Yo Merezco

Yo Merezco team

After a few days in Teguc I went to Valle de Angeles, a beautiful crafts town in the mountains outside of Teguc for a training in a new Peace Corps methodology called “I Deserve…” It is a 14 week program for girls 10-14 years old that focuses on building self-esteem and making good decisions. Every week there is a different topic, such as abstinence, puberty, teen pregnancy, marriage, domestic violence and HIV. Osiris, a good friend of mine from Santa Barbara went with me to the training and now we hope to do the program with a group of girls in Santa Barbara. I was a little hesitant about it before I went to the training because it is a big commitment to have to do something every week and I am not crazy about kids, but the training was really inspiring and now we are both excited to do it and try to make a difference. Right now we are working on finding a group of girls who can meet every week and really need the extra support. Osiris, Allison, Kamil

After the training I went back to Teguc and after over a year here was able to go out salsa dancing at a Cuban restaurant in the capital and it was great. I was a little out of practice and most Hondurans do not dance New York Style salsa, so it was a little challenging, but overall I had a great time and met some good dancers.

Now I am back in Santa Barbara and it is wonderful to be home after being away so long. The month of August will be pretty laid back and I will be able to stay in Santa Barbara for most of it, but come September I will be super busy and traveling a lot to give trainings and go to Peace Corps meetings.