Sunday, October 5, 2014

Reconnection

 
 
After about 4 months in site, volunteers must attend a two week In Service Training (IST). The point of this training is to dive into more technical skills once the volunteers have an idea of what they will be doing in their communities. For example, as explained in my last post, my community is interested in Reforestation and Eco-stoves, so I paid particular attention to these sessions. IST was also a great time to reconnect with everyone in my group after not seeing them for almost 4 months!

The first week was in a conference building close to the beach. We (Teaching English and Environmental Conservation)  covered topics such as: medical, security, behavior change, culture and privilege, money, monitoring and reporting our work, and  grants. Most of this information was review, but it became more concrete since we had been in our communities for several months.  After long days in the building, we enjoyed ourselves at the beach.
 
 
The second week was sector based, so TE and CEC were split up again. CEC went to an area of the country called the Azuero. It is on the southern end of the country and is particularly known for their deforestation. The Azuero is filled with pastures but unfortunately the slash and burn method of making these pastures has caused dramatic erosion and a desert climate during the summer. Thankfully we had training during the rainy season so it was beautiful! The community was called La Pitaloza. 
 
 
 
 
 
Yoga and the view in La Pitaloza


The first few days we worked on trash management. Our group had already learned how to make trash incinerators during Pre Service Training, but we were put to the test and all 24 of us had to help teach the community how to make them. We successfully split into groups to divide the work: importance of trash management, what is an incinerator, and the steps to build one.  I thought having a group of 24 leaders would be very difficult in leading a lesson, but we were able to successfully present our information. It was important that we allowed community members to participate and not just watch. This was also a great lesson on the do's and dont's of facilitation.

Putting the community to work
 
 
We learned about Eco-stoves and specifically how to construct them. We learned about 3 different types; each having their own advantages and costs to build. But all of them reduce the amount of firewood needed to cook and reduces the amount of smoke in the air.  
 

Making bricks for a Tower stoves. Ingredients: horse poo, sand, and dirt. All local and FREE resources!

Completed tower stove


Eco-Justa stove. Better for large cooking areas such school kitchen or community center. Most expensive because bricks are made in a factory but are extra sturdy. ANAM is willing to fund
Bliss stove. Also can use local ingredients but because of its odd shape, is not easy to repair if there are breaks.
 
We also learned about reforestation practices, which was appropriate for being in the deforested Azuero. Recap: reforestation is actually very broad and difficult to implement. Every region has its own trees and seeds. Making seed beds and nurseries are common practices, but many PCVs have trouble with communities remembering to take care of them. A method recommended by our reforestation representative was instead of building seed beds and nurseries (which may just be a failure) is to really get people to use less wood in their stoves, do not cut down more than what is needed, and leave large amounts of time in between cuttings so seeds can be naturally produced.
 
After that being said, we still learned a basic way of making a seed bed and a nursery. We also learned proper transplanting methods.
 
Some other topics covered in IST:

Recycling centers
Home Gardens
Teaching in the classroom
Making groups sustainable
 
Recycling center organized in a community several years ago and is still being used today
 
 
I have also successfully written my community analysis report! My first government written document, yay? If you would like a copy please email me at cledsall@gmail.com
 


No comments:

Post a Comment