Así es la vida

Walter Tróchez

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Walter Trochez
Originally uploaded by StormyPetrel

This past Monday, I received a message through a Honduran HIV/AIDS email list that I belong to. The message said that Walter Tróchez had been shot and killed on Sunday night in the middle of Tegucigalpa.

I worked with Walter on the TOT we did in Teguz shortly before the end of my service. Though younger than I was, he was a longtime activist in the LGBTQ community, and did extensive work with and on behalf of PLWHA. He was bright, energetic and articulate, and made a big impression on me at the TOT.

After the coup, he posted several times to the email list about resisting the coup, and human rights violations that were happening. I hate to admit that I didn't pay a lot of attention to those posts, as my feelings about the coup were largely ambivalent. The government of Honduras seemed so dysfunctional during my time there, how much worse could the de facto government be? And if the majority of Hondurans were checked out of the political system already, wasn't the government a democracy in name only even before the coup?

If anything, I was of the opinion that one group of elites had deposed another group of elites, and was mad that the coup had cost the people of Honduras so dearly. One article I read claimed that Honduras' economy had been set back 10 years by the coup.

Walter was shot twice from a car that then sped away. He was targeted and assassinated. 10 days earlier, he had been kidnapped by government agents who hooded him, took him to an unknown location, and beat him while asking questions about La Resistencia, the movement to resist the de facto government.

Walter escaped and immediately reported the crime and documented his injuries with the human rights commission in Tegucigalpa, as he had done for dozens of other resisters who had been harassed, intimidated, kidnapped, beaten, and even killed.

Any trace of ambivalence about the coup has evaporated since reading the news of Walter's assassination. The de facto government has returned Honduras to the bad old days of dirty wars waged by dicatorships backed by the US.

And unfortunately, the de facto government has received endorsement if not outright backing from the US government. Pepe Lobo won an election that was not monitored by any international agencies and in which turnout was less than 50% (though it was reported to be 62%). Pepe was one of the so-called "business leaders" who originally backed the coup.

Unfortunately, the US showed no backbone against a country the size of Tennessee whose economy and military is almost entirely dependent on our support. So the de facto government in Honduras will continue to act with impunity, attacking and killing brave activists like Walter who are simply advocating for a return to the rule of law.

Right now, the best thing I know of to do is write your congressperson, senators, and President Obama to express your anger and dismay at such a colossal failure of to practice good foreign policy or even basic human decency in Honduras' political crisis. I'll try to find out about other ways to support La Resistencia, and post them here.

More about Walter: http://tinyurl.com/ybzljtf
Sample letter to US Gov't: http://tinyurl.com/yhhzuvx
Amnesty International Statement: http://tinyurl.com/y95galk

Life in the US of A

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:19:00 +0000

After a two-leg flight that suffered multiple delays, I finally arrived in San Francisco around 2am on May 2nd. I've been home for just over a week, and here are some thoughts, in no particular order:

The plan to "just relax" is anything but relaxing. I feel useless and bored when I have nothing to do. I don't want to rush in to anything, but I need to find something challenging and engaging to occupy my time.
Everything seems familiar, but doesn't feel familiar.
Walking through heavily latino parts of town makes me happy. I immediately feel more at home when I overhear conversations and see signs in Spanish.
Having so many options (restaurants, shops, offices, etc) is a bit overwhelming. And the travel distances to get there too. I miss being able to walk to a pulperia to get all the basic stuff I need.
In many ways, it doesn't seem like much has changed. But many of my best friends are now engaged, married, or have kids. They're also working better jobs, or getting advanced degrees. It's hard not to feel like I've fallen behind.
I love drinking out of the tap, Hetch-Hetchy water is delicious.
Stuff I missed and thought I would relish (like eating good food) isn't as fun/fulfilling as I expected.
Traffic is so orderly it's spooky. And where are all the cabs?
It's really cold.
Having great friends and family nearby is very helpful for the readjustment process.

That's all I can think of for now, I might add more later.

A lot of people ask me what I'm going to do now. The short answer is: figure out what I'm going to do. Grad school is a strong possibility for Fall 2010, but I need to figure out what I want to study. The current candidates are Public Health/Public Policy, Economics, and Computer Science. I'll be spending the summer taking classes, researching schools, and talking to professors and professionals in those different areas. Also, I'm hoping to find a job by around mid-August. I'll definitely be applying to be a Peace Corps Recruiter, but if anyone out there knows of other jobs they think I'd be good for, let me know. My resumé is available here.

This blog probably won't get many new posts from here on out. I'll still add to it anytime I have something to say about Honduras or the Peace Corps. It's been fun keeping a blog, and I plan to start a new one as soon as I can decide on what it'll be about. I'll let y'all know when that happens.

