Afterwards, Terry, Terry’s daughter, Kulat, Kulat’s daughter, and Kumar went off into a separate car, while Gail, I, Nelson, Cala, and the two female volunteers we met at the Savanna Park drove off into La Carpio. Gail said that she’s been doing this for ten years.Meanwhile, almost every ten minutes, she receives a phone call on her cell phone about meetings/volunteer work. This woman is intense, EXTREMELY passionate about her work, caring, and seems to do everything. I jokingly asked her “what she doesn’t do.” She replied in a jokingly but slightly serious fashion, “sleeping, eating, having sex, and visiting friends.” I was really, really shocked by her response, but I just laughed it off. She was very open, very warm, and very “American.” Afterwards, I thought to myself, “hahahah I’m starting to like this woman.”
Afterwards, we went to La Carpio. About twenty high school kids are volunteering here this summer, and Gail was giving them an orientation. I sat in and listened. What a great speech- she talked about the Nicaraguan government, the foundation’s purpose, and her reason for doing this for the past thirty years. She lives off her a little house, which has a room she’s renting out (her house was flooded today due to the rainstorm yesterday…. The walls were pouring out water, and the toilet was overflowed… some of her papers got destroyed, but she said that she kept most in a container because of past experiences similar to this). Her father gives her $400 dollars a month. She takes NONE of the foundation’s money for herself, and lives in the foundation so that the foundation doesn’t have to hire a guard, she can commute easily, and take care of this organization. She’s been doing this for the past thirty years. She has an adopted daughter (Cala), a son (seems pretty quiet), and a daughter (whose birthday was yesterday, and who is also pretty quiet). She claimed, with an extremely confident and inspirational tone, that she CAN NEVER take a salary for herself as long as she sees these women and children in La Carpio who can’t even eat food. A extremely large portion of the land is owned by a small portion of the people (mainly the government, who is wealthy). Gail said that she not only wants to see these people well-fed, educated, and well-clothed, but “independent.” That was her long term goal, as well as the CRHF’s
So was I motivated by all of this? To be honest, I felt that I should have been extremely caring and motivated to fight poverty after Gail’s speech. I felt it was the “right thing to do….” And thus, when I realized, that deep down, I somehow did not feel that same passion for these people as Gail, I felt somewhat “guilty.” But maybe it’s simply because I haven’t had enough exposure to this stuff yet, and haven’t talked with the homeless people so much yet. But I did feel compassion for these people, and I realized that they had very great stories and lives, but just unfortunate circumstances. Maybe time will change my feelings and strengthen my passion for my work (hopefully). Oh yeah, and Gail said that we should “NEVER feel pity for these people we are serving,” but rather honor and love that we have the privilege of giving them a hand (or something like that). I thought it was a great phrase to instill into the volunteers.
Also, Gail obviously has had hundreds, if not thousands, or volunteers throughout her 30 years here. To be honest, I kinda felt like just another figure…. Almost somewhat not as important. But maybe this is just a current perspective that will change. Gail does, very surprisingly, give me and all her volunteers a huge amount of personal attention, and is very open and warm with them… how does she manage to do this?!?!?! This is taking time management skills and multi-tasking to the next level! But still…… this is all the more reason for me to make my project rigorous and active, rather than just “simple volunteer work.” I cannot bear to stand that.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Food Provision
My third day, 6-29-08, at Costa Rica was pretty busy. In the morning,the son in my host family, showed me all his pets- a bunch of chickens, three dogs, a parrot, three rabbits, and birds. I told him that I had two dogs, which established an instant connection between us. He said that he loves animals a lot. I fed the rabbits with him. In the morning, I ate breakfast with my host family (how delicious), and then felt just a tiny bit weird for leaving the dining table, not wash the dishes, and head off with Gail (my boss). I first went to Kulut’s house (I think that’s how you spell her name), to prepare food for the homeless. Kulut also works with Gail, and she’s a volunteer there from the States developing projects to help CRHF. I chopped onions, chicken fat, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic. To be honest, it was my first time chopping any of these items, seeing how I do not know how to cook, nor have I ever really cooked. For the first time, I now know why people say chopping onions gives you tears. During my choping, I talked to Kulut and her daughter. Her daughter seems really sweet. They all speak English. Later Terry and her daughter came over, two other volunteers- Terry went to UNC, and we had an instant connection. Kulut’s brother went to Caltech, and I’m from the Pasadena area, so we also had an instant connection. Places, places, places! Then, Terry told me about her life, her adventures after college, and why she went to Costa Rica eventually. Her daughter is going to 8th grade, and seems very mature for her age. Terry told me about the lovely vacation spots in Costa Rica- national parks, beaches (Kulut also told me something about a peninsula that is 9 hours of driving away from our area whose name I can’t remember), and ziplining areas. She asked me where I would like to go, and I said “something adventurous,” with a chuckle. She immediately mentioned ziplining, and also smiled. I was going to ask her about “where to skydive,” since I’ve always wanted to go, but I thought that it might have been an awkward question. She also has two dogs. Dogs, dogs, dogs…. Apparently, this is how petowners bond with each other…. By talking about their experiences with dogs.
