Our Little Brothers and Sisters in Life and Death

From Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos International

Dear NPH Family,
It is with deep anguish that NPH is confirming the deaths in Haiti of international volunteer Molly Hightower, 22, of Port Orchard, Washington, and Ryan Kloos, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, who is the brother of NPFS volunteer Erin Kloos, 26, also of Phoenix.

Ryan Kloos, a 2008 graduate of the University of California-San Diego, was recovered from the Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville on the afternoon of January 13. Erin Kloos was rescued from the Fr. Wasson Center on January 13 and is currently in stable condition in a south Florida hospital’s intensive care unit. Her prognosis is good.

After an extensive search, Molly’s body was recovered from the same location at approximately 4:30am ET Friday, January 15.

A friend of Molly’s visiting Haiti, 22-year old Rachel Prusynski, a University of Portland graduate and resident of Boise, Idaho, was also rescued from the Fr. Wasson Center on January 13. After medical treatment for a broken arm and severe cuts, she has been reunited with her family in the U.S.

Both Erin, a University of Washington graduate, and Molly, who graduated from the University of Portland, worked as international volunteers for Nos Petit Freres et Soeurs in Haiti. Molly assisted in the physical therapy program, and had begun her service in June 2009.

Erin’s initial volunteer service spanned September 2007 to October 2008. She had recently returned to NPFS and served in many capacities. While at NPFS, she helped in the lab at the hospital, assisted with visitors and volunteers, translated for visiting doctors and was the Home Correspondent.

Both volunteers spent their evenings and weekends caring for and playing with the children in the hospital and those with special needs.

The Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville served as a guest house, volunteer residence, administrative offices and a day school for children with disabilities, and completely collapsed during the 7.0 magnitude Haitian earthquake.

Our NPH Family extends our prayers and deepest condolences to the Hightower and Kloos families during this extremely difficult time.

There will be a prayer service TONIGHT for victims and their families of the Haitian earthquake, including 22-year-old Molly Hightower of Port Washington who died during the disaster, and University of Washington graduate Erin Kloos, 26, who was rescued and is in stable condition in the ICU of a south Florida hospital.

When: Friday, January 15, 7:00pm Pacific Time
Where: St. Louise Church
141 156th Avenue, NW
Bellevue, Wash.
Directions can be found at http://www.facebook.com/l/9c147;www.stlouise.org

Additional Information:
Please RSVP to Katie Hultquist at 425-646-3935 or khultquist@friendsus.org and join friends and supporters in offering prayers to those affected by the Haitian earthquake tragedy.

Monica Gery
Information Officer
NPH International

First day as a volunteer

Mexican volunteers (and me!), Santa Rosalia, 1998

My first memory of really choosing to volunteer on my own was in middle school. For some reason I can't remember anymore, I decided I wanted to volunteer at the local women's shelter, Anna Ogden Hall.

They had no idea what to do with me, however, since I was 12 and apparently there aren't a lot of 12 year olds that show up to help. So I was put in charge of babysitting some of the women's children.

I really hate babysitting. The whole thing in general was a pretty unpleasant experience.

And that is what I remember about the first time I volunteered.

Fortunately, it was not my last.

Managing Stress

With two of three grad school applications submitted, the GMAT done and rough drafts essays for the last application written, I would have thought I'd be a little less stressed than I am.

Long ago and far away I wished for a job that meant something to me. Work that made a difference to people. Accomplishments that would happen only because I was there to do them, thereby using my time and life in the most effective and efficient way possible.

And now I have that job.

Be careful what you wish for.

I mean, I love my job, but sometimes... I love it a little too much. Here's to a better balance!

A Whole Lot More

When you depend on volunteers like we do, one little delay can cause a whole lot more.

Last Saturday we were supposed to finish half of the roof of the duplex, but instead it rained, and rained and rained. Not hard, just enough to make the ground really muddy, the wood all soggy and the roof slightly dangerous.

So no big deal, right? Just one day, right?

Actually, I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get a roof crew again. The soonest would be this Saturday (and that would be in Awesomeworld where everything goes right).

And that means the windows and doors can't go in this week, and the siding can't go on next Saturday. Which means we actually have too many volunteers next Saturday and we'll need to bump some of them to another weekend (but not the following weekend because they're already busy that day).

And meanwhile I have a duplex with less than half a roof, no doors, no windows and no siding.

Sigh.

It'll get done, I'm just not quite sure how yet.

Academia de Atletismo

Looking for another way to help poor Nicaraguan children? I know you can never get enough of it!