Thanks for reading. I'm slowly but surely uploading the huge backlog of pictures from Honduras to my flickr account. You can see them here.

Description of Service

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Peace Corps Honduras

Description of Peace Corps Service

Raphael Crawford-Marks
Honduras 2007-2009

After a competitive application process stressing technical skills, motivation, adaptability, and cross-cultural understanding, Peace Corps invited Raphael Crawford-Marks to serve as a Health Educator in the Central American nation of Honduras.

Pre-Service Training
Mr. Crawford-Marks began an intensive 11-week pre-service training on February 12, 2007 in Santa Lucia a community located a half hour from the capital, Tegucigalpa, and in the community of La Paz. The program consisted of Spanish language training, technical skills training, AIDS education, and area studies training. Throughout the pre-service training program, Raphael lived with a Honduran family, reinforcing his linguistic abilities and exposing himself to Honduran culture and traditions.

Training program included:
- 185 hours of formal instruction in Spanish
- 113 hours of area studies (the history, politics, economics and cultural norms of Honduras)
- 141 hours of technical project training
- 16 hours of AIDS education

Assignment
On May 3, 2007, Raphael completed training and was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He was assigned to Trujillo in the Department of Colón.

Support to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)

In his two years of service, Raphael Crawford-Marks focused on supporting people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). In his community, Mr. Crawford-Marks worked with Nuevo Amanecer (New Dawn), a support group for PLWHA founded in 2004. On the national level, Mr. Crawford-Marks worked on and later coordinated Viviendo Positivamente (Living Positively), a new Peace Corps Honduras initiative for working with PLWHA and Support groups.

Strengthening Local Support Groups

Mr. Crawford-Marks helped the leaders of Nuevo Amanecer to plan and facilitate bimonthly support group meetings and other activities such as marches, community service events, potlucks, and holiday parties. Mr. Crawford-Marks also worked on several other projects with the support group, including securing a grant to fund the group’s activities for 6 months, conducting a demographic survey of 100 PLWHA in Trujillo, and increasing the group’s outreach to PLWHA. By the end of his service, average attendance to support group meetings had increased 200% (from 5 to 15). Additionally, Mr. Crawford-Marks gave technical assistance and training to support group leaders from surrounding communities, including Santa Rosa de Aguán, Santa Fe & Guadalupe, and Limón. Throughout his service, he focused on transferring skills to his Honduran counterparts while gradually diminishing his own role, so that by the end of his service the support group leaders were effectively planning and facilitating all support group activities with minimal help.

Revision and Creation of Educational Materials

As member of the Viviendo Positivamente team, Mr. Crawford-Marks edited and rewrote significant portions of an activities manual for PLWHA support groups. He also created or adapted a number of new activities, covering topics like Healthy Lifestyles, Communication, Team Building, Stigma and Discrimination, Self-Esteem, and Adherence.

Development of “Training of Trainers” (TOT) Curriculum

Since assuming leadership of Viviendo Positivamente in 2008, Mr. Crawford-Marks and his team created a 3-day “training of trainer” (TOT) curriculum for PLWHA support group leaders and facilitated TOTs in four communities: Santa Rosa, Copán; Trujillo, Colón; Catacamas, Olancho; and Tegucigalpa, M.D.C. He also trained 12 new Health PCVs on the Viviendo Positivamente methodology. Since the creation of the new TOT, the Viviendo Positivamente team has trained 40 Honduran men and women representing 11 support groups from 5 different departments.

Grant Writing

To fund two of the TOTs, Raphael wrote and managed two President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) grants. The grant proposals included detailed budgets, action plans, and monitoring and evaluation plans. Each of the TOTs were completed on time and on budget.

HIV/AIDS Prevention

Mr. Crawford-Marks also worked on fulfilling the health project's first goal of HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and worked primarily in Men's Health, a Peace Corps Honduras initiative that uses an innovative methodology to prevent adult men from contracting HIV and other STIs and raises awareness of other male health related topics.

Men's Health is a Peace Corps Honduras initiative that targets adult men in HIV/AIDS prevention, other topics related to men's health, and masculinity. This initiative was created in response to the lack of organizations working with adult men, a population that is rarely engaged, yet is often responsible for making the majority of the decisions in reproductive health for themselves and their partners.

Mr. Crawford-Marks implemented many of the initiative's activities in his site and facilitated several training of trainer workshops (TOTs) in the Department of Colón. During his service, Raphael facilitated educational activities and TOTs that trained 62 Honduran men to be Men’s Health facilitators, and an additional 74 Honduran men in HIV Prevention and Sexual/Reproductive health.

