June 5, 2009
Running water, eating when we’re hungry, toilet paper, soap, education, and roofs made of solid material…no matter how hard I try to appreciate everything that I have in my life, these resources are so readily available to me that it is nearly impossible not to take them for granted at times. Today I visited a community that is a 5 minute walk from my house, where the people would do anything do have access to some of these things that I am able to obtain so easily. Lomas del Sol is a precario (ghetto) that sits on land owned and abandoned by the government, where about 50 families with no other options used whatever materials they could find in order to construct shelter for themselves. About 4 years ago, the government began a housing project there, but after constructing just 6 houses the municipality declared the land uninhabitable, and the project was terminated. The six constructed houses were quickly occupied, in spite of there being no running water, and other families with no place to live used scraps donated by the pineapple packing company PINDECO to construct shantytown houses on the remainder of the vacant lot. The people who currently inhabit the 66 houses carry water to their houses in buckets, after filling them in one of the just 2 tubes that are available to them.
Today I had the privilege of meeting five community members of Lomas, and the experience definitely influenced my priorities and perspective with respect to my service. I spent nearly four hours talking with them about their emotional and economic statuses, families, education, religion, health, exercise, nutrition, and the politics surrounding their current living situation. In spite of the fact that Peace Corps has been in Costa Rica for over 45 years, none of them had ever heard of it. Buenos Aires as a Peace Corps site is quite a large area for one volunteer to cover, and unfortunately communities like Lomas can easily get lost in the bigger picture. I could easily spend my 2 years working solely with the people of Lomas, however I will need to find a way to incorporate them in my work with the schools, health clinics, child protective services, and other social and governmental institutions here. They are very interested in having more programs for their children and youth, many of whom are not currently attending school. Education is “free” here, but students still need money for materials, copies (even of their own exams), etc., which is only one reason why keeping kids in school presents a challenge to families of very limited economic means. Even children who are in school have very limited access to extra-curricular activities, so access for those not in school is completely nonexistent. As a result, the community members with whom I met in Lomas were very eager to discuss potential youth projects for their community. We talked about mentorship programs, English classes, recreational opportunities, and leadership groups as possibilities for the young people in the community. In addition, it came up that I’ve been teaching an exercise class in the community center, and the women in the group seemed to love that idea as well. They were also eager to get more parenting resources and support, so I think the counselor at the elementary school and I are going to do some workshops with the parents of Lomas.
After meeting for a couple of hours they invited me to have cafecito, which I accepted, as always. I never drank coffee before coming here, but it would be nearly impossible to spend 2 years here and not turn into a complete addict. Peace Corps volunteers in Costa Rica don’t actually need to be provided with meals by their families during the day, because it would be completely doable to survive (albeit unhealthily) off of cafecito alone. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like coffee and cookies and white bread and butter…you take the time to have cafecito anyway, because it is absolutely the most valuable time one can spend with members of the community. I feel like my heart is going to tear through my chest it beats so fast when I drink the stuff, but the crazy symptoms and slow damage to my personal health are without a doubt worth the emotional gains and relationships formed by consuming coffee and white, processed flour and sugar.
Oooh, ima need to write about food more in the next post, because I am eating SOOOOO much better in my new home with my new host mother, who spoils me completely rotten. It is very likely that I am eating more vegetables that you, which makes me happy.
Running water, eating when we’re hungry, toilet paper, soap, education, and roofs made of solid material…no matter how hard I try to appreciate everything that I have in my life, these resources are so readily available to me that it is nearly impossible not to take them for granted at times. Today I visited a community that is a 5 minute walk from my house, where the people would do anything do have access to some of these things that I am able to obtain so easily. Lomas del Sol is a precario (ghetto) that sits on land owned and abandoned by the government, where about 50 families with no other options used whatever materials they could find in order to construct shelter for themselves. About 4 years ago, the government began a housing project there, but after constructing just 6 houses the municipality declared the land uninhabitable, and the project was terminated. The six constructed houses were quickly occupied, in spite of there being no running water, and other families with no place to live used scraps donated by the pineapple packing company PINDECO to construct shantytown houses on the remainder of the vacant lot. The people who currently inhabit the 66 houses carry water to their houses in buckets, after filling them in one of the just 2 tubes that are available to them.
Today I had the privilege of meeting five community members of Lomas, and the experience definitely influenced my priorities and perspective with respect to my service. I spent nearly four hours talking with them about their emotional and economic statuses, families, education, religion, health, exercise, nutrition, and the politics surrounding their current living situation. In spite of the fact that Peace Corps has been in Costa Rica for over 45 years, none of them had ever heard of it. Buenos Aires as a Peace Corps site is quite a large area for one volunteer to cover, and unfortunately communities like Lomas can easily get lost in the bigger picture. I could easily spend my 2 years working solely with the people of Lomas, however I will need to find a way to incorporate them in my work with the schools, health clinics, child protective services, and other social and governmental institutions here. They are very interested in having more programs for their children and youth, many of whom are not currently attending school. Education is “free” here, but students still need money for materials, copies (even of their own exams), etc., which is only one reason why keeping kids in school presents a challenge to families of very limited economic means. Even children who are in school have very limited access to extra-curricular activities, so access for those not in school is completely nonexistent. As a result, the community members with whom I met in Lomas were very eager to discuss potential youth projects for their community. We talked about mentorship programs, English classes, recreational opportunities, and leadership groups as possibilities for the young people in the community. In addition, it came up that I’ve been teaching an exercise class in the community center, and the women in the group seemed to love that idea as well. They were also eager to get more parenting resources and support, so I think the counselor at the elementary school and I are going to do some workshops with the parents of Lomas.
After meeting for a couple of hours they invited me to have cafecito, which I accepted, as always. I never drank coffee before coming here, but it would be nearly impossible to spend 2 years here and not turn into a complete addict. Peace Corps volunteers in Costa Rica don’t actually need to be provided with meals by their families during the day, because it would be completely doable to survive (albeit unhealthily) off of cafecito alone. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like coffee and cookies and white bread and butter…you take the time to have cafecito anyway, because it is absolutely the most valuable time one can spend with members of the community. I feel like my heart is going to tear through my chest it beats so fast when I drink the stuff, but the crazy symptoms and slow damage to my personal health are without a doubt worth the emotional gains and relationships formed by consuming coffee and white, processed flour and sugar.
Oooh, ima need to write about food more in the next post, because I am eating SOOOOO much better in my new home with my new host mother, who spoils me completely rotten. It is very likely that I am eating more vegetables that you, which makes me happy.
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