Sue's SIP Journal

my first entry
Hola everyone,
Welcome to my first journal entry. I have just completed a full week in the campo! I live in Monseñor Romero, a little village outside of the Ciudella Guillermo Unga. My family is very nice and I am feeling very comfortable. I am learning a lot of Spanish, really fast. I have now learned how to catch, kill and clean a chicken and then eat it for lunch! I have also helped out by working on their water project which will allow for a pipeline to run to each faucet, located in various places through out the community, to provide water all year long (right now, it is just in the rainy season). I have also been helping out in the Kindergarten classroom and teaching English to 4-6th grades at the school. We teach an English class twice a week in my village. Most of the adults who attend are from my family, which is kind of funny! The food has been great and a real treat is to get fresh juices at every lunch time. I dont have a television in my house so every evening we have a discussion or play cards. I have taught them Crazy Eights, Secret and Gin. They taught me one game which I dont know the name for. I have found out many things such as when a woman is pregnant and is ready to deliver, she has to walk the one mile into the Ciudadella in order to get to the road where a bus or a car will take her to the hospital, which is another 20 minutes up the road. I cant imagine walking the path, struggling with labor pains. The Ministry of Health does not allow mid-wives to practice here, although it would be cheaper and probably safer, given the lengths the women go to to get to the hospital. It has been a very educational time for me in the campo and I am certainly glad to have a break where I can think to myself, not have to translate Spanish and not have people staring at me! The kids in the town are so fun, the books are a hit and I have really had a great time playing frisbee with my family. Thanks for reading my e-journal and I will write more soon.

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