1 post from October 2009

No, I haven't joined a new religion called "extentionism"...that's we call people who have "extended" for a third year.  Wow, one sentence and two uses of quotation marks...I suggest you start counting how many times I use quotation marks "now"!!  I have a real bad habit of over-doing it with them.

So, I haven't blogged in awhile.  I will only say, that I blogged a lot when it was all exciting and new. Now, less (or never) because its all old and boring!  LOL...never boring, just not new.

I moved from my little barrio (neighborhood) of Capiata to the big city of the capitol, Asucion, back in the end of April, first of May.  I live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, of a 3 floor apartment complex that has 2 apartments for each floor.  We live on the third floor.  You would think after months of living there you would not get slightly winded by the time you get up the stairs, but amazingly, you still do!  Especially when it's hot, or you're carrying groceries!

I work with 2 governmental organizations now: 1) La Secretaria de Ninez y Adolescencia 2) PronaSIDA.  I would relate the first organization (literally translated as: The Secretary of Children and Adolescents) as the Department of Social Services.  Their is no formal government run Foster care, nor Homes for children run by the government.  Their are only non-profit ones...I have visited a few with the people from the Secretary, and there are usually a boys or girls home of about 10-20 kids each.  Small places, with one nun, or other good lady in charge who wanted to make a difference, with a staff about 10 or so. So, while they do have "cases" of child abuse, etc.  They have a looong way to go.  Most of the time children in those kind of situations have some aunt or older cousin who will take them in, as they are much more family connected as a society than we Nortes (North Americans) are.

The second organization, PronaSIDA is the governmental organizational response to the epidemic of HIV and AIDS in Paraguay.  Of the population of 6 million, only 7,886 people are currently registered as living with HIV or AIDS currently in Paraguay.  So that's like .01% of the population.  So why even care?  Because last year there were 954 new register cases, almost a thousand.  And the ignorance on the subject is endless which can cause a host of problems:  passing of other curable and non curable STI's (which can cause problems during pregnancy and even death if untreated), discrimation of those who live with HIV and AIDS for fear of "catching it" from them, the "it won't happen to me phenomemon".  Of those almost 8,000 registered cases there's 8,000 more suspected of living with HIV but they don't know that they have it.  The HIV virus can live in your body for years without giving you a single reason to suspect that you may have a problem. 

The organization I work for his in charge of providing free HIV and AIDS testing - free, confidential, and with PRE and POST Counseling.  Also provides free medicines and powered milk for new mothers to who can use that instead of breast-milk.  They also have and Education Team that goes (theoretically) around the country providing informative presentations about: What is HIV and AIDS?  What is the current situation in PY?  How does it transmit itself?  How does it not? How to protect yourself from HIV and AIDS and other STI's. 

So, I talk about sex a lot.  I put condoms on cucumbers (and carrots, and the yucca-like food here called mandioca or mandi'o for short).  

There's a lot of misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. Mostly, only drug addicts and "promiscious" people can get, or people who have sex with sex workers.  Or, that you can get it from drinking terere with some one (the ->shared<- tea).  A woman in the interior part of the country died of AIDS and the community burnt her house to the ground after she passed.  There is a lot of fear related to the disease at there is little understood about the disease.

It's not to say my job is easy.  I'm up against the entire Catholic Church when I teach the correct info about condoms.  We never push condom use on anyone.  We teach the 3 methods of prevention: Abistence, mutual fidelity, and condoms.  Choose your method.  Absitence is 100% effective.  Mutual Fidelity is 50% effective, the Condom is 98%.  Choose.

Tragically, of that 954 new cases in 2008, over half were married women who's husbands had cheated on them.  So, its not just a disease of sex workers.  Even good little Catholic married women can get it, too.  That's the attitude we're trying to change.  But when the Pope goes on record saying that he wishes that Africa would stop receiving condoms because it's only making the AIDS sitution worse there (Really) you have a hard battle.  But, there's hope with the younger generation.

My objective with the Secretary are to train staff members to continue the methodology of our presentations (lots of games, very participatative activities, not just talking information at you, but involving you) about HIV and AIDS.

My objective with PronaSIDA is to keep Peace Corps in the loop about the most current information of HIV and AIDS, and to connect PronaSIDA's regional educators (who live the interior of the country) with volunteers. Basically, we know that PronaSIDA has this system of educators supposedly to address the needs in the interior that PronaSIDA, being in the capitol, can't reach.  BUT, we don't actually know if they are out there doing their job or not.  We think not.  So, if we hook them up with a guapo (in Paraguay it means hard-working, not handsome) volunteer, we can assure that they will be supported with the volunteer, maybe a little more of a motivator to keep up the good work, and organize more official workshops and project plans with the volunteers.

That's my job.

My life is good.  There are perks to living in the city.  I have access to good food all the time now.  Veggies, and cereal!  My new splurge items of living in the city are All Bran Cereal, natural peanut butter, prunes and walnuts.  These are kinda "fancy" things that I did not buy before, because they are expensive and only available at the bigger, fancier grocery stores. 

I talked to my boss recently about a raise.  I'm paid the same as I was when I lived Capiata even though my rent is now 285,000 Guaranis plus electric instead of 200,000 Guaranis, electric and water included.  Even though I'm expected to get to 2 jobs and take probably about 100,000 Guaranis a month more in transportation.  My roomates who work in Peace Corps central office make an extra 200,000 Guanranis a month. He said that they need to ask the director, but he is in support of paying all year extentionists living in Asuncion that extra 200,000 Guaranis a month because its not fair.  On top of that my roomates make per diem when they are on the road!! Really not fair, so hopefully I'll get that raise.  I'm pretty much always short at the end of the month now.

My days are like this: gym, work, home.  I leave my house with my roomate at 5:40 am, and we walk down about 20 minutes down to the 6:15 spinning class.  Then sometimes we do are own exercises or we do 45 minutes of another hour class - there's Localizada (butt, abs, waist), Body Pump (all over strenghting with free weights) Body Jump with trampoline, Body Vive (never tried it, because it's at 8 and 9 am, but I hear its like pilates!  I love pilates, but I'm at work by the time)...oh, and Body Combat on Tue and Thurs nights.  It has treadmills, and weight machines.  Everything really.

If you had told me 2 1/2 years ago, I'd get up at 5:15 on my own free will, I'd have lost 30 lbs, had been engaged and have 6 tattoes, I'd have told you that you were crazy!! LOL.  Well, here I am.

Hope you're well!

Much love!