Do what you can. Where you are. With what you have.

Todos Leen/Yo Se Leer is a PC literacy program. There is a concentration of volunteers in my region working under the same model. We tutor small groups of elementary students and also supervise facilitators who do the same. Olga and I officially started this week working with our small groups. Another facilitator will hopefully join us on Monday. Before we began, I had to evaluate the students. The teachers provided lists of students that they felt were behind. I then evaluated them individually. Around 90% of them struggled to identify the vowels. I always feel a little down after evaluating them, but after this first week I am feeling good. They are intelligent kids who just need an extra push. I need to thank my mom for all the great tools and ideas. My alphabet playing cards, magnetic letters, and educational puzzles make learning fun, and my job a little easier.

I am able to use my house to tutor. We all sit on my floor and work. I like the informal feel of the space. My facilitators however work in the school. It isn't ideal because there are children running around, joining in on their study sessions, and making unsavory comments. My search for a space has been extensive. I tried the empty bar, the owner wanted me to rent it, the evangelical church, is ready to fall down during the next earthquake, the fritura (fried chicken shack), is afraid the kids will break the glass display case, the neighbor's house, where they may or may not be entertaining 'female' guests, was vetoed for obvious reasons. I am now crossing my fingers to use the Panaderia (bakery) next to my house. It hasn't been functioning for years except on Christmas Eve when they bake chickens.

My presence in the school has made me a celebrity with the kids. Wherever I go some little voice is calling me, “Misky”, or if they've been in my program before, “Mikki”.

I used to get upset when things didn't go as they should at the school. Until a wise man reminded me that I should just work with what I have. So my goal is to relax more and do what I can, where I am, with what I have.

We Need Your Help!

Here's the deal: several volunteer friends and I have collaborated to share a Peace Corps Partnership grant for materials and group trainings for the work that we do individually in our communities, helping children who are severely behind in an already lagging school system. Between five Peace Corps volunteers, we are working in five different rural communities with 20 local facilitators and over 300 children benefiting from our work.

PLEASE DONATE HERE: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?

The goal is to make our programs sustainable, so that our local counterparts will continue this work long after we leave. We need materials and trainings to make this possible. Your donation will contribute to a sustainable future for a program that helps the children who need it the most: children whose parents may be illiterate, who are at risk of dropping out of school in favor of work, who have often already been given up on, and therefore have given up on themselves.Last year, our results showed a significant improvement in the reading levels of participants. It is so gratifying to work with these kids. The ultimate goal is to keep this going, to begin a slow change that will continue after I leave. 100% of your donation will go towards materials, trainings, and facilitator support. (Peace Corps volunteers don’t really have overhead costs…)