This is the afternoon session (kids go to school in the morning or in the afternoon and so Roberto holds training sessions twice a day). Not smiling is still the status quo for most photos here.

The Academia de Atletismo is a running club recently started for impoverished children in Rivas, Nicaragua. It teaches the techniques of running as well as the values that go along with it: discipline, work ethic, health, nutrition, self respect and many others.

The founder and lead trainer, Roberto Delgadillo (yep, the friend who helped me through two years at the orphanage), was able to graduate from college because of his running scholarship and now volunteers hours every weekday planning activities and training children from his and surrounding neighborhoods.

They are able to use the local track (along with all other sports teams at the same time) and are looking to cover only the most basic costs. Shoes are more important than starting blocks at this point.

Operational costs for one year are estimated to be the following for 15 children:

	Total	Per Unit
Register the club with NAF	$ 25
Running shoes	$ 750	$ 25	pair
Spikes for synthetic tracks	$ 450	$ 30	pair
Travel Expenses on a public minibus	$1,200	$ 120	trip
Athlete registration	$ 225	$ 1.50	child
Competition uniforms (shorts and shirt)	$ 210	$ 14	child
Nutrition, doctor visit, vitamins every three months and anti-parasitic every 6 months	$ 400	$ 6.67	child
Food during competitions	$ 900	$ 2	meal

Currently the organization is 100% local volunteer run which is nearly unheard of there. We do eventually hope, however, to add equipment, trainer continuing education and staff compensation at a later date.

If you would like to contribute to meeting the financial needs of this program, please click on the donate button located at the upper right corner of the blog.

Additional important information if you wish to donate -

1. Paypal receives your donation, takes approximately 2.9% (if paying by plastic) and sends the rest to me.

2. I receive the money and send it in a check to Roberto. The bank in Nicaragua charges him $20 to cash a check (it is by far the least expensive method we've found). So I send checks no more frequently than once a month.

3. The Academia de Atletismo is not a certified non-profit in Nicaragua and it may never be (educational programs are not necessarily non-profits there). It is not a registered non-profit here in the US either. Therefore your donations are not tax deductible at this time.

Busy Busy Busy!

For construction with all volunteer labor, we're keeping a good pace!

She's Such a Giver

It's Rodeo Week here in Sheridan! And the kick-off is a... kick-off.

The boot kick-off is a Sheridan tradition to start off the week and this year, Katie Lloyd, Habitat for Humanity Americorps volunteer won with a kick of 71 feet 1 inch!

The article mentions that Katie and another one of the volunteers were practicing with their steel toed work boots at the house site earlier in the day, but somehow in my supervisory visits, I missed seeing it.

Katie ran track for CSU and is currently training for a half marathon, but I'm sure that has nothing to do with her winning!

She is just such an awesome volunteer that she does anything she can to help spread the name of Habitat! You know, like getting on the front page of the paper!

Thanks Katie!

Women Build

So take some paintbrushes...

And some paint...

Add a good organization...

A house with a view...

Don't forget the hardworking Executive Director...
And a Vista Volunteer who didn't make it into her own photos...

Make sure it's a beautiful day...

And MOST importantly, over 50 women volunteers...

Some older, some younger...

Some taller, some shorter...

Some detail oriented, some.... not

And you have yourself Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Bighorn's first Women Build! (And the exterior of a house painted)

New Day

Today is my first day of work at Habitat Sheridan. As with all new life changes it's exciting and scary with innumerable possibilities.

When I walk into the office for the first time I will be meeting all strangers, but I have no doubt I will quickly come to feel as though I have known them forever.

And yes, that could be good or bad!

Buuuut, I'm sure in this case it will be good.

Americorps and the PSO

Do you know what a PSO is? Neither did I.

What about TCB, VMSU or VISTA? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Welcome to the world of the US government. Unfortunately, even though I don't receive the benefits (such as all federal holidays off), I still have some of the responsibilities including learning and translating a crazy quantity of acronyms.

Vista (the program I am a part of) was founded in 1965 (Volunteers in Service to America) by President Johnson. The organization was put under a new umbrella of Americorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) by President Clinton in 1993. Other groups which were created in the mid-nineties and put under the CNCS include Teach for America and the Senior Corps.

Vista was created specifically to fight the war on poverty. Every Vista Volunteer works within local organizations which attempt to alleviate poverty within their community.

They also only take on responsibilites which provide indirect service. That means they don't teach kids, feed the hungry or directly serve the poor. We are a capacity building group, we are there to work ourselves out of a job.

We will organize programs, train volunteers, write economic plans. And then we will leave.

