Subirana, Yoro: Meet & Greet

I’ve fallen into my new little world quite nicely and almost forgot that some of you want to know what I’m doing. So I’ve been in Subirana for almost two weeks now, though it feels like longer. My host family is amazing, very esteemed and Godly people in the community. With their help, I’ve met most of the important people in town. Let me try to explain how my job works before I go any further.

It works like this: I’m a Volunteer, not an employee. I don’t work at a business or organization, I work in the community. I’m not here to work on my own projects, I’m here to work on projects the community needs. “So what exactly do you do?” you might ask, as most people in the community do. Well, I’m still figuring that out, but I seem to be doing quite a lot without having a good idea of what I’m doing. My designated counterparts, or work partners, are the two schools in town – the centro básico (grades 1-9) and the colegio (3 years of specialization). I also work with a coffee cooperative, called COMISUYL (Cooperativa Mixta Subirana, Yoro Limitada) who has a pretty good thing going. The main task there is to automate their accounting system with Excel magic. I’m also looking for other things to get involved in, which has been pretty easy because the people here have a lot of initiative. There’s a community youth group that is really interested in starting community activities like a fair, organized sports, recycling projects, movie nights, reconstructing the community center, etc. They heard I was in town and were eager to meet me and start pitching their ideas to me, so now my job is to do what I do best – critique and ask questions. I’m also going to start working with my host dad creating a savings and credit cooperative.

So, I’ve already met all of the teachers at both schools, who then took me around to each class and introduced me to all of the students. My host mom owns a rather large store across the street, so I’ve met all of the kids that work there and she’s sure to introduce me to any important folk who come by. My host dad is the president of a Christian organization called Hombres de Negocios (Men of Business), through which I’ve met nearly all of the male business leaders in town. He also has a few brothers in town who are community leaders. All of these people have been the most gracious to me and have offered their homes and anything that I need. “A sus ordenes,” they tell me. At your service. This phrase melts my heart every time I hear it. “I came here to serve you,” I think to myself. “How is it that I feel so served?”

During training they told us not to expect much. Life would be extremely slow as we met the people and waited to gain their confidence before being entrusted with any “real” work. I’ve met the people, established some tentative work hours and I feel I’m well on my way to integrating and getting some work done. I’ve already taught a few computer classes on Excel, gotten involved with class projects at both schools, given a few informal English lessons, and created a Powerpoint presentation for the Cooperative to give to its investor organizations tomorrow. What’s my favorite part so far? Walking across the soccer field (campo from here on out) and having people yell out “¡Hola, Adán!” with a smile and a wave. It feels good to be known.

Current community issue: Water. I think I’ve had 3 running-water-showers since I arrived. Gotta love those cold bucket baths! If I thought hot showers woke me up, it’s because I never had a cold bucket bath. Now that will wake you up! The bucket is useful though, because you also use it to flush the toilet. But there’s only so much water in the big bucket. You know what they say… I’m just not sure how to translate the verb mellow, and I’m pretty sure brown and down don’t rhyme in Spanish.

Speaking of doing things old-school, I was finally able to access some decent internet long enough to upload a video of me washing my clothes in the pila in Yuscarán, which I have not had to do here. And yes, I am wearing clean clothes. Enjoy the bonus material.