My not so shiny job title

Have you gotten your job yet?  Have you found out your project yet?  I've been asked this by all of my family and friends back home pretty regularly over the last few weeks. And for good reason.  You're probably wondering my purpose in Paraguay, what I'm going to do, how I'm going to save the world.  And it's been a long time, just passed the 6 month mark here in country and I'm sure you all have accomplished the world back in the states in the past 6 months.  People are getting married, having babies, going to college, getting jobs, going on fun vacations, and the works.  But I'm here to tell you that here in Paraguay it's different.

I will never receive my "job title". I will never be gifted a 2 year project to work on.  And that's why Peace Corps is different than a lot of other volunteering organizations.  In other organizations you build a house, bring running water, run an orphanage or soup kitchen, build modern bathrooms, etc.  And those are fabulous projects, meeting the basic needs of many people around the globe.  But Peace Corps is different.  We aren't equipped with supplies to donate, we aren't here with a specific project to do in the community, we don't have money to support the community.  We are here with the biggest resources we have, ourselves.  Our knowledge, patience, persistence, motivation, skills, and love.   

So I was placed in my cute little campo community, Cordillerita, about 4 months ago with the goal of helping the people.  That's it.  That's why we join the Peace Corps.  We want to help improve the lives of people around the world, but what we dont know is just how much we will be helped in return.  

We come in wanting to save the world, but we actually don't.  We help the world save themselves. We work with their own local governments, elect community leaders, motivate people to better their own lives.  We can't save people that don't need to be saved.  

And it's frustrating when people wait for you to swoop them up and save them.  And it's also heartbreaking when you can't give an instant solution like water, houses, or food.  And sometimes you feel useless and worthless with just you and your own thoughts and actions trying to help a community of 1,700 people waiting to be helped.  

But I'm here to show them little by little how to stand up for themselves, believe in themselves, work hard together, seek out their own resources, inspire them, and pass on whatever knowledge and skills I have to those who want to listen.  And there are many different ways of doing that and every volunteers service is drastically different because it is dependent entirely on the volunteer and their community.  

So my little Cordillerita will hopefully soak up all the knowledge I have to give them and motivate themselves, form their own comissions, instill passion in their youth, educate their families and friends, and feel a sense of power and belonging in the world.  

So to answer your question, no I'll never be given a shiny project to do.  But through using me myself and I as a resource I've started a few things in my community that I hope to encourage more and more people to jump on.  

1) an English class for the youth.  Although I never wanted to teach English and honestly am not really sure how, I started my classes last week because the youth really want to learn and having a knowledge of basic English gives them tons of job opportunities. 

2) next week I will begin a life skills course from making good decisions to sexual education with the older kids in my school

3) I held my first community meeting where we decided on chicken coops and family gardens that the women wanted so we will be working to get materials and fundraise to make these projects happen.

4) i am starting a nutrition/type 2 diabetes/high blood pressure group to get the doctor and nurse more involved in health outreach in my community

 

5) I'm on the planning committee for a girls empowerment camp this Paraguayan summer which should be spectacular!

And thats it for now.  So a lot of it is small talk, experiencing the culture, making relationships, passing the days away in hammocks, and using the little teachable moments as the most successful.  And I am loving it.