December Already! Geez! When did that happen........ I guess somewhere between workshops, coups, support group, elections, mantas, and World Aids day. I have been one busy lady lately!
Most recently we commemorated world aids day here in Santa Rosa the 1st. Alot of places suspended their activities until the weekend because of the elections that took place the 29th. Not here! We had a march down the main drag of town, information booths in the park and games about HIV and a fundraiser... we got about 8,000 lempiras! (400 dollars!) We are excited we got that much considering the economic state of the country... although it is about 1/2 of what we collected the last time we did it in 2007. This money along with the money we get from the embroidered kitchen clothes goes to help the support group members in moment of crisis. If they are hospitalized we buy them supplies--- as the hospital here doesn't give them anything (not even TP!), if they need extra tests or exams we can help pay for it... even when they pass away, we can help with funeral costs. If anyone back home would like to donate to the group please let me know and we can work something out! Every little bit helps.
Now I am onto my next task... planning the national workshop for people living with HIV/AIDS. This workshop is set for Dec. 8th-11th in the beach town of Tela. We are expecting around 45 participants from support groups around the country and the PCVs that work with the. The topic is Healthy Lifestyles-- should be a very good time!
I cooked Thanksgiving here for the 2nd year! It was really good and very delicious. A small group of volunteers came over and we had a really great day. I am very thankful to have such nice people in my life!
I am starting to apply for jobs back home-- only 5 more months in Honduras. It is crazy how fast 2 yrs has gone by and I am starting to freak out about it all. Parents come down in December to meet my boyfriend so that should take my mind off things for a while. hehe
That is it for now.. i will try and post some pictures of thanksgiving and World Aids Day!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Back in grade school...
Hello everyone!
So I am sure you have heard that here in Honduras we are dealing the this whole political crisis once again. This past August and September, things have been pretty calm. Nothing really going in regards to the coup... life returned to basically normal. I had started working on planning my last few Peace Corps projects and in general have been doing pretty well.
This Monday that all changed when Mel snuck back in the country causing a big giant muck in the capital. Because of all of the vandalism and craziness the government has been issuing daily curfews. We had curfew from 4pm Monday, All day Tuesday until 10am Wednesday. Being that I live in a larger town, we observed the curfew. Shops were closed, groceries were closed, the market was closed..... the town was silent and I couldn't leave my house. Today we were finally able to leave and buy food and tomorrow they say that things will be back to normal again-- but we will have to see what happens. I feel like a kid again...kinda funny.
Below I posted a link to the BBC website that gives a good explanation of the course of events over these past few months for anyone that might not be up to speed on the situation.
Well, as for now I think I am off to bed...all this walking around town today has got me pretty beat.
Adios!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Feria
Hello all! So it is already September and that means almost my birthday! August went by soooo fast because there was so much to do since it was feria. The whole month of August we celebrate our local fair here in Santa Rosa. The whole thing kicks off at 4am august 1st when a man in a truck drives all around the city blowing off loud firecrackers to wake everyone up. It isn't my favorite tradition and didn't really appreciate being woken up that early but it did mean it was the start of a whole lot of fun. The main feria events happened at the end of the month with the Coronation of the queen of the feria, queen of tabacco and child queen.
The last 2 weeks of the month we had the "Feria de los Llanos" which consisted of different restuarants around town selling food in a fairground setting. People were also selling artesania.. i bought some cool earrings and a wallet made out of chip bags. The last Friday of August was "Noche de Fumadores" or smoker's night which was an event to celebrate the Tabacco industry which has been such a part of the history of this region. There were tons of PCVs that came to Santa Rosa just to go to this event which was soooo much fun. We danced, ate, smoked cigars and basically had a whole lot of fun. There was a woman from the factory hand rolling cigars right up in the front which was pretty neat to see.
The last 2 weeks of the month we had the "Feria de los Llanos" which consisted of different restuarants around town selling food in a fairground setting. People were also selling artesania.. i bought some cool earrings and a wallet made out of chip bags. The last Friday of August was "Noche de Fumadores" or smoker's night which was an event to celebrate the Tabacco industry which has been such a part of the history of this region. There were tons of PCVs that came to Santa Rosa just to go to this event which was soooo much fun. We danced, ate, smoked cigars and basically had a whole lot of fun. There was a woman from the factory hand rolling cigars right up in the front which was pretty neat to see.
