On my really cool stoves project

Hey there copadres/comadres, 

As y'all well know, I am in the middle of an awesome and intense improved cookstove construction project. I currently am managing a generous grant from World Connect, an amazing organization in Massachusetts that sponsors and funds Peace Corps Volunteers' projects around the world. To give background information, here's a short summary that I wrote for my original grant application: 

Copey is a rural community located on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic with a population of 4,000 people and an average of five persons per household. Most women in Copey still use traditional cooking techniques that are detrimental to their and their families’ health. This project will lead to the installation of improved cookstoves in 40 Copey households. The project will be managed by a local stove committee, comprised of women heads of households and overseen by the Copey women’s center. Beneficiary families will be trained in the use and maintenance of their new stoves by local community health promoters, and will participate in cooking classes led by their local Peace Corps Volunteer. Project leaders will be monitoring use of the cookstoves over time and aim for beneficiary households to use the new, improved cookstoves for at least 90% of their cooking needs.

A house of a beneficiary family. 

Recap, these cookstoves are beneficial because: 

1) This project removes smoke from women's cooking areas, reducing the risk of respiratory illnesses for both women and children. Respiratory illnesses are the leading cause of death in developing nations. 

Helps kids like Oliver!

2) The stoves use less fuel than other models currently used in Copey. The stoves use firewood, but are so efficient that you can make a pot of stew for an entire family with just two small pieces of wood. This decreases the reliance on burning charcoal and is a safe, environmentally friendly fuel source.  

Eliminates this type of stove...a dangerous smoke producing three-stone fire.

3) These stoves are culturally appropriate, designed to give women the ability to cook rice and beans at the same time on burners large enough for big rice cookers. Women will use these improved cookstoves for 90% of their regular cooking needs. 

Check out those beautiful burners, one for rice, one for beans!

4) At least five of my women use their stoves to cook food or make tea and coffee to sell in town. This increases their economic independence and autonomy and allows them to have a means of making money. 

Margot making stew

5) The project was designed by our women's center, increasing sustainability and autonomy over the project and further follow up. Yes, I am the facilitator, but the women have made the majority of the decisions for how this project runs. 

These women are in charge!

So there ya have it, all the amazing benefits beyond just constructing environmentally friendly cookstoves. We've also sprinkled in some women's empowerment, economic development, and leadership and capacity-building. But that's not all, here's some interesting stove numbers: 

- 30: number stoves to be completed

- 14: stoves completed to date

- $8800 pesos ($250): How much a stove costs in total

- $1600 pesos ($40 or 20%): the amount a family has to give for the mason’s labor

- 3: bags of cement used for each fogón

- 24: ceramic parts used to build the stove

- 18: cement blocks used to make the table

- 8: hours total it takes to make a stove

- 9: feet of chicken wire in each stove

- 3: people who do the constructing, Lin (master mason), Pepe (awesome helper) and me (la jefa)! 

- $2,895: amount of my World Connect grant 

I really believe in this project and it's been a pleasure to take part in this with my community. 

Love and beans, 
Bronwen 

Before 

During

After!

On (not) committing visa fraud

Hey there! 

This week I wanna talk about my family. I have three brothers. There’s Henry, Dawin and Luis Enrique. Henry’s my biological brother, a fifteen-year-old high school freshman and total rockstar. He is athletic, smart, kind and motivated. He rocks. I miss him everyday. But thankfully, I have two more. They’re the adopted kind, the kind I was lucky enough to be given in Peace Corps.

My older younger brother, 23-year-old Dawin, is a character. He is a natural leader and a total goof ball who also is somehow a total tiguere(think bro). People respect him and get his opinion for everything. He’s the most animated and energetic Dominican I’ve ever met (and that’s seriously saying something). I also joke around that he’s the only Dominican I would ever commit visa fraud for because if we had to go to interviews together and people asked all sorts of personal questions, he’d be the only one with the answers. He knows how I drink my coffee, what time I go to bed, what I like to do on the weekends, what I eat for dinner, the vegetables I like and don't like, etc. He could also tell them he cooks for me, that we spend hours on the porch talking about life, and that I love his mother like my own (cause she is). Don't worry though, it's a joke. I am not actually thinking about committing visa fraud because 1) that's illegal, 2) you should marry for love not money and 3) that's so cliché. 

