Garden instead.
What can I do when only 10 people show up to my community diagnostic presentation? I certainly didn't have enough people to elect a JASS (the current committee members didn't even show) or a viviendas saludables (healthy homes) committee.
Forget the JASS for now. Go door to door asking (begging?) for people to both participate in the project and serve on the committee.
At least, that is how I have answered those questions for myself (I'm of course welcoming any input you may have!). I haven't entirely given up on the water committee--after all, educating the water committee and working with them to improve the system is the main goal of the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) program. We still need a JASS. But I'm putting that project on the back burner for now. It seems like a waste of time to keep trying to drag people along when there is a committee of professors at the school who want to start a biohuerto (vegetable garden with natural fertilizers and hopefully no pesticides if we can help it) and are actively looking for help with the project. I'm mixing in a little bit of WATSAN, too, by incorporating trash management--we can use organics to make fertilizer, recycle the recyclables and bury the rest in our own mico-relleno (mini-garbage dump).
Nothing is set in stone yet, but I have been working with 2 environmental engineers who work for the municipality of Chao (district government) to write a project proposal--they were a huge help, especially with the budget. Ideally the municipality will pay for half, and I am applying for a Kids to Kids grant to cover the other half. The application is due June 1st, so I have a lot to do the next couple of days. Wish me luck!
As far as the viviendas saludables project, I was able to develop part of a project plan for part of this project during the Project Design and Management workshop (PDM) last month with my neighbor, Frida Doris. We are all required to bring a community counterpart to PDM--most volunteers brought people who work for the municipality or have some other leadership position, but since Buena Vista isn't exactly a beacon for good leadership and my neighbor has been the most helpful person I've met so far, I brought her.
Since we got back, I have been mainly focused on the biohuerto project's upcoming deadline, so we haven't made any progress in terms of setting up a committee to start organizing everything, but hopefully soon we can start going door to door asking for participants and/or committee members to come forward. The biggest part of this project will be improved cooking stoves--cocinas mejoaradas--which is also not exactly a WATSAN project, but there is a huge push for them in Peru (and in the development world in general) and in my surveys my community did show high rates of respiratory issues. I'm hoping to get funding to build the majority of the cocinas, so the community contribution will be more focused on attending my workshops than on money--in those workshops, I can cover not only information about the cocinas, but also contamination routes, disease control, water storage safety, etc. The idea is that by the end, each family will then have a "vivienda saludable"--an all-around healthier home. While the kitchen improvement is a huge part of the project, it is also something like a bride to get families to participate in other components as well.
Between these two project, I feel a little bit like I'm forgetting my program goals, but I've snuck them in there somewhat, and since I am still working to meet community needs, what does it matter?
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Besides work, I have done a bit of traveling lately--down to Lima for PDM, up to Huamanchuco to visit Greg, and now I'm currently in Trujillo after the regional meeting. It's been a lot of fun, check out my photos on Facebook! I'm also really looking forward to Katherine's visit next month and our trip to Huaraz! And my family's visit in August and our trip to Cuzco! I really think I lucked out on my Peace Corps placement--there are so many places just in Peru that I want to visit, not to mention the rest of South America. So many adventures! :)
I also had a great time with my host family on Mother's Day--we went in to Chao to visit my host mom's mother and family, and ate ceviche and duck.
Cleaning the ducks! My host mom is on the right.