- Help interested countries meet their needs of trained men and women, particularly in meeting the basic needs of those living in the poorest areas of such countries.
- Help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served.
- Help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people.
So, that’s it? Well… yeah, pretty much. When people think about service in the Peace Corps, most people think solely about the first goal, the physical work that we do in the country of service. This of course is great, and the main reason why we are here. But two thirds of the mission of the Peace Corps is to promote a better understanding of each other, which includes learning about another culture and sharing parts of your culture with them. Hence this blog, hopefully you will learn something about Paraguayans and their tranquilopa lifestyle.
Cool thanks for sharing… but now SPECIFICALLY what exactly will I be doing? Well, let me now share with you the three goals that are specific to what the community health sector in Paraguay is currently working on.
- Reduce the risk of NCDs (non-communicable diseases)
- Improve life skills and reproductive health in youth
- Improve maternal, neonatal and child health
Sweet. But how am I supposed to do any of that? Now here’s where the beauty of the Peace Corps comes in…. however I want to. Seriously. We can literally (almost) do anything we want within our own communities. For example, we could teach cooking classes that introduce more vegetables or healthier food options into the Paraguayan kitchens to reduce the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease (goal #1), start a community garden (goal #1), form a youth group or an after school group to discuss self esteem, healthy relationships, self respect and sexual health (goal #2), create a charla to explain to mothers the importance of breast feeding (goal #3)….. the possibilities are actually endless.
Alright, great. So in this moment, what am I actually doing to meet these goals?
Well, the first 10 weeks in Paraguay are spent in training. Besides learning the language (don’t even get me started on learning Guaraní) and making sure we stay safe and healthy, we have a series of technical trainings to give us the tools we need to be able to implement any given project and find the resources needed. For example, the other day we had a session on composting and we built a composting site at one of our tech centers. Once we get to our future sites and have integrated into our community, we can assess their needs and begin projects. If we notice that some of the needs are not related to the goals….well then the community is screwed. JUST KIDDING. If we have the correct resources and skills to meet their needs, we can work on the projects in order to do so. These are called secondary projects, and we are all encouraged to have secondary projects. So although the three goals are the main focus of our work here in Paraguay, we can also work on other projects on things we are passionate about, or in areas that we see the need.
Hopefully this didn’t confuse anyone and they all have a better idea of what I’m actually SUPPOSED to be doing here. I guess we’ll HOPEFULLY see what I do to work towards meeting these goals. Stay tuned!