After the cooking, which took about 1-2 hours, I went with Gail to the Savanna Park, a huge central park with many, many soccer players. I met Gail’s adopted daughter, Cala, and her father, Nelson.
At the Park, I tried to play soccer with the boys there…. but I ended up taking a tour with Nelson around the park, searching for a basketball court. He asked me if I play sports, and I said that I loved basketball….
He talked to me in Spanish, and I talked to him in Spanish, and surprisingly, we understood each other for the most part. He had four Chinese letters on his left arm (which was VERY muscular)… he asked me if I knew what they were. I said that I couldn’t really read Chinese…. He seemed to have gotten a good laugh out of that…. Especially since I was pretty much the only Asian-American I’ve seen in Costa Rica so far. He seemed like a cool guy…. And he loves Cala very much. She seems to motivate him.
Then, afterwards, Gail, Nelson, Cala, I, and two other volunteers we met at the Park (two women who spoke very good English) went to an extremely impoverished region in San Jose to feed the homeless. One of the two women had a French accent, which I thought sounded really nice and pretty. Kumar and Kulat went with us,bringing the food that we had cooked earlier. The place smelled like sewage, and I was turned off immediately. As we opened the car trunk with the food, the homeless came rushing in. They were nice people,and had poor clothes. One woman was smoking and pregnant. It was raining a little bit. I separated the bowls so that they were easier to serve with. Afterwards, a guy with a banjo on the streets started to sing. Gail and Cala started dancing, and an old homeless lady started to take my hands and dance with me. Gail laughed and said “come on, Tony!” I awkwardly moved my legs…. But didn’t really dance. I felt slightly embarrassed, but also amazed at the energy of these homeless people.
I asked my homestay mom, Susanna, about her work, some of her personal life, and told her a little about my summer (classes, three days back home, which was EXTREMELY GLORIOUS, and my work in La Carpio). She and her husband both work for a civil engineering company, and Christopher wants to be a plastic surgeon in Miami when he grows up. I laughed, and so did Susanna. Tomorrow, I will see Frances and her crew for the first time in Costa Rica, and then we will go to La Carpio to test out my survey/interview questions. I’m a little bit “nervous” (I can’t think of another word to describe this), to be completely honest, because I don’t know frances that well, and have never seen her friends before.
After the cooking, which took about 1-2 hours, I went with Gail to the Savanna Park, a huge central park with many, many soccer players. I met Gail’s adopted daughter, Cala, and her father, Nelson.
At the Park, I tried to play soccer with the boys there…. but I ended up taking a tour with Nelson around the park, searching for a basketball court. He asked me if I play sports, and I said that I loved basketball….
He talked to me in Spanish, and I talked to him in Spanish, and surprisingly, we understood each other for the most part. He had four Chinese letters on his left arm (which was VERY muscular)… he asked me if I knew what they were. I said that I couldn’t really read Chinese…. He seemed to have gotten a good laugh out of that…. Especially since I was pretty much the only Asian-American I’ve seen in Costa Rica so far. He seemed like a cool guy…. And he loves Cala very much. She seems to motivate him.
Then, afterwards, Gail, Nelson, Cala, I, and two other volunteers we met at the Park (two women who spoke very good English) went to an extremely impoverished region in San Jose to feed the homeless. One of the two women had a French accent, which I thought sounded really nice and pretty. Kumar and Kulat went with us,bringing the food that we had cooked earlier. The place smelled like sewage, and I was turned off immediately. As we opened the car trunk with the food, the homeless came rushing in. They were nice people,and had poor clothes. One woman was smoking and pregnant. It was raining a little bit. I separated the bowls so that they were easier to serve with. Afterwards, a guy with a banjo on the streets started to sing. Gail and Cala started dancing, and an old homeless lady started to take my hands and dance with me. Gail laughed and said “come on, Tony!” I awkwardly moved my legs…. But didn’t really dance. I felt slightly embarrassed, but also amazed at the energy of these homeless people.
I asked my homestay mom, Susanna, about her work, some of her personal life, and told her a little about my summer (classes, three days back home, which was EXTREMELY GLORIOUS, and my work in La Carpio). She and her husband both work for a civil engineering company, and Christopher wants to be a plastic surgeon in Miami when he grows up. I laughed, and so did Susanna. Tomorrow, I will see Frances and her crew for the first time in Costa Rica, and then we will go to La Carpio to test out my survey/interview questions. I’m a little bit “nervous” (I can’t think of another word to describe this), to be completely honest, because I don’t know frances that well, and have never seen her friends before.
