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!
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| Luz Maria |
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| On our way... |
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| Escojo Coordinators |
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| Rural Health Promoters |
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| Me doing a "dinamica" |
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| Participants doing the dinamica with me. |
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| Planning |
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| Rural Health Promoters |
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| Planning |
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| Teenage Peer Educators |
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