The HIV Network

I continue to work with the HIV Network in Santa Barbara to help them coordinate joint activities between institutions that work with HIV. They have big ideas and ambitions but very little organizational or planning skills in order to realize their ambitions. Therefore I have tried to work with the president of the group to try to plan better and stress the idea that it is better to have small realizable goals. World AIDS Day is December 1st and the HIV Network plans to coordinate tons of events on and around the day, so we are trying to write up a plan and a budget right now so we can submit it to a local NGO for funding. As always the process is important but incredibly frustrating. The members just don’t have the planning skills necessary to do all the things they want to do. For example, many of them don’t understand the concept of a planning committee. We had a meeting to decide who would be on each planning committee for each of the activities for World AIDS Day. One activity we are organizing is a parade, in which all the institutions of the HIV Network will march. Because all the institutions would be marching the group thought all the institutions should be on the planning committee and didn’t understand the idea that just a few institutions needed to plan. I guess I just take so many things for granted and forget that these people never learned how to do this type of thing. Luckily we are going to have a training on administration and planning in a few weeks, so I am excited about that.

The Wrath of the Landlords

Almost a year and a half ago as Katie and I contemplated where to live we were advised by previous volunteers that we should not live in the apartments where we now live because the landlords are crazy. Well, we decided to go ahead and live here anyway for lack of a better option and up until now things have gone pretty smoothly. We heeded the warnings of the previous volunteers and have tried to be as nice as possible to the landlords and just say ok whenever there is a problem. For example, we know they are gypping us out of our electricity money but we just choose to ignore it. We signed a one year contract when we moved in and Katie and I both starting paying 2,000 L (~$100) although my apartment is 2 bedrooms and Katie’s is only 1 bedroom.

Our contracts expired a few months ago without either of us noticing and the landlord came to us last week to tell us they were raising the rent to 2,250 L for Katie and 2,500 L in one week. So, we told Peace Corps and they said that 2,250 L was a reasonable increase but 2,500 L was a 25% increase, which was too high, and we should negotiate for a lower price. So, Katie and I told the landlords that a 25% increase was too much and that I could pay 2,300 L instead which would be a 15% increase. The landlord did not understand the percentage argument and continually told us that my apartment has 2 bedrooms and Katie’s has 1 bedroom, so mine has to cost more. I wanted to tell him that he is totally correct that mine should cost more and it should have cost more since the beginning but since they cost the same from the beginning it doesn’t make sense to raise one more than the other now. They also continually told us how expensive things are now and how poor they are and how hard they have to work. Finally we agreed on 2,250 L for Katie and 2,300 L for me, which was approved by Peace Corps so we were all set. Then we got into another argument about when the increase would begin, since one week isn’t very much notice. Then they randomly started telling us that only volunteers can visit us and spend the night and that nobody else can visit and spend the night because they should be paying if they are sleeping there. Then the wife (the landlords are a husband and wife) said we should just move out to get ride of all these problems. At this point I was flabbergasted and started to get angry because they were being completely illogical. Katie and I chatted for a while and realized that they are not logical people so we can’t reason with them (this is a very unsettling realization) so we would just have to say okay so they wouldn’t kick us out (I didn’t feel like moving with just 7 months left and besides I love my apartment). So now we are waiting to sign new contracts so we won’t get kicked out and then we will see what happens over the next seven months. Now we know why the last volunteers thought the landlords were crazy.

Why is it so hot here?

I can remember September of 2007 was a lot cooler than September of 2008. This time last year I was wearing long sleeve shirts in the evening and complained of being cold. Now, I am still sleeping with a fan on me and sweat profusely as soon as I go outside and it is almost October! Why is it so hot and when will it not be hot?

24

On July 22, 2008 I turned 24 years old. I was in Teguc on my actual birthday so I celebrated the weekend before in Santa Barbara with Katie and a few friends.
Katie gave me a wonderful gift of a can opener. Some of you may think that is funny, but it is actually exactly what I wanted. For the past year I have not had a can opener, so I would have to go upstairs to use Katie’s, which was incredibly dull and difficult to use. One day I was struggling to open a can and told Katie “I know what I want for my birthday” she replied “I already bought it for you”. I guess we have gotten to know each other pretty well over the past year and a half.
She also made me an “adult cake”, but I think I still prefer good old fashioned birthday cakes with lots of frosting.

My actual birthday was very uneventful, I was in Teguc and none of my friends were around so nobody knew it was my birthday, but I did get a few text messages, e-mails and of course facebook messages.

Hitchhiking Done Right

At the end of our service in Honduras all volunteers fill out a “COS Survey”. COS is a Peace Corps acronym for Close of Service (aka you made it, time to go home). The survey is just for fun and includes questions such as “the thing you missed most from the states”, “the most useless thing you brought to Honduras” and “the best hitchhiking experience you ever had”. A few weeks ago I had my best hitchhiking experience to date. I had planned to go to Tegucigalpa, the capital city, for medical check-ups and had planned several meetings with PC staff and other NGOs to talk about collaborating with the PC. I packed my bags and walked to the bus station but as I approached the bus stop there was no bus in sight and once I got there I saw a sign on the door which said there would be no service due to the national transportation strike. Transportation strikes are a common occurrence in Honduras. Gas prices are constantly going up and so it seems are prices for everything else. The bus ride from Santa Barbara to Tegucigalpa has gone up 40% within less than a year and a half. Usually Peace Corps knows about the strikes and warns us in advance but this time I was the one to inform Peace Corps.

There is only one bus service to Tegucigalpa which meant I had no other way to get there, which was a huge inconvenience because I would have to reschedule all my appointments. As I walked home from the bus stop I contemplated all my options: hitchhike or find somebody I knew who happened to be going to the capital. As I approached my apartment a random guy said hi to me in English and I rudely did not answer him. Then he asked me if I spoke English, so I said I did and we started talking. Turns out he is an engineer from Israel and is here in working with one of the cell phone companies. I mentioned that I needed to go to Teguc and said that his driver just happened to be going to Teguc and he could take me. Sweet! So, I got picked up at my door an hour later and was dropped of at my hotel in Teguc about 3 hours later, free of charge and with AC. I don’t think this actually qualifies as hitchhiking since I wasn’t waiting on the side of the road with my thumb out but who cares…

Networking in Honduras

Over the past few years the health project in Honduras has created a methodology called “Here Among Us…” to teach HIV prevention to adult men using interactive and provocative activities. In Honduras there are many organizations that work with HIV, but most often they work with youth and women and not adult men, which in some ways is the most important population to work with since they often make the sexual decisions. I personally think the methodology is great and I love leading it because it is so much fun. In fact we think the methodology is so great that we want other Honduran institutions to use it as well. So a few weeks ago I made a trip to Teguc and set up meetings with various NGOs, USAID, Pan American Health Organization, the Catholic Church and the Ministry of Health to tell them about the methodology and offer the services of volunteers to train their employees in the methodology. Everyone seemed very interested (of course) and said they wanted to plan a Training of Trainers for their employees. However, we shall see if anything actually comes through. It is very Honduran to say “Oh, yes of course, that sounds very interesting, we would love to work with you, anything you need just call” and then when you actually do call they don’t have the time or the money. Well, regardless of whether anything comes out of the meetings it was still an interesting experience to meet with these people, definitely not what I thought I would be doing before I came to the Peace Corps.

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.