We are only there for a year (in most situations). We will come, learn, plan and teach. Then, if all goes well, if we are astute in our observations of need, ability and cultural expectations, if we are careful in our prioritizing and communicating, if we are lucky, our work will be carried on by those in the organization we served and the community we lived.

And the Pre Service Orientation (PSO) is where you learn all that!

Adjusting Again

It's still hard to believe I'm not going back.

Almost two months after I left Nicaragua, even though I felt very ready to move on, I find myself looking back.

I suppose it's a natural process to reflect on those two years, moments gathered together in a catagory because they happened in the same geographic region.

I'm still not quite sure what to say when asked where I'm from. Saying I'm from that little third world country seems rather presumptuous that Nicaragua would want to consider me one of their own.

But I'm not from anywhere in the US in particular anymore either. I'm headed toward Wyoming, but I'm not there yet and it's going to be temporary too.

So I suppose I'm still between countries. Never quite belonging to one, but not fully adjusted to the other either.

How long does it take to belong?

The Dimming of the Day

Today is my last day of work with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos International. And so my natural instinct is to reflect on these past two years.

When I left the US, I had no real idea what I was in for, and I knew that. Now, I'm pretty sure I know what happened (although I'll know even better with some distance), and I wouldn't change that choice for anything.

I have learned, experienced and seen things I never imagined and it will shape the rest of my life.

Here's some highlights - (there are a few errors and typos which I'm not changing in the interest of an honest representation of what was said originally)

The Opening Act

Arrival in Nicaragua

Learning about the Culture

The Ball Starts Rolling (Because We're Pushing)

The Plot Thickens

Interruption of Service

House Beginnings!

Eruptions

Christmas at Casa Asis!

Construction,

Construction,

And More Construction!

A New Place

Lights

Water

A Change

A New Future

I Have a Favor to Ask of You

A women selling grave flowers on Memorial Day weekend (it's not actually called that, but it's the day everyone goes to their family graves to picnic).

Correction: When I tried to vote again today it wasn't allowed, so I contacted the company to say hey! what's with that?! Of course I put it better than that :)

They just wrote back to say, Oops! We wrote our rules wrong! Sorry! You can only vote once!

So, I'd love your one vote, and then a vote from every computer you have access to (since you don't have to register, it's really one vote per computer) and if you feel like spreading the joy, feel free to send this to whoever you feel comfortable asking to click their vote!

Thank you so much! I'm already in second place! But I have a ways to go for first!

Original Post:

Business.

It's everywhere.

It touches everything.

Some people think it IS everything.

And it is part of an audacious project I will take on someday.

In the meantime, I am applying to business schools to earn an MBA in non-profit management starting the fall of 2010 (yes, for those of you who don't know me at all, I like to plan ahead).

And you can help me go.

What?!

I hear confusion. Yes, you can help me go. In more ways than one, but the one I am asking for right now is very simple and is free.

Please go to MBA Tour (click on the words to take you there). Click on the picture (the same as the one above) that says 'Developing Countries Skipping Ahead'. Click on the button that says vote.

If you really want to help, you can vote for me EVERY DAY!

I'm not going to tell you how good the chances are that if you vote, I will win a prize worth over $6,000! Ok, I will, chances are very good.

To be accepted into an MBA program at an accredited university, I have to take the GMAT, it's like the SAT for high schoolers. This prize of test preparation help will take me a long way towards getting into the schools I am hoping for.

Here's a hint of how much I'm hoping to win... I already voted for myself! And plan on voting every day until February 10th!

Happy voting!

Here is the web address if the link doesn't work for you - http://thembatourcontest.com/gallery

Announcement

The old audaciousness blog header from a lifetime ago. Photo taken during my first trip to Ometepe at the beginning of 2007.

February 27th will be my last day with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos International.

This is a long considered decision.

My time here has been a worthwhile sacrifice. Any choice we make involves a sacrifice of the alternatives, but we make those choices because we believe they are the best for our lives.

And it was.

But the sacrifice is no longer worth it. I am tired.

Inefficiencies, frustrations and low professional standards in certain areas existed within NPHI since my first day. But I dealt with them because I saw them as cultural differences, normal non-profit difficulties and the challenges of growing into a multi million international organization.

The difficulties, however, have grown over the last several months and worn me out with the constant struggle.

The lack of response by those who authorize the projects over the last several months has left me unable to my job.

The lack of communication from those who have decided to do my job for me has left my work of the last few months with little worth.

The lack of consistency when the need for saving is preached, but the action of spending, giving steep raises and hiring unnecessary staff is taken.