Secondary Activities/Projects

Raphael also completed several secondary projects during his service. During the summer of 2007, he taught English to a Garifuna youth group. He later organized a pen pal program between students at the local high school and American students at Ashland High School in Ashland, OR.

Raphael revised a hygiene manual and trained the Honduran staff of the Trujillo chapter of Pure Water for the World to give hygiene education in communities where they delivered biosand water filters. Since then, the staff of Pure Water has given hygiene education to thousands of Hondurans in the departments of Colón and Gracias a Dios.

Language Skills

Raphael achieved a Spanish language Oral Proficiency rating of Superior as administered by a Certified Peace Corps Language Tester at the close of his service. Raphael effectively used Spanish to communicate in his work, with his colleagues, Honduran work partners, and in daily life.

Raphael completed his Peace Corps service in Honduras on May 1, 2009.

Tegucigalpa TOT

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:31:00 +0000

From April 20-22, I helped facilitate a Viviendo Positivamente TOT (Training of Trainers) in Tegucigalpa. The training was funded by PEPFAR funds and by a Honduran organization called APUVIMEH/Casa Renacer.

Casa Renacer is a temporary home for people living with HIV (PLWH). They provide food and lodging at no cost to PLWH who haven't the means to pay for hotel and food when they come to Tegucigalpa for treatment. In addition, they do advocacy, hospital visits, and play host to several support groups.

The training went really well, and generated a lot of interest among to participants to do follow up trainings in other parts of the country. It was a great way to end my service.

Jason facilitating Globulos Blancos:

Adam facilitates a group discussion:

Part of a Self-Esteem activity:

Linea de Vida:

Enjoying a Dinamica:

Jason and I plan for the next day:

Groups prepare for the practica:

Adam and I evaluate the practica:

Giving feedback to the participants:

Post-diploma group photo:

Llaves Recognizes PC/HN Work with PLWH

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Llaves (a Honduran magazine by and for people living with HIV) has written an article about Peace Corps' work with PLWH. The photo is taken from World AIDS Day activities at the PC office last December. Yours truly is quoted in the final paragraph.

Click here to download the article (1.5mb TIF).

Despedidas in Trujillo

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:40:00 +0000

I'm writing this blog update from Tegucigalpa, and have officially been homeless for one week. This past week was spent in Catacamas, Olancho, which is a really pretty town that I hadn't yet visited during my service. I was there to facilitate another Viviendo Positivamente TOT with a few fellow volunteers. The training went well, though wasn't as well-attended as we had hoped. But it still gave us valuable experience leading up to the big training we're doing after Semana Santa in Tegucigalpa.

My last week in Trujillo was a blur of despedidas and moving. I had two "official" despedidas (goodbye parties) - one with PCVs and other extranjeros, and one with my honduran friends and counterparts.

The first despedida was all the things I love about Trujillo rolled into one great weekend. We spent a night at Tranquility Bay, a beach resort outside of town run by a great Peruvian-American couple. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, then had a delicious brick-oven pizza dinner. The power went out and the field outside the restaurant was lit up by fireflies. After dinner we went swimming in the caribbean, under a starry but moonless sky. The water was filled with bioluminescent organisms, so every movement would cause the water to glow.

The next morning we got up early to take a trip to Cayo Blanco. Cayo Blanco is a cay that has sunk to just a few feet below sea level. It's surrounded and covered by a small but thriving reef. Fernando brought his underwater camera, so we were able to get some pictures. Among other things we saw a stingray, an octopus, bright red sea urchins, and lots of jellyfish.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at Tranquility Bay before returning to my apartment in Trujillo. That night we started out at Evelin's in Barrio Cristales for some guifiti on the beach. Then we went across the street to Nunu's where they were having a live punta show, and we all danced a bit.

Then it was on to Truxillo, a recently remodeled disco in the center of town. They play better music there, and it was air conditioned! We danced until 3am and then got baleadas in the central park.

Before the second despedida, I had to move out of my apartment. I spent two days moving/selling/giving away all my stuff. Finally my apartment was bare. It was a strange sight, one that I haven't had since June of 2007.

My second despedida was also fun, but much sadder as well. I took the support group out for dinner at Andrea's Hotel in Barrio San Martin. We spent the evening reminiscing and then each member of the group gave a short speech and presented me with a going-away gift. Then we danced bachata for a couple hours. It was really overwhelming to get so much appreciation from the group, especially when I feel so guilty for leaving. After having been so completely accepted and taken care of by the members of the support group, it feels wrong to be going back home to my "real life."

