Literacy Class Success

Olga, Annettis, and I have been sitting in front of the ayuntamiento for days now, we were waiting for the adult literacy students to show up.

Tuesday I recruited a girl from my Chicas group to walk around town with me advising people once again about the class the next night.  We stressed it started at 4:30.  

Yesterday afternoon I baked brownies with Olga.  I was thinking it would motivate the students who show up to continue attending.  

I headed over to the ayuntamiento at 5, because nobody is going to be there at 4:30.  The church across the street is packed, it's Ash Wednesday, everyone is at church, perfect.  Annettis and I wait, 5:30 passes, we are still alone.  Five minutes to 6, a student arrives!  We agree that we will have the class with just one more student.

By 6:30, there are 8 participants inside the ayuntamiento eating brownies and learning their vowels.  Success!  

I handed out notebooks, and Annettis assigned homework.  We don't have a chalk board, so we are using large paper for now.  There aren't desks, but there are plastic chairs.  And big bonus, an inverter meaning we will always have electricity.

Classes will be held 3 days a week, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 5-7 pm.  Keeping the students interested and motivated will be key to the classes survival.  Wish me luck!

It feels so good to have something work out!

Literacy Program Failure

My literacy program should have hypothetically started days ago.  A couple things have prevented that from happening. 

First, I spent the whole last week in Santo Domingo helping out at the 50th Anniversary of the PC in the DR.  It was so neat to meet all the RPCVs, listen to their stories, hear about what they have done since.  I was invited in a few special things because of my participation in the conference.  I had dinner with two RPCVs who served in the same providence as me in the early 90s.  They were good friend during their service, and have stayed in contact ever since.  I got to check out the ambassador's house at a party held there.  The free food and open bar made the party extra awesome.  To wrap up the conference, there was an outdoor dinner at a museum in the capital.  I had a great time!  All that time away was beneficial for my mental health, but not helpful to my literacy program.  You have to remind people here a relentless number of times about a meeting, and they still don't show.

Second, a teenage boy from my community was killed in a motorcycle accident.  The funeral was the very day I returned to my site.  The whole community gathered at his house. His mother was wailing, his aunt fainted, people filled plastic chairs that lined the street.  My heart aches for his family and friends.  The whole community has a grey cloud hanging over it.  There has been no music for days.  They light candles all along the main street. He was a joyful person and will truly be missed.  This tragedy has diminished the student's motivation.

Third, the weather is not cooperating.  It inconveniently starts to drizzle at 5 pm, the exact hour of our class.    

Realistically, I do not know if this literacy class will happen.  All of the above will continue to happen.  The schedules of adults here are already full.  Then there are the excuses like, I had to wash my hair, it rained yesterday so it is muddy today, or I don't have a pencil.  

The uncertainty surrounding the success of the adult literacy program has motivated me to pursue other projects.  My new plan is to work with children's literacy.  The teachers and I are identifying students, we are looking for a location to tutor kids, and the evaluation of the students begins next week.  The other facilitator and I will start tutoring our small groups after a training day in March three other volunteers and I have been planning for a couple months now.  We recently received our grant money and have been busy spending it.

Things will work out in the end as they should, but that doesn't make thing less frustrating  now.  

Gifting

I feel like Dominican culture is really testing my patience, and kindness.

A woman once told me I needed to buy this child something so he would love me. You are not gifting to be nice here, you gift to be liked.

When my family was here visiting more than one woman came over to ask when she can come pick up her gift.  Ugh!  Really?  The little children still come to my door and say give me something.

When you go to the captial or to the pueblo, people expect you to bring them something.  I travel frequently and when I tell people I am leaving or I just got back their first question is, what did you/will you bring me?

If you neighbor brings over an avocado, it's an unspoken rule you need to bring her some oranges.

I don't have a farm, there aren't any fruit trees in my yard.  I am pinching pesos.  I am sorry people but I don't have gifts for you all!

Needless to say I am tired of the giving and receiving.  If I want something, I will buy it.  If I want to give you something I will, but because I want to, not so you will like me.

The Basketball

My parents Rotary Club donated sports equipment to the school in Monte Bonito.  I had the equipment at my house before I brought it over to the school.  The neighborhood kids and I got out a basketball to play.  We spent a long time running around, throwing the ball, yelling, and laughing.  We had so much fun all the kids were back the next night ready to play.  The first throw and the ball is punctured by something, who knows if it was the glass on the ground, a rock, the zinc roof, or the barbed wire fence.  I was super bummed.  Day two and we already broke a ball.

The children begin to rally, they strategize, and then pool their pesos. They bring they ball to someones house who fixes moto tires, he can't fix it, they try and buy a patch at the colmado, they're all out, at one point they tape up the hole, nothing worked.

Lastly, they come back from the colmado with super glue and ask me for laundry detergent.  We mix the two things together, like we were told, and spread it on the ball.  Viola, it's good as new, but a little deflated.

They let it dry for exactly 2.5 seconds before starting up their game again.  I loved seeing all the children come together and try so hard to fix the ball.  It makes no difference to them that it is broken.  They would have continued playing with it had it been beyond repair.