Sigh...

Well, I am enjoying a little 15 minute break here at the house from Crazy Town. This month has been busy (like always, right?!) with all my projects and all the groups that have been coming down.Since I got back from my trip to the States, we have had four groups in the house.The first was a mixture of med students from Purdue and a Young Life group from GA, the second was a group from St. Gabe's Catholic Church in ATL last week was a group of high school girls from New Orleans, and this week we have a mixture of adults from Sugarloaf church in GA and pre-med students from Wake Forest University in NC. So far the groups have been awesome and have gotten done a ton of work! For me, I have had a lot of exciting accomplishments the past month.

It's exciting to report that all 8 of our Bead Amigas have now graduated into making complete bracelets. All of their beads are looking absolutely beautiful, they really have come a long way. Last weekend I taught them all how to cut their own strips of wallpaper. (Up until now, the Bead Amigas in the US have been cutting all the strips for them and then sending them down) It was difficult for them at first, but I left a bunch of practice paper with them and am hoping that they are practicing this week! All of the women have been making money and being able to rely on the project for regular income. I'm hoping that within the next month all of the women will be on the same production schedule and making the same income and within the next two months, all of them will be relying on the project for their primary income and can quit any side jobs they have. Just for a little perspective, Ana Patricia (one of our second generation beaders) has been working at a peanut factory as a peanut sorter. She makes 30 cordobas a day. That equals US$1.50 per day. (In Bead Amigas, the women make 30 cordobas per bracelet and normally make around 20 bracelets a week.) She is supporting her two elderly parents, her 3 siblings, and her 3 children on her own without a husband. Many days that I go to Rotarios her daughter brings me her beads to sell since she is out working. I can't wait until the production schedule has normalized so Ana can stay home with her children, work from home, and make enough money to feed her family. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons this week, I will be bringing a group of American women here on the trip to Rotarios to meet the beaders. I am hoping that there will be an open flow of ideas and stories and information about their lives. The beaders are going to teach the Americans how to measure, cut, roll, and glaze the beads. I also would like all the women to make bracelets together so they have some sort of rememberance from the week. I think it will be a special time for all the women involved and cannot wait to see it unfold. I know the beaders are excited, and the US women also cannot wait to meet them all. They have been planning on this trip for months. Pictures soon to come!

On the health front, we have been working on moving towards a more preventative approach and just trying to make our program more effective all the way around. We did a major inventory of all of our medicines and supplies this month so we can better track all of our donations, what we're buying, and how much we're using per month. Last Friday, we had a diabetes health fair at Villa Catalina. It was an amazing success with 50+ adults showing up to get their blood sugar tested and learning about diabetes. After inviting the whole community door-to-door on Tuesday morninig, we were a little nervous about how the attendance would be come Friday. We have had many health classes in the past and have never had a really good turnout. So, I'm not sure if it was the games and prizes listed on the invite or that people are scared they have diabetes..either way, it was AMAZING! Stacey and I were near tears as we started the educational portion of the morning with Doctor Tania. The morning also consisted of games (think wedding shower games), a pinata, and prizes. The community was very engaged, asking questions, wanting to get their blood tested, wanting to get their weight and height taken, etc. Overall, a huge success for Stacey and I and the health team as a whole. It really is the morale booster that we have been needing lately. We are hoping that it will also get the community more excited about health education and build a relationship between them and the doctor. This is a picture of me, Doctor Tania, Stacey, and Roberto right after we got done cleaning the clinic after the diabetes fair.






This week, our group from Wake Forest will be teaching hand-washing classes on Tuesday morning to all the children in the school, K-6. That should be interesting! We have a lot of little fun games and activities that they will be partaking in as well as hands-on washing.
I hope everyone is doing well in the States and I hope to see you all soon---love you!!!