And We’re Off!

BREAKING NEWS!

Our little helpers.

We have officially begun our build for the latrine project! We begun on Friday, and as of yesterday, we have completed our first two latrines! Of course, there were some challenges, last minute material purchases, and lots of brainstorming and changing the model, but we did it! I had absolutely no idea where to start with this project, and we had very little information on how to actually build a latrine, but thanks to some savvy thinking on the part of my mason and community leaders, we managed to create a pretty pretty latrine, if I do say so myself.

We have funding for roughly 19 latrines, and right now we are working every day for about 10 hours on these latrines since we are doing two simultaneously, allowing us to complete two latrines every 3 days, approximately. It is laborious, exhausting, but oh-so-satisfying. People keep commenting on how much we are working (and how incredibly dirty I am) and are very confused as to why I am so happy about it. It’s simple really, I’m happy because I am doing something. I have realized that I feel much better when I am being productive and have more physical signs of success. I have been learning to be satisfied with other types of successes in my life, but there is nothing like good hard labor, lots of sweat, and a nice accomplishment to make me feel good at the end of the day. I like being busy, and overworked, and doing a million things. Its comforting and something I prefer than idleness. This is a very different mindset than everyone else in my community, but this is what I am used to and some things about me will never change.

For the project, I am the manager, buyer of supplies, coordinator, mason’s assistant, builder, cement mixer, negotiator, pacifier, and more. I take on a lot of roles, filling in the needed gaps and trying to have others fill as many as possible in order to not be doing everything and also let my community members take charge.

Fruit of the day! It hails from Asgard.

In addition to the project, I started a literacy course in the elementary school, which quickly turned into nearly a school-wide program that grew from 10 students to over thirty in one day. and surprisingly, I love it. Reading is one of my greatest passions, and I have found that teaching children to read is something I truly enjoy. Now, I am not saying I like being a teacher (not my cup of tea). I am not crazy about some other courses I have done, and I don’t have the patience to teach all day, every day. But watching someone begin to discover the wonders of a good story is something I could be a part of for a long time. And I get all warm inside whenever a kid yells Profe! or Tia! to me. It means I am loved and respected, and what more can someone need in life?

I am also doing a theater course even though I only did theater for a minute in high school (at the very, very basic level). But this job is all about adapting and morphing to fill in the needs, so I am learning how to teach theater. Thank goodness I watched a lot of Who’s Line is it Anyway… when I was younger. That’s theater, right? In reality, I don’t think the kids really care exactly what theater is, they just want a space to be goofy and dress up and be someone else for an hour. So that’s what we do. Yesterday, I was Justin Bieber, a monkey, and Bill Clinton all in one hour.

Can you guess the connection between the three?

No?

Me neither, but the kids thought it was absolutely hilarious and this huge joke that I was not privy to understand.

Time to get back to preparing for these latrines. I have 8 days to do 6.5 latrines.

Si se puede!

xoxo

B