GRANT APPROVED!!!

This is one of the groups of mothers in the workshop, we have to do two groups since the project is large.

This mother walks and 2 hours or more to come to the workshops she lives very far away.

So the best peace corp news I have ever received other than  getting accepted and knowing I was going to be sent to Peru came in the form of my grant getting approved this past Friday!  Which means 65 latrines for families with children under the age of 3 in Chipillico.

I have been so stressed about this, because other then me and a few of my promoters, no one really understands what I have been doing to get the money.  Most people believe the project has been underway, not surprisingly because we have completed 4 of our 8 workshops on how to have a healthier home.  

The mother's had to determine which animal could cause health problems in the home and match it to a sentence.

So now, it's official, my grant was approved from an outside organization, and they are funding the full amount I requested, near $4,500, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

The past few weeks have been somewhat difficult.  We began our house visits.  Which means we visit the homes to see if they are in compliance with the themes they are learning in the workshops.  Mostly, I want to see that they are living in a healthy home for the children's sake.  For example, I make sure there aren't any animals in the home, and with even more luck the families have the animals in corrals.  Then, we check the kitchen, are dishes, pots and pans cleaned, put away and covered.  As well as food is covered and put away.  I also check to see that the families have a supply of clean drinking water (boiled) stored for the children to have access to all day.  Also that the families have a place to wash their hands where there is soap and a towel.  With some luck I find many of the kitchens in order, and only a few houses had animals in the homes, most of which were chickens or guinea pigs.  The biggest problem I am finding is that the families do not have places to wash their hands or access to soap.  As expected most families have no form of formal bathroom.  Also there are bonus questions, if I find families that have proper disposal of trash that is a good thing, because the majority of families dump their trash in the creek or burn it.  Also, if they have a place to brush teeth is also another good thing.  Some families were in such great compliance I was thrilled.  Others were not at all which was frustrating.  I wasn't going into these homes to see if they were swept or had toys or clothes on the floor, just to check simple things to see if they were keeping a safe home for small children. 

A great point my nurse discovered was that most of the homes were very closed off, no windows, which meant very little light, but also no where for dust to escape.  A huge problem in Chipillico is also in the form of respiratory illnesses mainly due to the dust.   So these very tightly closed homes with dirt floors can be dangerous.

The house visits have been sort of fun.  I have 6 health promoters (women from the community who dedicate their time to helping with health related themes) and a nurse and technician from the health post who are helping with the visits.  We originally divided into 3 teams, each with a professional, me the nurse of the technician and we visited the homes.  Little by little the health promoters have had to venture out on their own.  This is the basis behind developing a sustainable community.  In the case of this project, more or less I am the facilitator, but the promoters are the ones who are going to be there when I am gone and should be running things.

The last workshop I was beyond proud when I prepared a powerpoint and a game and the promoters took charge and ran the entire thing in the sessions, I just stood back and lent my ideas or comments when necessary, but to seem them take charge made me so happy!  

However, I found myself in rare form in the last workshop.  I had mother's who were not respecting the rules, not coming to workshops and wondering why they were not longer incorporated in the project and getting angry with me.  The rules were very clear from the beginning and I have had mother's visiting my house questioning the same thing.  Sometimes it's hard to be strict, but there are many mother's coming to everything and it's not fair that some can skip when they feel like it.  Also, I had people questioning why i wasn't building latrines of brick with tanks apart from the latrines and why i haven't asked the mayor for money.  This infuriated me, because it was obvious that had no respect for the work I have done and were underestimating everything.  I yelled when some of these things were said.  Sometimes I understand it's cultural, other times I fall back into my American shoes and take offense to comments like this.  It's like your giving something to somebody ungrateful and it doesn't feel good.  And to hear the mud bricks being criticized and them wanting bricks was unbelievable to me since EVER SINGLE ONE of their homes is made of mud bricks.   More I was angry people that are defecating and creeks and in their yards that have no form of latrine at all would complain about the model I was making.   I explained why we aren't doing a separate tank due to the fact we have no running water.  I was so upset that they even questioned any of it because the type of latrines was so clearly explained at the beginning of the project.  I left extremely upset and tired this day.  I apologized to specific mother's I took my anger out on, especially some that showed up over an hour late and were upset they would be considered absent. 

So what does this grant approval mean?  It means that after I send back a few more documents with signatures from the committee that is helping me do this project in Chipillico I will receive the money.  In May we will start going and buying the materials and bringing them back to Chipillico, and as long as the rain holds off the end of May is the projected start of the construction of the latrines!  I have never been more excited!