Just wanted to post a little update on how things have been going for the past month that I haven’t posted.
I’ve gotten used to life here again after my little respite in the
On the project front, there is still no physical evidence of work being done, as I’m still in the search/wait for resources. I know I’ve said this before, but I really am on the cusp of getting money. RD$150,000 has been promised from a foundation with which my boss has really close ties. This money should be arriving any day now. With this amount of money I will be able to buy tools, tubes, and other materials to get the project started. Finally, we will be able to start the more physically demanding work that the project entails. In the meantime, I will continue following up on leads for more money. The local government, after going back and forth for a few months, has finally promised money starting in January. Through the grapevine I’ve heard I will be getting a total of RD$300,000 in installments starting then. Also, when my online grant fills up, which I know all you reading this have so graciously donated to, I will receive that US$5,000, or RD$165,000 to buy more project materials.
I know I have been begging for a while now, but please, if you know of anyone that might even be slightly interested, even with $5 or $10, any amount will help. Please send the link out to all of your friends and relatives. If all of you just cooked dinner at home one day instead of going out to eat and donated that difference, this grant would fill up quickly.
Hopefully before the year ends we will be able to get a few weeks of work in. I will be spending almost a week in the capital for Thanksgiving, and another few days in the beginning of December in a conference for 1 year in service training. We will also be taking several weeks off for Christmas and New Year’s as that’s what people who live in the campo here do. But from January onward we will be working hard to complete what I came here to do, which is bring running water to the community.
Beyond my water project, I am also starting a few smaller side projects to help the community out.
I will be starting a youth group to educate those in their early teens to mid-twenties to make healthy decisions. The group is called “Escojo Mi Vida” or “I Choose My Life.” It’s a Peace Corps wide program which aims to educate the youth about HIV/AIDS and other related themes which rarely, if ever, are discussed in school here.
Also, I will be starting to give English classes. This I’m not really looking forward too. All other volunteers have told me that this is one of the least rewarding things that you can do here. I decided against my better judgment after I received more than a few requests for me to do it. Hopefully it will be a little more rewarding for me since a lot of people in my community work in the tourism industry, and even if they know a little English, they will have better opportunities.
Last but not lease I will be working with my local woman’s group in educating them about business and health. I am scheduled to work with them on the 16th of November, together with my friend, to teach them how to make Mistolin, a floor cleaning product, which they can then sell and make a profit. There will be more activities like that in the future.
That’s it for now. I will have my eyes glued to the television tomorrow tonight watching history be made.
UPDATE:
I called my boss yesterday, the day I wrote the above post, and he said he was on his way to my community to give me the check. This morning I went with my project partner to deposit the RD$150,000 from La Fundacion ADEMI. This Saturday we have a community-wide meeting to inform them about everything that is going on with the project: food, work brigades, what's expected from them, etc. Our tentative start date is November 16th. Wish me luck. After a year of work, I finally get to get down and dirty and really do some work.
This however does not mean that you should stop looking and begging all your friends and relatives for money for me. I just found out recently that a matching gift from the company my brother works for was denied due to some tax reasons. This means that I now have US$1790 left to raise instead of US$490.
www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-263
Peace.
Yay! It's finally going to start. I'll try again and ask people to donate. Also, if you need any help with teaching English, let me know...I've learned a trick or two the past year.
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