Beyond Self Gratification
Something I was told today simultaneously bothered me and motivated me, and it really stood out to me. Volunteers/researchers like me come here, do 8-10 weeks of project work, and then go back to their country and say that they have accomplished a social science research project..... but we will have only seen 8 weeks of this place. Am I doing this project simply so that I can go back, feel "more culturally experienced" through my immersive experience, be able to tell people that I've done a "research project," and feel "accomplished" for fighting poverty and whatnot??? These were questions that ran through my mind today.... And I truly had to think about my motives. Indeed, to be honest, these were some of my motivational factors....
But I am determined to take this beyond this level (hopefully). I'm here not just volunteer... I want to be here to create impact, not just to enhance my own cultural understanding, "leadership and social skills," and research skills. These factors are extremely important for me. But, for my project to be successful, I feel that these factors do have to come in second before the rigorous work and raw outcome I sincerely hope to produce. I want to make a visible difference.... Gail has done this for thirty years, I hope that at the very least, my eight weeks can mean something far more significant than a basic research report or something I can tell my friends back home that I did. These are real life issues. I hope to be open-minded, and be ready to adapt to and overcome many challenges, yet still hold on to my core values and beliefs in these next couple of weeks.
But I am determined to take this beyond this level (hopefully). I'm here not just volunteer... I want to be here to create impact, not just to enhance my own cultural understanding, "leadership and social skills," and research skills. These factors are extremely important for me. But, for my project to be successful, I feel that these factors do have to come in second before the rigorous work and raw outcome I sincerely hope to produce. I want to make a visible difference.... Gail has done this for thirty years, I hope that at the very least, my eight weeks can mean something far more significant than a basic research report or something I can tell my friends back home that I did. These are real life issues. I hope to be open-minded, and be ready to adapt to and overcome many challenges, yet still hold on to my core values and beliefs in these next couple of weeks.
Acclimated with Sights, Organization, and Family
I've arrived, after much delay at airports and inability to get in touch with Gail beforehand (her phone number wasn't working), but here I am now, in my host family, with access to internet (yay!). Here are some general thoughts and observations.... it's kinda long, but it was my first time in a spanish-speaking country, and I had lots to say.
Everything seems to have settled down.
I've arrived at the SJO airport yesterday, and Gail (the director of my organization) recognized me at the airport based on a description I gave through email (6 foot three, dark-brown long-sleeved shirt, and shorts). Upon arriving, I expected this place to be pretty underdeveloped... but it's actually quite beautiful. There's a lot more nature, and Gail says that this place isn't bogged down by capitalism, an expression which I found funny. Then Gail took me to my host family, which was about 20 minutes away from the airport, a little house located in
My room is pretty spacious for the most part. I spend yesterday and today reorganizing all my materials, and "redecorated" my room. I was extremely glad to discover today that the family has an internet port I can use to connect my laptop to. Gail gave me a tour of the neighborhood, took me to the supermarket to buy some soy milk and honey nut cheerios for myself (as she calls it, "American" food). In the afternoon today, she and I went over all my interview and survey questions, corrected some of them, and gave me a pretty comprehensive review of the purpose and mission of CRHF, as well as a detailed map of the city of La Carpio and all the locations of CRHF buildings (my brain works a lot better sometimes when I can "see things visually," or when I can visualize something such as the CRHF as a "system" with many interconnecting parts that have cause and effect relationships).
Currently, there are two CRHF buildings (each contains a clinic and an education center for little kids), and each building takes about 10 to 20 thousand U.S. dollars to start. Gail has been working seven days a week, without a salary, for 30 years. Her goal is to establish three more centers in the city of
The CRHF, from what I've heard so far, seems to be one of its kind. Although it asks for donations from patients for about 1,000 colons ($2), it runs pretty much on the willpower and humanitarian efforts of the CRHF staff (Gail receives pretty much zero salary) and the donations that volunteers give.
Gail drove me around, and she seems to know everyone in the community. She asked me about my personal life in LA, my university studies, and my religion. She showed me some churches around where I can go to. She said that she has a couple daughters and a few dogs, one of which is named Tony. I told her that I love to play basketball, and she showed me some basketball courts next to my homestay place, and then later showed me some printing areas. The neighborhood has good weather, and lots of plants, but it could get dangerous at night.
In the next two days, I will get a phone card, talk to doctors and med students for "practice interviews" and advice for the interview questions, meet up with Frances and her crew, and volunteer with Gail for the entire day tomorrow. We will continue our discussion about the CRHF and its plans. She's getting me plugged into the whole system, and it does sound very, very exciting. I feel more "adultlike" by becoming more in-tuned with the organization, and taking a leadership role in developing more projects.
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