The Great Update!

Despite the fact that it has been awhile since I last blogged, I guarantee this blog will not be a disappointment. The biggest question I will address is what the heck has happened to my life in the last two months?! Things have changed here in site, and as they say: Peace Corps is difficult, but never in the ways you expect.

One of the main things you notice living in Paraguay is the pace of everyday tasks. Living in the States we become accustomed to the instant gratification and rapid pace of business. If we want something, usually it is just a phone call or short drive away. The case is rare that we have to wait longer than a week for anyhing, which when you think about it is an incredible achievement of our society. However this is generally not the way the rest of the world works, especially here where the catchphrase is "tranquilopa" or "chill." Nothing ever happens quickly. Little by little you begin to get used to this, but every once in a while it builds up to absolutely frustrate you to the point of exhaustion. These things can range from the pace of mail (horrendously slow; the record for longest transit of a package sent from the US is 3 years) to administrative urgency (even though I called twice, and visited the office once, it has taken me two weeks to get my internet up and running). The bright side of these frustrations is that when you finally do receive something (a package from home, your computer, or your internet) it feels incredible, like Christmas came early.

Building on that last statement, yes, I have once again entered the world of technological interconnectivity. I have my computer, as well as internet. So hopefully now that I am on my own time (and don't have to continuously pay to use a computer) the blogs will be more frequent and detailed. Also if anyone wants a Skype chat, I usually have plenty of free time in the evenings. Anyways, on to my adventures here in site!

You know the day's going to be interesting when the mayor of your town, whom you only met the day before, and don't remember giving your number (I didn't; he got it from my cooperative), calls you up out of the blue first thing in the morning and asks you to swing by his office to chat about a project. I tell him "of course," hop in the shower, throw on my best shirt, and am out the door in less than 20 minutes. When I arrive at the Municipalidad (the government building), I just walk into the mayor's office like it's no big deal and start chatting away with him. I wasn't completely sure what he wanted; it's always a bit difficult to understand people over the phone, mainly because they aren't standing in front of you giving off other contextual clues. Over the phone I got the important things: come to my office in a half hour, something something, computers and the hospital. In person, the task becomes slightly more daunting. The hospital has asked for help in organizing their files from a paper system to computerized, to better serve the people of Eusebio Ayala.

There is something I should clarify a minute. The hospital is a government run organization, and provides the citizens of the country access to free health care. As such, in a country with financial struggles such as Paraguay, it's not in the best shape. Anyone who has a bit of money generally goes to the private hospitals, where the health care is better and the doctors get paid more. In fact Peace Corps mandates that we use specifically listed hospitals, most of them run by German and Canadian Mennonites, to ensure we are receiving decent quality emergency care. For everyday visits, we have our own doctors that operate a health center in our office in Asuncion. To make a long story short, the people who use the run down hospitals here are the people who generally have the greatest need.

The hospital secretary came and collected me, and away we went. When I got to the hospital, I immediately realized their problem. Their filing system was, for lack of a better word, a disaster. They use a numeric filing system, allocating a number to each person and filing (I'm guessing?) more or less alphabetically. The files looked like they were from the 1920's, and some of them were falling apart. The hospital secretary assumed I knew computer programming (I don't) and assumed I could write them a program to help sort through the mess (I can't). However, I told them not to be discouraged, as I could make a few phone calls to find out exactly what was possible. I assured them that I would help, and we would find a solution. I bid them farewell, offering to stop by next week when I have more information.

A few hours and a couple of phone calls later, I had what I needed. The Peace Corps Health coordinator got me the contact information of a member of the Health Ministry, so that I could find out what sort of program they use in the central hospitals in Asuncion. Once I find out that information, my coordinator assured me that Peace Corps could get me the program so that I can begin the process of helping the hospital. Once the program is installed on their computer, I will begin teaching the office staff exactly how to use it before we start digitizing the records. That way I am not the only one who knows what to do, and the workload is not so weighted on my time alone. It also makes the project more sustainable, which is the overall long term goal of Peace Corps projects.

Aside from my main project of working with the Cooperative, which is moving along like a snail, I have several other projects that are coming along nicely. These include my work on a World Map Project with a local elementary school, solid meetings with the librarian of the Municipal Library, hoping to start a reading club, as well as a prospective project helping a women's group look into environmental programs here in Paraguay. All these things aside, perhaps the pride and joy of my work thus far has been a collaboration of Peace Corps Volunteers on our first semi-annual Business Taller (workshop). This program has hit the ground running, with weekly meetings via internet and extensive independent work on Logistics, Programming, and Financing. I have been helping mostly with the Steering Committee, trying to decide exactly what we want this program to look like, and where we want to take it in the long run. I am also helping with some of the logistical planning. Our target for the first workshop is the beginning of March. While we started with a modest plan, our project has now attracted the attention and support of virtually any and all resources we could think of, from our Country Director to local Paraguayan Government to USAID (United States Agency for International Development; this is the main program that distributes foreign aid abroad). I will be sure to keep the blog updated as this project progresses.

In other news, stay tuned later this week for updates on my housing and social life here in site!