I've been asked by many people, "So what are you actualy doing down there? What kind of projects are you planning? Do you feel like you are making a difference? Is it worth it? Is your community responding?" These questions roll around in my own head and I often don't arrive at any concrete answer. The first several months here I spent walking around trying to orient myself to the community. This involved spending full days walking from house to house - chatting with families, asking questions about their lifestyles and families, and drinking lots of sugary coffee.Peace corps calls this the "Diagnositic," or a way to meet your community, identify potential project partners, resources, and understand the needs of the community that could be met with future projects. I posted below my formal results, in the form of a powerpoint presentation, that I presented at our 3-month group meeting. While it is in Spanish - it covers the basics of what I learned during the intial 3-months I was here and gives a bit of an overview of what daily life is like for the people in Las Auyamas.
But, back to those original questions... what projects am I doing here? The first tangible project process I have started is organizing the building of 30 latrines - or pit toilets, bathrooms, sanitarios... call them as you wish. As I learned during my tour of the community, approximately 30% of the 105 houses I visited do not have a proper place to use the bathroom. Indoor plumbing systems do not exist here, so those with "bathrooms" have latrines out back. These are basically an 11 foot hole in the ground with a surrounding cement floor, some kind of toilet seat, and a little zinc house built around it for privacy. Based on conversations and recent meetings, I estimate there are at least 40 households that either do not have one of these, or are sharing one latrine with over 25 people. A sanitary place to use the bathroom in my opinion is a basic human right. And the community has identified it as a project they would like to see realized here in Las Auyamas.
The next step, and current struggle, is to include the community in the development of a latrine project here and not just do all the work myself and give them to the families.This has proven to be the most difficult part. In the past, various organizations have come in to the community with a chunk of change, materials, and a plan to build X-number of latrines. The people recieving them may have had to pay $200 pesos, or dig their own hole. But the organizational part of delivering materials, buying materials, storing materials, knowing what materials to buy, building, deciding who gets one and when...was all done by an outside contributer. Gracias a dios for these organizations who have provided many people here with a latrine. But now that I have arrived in town and started talking about latrines, the general expectation is that I am "bringing a latrine project" here. Which i suppose I am doing, but I don't have the money, resources, and organizational answers in hand - this part is meant to be partly the responsibility of the community.
That being said, I decided to hold a "latrine meeting" to see how many people were interested and motivated enough to take part in the process. About 30 people showed up. We talked about how the community will be involved in this process... they will have to dig their own hole, collect sand for the cement floor (hopefully with help from the truck of the sindico (like a county commissioner), provide 3 helpers for the mason, and contribute 500 pesos. All of this seemed to be okay with the group, but when it comes down to the fundraising and money part, things get a little dicey. I proposed the idea of a fundraising committee to try and make some money for this newly formed group of people in need of latrines. Perhaps we could organize a raffle or sell baked goods at the next festival in town...no response... In the next two meetings I held, attendance shrunk down to about 20 and then to 5. I've had a few people ask me if the money has come yet, and tell me I shouldn't hold meetings until I have the money to build latrines with. Granted it was raining for the last meeting, it is discouraging to feel like people don't want to work with you, they just want to recieve the end product.
On a more positive note, those 5 people at the last meeting are interested in helping organize logistics and take part in an educational component of the project. One of the men has volunteered to store materials in his home and they were interested in the idea of including attendance at a workshop on the imortance of good hygiene practices as a requirement for recieving a latrine.
So, here I am in the process of writng grants to try and get the funds to build 30 latrines in Las Auyamas, while simultaneously contemplating the sustainablility and method of this type of community development. One of the grants I have submitted is to a Dominican bank, ADEMI that donates part of its profits to community projects. I was drawn to this one because it is an outside of Peace Corps fund that the community could potentially use again in the future. I'm not sure what the liklihood of this is, given the lack of literacy and access to effective means of communication, but maybe establishing a connection between the bank and the community could help further down the line when I'm not here.
If we recieve the money from ADEMi, it will be enough for only about nine latrines. So, the other grant currently under construction, is part of the Peace Corps Partnership Program. It provides a way for donors in the states to contribute to projects happening around the world at various Peace Corps posts. The connection is made via website, where donors can visit and read about different projects happening around the world and then donate money to specific projects if they are willing and able. I am in the process of completing the paperwork, but stay tuned for more information if you are interested in contributing to this or any other Peace Corps project.
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