The following day there was the "Tarde con Aroma de Cafe" which was an event where the coffee producers from the area come and give samples or their coffee and the local coffee shops make cappuchinos. This year we were lucky to have Guillermo Anderson, a famous Honduran singer/songwriter come and perform for us in the park. It was a great day and a great concert. His music is rooted in honduran culture and the lyrics celebrate things that are very honduran in nature. 
All in all it was a very good feria, very well planned by the feria committee and a good time was had by all.
All in all it was a very good feria, very well planned by the feria committee and a good time was had by all. I am happy to have things back to normal but sad because it was my last feria :( I won't be here this time next year-- time flies!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Wake up call
Hello everyone... sorry for not updating recently. I tried to one time and I wrote this whole long entry about the coup and then when I went to post it my internet went out and I lost it all-- maybe it wasn't meant to be.
So yesterday I had a big eye opener here. As most of you I have been working with the support group for people living with HIV/ Aids. This past week we had a workshop on income generation and one of my support group members came from a surrounding community. She has been really sick lately but was feeling better enough to come to the workshop. On the last day of the workshop she started getting sick again and sent for me to get her dinner and bring it to her room. When I got there she was burning up 102 degree fever, chills, shortness of breath-- i was really worried. I told the peace corps staff that were incharge that she was in bad shape and we ended up taking her to the hospital where she was admitted. It was really upsetting for me because I have watched her deteriorate over the last 6 months and she is just sooooo skinny now. Now the doctors are talking about how they want to do a cat scan on her brain because she has severe headaches all the time, in addition to chronic diahrrea. The test itself is 3500 lempira.... basically a month's salary for her and her husband so there is no way she can afford it. Thank god we have the support group fund and the Manta business because with that money we are able to pay for the test, but depending on what comes from this test-- who knows what the costs will be.
It is just so difficult sometimes because I work with these people every month and for the most part they are in good health (we have been lucky) so it is easy to forget that they really are sick...until something like this happens and is a quick reminder that these people really do have a serious illness and being sick is unfortunately something they have to deal with way more than the average person.
Sorry this isn't a cheery update...maybe next time I will have a little more uplifting news.
-Kristina
So yesterday I had a big eye opener here. As most of you I have been working with the support group for people living with HIV/ Aids. This past week we had a workshop on income generation and one of my support group members came from a surrounding community. She has been really sick lately but was feeling better enough to come to the workshop. On the last day of the workshop she started getting sick again and sent for me to get her dinner and bring it to her room. When I got there she was burning up 102 degree fever, chills, shortness of breath-- i was really worried. I told the peace corps staff that were incharge that she was in bad shape and we ended up taking her to the hospital where she was admitted. It was really upsetting for me because I have watched her deteriorate over the last 6 months and she is just sooooo skinny now. Now the doctors are talking about how they want to do a cat scan on her brain because she has severe headaches all the time, in addition to chronic diahrrea. The test itself is 3500 lempira.... basically a month's salary for her and her husband so there is no way she can afford it. Thank god we have the support group fund and the Manta business because with that money we are able to pay for the test, but depending on what comes from this test-- who knows what the costs will be.
It is just so difficult sometimes because I work with these people every month and for the most part they are in good health (we have been lucky) so it is easy to forget that they really are sick...until something like this happens and is a quick reminder that these people really do have a serious illness and being sick is unfortunately something they have to deal with way more than the average person.
Sorry this isn't a cheery update...maybe next time I will have a little more uplifting news.
-Kristina
Thursday, March 5, 2009
My work
Hello everyone! I hope you are all staying warm.. i hear it is pretty cold back home. Well if it makes you feel any better I am freezing here too! I don't know what is up with the weather lately but it has been crazy.... March and April are suppose to be the hottest months, but yet i find myself wearing 2 long sleeve shirts and wrapped up in a blanket.
So I am not sure if I have ever blogged about what exactly it is that I do here. My main project that I am working on is the Santa Rosa Support group "Fe and Esperanza" or faith and hope in english. It is a group that meets every month for people living with HIV/AIDS or PLWHA for short. The group itself was started by my counterpart 3 yrs ago and since then has grown to be quite a large group... every month we have about 25 people show up plus children. We meet the last friday every month and discuss all sorts of things!