The lack of professionalism where the value of donors is extolled, but donations are lost in the system.

Don't get me wrong.

NPHI is an organization with a wonderful mission. My struggles were not 100% of the time, nor with all of NPHI. That it has flaws is to be expected as it, along with all other organizations, is made up of human beings.

While two years feels like a long time to me right now, trustworthy others who have been here many more say that over the long view, NPHI really is improving, and I believe that.

But it is time for me to move on to another audacious project.

I have another month and a half here, so I'll let you know what this new project (a.k.a. job) is when I figure it out. If you have any ideas, suggestions or contacts, feel free to let me know.

I hope you stick with me for my last posts from Nicaragua and beyond.

A Cow, a Chicken and a Cultural Divide?

Cows And a Rooster on my way to work in the morning.

What is the biggest difference between all of us?

As I have lived in Nicaragua over the past while, I find myself explaining similarities and differences to many people in the US, in Europe and here in Latin America as we all ponder the other from afar.

Many of them, both things we have in common, and those that appear foreign I have already documented in this blog. As my eyes become more and more accustomed to what I see, I find less and less to blog about. But that doesn't mean that you'd find it any less surprising.

I've explained that all Americans are not millionaires and that most Nicaraguan children do go to school (and these are not children asking the questions).

But what keeps us from seeing from the world as others see it?

One issue gets down to the very wiring of our brains and how we're socialized from the time we're very young, collective versus individualistic societies.

I remember studying the history of our individualistic culture and the expansion of the west in junior high, but I bet the little girl who sang at the opening ceremony in China a couple weeks ago, and the little girl who lip synched to her voice on the television won't be hearing about anything like that in their schools. Instead they hear about how wonderful it is that they can contribute, and that two people can share in the moment instead of only one.

In an article in the New York Times, David Brooks discusses these differences, how deeply they run, and the potential economic consequences.

So what about Nicaragua? Where does it fall in the spectrum? Where is it's economic forecast?

I conducted a small sociological survey asking people in Nicaragua and the US the cow, chicken, hay question referred to in the article.

Which two of the three belong together: cow, chicken and hay.

My results were somewhat surprising to me and indicative of how difficult studies can be to administer (in other words, I don't think I did so hot at the randomly selected participants section).

The idea is that those in individualistic societies reply cow and chicken because they are categorical thinkers. Those in collective societies reply cow and hay because they consider relationships.

Here are my results, please feel free to post your pick in the comments section.

Nicaragua - Cow and Hay 100%.

One exception was a Chicken and Hay answer from someone who thought that chickens needed hay down more than cows needed it down because their feet were softer, but he was definitely in the 'relationships' thinking mode.

US - Cow and Hay 57%, Cow and Chicken 43%

No Chicken and Hay answers as a first answer, which was all I took because SO many of my friends and family are die hard analysts of whatever comes their way, I would often receive two if not three answers from each person. And does growing up on a farm make a difference? Because that would explain why my grandpa is a collectivist and my grandma an individualist.

Ok, so the study wasn't that successful in indicating a divide between the US and Nicaragua, but it did give me a little food for thought (not a purposeful pun!).

I personally was a Cow and Chicken person having a life long love affair with systematic categorization. And it certainly made me feel slightly more justified in the many frustrations and continued struggles I get to have adjusting to a very different business style here in Nicaragua. Not that one is better than the other, just that, my gosh, it isn't just my imagination that we're different on a very basic level!

At the end, however, I really have simply ended up with even more questions than before. But I suppose all of us continuing to ask questions is the only way we're really ever going to bridge that cultural divide.

I'm Still Here!

Nothing much, just wanted to let you all know I'm still here!

We haven't had much going on at the construction site because we had some time without donations. While NPH is a wonderfully well supported organization in general, we are relying completely on donations for this construction project and so have some bumps along the way in timing.

In the last month, however, we have had some additional funds come in and we are currently in negotiations to build another house! We are making some changes, though, so it's not a straightforward, 'See this house? Build us one just like it' kind of thing.

New leaves budding. This tree lost all it's leaves in two days last week and now has almost completely regrown all new ones. Fall and winter sure go by quickly in this climate!

In the meantime, I haven't gone on any trips, cooked anything grand (a few delicious things, but they were all ugly), or had any strange experiences (chalk that up to getting used to life here, not life as you would probably expect it). I'm just enjoying the house that Germans built (the house I'm renting) and weekends of free time.

"Wildlife'' abounds around the house, as in spiders, butterflies, etc. I've had two hummingbirds fly into the house in the last week. While they're cute, it's a bit of a chore to get them back outside.

