site assignment reflection (written July 8, 2009)

Site assignment day was today…and I now know that I will be living in Jinotega, Jinotega, a department capital in the north of nicaragua. I never would have imagined in joining the Peace Corps that I’d be living in a city…with a supermarket... and a bank... and a post office... and a coffee shop... and internet cafes. Is this what I signed up for? Is this what I wanted when I applied? And I think…it is. I will be working with one secondary school to implement the entrepreneurship course La Empresa Creativa (the creative business) and with an adult education technical school to teach an intro to microenterprise class. I don’t think I’ve described exactly how the Small Business Development program for Peace Corps Nicaragua works (or at least our main project): Peace Corps has been working with the Ministry of Education in Nicaragua to development this entrepreneurship course, La Empresa Creativa. It is divided into Pre-LEC, LEC, and Economics for 3rd year, 4th year, and 5th year secondary school students respectively. The Nicaraguan school system is under a system of “transformation” right now, and after all schools have completed the transformation process, they should have a required 4th year course of productivity in which the LEC will be taught. SBD volunteers have the responsibility of helping to implement this new course into the schools and train the teachers in how to teach it. So the program has promise and longevity. I also have opportunities to work with multiple NGOs and microfinance organizations. But…But? But this is what needs to be done. It’s just certainly not what I expected. I expected a hut in Africa…I’ll get an apartment in Central America. But I know that Nicaragua’s population is booming and job creation…isn’t. And I went to Babson. And I know that an entrepreneurial spirit is essential. And supporting the development of a middle class is critical. I just haven’t quite wrapped my mind around this new vision of the Peace Corps experience. I will be living with less (my yearly earnings will be about 3000 USD), but comfortably. And we (well, maybe me and Robin) know how awful it is to just be comfortable. How unchallenging. How uninspiring. How am I to develop the tortured soul needed to write beautiful prose and poetry? BaHa! O yes, now I remember. Nicaragua is beautiful. And buzzing. And who wants to write poetry anyway.

PC likes to give us ´´inspirational quotes´´

and this one had an impact:

‘Go in search of your People:
Love Them;
Learn from Them;
Plan with Them;
Serve Them;
Begin with what They have;
Build on what They know.

But the best Leaders
When their task is
Accomplished,
Their work done,
The People all remark:
“We have done this
Ourselves.” ‘
Lao Tsu, China, 700 BC

good habits and goals

I’ve gotten into some good habits since getting to Nicaragua. Better and more regular sleep patterns; flossing; making eye contact and greeting people on the street; being conscious and very conservative in my water usage; maintaining a fairly tidy room; staying on top of my studies and workload. This place, this change has been good for me.
I’d also like to document some goal setting I have on my mind. We’ve had a lot of current volunteers come talk to us thus far during training, and many talk of the side projects/groups that they’ve created during their time in country (ex. computer classes, soccer/baseball leagues, summer English camps). And it all sounded great and motivating, but I couldn’t find anything inside of myself that really called out to projects like these. But, whilst doodling during one of my technical charlas (I read an article somewhere about a study that showed that doodling while taking notes or during class actually increased the amount of information students retained…I swear), it hit me. A foggy idea of what unique project I want to attempt to bring to my community (I need to keep in mind that what really matters is what the community wants, cant force anything).
Now some of my friends from home may laugh at this, as I have jeered many a time at “poets” as it seems like every other young, trendy, American Apparel wearing, wanna-look-like-a-cokehead, 20-something writes “poetry” to express themselves…BUT Nicaragua indeed has a poetic soul. And though many a Nica can quote Ruben Dario in a moment’s notice, I wonder how much creation is really fostered. We [will] spend a great deal of time and effort as SBD volunteers trying to “teach” creativity in the business world: bringing innovative products and services to the market, pushing for more creative marketing and branding, encouraging creative, more efficient processing/production. But what about art? music? poetry? The department of Masaya, where I am now for training, is known for their artesenia; which is really just a flowery term for homogenized handicrafts, such as painted cement mushrooms, rocking chairs, chachkas for tourists.
So in a delayed effort to get to my point, I have a vague idea of wanting to create some type of “culture club.” Depending on the desires of the community, it could be an art club/camp for kids, a book club for women, poetry writing sessions/workshops, mural design and painting, a mosaic of recycled materials, any time of CREATION that is just for the sake of art, of beauty, of fun. My god this is such a beautiful country, and I want to reflect on that, and I want to see how the locals reflect on their lives in this country.
Goal 2: if possible, I’d like to keep a “pet” chicken while in site. This will of course depend on what my site is like, but I think it would be special to get a little chick and raise it. I guess some research would have to go into how to raise a chicken, but I guess I can just ask my Nica family, they have a bunch. I wonder if I could train it to walk on a leash? I like the name Francis or Finn for a chicken.