San Pedro Midway Update

July 21, 2008

The volunteers brought summer weather with them to Paraguay's winter.  Every day since their arrival has been warm and sunny. As they finish their second week in community, the volunteers have settled in with their families and are progressing with project work while exploring the community life. They are enjoying early-morning Cocido, afternoon Tereré, a hearty amount of meat, sopa paraguaya, and mandioca. The volunteers are also sharing card games with their families and local youth while learning to dance the Paraguayan polka. They are not only improving their Spanish, but are also learning a the indigenous language Guarani.

Volunteers have been working hard in their communities and are making the most of the short time they have in Paraguay. So far, the volunteers and community members have built 25 fogons.  Volunteers are working with local youth groups, organizing educational activities and planning other projects with their communities, such as theater groups and compost bins.

A few Volunteers had the privilege of working with volunteers from Paraguay and Bolivia who lived with the Volunteers in their communities for 10 days. AMIGOS was able to work with these volunteers through our collaboration with the organization Junior Achievement. In 6.000 Bertoni, community members are also working on a special project funded by a grant from the Amigos Foundation. The supervisor and community members applied for this grant to aid in the construction of a building for a sewing cooperative in the community. The cooperative will be run by local youth who are raising money to pay for sewing lessons so that they can use the industrial sewing machines donated by the government.

This weekend, the volunteers will take a brief break from community life and venture to the nearby cities of Guajayvi and Santani for a few hours. They will enjoy a meal with their supervisors and the other volunteers in their area. This excursion will rejuvenate the volunteers before they return to communities, ready for two more weeks of Paraguayan life and hard work. The next few weeks will be busy with fogon construction, tree planting, and educational activities.