miércoles, 30 de enero de 2013

13 Bak'tun - The End of an Era 12/21/12

13 BAK'TUN
Luckily enough, our Peace Corps country of Guatemala still has a huge presence of their Mayan culture. Therefore, on the day people translated as "The end of the world" being 12/21/12 we were at the heart of it all. 



My friend Alex called me the week before to ask me what I would be doing on this infamous day of December 21st, 2012. I hadn't thought to do anything, but when she shared her idea to visit the Quiche Mayan Ruins I immediately became excited. When we showed up that day it was the busiest I've ever seen the ruins. Hundreds of Indigenous Mayans were wearing their traditional clothing and surrounding their ceremonial fires praying and doing what they do. There was also a marimba band and one or two "danzas". It was a great cultural experience to see how preserved their culture still is.

So what does 13 Bak'tun mean? "Many have talked about the end of this cycle, when the Bak'tun 13 ends, often with hints of an Apocalypse. However, for the Mayans, this date does not represent the end of the world. Time measurement was always central to the Maya worldview, so one of many calendars used in civilization was the 'Cuenta Larga', which captures special events of the life of the rulers or of their own world in a time that was from a starting point dated according to the Gregorian calendar for AC 3.144 and ending at the winter solstice on December 21, 2012."










Alex and I also explored two caves where at the end sat their "offerings" consisting of candles, a 
papaya, a pineapple, and liquor. It was a funny site finally arriving at the end of the darkness to find fruit and alcohol sitting beside candles. But hey, if I was a God I'd surely appreciate these items.


Alex in front of the cave 
The papaya, pineapple, and liquor as the "offerings"















Later on after returning back to the Mayan ceremonies the local Quiche news station interviewed Alex and me. They asked us who we were, what we're doing in Guatemala, and what we thought of the ceremonies. I don't have cable so I never found out if actually was on the news or not. Also, on our way out a guy asked if he could take a picture of us and with us. We said yes so that he would take a picture of us in return. Right after this we continued walking and another pair of teenagers asked to take a picture of us. I swear it was the most famous I've ever felt in my life. We couldn't stop laughing as we headed out of the ceremony. And to think it was all for being white...


Overall, the day was such a great experience that I will forever remember.  It is these cultural experiences that make Peace Corps what it is.  I am blessed to have been assigned such a beautiful country where their culture continues to impress me every day. 

jueves, 3 de enero de 2013

Health Promoter Graduation 2012

Photo of the graduation event

After eight months of receiving preventive health training, 41 women from San Pedro II and 65 women from San Pablo I and San Pablo II received diplomas to become “Health Promoters”.  This means they will be responsible for training at least five other families in their community what they have learned.  Lessons learned include topics of personal hygiene, purification of water, transmission/prevention of diarrhea, family planning, respiratory infections, and importance of vaccines to name a few.  As described in my last blog, each one of these promoters will also receive an infrastructure project (floor, improved wood burning stove, or a latrine) in order to improve their sanitary conditions. They will be trained on the importance, use, and maintenance of these projects.

The graduation day was a very rewarding day for those in attendance. We did a pot luck style so each community was responsible for bringing food, drinks, or cake to share. After an hour or two of this lunch we moved on to the actual graduation.  First, our counterpart opened to speak about the importance of being health promoters in their communities. Then, a representative from the Municipality spoke in K’iche so I’m not exactly sure what he said but we were fortunate to have someone from the Muni speak to give the graduation more credential. Then, I spoke about my experience with San Pedro II, how proud I am of them and certain memories I have from the workshops, home visits, and activities with the women. Jacob then gave his speech about his experience in his aldeas. We then presented the eight presidents with flowers and talked about their impact on the success of the group.  After this we handed out diplomas to each of the promoters (106 in total). I believe our counterpart spoke again to close out the graduation. We concluded the day with donated chocolate ice cream from Sarita.

Health Promoters from San Pedro II
 receiving their diplomas


A week prior to the graduation the president and I gave oral exams to each participant regarding the information they have been taught over and over again. Of the 41 health promoters, 18 passed the exam with a 75% or above. I noticed those who speak Spanish generally passed whereas though who do not understand Spanish tended to fail. It surprised me because I had a Spanish-K’iche translator at every workshop.  The pattern seems to be that those who have gone to school and have the ability to learn and speak Spanish have the tendency to capture information more easily; whereas those who only speak the Mayan language probably did not go to elementary school and therefore have yet to understand HOW to learn and how to retain information. Also, those who speak Spanish heard each workshop twice (first in Spanish, then in K’iche). Therefore, hearing each workshop twice as well as sitting in on the “Review” days where the information was again given in both languages must have made it easier for those bi-lingual speakers to learn.  Of the 18 promoters who passed, 100% speak Spanish.

All 41 of my promoters received a diploma for “Participation of the Healthy Homes course”. Those 18 who passed received another diploma for being an “Official Health Promoter” as well as a carnét or Identification Card from the “Area de Salud” (Health Area in the capital of our department) with their photo, cedula number, title, and signatures from the Health Center. After the graduation several women approached me asking if we could have another review session and another attempt at the exam in order to become “Official Health Promoters”. I loved this part of the day because it showed me that although the women may not have the ability to learn easily, they’re still eager to learn it and become leaders in their community. Therefore, in January we will have another review session and exam session in order to give the women another opportunity.

Diploma for participation, Dipoma for becoming
an official health promoter, and the Carnét from the
Area de Salud de Quiché

Overall, it was an excellent way to show the health promoters the importance their leadership will have on their communities.  By having such an elaborate graduation and finalization to their workshops, I hope it hit home that they can accomplish their goals regarding improving the health of their citizens. We felt that if we just finished the workshops without much of a celebration it would be like any organization that comes in and teaches for a little bit but then leaves them. Jacob and I wanted to be sure to finish it off correctly to give them the confidence they need to keep up with what they have learned and hopefully continue practicing it as well.

The health promoter trainings have been a great experience and our goal is that it has become sustainable enough to continue once our service is complete. 

Our awesome Marimba band! Ages 10-13..and
they rocked :-)


..And thank you to Pollo Campero for donating
 25 litros of Pepsi and over 100 vasos!