So that's that. My service in Trujillo is over, and after facilitating a couple more trainings in other parts of the country, my service in Honduras will be over, too. It's hard to believe the 27 months are almost up.

Favorite Peace Corps Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Those of you who know me know that I love food. And that presented a problem in Honduras, because there is very limited range of not only prepared foods but also ingredients available for purchase. Here are some of my favorite recipes, made from ingredients that are easy to procure in any medium-sized town:

Chocolate Rum Cake

Cake:
1 package chocolate cake mix
2 chocolate pudding cups
4 eggs
1/4 C water
1/2 C Rum (or more)
1/2 C Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Glaze:
1/2 C (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 C sugar
1/4 C Rum (or more)
1/4 C Water

Preheat oven to about 325F. Grease cake pan. Place walnuts in the bottom of the pan. Mix cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, and rum. Pour batter into the pan. Bake at 325F for 50-60 minutes, until skewer or knife comes out clean.

Glaze: Combine butter, sugar, rum, and water in saucepan over low/medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Pour immediately over still-warm cake.

Lemon Bars

Crust:
1/3 C butter or margarine
1/4 C sugar
1 C flour

Filling:
3 eggs
3/4 C sugar
3 Tbs. flour
3 tsp. lemon zest
5 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix crust ingredients with a fork until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 8"x8" pan. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine filling ingredients and mix well. Pour over baked crust. Bake 20 minutes more at 350F or until center is set. Cool before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (if you can get it).

Cold-Brewed Coffee

Mix: 2 parts coffee grounds to 9 parts water. (e.g. 1/3 C coffee to 1 1/2 C water.) Let sit overnight. Strain out grounds and pour over ice. Coffee comes out very stong, so dilute with water to taste (for me, that's about 1 part water to 4 parts coffee).

Pizza Crust (from PCV Annie Gingerich)

1 C warm water
1 pkg (2 tsp) yeast (levadura)
1/2 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 C flour
2 Tbs olive oil

Combine water, yeast and 1 1/2 C flour. Mix well. Add oil, salt, and rest of flour. Knead for 5 minutes. Let rest in oiled bowl covered with damp cloth for 1 hour.

P.S. Quesillo is a great substitute for mozzarella in Honduras. Freeze it ahead of time for easier shredding.

Fruit Pancakes (adapted from my friend Andrea's recipe)

1 1/2 C flour
1/4 C oats (avena)
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 Tbs oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 1/4 C soft fruit (for example, sliced banana, ripe mango, or strawberries)

Mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix milk, oil egg, and egg white until well mixed. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

Heat griddle (a comal works great) over high heat with 1 Tbs oil. Once griddle is hot, reduce heat to Med-High. Pour 1/2 ladle of batter onto griddle, and top with 4-5 pieces of sliced fruit. When pancake has bubbles, flip and cook until both sides are brown.

Serve with butter/margarina and honey.

Bean Burgers

2+ C cooked beans, drained and blended. (I use 1 or 2 bags of frijoles licuados.)
1 lb. tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, diced or crushed
1 can corn
1-2 C other cooked veggies of choice (optional)
1 small can jalapenos (optional)
2 eggs
1/3 C flour
1 C oats
2 tsp salt

Sautee onion and garlic, then add tomato and other veggies. Cook until tomatoes are a bit soft. In a blender, put beans, veggies, corn, jalapenos, eggs, and salt. Blend until smoothish. Pour mixture into a bowl, and stir in flour and oats. Desired consistency is like a thick pancake batter. Place a couple spoonfuls onto a hot oiled comal and shape it into a patty. Cook until it forms a brown crust on each side.

COS Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Before leaving the country, COSing volunteers fill out a "COS Survey" which is published in Alli No Mas, the PC-Honduras volunteer e-zine. Here's my survey.