The health project has a manual for working with PLWHA developed by the PVVS team which I am also a member of. Of the course of the last few years the team has been developing and editing the manual so that it can be more useful and user-friendly for Hondurans and who ever else would be using it (mainly volunteers). Well anyways, every month we pick a few activities that are related to an overall theme.... for example in December we talked about adherence to treatment because we have had a few members who want to go off their meds. So we did lots of activities explaining what exactly the meds do in their body and how the virus affects their immune system and how if htey verve off their treatment course then they can develop a virus which is resistent to the medicines we have available.
Also with the support group we have started a little mini-business of making mantas.... which are little knitted or embroidered clothes that people use here to wrap up tortillas and keep them warm. Every month support group members take 4 clothes that have various pictures drawn on them and work all month long making their mantas. At the monthlymeeting they turn all them in and we sell what we have made. With all the funds we raise from the business we help members of the support group in case they get sick or need to go to a special doctor or get special tests. Because their immune system is compromised they are very suseptable to infections that maybe not affect someone with a healthy immune system.. so just an average cold can get pretty serious for them. We have had people in the group who develop cancer's and need biopsy's which require a trip to SPS... so we use some of the $ from the business to help pay for the transport to SPS. Because of the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV many of them can't get jobs or are fired from their jobs so they are very poor.
Manta
Selling Mantas in the park with a volunteer from Canada.
Thanksgiving activity. Members wrote down on their turkey reasons they were thankful.
So I am not sure if I have ever blogged about what exactly it is that I do here. My main project that I am working on is the Santa Rosa Support group "Fe and Esperanza" or faith and hope in english. It is a group that meets every month for people living with HIV/AIDS or PLWHA for short. The group itself was started by my counterpart 3 yrs ago and since then has grown to be quite a large group... every month we have about 25 people show up plus children. We meet the last friday every month and discuss all sorts of things!
The health project has a manual for working with PLWHA developed by the PVVS team which I am also a member of. Of the course of the last few years the team has been developing and editing the manual so that it can be more useful and user-friendly for Hondurans and who ever else would be using it (mainly volunteers). Well anyways, every month we pick a few activities that are related to an overall theme.... for example in December we talked about adherence to treatment because we have had a few members who want to go off their meds. So we did lots of activities explaining what exactly the meds do in their body and how the virus affects their immune system and how if htey verve off their treatment course then they can develop a virus which is resistent to the medicines we have available.
Also with the support group we have started a little mini-business of making mantas.... which are little knitted or embroidered clothes that people use here to wrap up tortillas and keep them warm. Every month support group members take 4 clothes that have various pictures drawn on them and work all month long making their mantas. At the monthlymeeting they turn all them in and we sell what we have made. With all the funds we raise from the business we help members of the support group in case they get sick or need to go to a special doctor or get special tests. Because their immune system is compromised they are very suseptable to infections that maybe not affect someone with a healthy immune system.. so just an average cold can get pretty serious for them. We have had people in the group who develop cancer's and need biopsy's which require a trip to SPS... so we use some of the $ from the business to help pay for the transport to SPS. Because of the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV many of them can't get jobs or are fired from their jobs so they are very poor.
Manta
Selling Mantas in the park with a volunteer from Canada.
Thanksgiving activity. Members wrote down on their turkey reasons they were thankful.The group is fun and it is great to see all their wonderful faces every month. Recently we have been talking alot about how the group has helped them deal with their situation. Most of them come to us very depressed and lonely, feeling like they are the only one dealing with this... but after a few months you can really see the difference and see how much their spirits are lifted. It is a constant up and down but that is why we are there.... we cry together, laugh together and most of all have a good time together. I feel like in some way they are part of my Honduran family here and it feels good to walk into a room where I know I am loved.
Friday, February 6, 2009
House Guests
Soooo... everyone loves the occasional stop by from visitors. I have alot of them in my house...Matt, Sarah, Katie, Anna... the list goes on! Well, this morning I had quite the unexpected visitor! Recently it has been very cold in Santa Rosa and rainy -- for the last 3 days, but thanks to the warm long sleeved fleece PJ's my dad got me for christmas, I have been able to sleep nice and warm...... and apparently so has another. I woke up this morning around 6am and i felt a little scurry along my arm.... i open my eyes to find that a MOUSE has been sleeping IN MY SLEEVE!!! I immediately freaked out-- called my parents in the states to see what I should do. A MOUSE... IN MY SLEEVE!! SOOOO GROSS!I am still in disbelief! I mean everyone wants a cuddle buddy but I am sorry little brown 2 inch long creatures aren't exactly my type.
