Site Site Site

- July 11, 2018

Given that I’ve been in country for nearly five months, and have still yet to provide anything aside from a few photos to prove that I am actually in the Dominican Republic, I thought this blog could be a nice side project (third goal, ya tú sabes). Additionally, I’ve received a few subtle hints about how I should really get a blog together (hi, fam), AND school is not back in session until August. However, in my defense, I have been journaling in some medium every day since I have arrived in country, though I realize that does not help my cause in terms of sharing anything about my experience. Now that we are on Blog Post número dos, I hope this is demonstrating some of my commitment to the cause.

As I have previously provided a bit of background on what my first few months in country were like, I’ve decided to now talk about my site! PCDR (Peace Corps Dominican Republic) volunteers serve in one of two general types of sites: campo or pueblo. These names are really just general categories, and truly only describe the size – campo being a smaller site with a few thousand people or less, and pueblos being anywhere between a few thousand inhabitants, to the size of a small city. Within the category of campo or pueblo, there is incredible variety among resources, population demographics, infrastructure, and geographical location. I live along the Haitian border in a pueblo of roughly 40,000 people, though I am specifically assigned to a barrio, or neighborhood, that feels more like a campo with ~3,000 people. It is very dry here, with many cacti and VERY little rain throughout the year. My barrio is the community where I live and work (I have an easy commute to work – my school is across the street from my host family’s house, and a two minute walk). To get to the center of the pueblo is about a mile, and I am also a two-mile walk to the ocean (100% loving the ocean breezes). Though I am in a pueblo site, my barrio has somewhat of a small town feel as everyone knows each other, there are matas (trees) with fruit at most houses, and the goats (and occasional cow) are found roaming with absolute free will. There have been several occasions where the kids at my house have run yelling at the goats to get them away from the pomegranates and mangos, though this usually just ends up with the kids (*human kids) laughing and shrieking and running in circles and the goats complacently continuing with their chewing. It’s not until some runs at them with a broom waving high in the air that they scatter. I live with a host family who has quickly adopted me into their household, for which I am so grateful. Living in a large household always lends someone to talk to, play cards with, or take a walk around the neighborhood with.

As I am in my Community Diagnostic phase of my service, my job right now is primarily to build confianza (trust) within my community and my school, and to perform an assessment/diagnostic on the primary needs of the community through an education volunteer’s perspective, though general needs and wants of the community can help to provide ideas for secondary projects. While school was in session, I was going to the school to talk with teachers/staff/my project counterparts, observed classes and teaching methods, got to know the students, played lots of literacy games, and even gave a few lectures in mathematics and the natural sciences. Peace Corps emphasizes the importance of the Community Diagnostic and requests that volunteers do not initiate any large projects until we have participated in a three month conference, during which we will share our findings with one another and our project counterparts, and then begin planning projects. Peace Corps believes that the Community Diagnostic is particularly important, as long term sustainability of our projects relies on the participation and commitment of the community. If the needs and wants of the community are not met, the projects we work on have much lower likelihoods of success. (For any fans of Ted Talks, here’s a great talk we watched during training to further evidence the importance of integration and community participation - Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!).

I have been learning a lot about my community, and am excited to begin the new school year to get going on more formal projects. Until then, you can find me drinking lots of coffee, slowly improving my Spanish, being shown through the community by my professional guides (most of whom are under 10 years old), exploring the pueblo, attending meetings, brainstorming, writing, reading, running, and trying to escape the heat (HA, not possible, and though I have been slowly adapting, my phone says that it feels like 99 degrees and I think I might melt – joking, I’m no witch, just from Sandwich *buh dum tss*). ¡Okay, pues, espero que ha disfrutado la broma y nos vemos ahorita!