Life back at site...

So back to work…I walk the mile to the irrigation canal which the farmers have been working on since I left. 12 days later the wheat is more golden-green than blue-green and the corn is dry and yellow. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t just come back from vacation.

Before I left we excavated the canal and the sedimentation tank and had just started pouring the canal. (RECAP: The project is a $6,000 improvement to their irrigation system that was built more than 20 years ago. We are rebuilding ~300 meters of the canal, resurface the floor of the large storage tank and constructing a new sedimentation tank. Funds come from three levels of local governments, the association of farmers and USAID. USAID is only supporting about 15% of the project, the rest of the money is local.)

Upon my return, they had completed about 75 meters of the canal, but work was slow and moral was low, very low. However, some good news…after dealing with the canton (county, but smaller) office to get very little donated materials, I had just about given up on government offices here. Last Friday I went to the provincial office (kinda like a state, but smaller). I had solicited materials from the provincial office and then they came out for an engineering inspection and offered more than I had originally asked for. When I went in to ask about the donation, they said, “Oh sure, come back Wednesday and pick up $1600 worth of materials.” When I was expecting them to say, “Oh sure, but we can only give you half of what we originally agreed upon and you need to go to _____ office to get a signature, only to go to 5 other offices to get stamps and copies and other signatures and then wait several days/weeks/months for approval…” Instead we just received our largest donation. Wahoo!....Now the farmers just need to get motivated.

My Peace Corps boss (the agriculture program manager) came to visit my site and to see how things are going. He is also on the board for the USAID-SPA grants. (That is the United States Agency for International Development – Small Project Assistance grants. That type of grant is specifically for Peace Corps volunteers.) Back to my boss…Engineero Nelson Oleas visited my site and we discussed the project and its issues. He is a great speaker and gets along with everyone, and he was able to motivate everyone back into project mode. He also did the same for me. It was nice to get a pat on the back and be told I am doing a good job. It happens rarely in the Peace Corps.

Mixing concrete...no concrete mixer trucks here...at least not in Asuncion.

Building the form boards...they are naturally very green here. I don't have to worry about much runoff, because they don't waste water, they reuse nails, and stakes and spacers are made out of Eucalyptus branches (which are invasive and waterhogs anyway).

The final product...

Here I go on a tangent about names…

Ingenierita (in-hen-year-EE-ta) is my new pseudo name. It means “little engineera” and not like “little” as in size or age but said with affection…I assume. They don't use sarcasm here, so I am probably OK. I don’t think they get my name. (Even though my name is rather easy for Spanish speakers compared to the Heathers, Lindsays, Beths, and so on.) It is just spelled different; I spell my name “Lia” on any document here. Sometimes I will get the Star Wars pronunciation “Leia”. Other times I get “Lily” or “Lilia” like Lil-leah. And “Smith” is easy enough, everyone has heard of that name, even here. However, everyone pronounces it “esmit”. Oh and the fact that my mom’s last name is my middle name throws everyone for a loop. (In Spanish speaking cultures names always go like this “First name” “Middle name” “Father’s last name” “Mother’s last name”.) My name would then be Leah Anderson Smith Anderson. Whoooaaaa…nobody gets how this can be. My counterpart always calls me “Leah Smith Anderson”. It just sounds weird. Also…quick note…dogs. Dogs names almost always seem to be American sounding. Barney, Beethoven (name and also the name of the breed we call St. Bernard), Buddy, and my favorite, Espike. These names clearly come from movies. And frequently word that start in “s” in English (ie. Scorpion) in Spanish becomes “escorpion”. And Spanish speakers pronounce many English names that start in “s” with an “e” first.

Also in the land of Bolivar (my province). My near and dear friend, Deanna (Colorado), is extending her service in Ecuador an extra year and transferring to Loja. A city far, far away. She has been my closest volunteer since I got here. She is in the group ahead of me, which means she has been here 8 months longer than me. So she has also been a great mentor. Sad. Happy trails Deanna.

The cycle continues and there are two new volunteers coming to Bolivar. Tom (San Fran) and Alex (Illinois) will be here permanently as of late August. They will both be in Guaranda and are both in the Youth and Families Program. Alex went to SIUE. Crazy. The only other SIUE-PCV I have ever met (or heard of) and he is one of my new closest volunteers. This is as crazy as a former coworker (who sat next to me) from Chicago, who was also placed in Ecuador with Peace Corps. Small world.