Anyhow, I took Dawin to a sports camp with me at the end of August and he immediately became the ringleader of a group of Dominican youth. The moment when we truly became brother and sister was during an icebreaker for this sports camp. It was a game where someone makes a statement and if you agree with the statement you change places with someone else in the circle. When the person in the middle of the circle said, “Change places if you have an older sister,” without a pause he ran to the middle and changes places. I looked him in the eyes and he was beaming at me with a finger pointed at me and a Blue Steel Zoolander model face that said “ya tu sabes, you know it girl.” I recounted the story to our mom Luisa and she shed a tear. It was precious.

Luis Enrique is my younger younger 20-year-old brother and lives in Santiago so he’s not around all the time. When he is, I appreciate his company, except when he turns into the grammar police. Most people have given up on correcting my Spanish mistakes because they’re used to my accent and can understand me for the most part. Luis Enrique, however, cracks down. He is always making me repeat words, learn the proper pronunciation and start over. It’s annoying but I can absolutely appreciate his efforts. I like to think that these grammar lessons are what brings me and Luis Enrique closer. Unfortunately, I know it’s not the case; there was one moment, many moons ago, that solidified our fate as siblings. One Sunday afternoon I wanted to do laundry so I asked my dad to turn on the water pump and he just screamed back, “Go in the room, no one’s there. So, I walked in on Luis Enrique naked laying spread eagle in bed. Instead of retreating embarrassed out of the room, I walked past the bed, flipping the switch and said, “I didn’t know you were coming home today.” His response was an awkward grumble. What doesn’t kill you makes a brother/sister bond stronger was absolutely true in this situation. We’re tighter than ever.

The best part of feeling like they are actually my brothers is all the shit we can shoot. When we all sit down to eat dinner together, Luisa sees an opening and asks, “Which one of you will be giving me the first grandkid?” At first she started out pretty covertly, but now she’s really anxious for a kid. She said, “If one of you doesn’t give me a grandkid by the end of next year, you’re all kicked out of the house!” I sassily replied, “Fine, kick me out in October when my time’s up cause you’re not getting one from me.” To which she retorted, “Well, figure it out with the boys then and start encouraging them.” We all just laugh at her cause none of us are close to that yet. 

My mom, Luisa, is a catch. We spend evenings gossiping and playing Candy Crush together on the porch. She’s my perfect companion, never needy and always funny. Sometimes she makes me watch weird Jesus-preaching YouTube videos with her and even though she streams off my internet and inevitably eats up 80% of the data, I love her. She makes me soup when I’m sick, does my laundry when I am really busy, and fries me cheese. We are also in the market for a new telenovela to watch together, but haven’t quite found one that sticks. Which is fine, though, because Candy Crushing, porch sitting and girl gabbing is good enough for me!

My dad, Enriquito, is the Dominican version of my biological dad. Enriquito is a total bad ass. He wears fishnet tanktops when it’s hot out, spends time playing with electrical things, fixes motorcycles, and wears glitter pocketed jeans. He is a luz genius, fabulous rice-maker and coffee-aholic. He works at the banana factory from 8pm-4am so he’s not around at nights. But even though he comes home and passes out at 4:30am every morning, he still wakes up at 7:30am to share a cup of coffee with Luisa and I before we head off for work at 8am. He sleeps less than an over-worked college student and still has more energy than I get from ten hours a night. And he treats Luisa like the queen she is, giving me confidence that there are some truly wonderful Dominican relationships built on kindness, respect and love. 

The moral of these stories is to tell you that you're invited to come visit me! Luisa is an amazing host and has extended a general invitation to all of you. My bff Arlen just came to visit and Luisa said, “I loved her. I can see why she’s your best friend. And the other visitors you’ve had are amazing too, invite them all and we’ll make a sambumbio!" So there you have it, an invitation is extended! Me and my brothers will show you a good time, Luisa will whip you up a delicious meal and give you a Shirley Temple cocktail, and Enriquito will make sure the lights stay on your whole stay!

¡Siempre a sus ordenes!

On finding yourself "A Peace Corps Day"

Heyo!

A while back, I wrote a post about what I’ve come to call “A Peace Corps Day.” It's a day I'm sure every PCV can relate to, a day in which you manage to feel a wild combination of overwhelmed, happy, sad, proud, confused, powerful and more in a mere twelve hours. It's a day in which, even if the sum of the day’s parts feels negative, on the whole it’s a net positive and you've learned and grown in some way, big or small.   