I noticed that he had run down under the bed so I assumed he was living in my suitcase. I closed the door so he couldn't get out of the room-- i figured better if I know where he is than let him wander around the house. I took all the suitcases out and nothing... no mouse! I moved all my clothes around and little bags... nothing-still no mouse. I then decide to check the mattress to see if there is a hole in it, in which he could have escaped into.... I lifted the mattress to find my furry house guest sandwiched between the mattress and the boxspring- worst yet, he was still alive. I tried sitting on him, jumping on him but because the mattress is soft he was still alive. I finally called in the reinforcements-- my host sister Michelle. We devised a plan of her lift the mattress, I cover him with a plastic yellow bag and then she smush him with a hard book. After some failed attempts-- due to the nerves... we finally had him covered with the yellow bag with the book on top and now we just had to squish him. I didn't want to kill him, but sadly enough it was the only way it could happen. After the smush... I grabbed him with the bag by the tail and threw him out the gate.
Poor guy (at least I hope it's a guy and there aren't any baby mice around here)...at least I know he had a good last meal from the half eaten Reese's Cup I found the other day-- that is what you get for eating my Reese's little friend... don't mess with a girl's chocolate stash!
The Aftermath!
I noticed that he had run down under the bed so I assumed he was living in my suitcase. I closed the door so he couldn't get out of the room-- i figured better if I know where he is than let him wander around the house. I took all the suitcases out and nothing... no mouse! I moved all my clothes around and little bags... nothing-still no mouse. I then decide to check the mattress to see if there is a hole in it, in which he could have escaped into.... I lifted the mattress to find my furry house guest sandwiched between the mattress and the boxspring- worst yet, he was still alive. I tried sitting on him, jumping on him but because the mattress is soft he was still alive. I finally called in the reinforcements-- my host sister Michelle. We devised a plan of her lift the mattress, I cover him with a plastic yellow bag and then she smush him with a hard book. After some failed attempts-- due to the nerves... we finally had him covered with the yellow bag with the book on top and now we just had to squish him. I didn't want to kill him, but sadly enough it was the only way it could happen. After the smush... I grabbed him with the bag by the tail and threw him out the gate.
Poor guy (at least I hope it's a guy and there aren't any baby mice around here)...at least I know he had a good last meal from the half eaten Reese's Cup I found the other day-- that is what you get for eating my Reese's little friend... don't mess with a girl's chocolate stash!
The Aftermath!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
February Already!
Hello everyone... so I am still trying to get over the fact that it is 2009, but it is even harder to believe that I have been in Honduras nearly a month (Feb 13th makes 1 yr exactly). Crazy how fast time flys. It has definitly been a hard year, adjusting to life in Honduras, working/trying to start projects..... but all in all it has been a successful year. I think one important thing that have learned in this past year in Honduras is more of what kinda of person I am. Alot of inner-reflextion. I have lots of time to think and just be myself without the influence of anyone else. It is a constant learning process and I have a whole year left to process it all.... but you sure do learn alot about yourself when you are ripped away from all things familiar and forced to survive in a foreign land without a familiar face in sight. I am constantly surprised at the things I am able to do now on my own.. things I never thought I would ever be doing (homemade bagels and making all sorts of food from scratch, spend hours doing absolutlely nothing but not even be bored, washing my entire wardrobe by hand, rediscovering my love for books, forget about the television and just disconnect from the world....etc). It is tough to be so far away from everyone and sure there good and bad days-- but it is just one big learning experience and I think it is important to take the time to sit back and soak it all in. I feel like alot of the time in the states we never give ourselves a minute just to reflect... to think about who we are as individuals and what kinda of person we are trying to be. Just to pause for a second and look inside- back on life and the events that have happened.... to give yourself 5 or 10 minutes just to process it all. I have had lots of time to do this and sure.... I think that sometimes it confuses me more but the more and more I am able to relax and give myself a moment just for me-- i am able to discover things about myself I didn't even know existed. You all should try it.... just look back on your day or week. What happened? How did you handle the day? Why did these things happen? Are there things you would do over--why and how would you do it different? Just take a minute, breathe, relax and reflect. Sometimes we have to step back and work on us a little bit.
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