Saturday, March 9, 2013

Conferences, Weight loss, and Amanda-isms.


Hi my lovely internet friends and family! I have been extremely busy the last couple weeks and I have some great ish to share with you. Get excited!

First of all, those of you that know me know that on any given NORMAL day I can suppress the embarrassing weird-ling that lives inside of me… but when I get stressed out my energy is diverted elsewhere and all bets are off. Well, last weekend I was super stressed when I went to a conference for our rural health promoters and my fellow PCVs met the weird-ling. It was a weekend full of sing and dance and noises. The second I got into my nice hotel room (ballin) I decided to have a party with myself while I was waiting for my roomies to show up. I painted my nails while singing and dancing and naturally threw the brand new bottle of blood red nail polish clear across the room to create this beautiful piece of artwork (crrrrrraaab cakes!)

Later that day when we made our way down to the first meeting of the conference with 100+ Dominican women I decided to sit in the back so that I could work on all of the crazy ish that was making me so stressed. Two of my fellow PCVs did the same, and they sat on either side of me. I put my grant-writing-hat on right away and got to work. I wasn’t paying attention to anything that was going on… so when I heard the two PCVs arguing over me about who was going to go do “it” I thought they were talking about a dinamica (ice breaker type activity that we use to start every meeting. Consists of the PCV acting like a complete idiot and makes the women laugh). So naturally I said “Don’t worry about it guys I got this one” in my best condescending, I cant believe you guys aren’t used to doing these things by now, voice. I proceeded to walk up to the front of the room and act out different emotions while talking to my pen… when I got back to my table feeling very proud of my excellent performance the other PCVs informed me that they did not ask for a dinamica… they simply wanted us to introduce ourselves. Pooper scooper!!!!

Anyways, on to some serious talk. The reason I was so stressed out was because I recently just had a TON of work put on my plate… and here I thought I was going to get to relax a little at the end of my service (silly Amanda). I just started my Reto de Rebaja (weight loss challenge) which takes up about 4 full days a week with individual consultations, exercise classes, and nutrition classes. I am teaching an English class that somehow has been advertised all over the country. I have people coming from all of the surrounding communities to learn English which sounds great… but it really isn’t. If you have ever visited a Dominican school you would know why. The teacher usually stands in front of the class and talks while all the kids talk amongst themselves and pay no attention whatsoever. Well, when you are not a native Spanish speaker and you are speaking Spanish to teach native Spanish speakers English ish can get confusing and it is kind of important to be able to hear yourself think. So I am working that… My boss also just told me that he wants me to take over 40 groups of rural health promoters and teenage peer educators that will require me to apply for a $15- $20,000 US dollar grant. YIKES. Lets just say I would be happy to do this if I was just starting my service. The fact that I have 6 months to do this (we have to close out grants a few months before we leave) is SUPER stressful. He seems to think that I will stay longer than my two years… but I beg to differ HA. I mean don’t get me wrong I love the DR and I wouldn’t take back my service for anything… but get me some running water and electricity (know what im sayin..)

Reto de Rebaja:

Okay so I am really excited because this week I had two meetings for Reto de Rebaja. The first one was just to register all of the people who are going to participate and the second was to tell them the rules, how to use their food journals, and the basic food groups.  The first day was a little depressing because I only had 8 people show up, but it was to be expected because in my community being fat is a sign of wealth and health so most people see losing weight as a bad thing. However, I now have 19 people enrolled in the course (which is perfect because I wanted maximum 20 people). All 19 people seem to be really excited about it too which is great! I made a manual with basic nutrition and weight loss information (including info on diabetes and hypertension). Each participant got a manual, and the manual also has a spot for us to fill in all of their goals, weight loss data, and a food journal. In the second meeting I taught them how to use their manuals. We also did an activity where they had to put a whole bunch of different kinds of food in their food groups. The winner got broccoli and carrots!
Next week each participant has an individual appointment with me. We are going to go over their goals and make an individualized diet and exercise plan. I will also be weighing them, taking their blood pressure, body measurements, % body fat, and blood glucose levels. Plus, we will have a meeting as a group to learn about nutrition and do some exercise! Oh and I am doing the program with them… because lets face it I need to! Get excited y’all! 

Sub-Regional Conferences:

I also just recently held two sub-regional conferences, one for my rural health promoters and one for my teenage peer educators. I have never had to put on an entire conference by myself before… and let me tell you it is not so easy. Both conferences ended up turning out better then I had hoped, and we had a lot of fun. The conferences were focused on teaching the participants how to “share” the information they acquired in the course. Each participant had to give a mini-lecture on a relevant health topic, and the health promoters also learned how to do home visits. 
The best part of the conference was why my Hogares Saludables Regional Coordinator got up to give her lecture on breast feeding. When I first got here she would stand in front of a group, look up at the ceiling with her hands behind her back, rock back and forth on her feet, and speak really quiet. I have been working with her on her public speaking... and she was AWESOME. She walked back and forth between the group, spoke in a loud voice, made eye contact with the participants, used her arms and body, referred back to her visual aids, asked questions, and involved the audience! I was so proud! 
Luz Maria
On our way...

Escojo Coordinators 

Rural Health Promoters

Me doing a "dinamica"

Participants doing the dinamica with me.

Planning

Rural Health Promoters

Planning

Teenage Peer Educators
Oh, I also have a new problem in my house... something is burrowing up and leaving me surprises like this! Grrrrrrr...... better not be the ghost of Hootie! (If you don't know who Hootie is.... read this http://aappel.blogspot.com/2012/10/under-attack.html )


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