work stuff...cont..

So as much as it sounds like the brigade is taking up a ton fo work time it really isn´t. I mean there are days during the week where I will commit to just doing stuff for it but in general it hasn´t been super time consuming. Let see what other semi-exciting thing is happening here. The other week I went to a workshop that Peace Corps was giving to some health promotor students. I gues it´s one of only TWO Universities in the whole country that has this career- "Health promotor". So they asked Peace Corps to come in and give a talk on HIV-Aids and Sexuality to the students. Peace Corps invited me because I am a volunteer working at a University setting as well and they thought that the information would be useful. So I went to Riobamba and assisted the two day workshop. It was pretty well done and I think the students enjoyed it a lot. Turns out they need to have community practice and replicate the taller that we did to other students. So those of us that were there pretty much had to offer our sites as a place to practice giving these talks. Which is awesome because I haven´t been doing a lot with HIV-Aids yet...saying yet because my goal within this next year is to do more work with it. I had several students that were interested and have already communicated with them about coming into Ambato the 17th of May to do some work with our students. We´ll see if they actually follow up and come!

 Speaking of HIV-Aids one of my good volunteer friends is going to be working part time at the University in Riobamba. He contacted me a couple days ago to say that there were some people living with HIV-Aids that come to Riobamba to get their tests and meds (there isn´t a place here in Ambato to do that-probably because of the close proximity to Quito). He suggusted that we try to put a type of support group together, apparently several are students here from the University! I have had the idea in my mind for awhile now but not received the best support because my counterpart is not directly related with this subject, and does not get along too well with the lady that is. But now that I have some support from some people in Riobamba I am going to make the move to talk to our doctors here and the Social Worker that works on HIV-Aids to see if I can get information on the known cases of people living with HIV-Aids here, we´ll see, but keep your fingers crossed that we can create some type of support network!

 The other work that is always constant here is the work that I´m doing with my counterpart Eulalia. The stuff that we are focusing on now is the Addicions and Mental health program. We are going around to the different colleges reporting the results of the survey that we did last semester on drug use and abuse and then promoting differnt Bienestar (the department that I work in-"well-being" of the students) services that we have. That is kinda an ongoing thing until we get around to all of the facultades. We´ve done four I think, and have six left. Along with this we have the help of students from a college that do open house, theatre, music and dance, promoting an "UTA SALUDABLE" a healthy University. More of an interactive way to talk about alternatives to drinking, drugs, etc. Today we have an open house. Everyone is setting up and it looks like it´s gonna be big. My counterpart is worried, because the last one we did kinda fell apart so hopefully this one goes better!

 On top of that we are working with the Ministero to try to start(which Im sure will take TONS of oficios and time) a tobaco free campus...It´s probably a long shot but we have some good resources and I think it could happen, that is IF the rector approves it.

 My other project that I tried to start was the world map. It´s not completely dead, just put on hold for the moment. We presented that idea to the Dean of one of the colleges and he o.k.´d it. Then the coordinator of the career was told and he came to us saying that he was sure that the Dean had no idea that our intentions were to paint on the walls of the building, and he was sure the Dean would not allow it.

 So this morning we had a conversation with the Dean. Turns out he didn´t realize that we were going to be painting but did like the idea. The only problem is, the building where we have the club (English club with tourism students is where we want to do the world map)is not done being built. Yes Im sure some of you are wondering, how is it that they are allowing classes to go on, while they keep building other floors, it´s Ecuador, and things like that do happen, lol. Anyway because the building is not done, technically it has not been "turned in" to the Dean, therefore it is not his building and he can´t let us paint. So the idea is going to be put on hold till next semester and then it can be carried out! The waiting game is soooooo frustrating!!

 Besides that there are other little things that my counterpart is working on and is trying to get me to help out in. But I am trying to stay focused on things that interest me and have to do with Peace Corps. Because this is an office setting and my counterpart has various things to work on, it is easy to go astray and work on things that in the end really don´t interest me.

 It´s amazing though how things come and go, ideas, projects, etc. I think in the U.S. we have this mentalitly that if there is an idea, project etc it will be carried out and complete. That is most definetly not the case here. I don´t want to sound pessimistic or anything but it´s so true-you kind of have to be prepared for everything to fall apart or not turn out how you had planned. That way when things do turn out the way you wanted, it feels like such an accomplishment!!