I've been here for over a year and it’s been a while since I’ve had “A Peace Corps Day.” They say (I’m assuming “they” refers to some psychologists who studies Peace Corps Volunteers emotions) that there is a totally normal “one-year slump” for PCVs. I've been feeling particularly “slumpy” lately and I definitely haven’t been feeling totally gung-ho. (There I said it, I admit it, I'm struggling, phew it feels good to get off my chest!) I find myself in this toxic place, that dreaded time spent alone with my thoughts when I can’t sleep because a) it’s too damn hot b) the mosquitoes are attacking en masse and c) Peace Corps turned me into an insomniac. In said toxic place, I keep questioning myself “Have I done enough here?” or “Does what I’m doing matter?” and the worst “Am I helping anyone?” Yeah yeah yeah, I’ve heard it all before – “Of course you’re helping, don’t be so hard on yourself, so much of the work your doing can never been seen but it’s real, don’t doubt that.” I know, I know, I try to remember. But unlike before when things were new and exciting to me, I am now accustomed to this place, lifestyle, work and culture and finding it hard to break the monotony.  

In all my lamenting the rough patch, I’ve forgotten to look at all the beautiful things that make my experience here so special. I feel that those reassuring moments of “Oh yeah, this is why I signed up for the Peace Corps” have been few and far between. So I’m committing myself to finding “ A Peace Corps Day” and rediscover the “why.” This means, I have to say yes to all those wakes, praying parties, birthdays and church meetings that I have (as of late) been excusing myself from. Just because I’m a year into my service doesn’t mean the integration stops...I have to keep saying “yes” because integration doesn’t take three months, six months or one year. It takes forever. It’s going to take my whole service and then some. I gotta keep pushing to reach it, lest I go crazy. So here are my own tips for how to find yourself "A Peace Corps Day."

1) Set a schedule, but don’t stick to it.

One of the hardest parts of the Peace Corps is not having a routine. So I’ve tried to make myself one. I get up every morning at 6:30 to go for a run and do yoga. Then I eat breakfast and make 1, 2, or 3 cups of coffee while reading the news, catching up on emails (not that I have many) and organizing grant papers or making charlas. At 10:30, I hop on my bike and make the rounds, seeing all the people I need to before they leave for lunch. I come back home for lunch and set out again for groups, rounds or meetings at 3. I’m back home by 7 when I make dinner, hang with Luisa and finally excuse myself for my own quiet time around 9. However, in the Peace Corps world, you can try try try to set a schedule, and something always comes up. And it’s in that “something” that you’re going to find the net positive. So when you’re feeling down, say “yes” to that funeral, the game of dominos, the free cups of coffee and the weird prayer groups even if you’ve been in your site one month, twelve or twenty-four. Saying “yes” will remind you why you came.

2) Eat the food – literally and figuratively.

I was offered two giant cow feet the other day at Mama Julia’s, the woman who has taken care of me and adopted me as her own since Day One. I felt bad saying no, but I just couldn’t stomach the tenderness of the cow nerve. I was imagining the poor spotted creature who walked in his own s*&$ mere hours before landing on my plate. It was all just too much, but somehow I did it. And even though the next day was the worst case of diarrhea I’ve had in this country, eating that cow foot stew gave me an extra hour of bonding with Mama Julia who I learned (while forcing down gooey, tender cow foot nerve) had prayed for someone to fill the void her daughter left when she moved to America last October. Three weeks later, I came into her life. She honestly felt that God answered her prayers by sending me to her and with tears welling up in her eyes as she recounted this moment, I was deeply humbled and reminded again why I am here. I eat with her because she nourishes me with her stories even if her food does not.

3) Teach children their manners.

In the DR, it is not custom to say “please” and “thank you” and it frustrates me so much when I go to the ends of the earth for someone and I only get an “ok.” It’s such a let down when a kid I haven’t seen in weeks runs up to me only to say “What do you have for me?” without a hello. To combat this, I started teaching my kids and youth to use their manners and it's catching on! In those soul crushing days when nothing goes right, you might just come home to find your favorite little girl saying “please can I play with you?” There is no better feeling, you’ll just want to squeeze her and you'll be reminded that yes, you are changing lives. It’ll be fulfilling even if the entire day felt like a bust. 

4) Reflect often, but not too much.