This weekend Roberto decided to cut down some coconuts for the water inside and I just wandered around the garden and worked on photography.

Chopping down coconuts with a machete. He got two from this tree and then eight from another tree where the coconuts were growing at eye level.

You especially have to be careful doing anything in the garden when it contains trees such as this one!

Chopping open the coconut with the machete (yes I did it and it wasn't too difficult, definitely easier than wood chopping with a heavy ax!)

Sweet water from inside. Honestly, I don't like it, but it is REALLY healthy for you! (Yeah, not enough to actually make me drink it!)

In the evening, after a rainshower and as the light was fading fast, Volcano Concepcion erupted a little and send a plume of ash towards Potosi, just north of us in San Jorge.

Rainshowers on Ometepe Island

You know, just your standard weekend!

Eruption of Volcano Concepcion August 3rd, 2008

The World is Beautiful

Just a dose of happiness for your day. I love it when things make me feel not so far away from everyone. For more info click here.

Joining the Modern World

So I have gotten direct TV.

Since moving to the house that Germans built (the owners built the house 15 years ago and are from somewhere in Germany (I've been advised by those who know that their dish ware is East German)), I've been living what I would call a much more normal life. When I'm done with work, I actually leave.

Part of the normalcy now includes a television that gives me more than this:


In case you can't tell, that is a playoff game between the Celtics and the Lakers.

This is an example taken last night from the movie 'Water' by Deepa Mehta about the practice of girls in India going to homes for widows (and basically being cut off from society) if their 'spouse' (the boy they have already been promised to) dies. I've been wanting to see it since 'Earth' by the same woman was so emotionally provoking.


Yeah, it's nice to see what's going on!

This is my first time buying cable/direct TV type service, normally what's free is good enough for me, but there's a couple different factors this time.

First, free isn't really anything. You can't really see much, but also the programs, well, it's either bloody bodies on the news (they show EVERYTHING) or soap opera telenovelas.

Second, as wonderful as my experience is here, sometimes it's nice not to notice I'm in a foreign country (I get so relaxed, I actually wondered (for a split second only!) why the commentators for the European Soccer Cup championships were speaking spanish).

Now I'm going to go live my normal life and fix spinach crepes with cheese for dinner after a run on the beach. Ok, maybe it's not that normal!

I'm Ahead of You for Once (on Something that Doesn't Really Matter!)

So I saw 'Indiana Jones y el Reino de la Calavera de Cristal' last Friday, and actually, I watched it from the comfort of my own couch!


Here in San Jorge, we don't have any movie theaters, but that doesn't stop us from seeing the latest movies! And actually, even the movie theaters in Managua, which are an overnight trip to visit (by the time the movie ends, there's no transportation back to San Jorge), don't have the latest movies.

So who does have the latest movies? Of course, it's your local corner shop with pirated movies and music! The best movies for me are the most recent releases so they haven't been dubbed into Spanish yet, it's still English with Spanish subtitles.

While I grew up in a family that debated the ethics of photocopying sheet music so that my mom could have a copy on the piano at home to practice and a copy at church to play during the service, I was still certain that this instance of pirating was necessary, um, at least until I saw it.

Let me just say I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I paid $1.03 for it.

Counting the Days

It was one year ago that I got on a plane headed for, well, I wasn't sure what I was headed for. Mexico and Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, yeah, but I wasn't really sure what that meant.

I wasn't full of idealized dreams, already having worked professionally for a few years in construction and even more years with non-profits. I didn't expect to change the world (I wouldn't mind it, and sometimes I'm delusional enough to try, but usually realism wins). And I wasn't set on having a life changing experience myself.

And one year later, well, it still seems like just my quiet little life. I go to my office each day. I try to behave myself. Sometimes the days speed by full of productivity. Other times I'm frustrated by the bureaucracy and bruisings. I may officially work for an international multi-million dollar organization, but I really work for the kids. I divide up my 24 hours according to what is most important to me. I travel a bit when I can. Really, it's not any different than anyone else.

I'm not minimizing the experience, I just want to say, it's your Fill-in-the-Blank-Iversary too! In the last year you've made the same choices I have. Choices according to time, money, values, pressures, fears and desires.

The challenge is to be aware and choose wisely. All resources are precious and need to be spent carefully. Here in Nicaragua, where there is so little, it's simply a little more obvious. But before your next Blank-Iversary, you can make your choices more conscientiously too!

Just spend a few moments to think about what really matters, if your actions follow your values, you'll be amazed where it takes you.