Comments
hey hey
sammi
sounds like you are busy but having fun. do you take calls on your radio show? you need more time. sounds like all is well, love you, take care and have a great daY! unkie mark