Getting Tech Savvy

Project update! The start of March also brought a new project for me – computer classes at the muni in site! The inauguration was a big deal. The mayor came, people applauded, and on March 6th we officially had our first class!

The classes are Monday-Thursday (same people go M/W and T/R), 1 hour long, and then there are 4 different sessions each day. In total, we are currently teaching 32 people basic computer skills. I only go twice a week since I have other commitments, and my counterpart who works at the muni is the main lady in charge. She leads the class, while I help monitor and answer questions. Look at that sustainability!

So far it has been going well. The students have to turn on and off the computer at the start and end of every session, and then we have a typing program that they are working their way through. Once they are all more comfortable with the keyboard and mouse (I forgot how weird a mouse can be if you have never seen one before. I saw one lady pick it up and place it on the screen not knowing how to use it), we will move on to applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The mayor also said we will get our internet fixed (I’ll believe it when I see it…), so we will teach Google searches (can I get paid from Google for exclusively promoting their search engine? That would be awesome), how to work e-mail, and even the much anticipated Facebook. Don’t worry, I will teach Facebook etiquette as well (since I had to learn that too… woops), so hopefully I won’t be seeing too many revealing poses of the females modeling…

I also started a photography class, which is lots of fun! Will post on that later! (And sorry for the excessive use of parentheses’ in this post.)

Hope all is well!

February

Hello! Sorry for the long delay in posts… I sorta broke my computer at the beginning of February and have had very little internet, so it has been difficult to update.

So, what was I up to in February, you ask? Well, on February 9, I hit my one-year mark in country! Luckily, I was able to celebrate it with a lot of my G38 friends in Asuncion. I think we are all amazed at how fast the time has flown, as well as proud that all 28 of us who arrived a year ago are still here today. This also means that the new group of health volunteers is here! So, welcome to our sister G, G41!


With the library, I hit a bit of a wall. I really didn’t enjoy going there anymore. But then Valentine’s Day came along; I came up with a craft activity, and was rejuvenated. The kids LOVED the crafts! I’m not very artsy, which is why I never tried it before. I realized, though, that the simplest things are great for the kids, in which case my level of art is perfect! So last month we made valentines, drew our family trees, and made a welcome sign for a trainee visit I had at the end of the month. Also, I think we may have found a librarian!! Once I get more details I will post, but this is very exciting news!!!


I also started a reading club at the library. The first week failed. Only 2 kids came, and no one wanted to read. Week 2 brought 3 kids and we read two Curios George books in a circle, and played some checkers. Week three I came up with a plan: Read The Little Mermaid, create a word of the week based on the book (this week’s word was dreams), and then a writing activity based on the book/word. Smashing success! So now I will have that same layout weekly.


The last week of February I had a trainee, Meagan, come and visit me in site. I was super excited about it! When I went on my PCV visit a year ago, it made me so excited about my service, and so I hoped to do the same with this volunteer. We worked at the library, visited the health post, wrote a pedido for a new project to the government, visited with families, played pool and drank beers, and she even killed a chicken just like I did last year!! I had a great time, and of course hope that she enjoyed it as well!


What else… OH! I booked my flight in May to visit my cousins in Chile!!! It will just be a long weekend since they are busy with jobs and a kid and I am busy here, but I am SO EXCITED!!! I haven’t seen these guys since their wedding 5 years ago, so it will be a great chance to catch up and just hang out.

While a short month, I managed to cram a lot into it. As always, thanks for reading and hope you are well!