Hello! I have now been living in Paraguay about 7.5 months and have spent an amazing five months in my site in south. Many of the differences in Paraguayan society and culture are becoming my norm. It´s not surprising anymore when an ox cart passes in front of my house (I am still trying to get a ride on one), I´ve learned which way to pass the cup of mate (always to the right), and I am slowly beginning to learn what seasons everything is planted and why. I am still working with the people in my site to help them figure out exactly how PC works and to find my role in the community.
One of the things that stands out right now in my service is how often (and the amount of success) I´ve had working with women and women´s groups in my site. Comissions, especially women´s comissions, are very popular in my site. Although there are only 60 families in my community, more than 30 women (aka the mothers) participate in women´s comissions. These comissions, which can range from a PTA to a farmer´s comittee, are part of the way in which the government is able to aliment and aid families living out in the countryside. Oficially registered with the government, the comissions have the opportunity to decide what projects they would like to do to improve the community and the lives of their members (examples--raise chickens, pigs, build sanitary/modern bathrooms, get a fence around the school yard). The comissions then apply for grants from the government for the supplies for these projects.
The traditional gender structure in my community--men working to make an income, generally outside the home, while the women work at home raising children, farm animals, and gardening--often leaves few opportunities for the men to gather in the community. On the otherhand, the women who are able to meet more often, use the comissions to voice their own needs and concerns. While the women may not have as a strong a role in their family´s personal finances, in the comissions they plan fund raisers, work with government officials, and often bring great structural (modern bathrooms) and economic changes (farm animal projects) to their homes.
Ña Josefina (my community contact)´s comission, was the comission that requested a PC volunteer to come to the community in the first place. Ña J, who always laughs whenever I call her ¨Mrs. President¨ (Ña Presidenta), is in her mid-thirties, has three kids of her own, and is always welcoming another cousin or two to stay in her home. Sometimes when she describes the odessys of bringing in requests or forms to the government, she describes the journey in such detail and with such fervor, that I can´t tell whether or not she was successful at first (but she always is). Ña J´s comission´s main project is to provide sanitary (and modern) bathrooms to all the members of the group. This project is very special in terms of women´s development. While men in the community do not prioritize modern bathrooms over their current latrines, the women want enclosed, safe spaces. Unless the women organize and work to complete this project, their voices and need will often remain unaddressed or not prioritized. Also Ña J´s comission knows how to throw a party/fundraiser. They´ve been raking it in recently with some very successful bingo/dance parties.
Ña Tomasa´s comission is the oldest women´s comission in my community. They are also part way through a modern bathroom project, have worked in combination with a yerba mate company and an Italian organization to grow medicinal herbs (they recieve the plants from the italian organization and sell the dried leaves to be mixed into the Yerba Mate teas), and have done projects with chickens and to improve their gardens. Observing the success and experience of Ña Tomasa´s comission, I have attempted to share some of their successful ideas and collaborations with Ña J´s comission. While Ña Tomasa´s comission is located rather far away from Ña J´s (so it would be difficult for Ña J´s women to participate), as the PC volunteer (with a bike that generally works!) I am able to help disseminate the info.
And finally, one day I was taking a bit of a rest in the hammock (yes, I have a hammock on my porch), I heard the sound of many voices coming from my neighbor´s patio. Hmmmm...I marched over and landed on a third women´s comission (they were just beginning to fill out their paperwork at this meeting). They are very new, and I am very appreciative of their location!! Right now it seems like they all want to change but aren´t quite sure exactly the direction. They are also still learning the ropes. I am excited to work with them through this process of firming things up and starting off on their first project.
P.S. Although it´s not technically a women´s comission, my next door neighbor (an extremely hard'working, sassy, independent teenage mother) noticed that while there are a lot of gathering and extracurricular opportunities for boys in the community (daily soccer tournaments, volleyball), there are not many extracurricular options for teenage women. She would really like to start a high'school aged girls group. This is still in the works. It was pretty exciting, however, to realize that at this point 5 months into site,
1. We could actually have a conversation in guarani and have developed a relationship where we have deeper conversations than´´what´s up¨
2. She voiced her dreams/ideas for improving her life and the community to me in a direct way (needs assesment is not an obvious concept in rural Paraguay, who knows about anywhere else in the world).
3. She realized that a girls group would be something that I could help with as a PC volunteer.
Last but not least--i am the very excited owner of a new cat! I was walking to my 2nd host family to celebrate PYan mothers day and i see this really nice grain sack in the middle of the road. I really wanted that grain sack!! When i picked it up, it was kind of heavy, looking inside i found Jasy, my new cat. Jasy (almost pronounced yazoo) means moon in guarani.
Thats all for now!
Emily
