In Colombia, there is a correlation of increased women’s income and investment of child well-being. That’s why Peace Corps Volunteers are working to develop and educate women about economic opportunities available to them.
Guyana Volunteer Alex came up with an innovative way to teach English and encourage his students’ creativity through “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme song. How fun!
“Without access to books,I told stories as best I could remember them. The older boys enjoyed scary stories like “Dracula” and “Frankenstein,” whereas the girls liked happy stories such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
In this vintage photo, Ecuador PCV Robert B. Anderson is constructing a cheese factory under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture. The factory was being built to teach companies how to make cheese under approved Ministry of Health sanitary regulations.
Here are some “platos tipicos nortenos,” or Typical Northern Plates, as they are commonly referred to, that I’ve been eating around the holidays (clockwise starting in the left-hand corner): a) ceviche, b) “sudado,” or fish, vegetables, and herbs cooked in chicha de jora (of which I was given the privilege to eat the eye), c) fried fish served with plantains, and d) “patasca,” a corn-based soup eaten on Sunday mornings.
The people of the northern regions (Piura, Tumbes, Lambayeque) are very proud of their gastronomy and many Peruvians consider northern plates to be the best overall.
“Through art, I was able to show the complicated beauty of my Peace Corps site, a community struggling through cycles of poverty while trapped in the midst of a rich, booming tourism industry.” – “Documenting daily life in Colombia through illustration”
Special shout out to the little children of Jardín (preschool) who warm my heart every time they greet me screaming “SAMANTA” with a giant smile on their cute faces.
A few photos from my whirlwind of a time during training.
One of the first days we learned about all the different jujos that Paraguayans use in their terere, or cold yerba mate tea. My favorites include lemongrass (cedron/kapi’i) and mint (burrito).
One of my favorite spots in my training community was a little fish pond by my house! My host mom and grandparents would crumble up some bread and feed it to the fish, just to watch them. Sometimes my friends and I would play music here too.
On a visit to another volunteer’s site I got to work with bees! We harvested so much honey from a old rotted hive and gave them a new Top Bar Hive to live in.
Most time was (and will be) spent waiting for the bus.
All 45 trainees all celebrated Thanksgiving at a lovely cafe and reserve. It was a sweet time with friends.
For my Aspirantes in Accion project I was delighted to be able to put on Ahendu’i in my community with my friend Johnny. This was a festival of sharing music from both Paraguay and the United States. We served popcorn and lemongrass-ginger tea in hopes of luring a few undecided individuals and got about 20 people to come including six Paraguayans! This was a success for sure, especially since Paraguayans don’t usually go out on rainy days. I’d love to be able to share culture in a similar way in my site.
“Mamita de Flores. Every time she sees me she throws her hands up like this and scream-whispers ‘gringuuuucha.’ Never fails to put a smile on my face.” - Peace Corps Peru Volunteer Devon Martin http://bit.ly/1TUOkJJ
