These past few weeks have been pretty uneventful but enough small progress to warrant a new update.  The basketball court is still sitting there with only 2 lights and no fencing (it is amazing how one person can really hold up a project..), the recycling committee almost fell apart but we managed to reorganize and recommit to it, the ADI has some new projects they have asked me to assist with and the medical clinic has finally gotten around to meet again with me to discuss the grant project.  Unfortunately these past 2 weeks have mainly just been conversations and discussions about future work which always seems to be the case here but I think by keeping my options open hopefully something will come of these conversations.

Recycling

I have a lot of aspirations for this group of youth here but kids here in Linea Vieja don't necessarily have the same amount of free time and youth as I am accustomed to in middle class United States.  Rather than coming home from school, doing homework and spending the rest of the day relaxing or playing with friends, many come directly from school to chores in the house and not cleaning their room or washing dishes but working in the field, caring for the cows and pigs or harvesting the families crops.  When I started with the recycling committee I thought it would be a welcome distraction for the kids in the community but I have found since that even an hour of free time is something that they value and unless they are really invested in the topic or class, it is tough to keep their attention and motivation.  This was the same with English classes, computer classes, and is even tougher with the adults here. 

After not showing up to a small training in the escuela last month, the president of the committee decided he didn't want to continue with the group and I was ready to say f**k it, send what money is left over from the small grant, and call it a failure.  The remaining members said they want to continue but I had to say that we would have to operate differently after seeing so little progress in the past year and little commitment to the project.  We have our first official meeting tomorrow to discuss how and if we really want to continue with the project and what the first steps will be moving forward.  Complicating matters is that the water pump is sucking in a lot of air and isn't working nearly as well as it should be so really we are still stuck at square one and cannot move forward until we have the water installed.

Medical Clinic

After we agreed to a meeting last Saturday, the committee had to cancel because they have a prior event they were planning.  I have started writing the grant without them and feel really wrong about it since I haven't been able to meet with them or the doctors about how to best design the project.  The grant needs to be a community project and while we were able to discuss the project the first day, there is plenty more that needs to be discussed in depth and I have tried to explain this to the group but they don't seem too motivated to work on it.  This again leads back to cultural differences (the "pura vida" lifestyle) but I also believe it stems from a system that consistently simply gives people things rather than having them work for it.  This is not to say the people do not work for what they have but people have openly told me "why work for something when they (the government) will give me something else".  While they may not get exactly what they could get if they worked for it, they know they can wait for the next round of donations.  While this project has community wide implications, I cannot write the entire grant without their participation and while it certainly would be easier on my part to do so, I don't want this to become simply another "gift" rather a community designed and lead project.  I am really tired of seeking people out to work on projects they asked me to help with...if you want my help, show me but when I constantly have to ask you when we can talk about a project you want to complete it shows lack of motivation and desire to actually complete the project.  Hopefully Thursday I can finally discuss the project with them and create a more open dialogue about how we will continue to work as a group on this project.

ADI Projects

The ADI is usually the bright spot in most projects but they cannot seem to get their stuff together to finally finish the basketball court.  We have (most) of the money to finish the court and the fencing material is just sitting in the salon comunal but the treasurer doesn't show up to meetings, "works" until 8 at night, doesn't come to events when he says he will and really just is holding up all projects simply because he doesn't sign the checks.  He also was in charge of the money from the clothes sale after CFK and has yet to turn in the $200 from that and I am getting a little worried we will never see that money.  Without that money and him signing the checks, we can't buy the concrete for the fencing posts and the 2 remaining lights and it is really beginning to become a headache.  Last meeting, the president gave him the option of resigning and having another member taking over but he insisted he would show up to meetings and have the money by this month but here we are still waiting...

The ADI also has a lot of left over metal and tin roofing material left over and one member approached me about building a small bus stop (even though we have no bus) in the intersection of the community.  I figured I would do something similar to the beaches and ask community members for small donations of $5, $10 or $15 so that I can go with the ADI president to buy the materials but not actually have to depend on the treasurer to write a check.  The pastor of the church has offered a day of labor to weld the material so hopefully I can start with that this week.

The water project has also hit the waiting phase.  I helped some of the committee to measure the community and work with engineers to plan the route of the tubing and the water tower but now we have to wait for approval and the engineers to draw up the plans.  I think maybe within a year we would see any further progress on this project.

Youth Group

Ughhh another attempt at a project with the kids here.  Last week I put up some flyers about starting a youth group 2 times a month where youth can show up at the salon comunal with homework, friends or whatever and we can do homework together, learn sports or just play board games together.  I put up flyers Monday and on Wednesday had 2 kids show up...I think it was mainly lack of promotion and explanation to parents (had a good amount of "what is a youth group" questions) but still, it was pretty depressing to see.