There is a fine balance between reflection and obsession. Us PCVs have many hours to think and be the only company in our own head. Do not use those moments to look in the mirror and lament your adult onset acne or developing double chin. Do not use these moments to invent ailments or convince yourself you have cankles. Use it wisely. It is often only in reflection (writing in a journal, talking on the phone to friend back home, doing yoga, meditating, etc.) that you will find those Peace Corps tidbits, those diamonds in the rough. To accomplish this, at the end of everyday, I try to write in my journal the answer to four simple questions. They are:

            - What did I learn today?

            - What made me laugh?

            - Who did I help?

            - What important thing(s) did I accomplish today?

These questions allow me to reflect, dig up and recover significant moments from my day, and document the precious gems we all too easily lose sight of. 

5) Exercise!

It’s good for the mind and body, but it’s also good to show your neighbors that you are alive and well. They might call you an Olympic athlete, join in the fun with you, or start an exercise regimen themselves since you’re such an amazing role model. And it's reciprocal; you never know what beautiful sunrises, amazing views, wild animals or new burning trash piles you’ll find on a morning run.

6) Remind yourself to keep keeping an open-mind.

Most of us signed up for Peace Corps because we said, “I’m flexible, worldly and open-minded, why not?” Well, a year into service, we can forget to keep an open-mind and will start using scapegoats for our sour puss attitude. “I hate religion, this country is too Catholic, these people are so weird...” But let me remind you that you didn’t sign up for Peace Corps because you’re a judgmental bigot, so why start now? Keep reminding yourself how amazing learning and living in a new culture is, even if your community truly is full of the craziest churchgoers and Jesus preachers you’ve ever met. Something good might come of it. Yesterday I went to an ora santa to bless my cousin Rosalva’s new baby. I sat in the back to catch a breeze as an old doña started chanting. I wasn’t really paying attention to the words, but something strange overtook me and I felt at ease. Just watching dozens of children and women pray, listening to the rhythmic sounds reciting the rosary, I was at peace. Maybe this is how religion is supposed to feel; I was shocked because I’ve never ever felt anything like before. I had a moment of pure clarity when I realized: a) none of my friends in America are doing this right now, b) how crazy is it that this is my job, and c) we should all be so lucky to be here right now. I spent so much time waiting for a moment to reassure me that I made the right decision to spend 27 months of my life in a small Dominican town in the middle of nowhere and in that moment, I was reassured that I was doing it "right." Had I brushed off Rosalva’s invitation, I would have missed the “Peace Corps moment” that gave me just the spark I needed to get out of my rut and keep going.  

7) Call your mom. 

Or your dad. Or your grandma, best friend, brother, sister, aunt, neighbor, etc. Talking to people from home who "get you" but don't necessarily "get it" (your experience and life in some far off land) let's you take time to ramble about the goat that you killed on the bus that afternoon, a great deal you got on on clothes from your favorite Haitian vendor, or a sweet invention you cooked up with your doña. They will say, "That is so strange, what did you just say?" or "You ate a what?" or "That sounds nuts, how did you escape alive?" and you'll realize how damn cool life in the Peace Corps is. You'll find yourself recalling "A Peace Corps Day" you didn't even know you had.

8) Don’t feel bad if you aren’t having the experience you thought you’d have.

What are the odds that your Peace Corps experience would actually play out like the romantic version you drafted in your head before staging? Of course you’re not going to change the world in 27 months, you might not even change your entire community. But you will change yourself and my advice is to try and change at least one other person. Then, you will have done your job. Invest in the people who “get it” or at least those people who care. They’re the ones who will keep your legacy going long after you’ve left. They’re the ones who will make all the difference for your sanity and well-being. Also, don't feel bad if you don't live in horrible conditions without basic amenities like I’m sure we all thought we would have when we signed ourselves up for this crazy job. Some people get tile floors with indoor toilets and it doesn't mean they'll be better or worse volunteers than those roughing it in mud huts with scarily deep latrine pits out you have to cross pigsties to reach. Only in being your best “you” can you truly help. A quote I love by Esther Abraham-Hicks goes like this: “You cannot get sick enough to help sick people get better. You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive. It is only in your thriving that you have anything to offer anyone. If you’re wanting to be of an advantage to others, be as tapped in, turned in, turned on as you can possibly be.” When you find yourself complaining that it isn’t the experience you thought it would be, check yo’self. As long as you’re really trying, saying yes, diving in, digging deep and going big, you’re doing it right.

The best parts of Peace Corps and the answer to the “why” can be found in those all too precious “Peace Corps Days.” Go live them.