Name: Raphael Crawford-Marks
Site: Trujillo, Colón
Project: Health
Nicknames: Rafa, Justin Timberlake
Biggest Accomplishment: The Viviendo Positivamente Manual and TOT.
Biggest Disappointment: Failing to get the Trujillo support group to be as strong and organized as it could/should be.
Biggest Regret: Not doing enough, not always being fully engaged.
Defining PC Moment: Neighborhood kids calling out “Rafa!” when I walk down the street.
Things you will miss most: Warm nights, siestas, live punta shows at Nunu’s, drinking guifiti on the beach, doing yoga and dinámicas with the support group, having cipotes run errands for me, hiking to waterfalls, sunsets over the Caribbean, being special.
Things you will miss least: Burning trash, lack of initiative, corruption.
Biggest Irony: Most aid and development projects foster dependence and corruption, thus screwing things up even more.
Worst Illness: Rhabdomyolysis. It’s scary when your piss comes out dark brown.
Biggest Freak-out: Figuring out what to do after Peace Corps.
Biggest fear during PC: Having my corpse show up on the evening news.
Most useful things I brought: Yoga mat, laptop, and Spanish skills.
Least useful things I brought: Business casual clothing.
Favorite activity I did when bored: Cook, read, lie in my hammock.
Weirdest thing I did when bored: Fed mosquitoes to ants, then fed ants to spiders.
Favorite Hondureñismo: A la zumba marumba.
Greatest lie I told at my site: Peace Corps requires/doesn’t allow _________________________.
Favorite Honduran inquiry: ¿Que pedos?Best Honduran gesture: The finger wag.
Favorite CD/song during my service: Podcasts - This American Life, Fresh Air, RadioLab, Scientific American, Science Friday, The NewsHour.
Favorite books during service: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
Favorite Honduran fashion: Rocking out with the panza out.
Best jalón: Savá to Trujillo when there was a bus strike and it was after dark.
Worst jalón: Siguat to Ceiba in the paila of a truck. 5 hours of relentless sun. Despite slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat, I was badly burned and dehydrated when we arrived.
Best bus ride: Teguz-Ceiba on the day I came down with bacterial dysentery. The bus driver stopped the bus immediately and a fat honduran dude let me use his (very clean) latrine. Crisis averted.
Worst bus ride: Trujillo-Juticalpa. Dust, heat, leg cramping, body odor...for 9 hours.
Favorite food: Baleada con huevo as prepared by my neighbor Sandra.
Worst thing I ate: Iguana egg.
Worst thing I smelled: Bloated dog carcass.
Stupidest thing I did in the past 2 years: Did so many bicep curls that I gave myself rhabdomyolysis.
Untrue fact told to you as an undeniable truth: God created the Earth and all its creatures 8000 years ago and evolutionists are going to Hell.
You know you’ve been in Honduras too long when: You regularly lie to avoid even small confrontations.
I never thought I would: Eat so much fried chicken.
If I had to do it all over again I: Would take more risks.
Favorite Aralen dream: There was an epic one that involved submarines, surfing and supermodels and was set to a rockin’ soundtrack.
Favorite Ropa Americana t-shirt: “Will drink beer for sex” worn by a bolo walking with his mujer.
Best habit acquired: Is it possible to acquire good habits here?
Worst habit acquired: All of them.
Things you missed most from the U.S.: Family and friends, San Francisco, good food, climbing and biking, baseball, good conversation, initiative, competence, relatively low levels of corruption in business and government.
Things you missed least from the U.S.: That uniquely American mix of ignorance and arrogance.
Things you wish you’d known when you signed up: Nothing, all the important stuff has to be figured out as you go along.
Best advice for new PCVs: The best and worst parts of service are things you don’t expect.
Contact email: raphael dot crawfordmarks at gmail dot com

Last Week in Trujillo

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:36:00 +0000

I have 7 days left in Trujillo. It's hard to believe I'm going to be leaving so soon. Some of you may be wondering why I'm leaving Trujillo next week if I'm not flying home until May 1st. Good question. Because of trainings and other activities I have planned in April, there won't be any spare time to spend in Trujillo.

So my last month in Honduras will be spent as a vagabond volunteer, sleeping on couches and in hotel rooms in the different towns and cities where we will be doing trainings. I'm kind of looking forward to it. The workload and constant movement will distract me from the sadness of leaving what has become my home, and hopefully will make the transition easier. We shall see.

Viviendo Positivamente Training

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Last month I facilitated a 3-day training of support group leaders that's been in development over the last 6 months or so. This was the first full test of the training curriculum, and overall it was a great success.

Developing this training has been my main project for quite some time. Thoughout the course of my service, I've noticed that one of the greatest needs for PLWHA isn't simply to find motivated people to organize and run support groups, but motivated people with the appropriate skills to organize and run support groups. The Honduran education system is very lousy, so the most basic organization, planning, and communication skills simply aren't acquired by the vast majority of the population. This training is intended to be a small step toward meeting that need.

With funds from a PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) grant, Mary and I trained support group leaders from four municipalities in Colón: Trujillo, Santa Rosa de Aguán, Limón, and Tocoa. The response was very positive, but we also got some good feedback that has helped us improve the curriculum for future trainings.

Getting Hondu-12 and Hondu-14 health volunteers trained and Honduran institutions to buy into the methodology will be my focus from now until I leave on May 1. We have three more trainings planned in April, including one in Tegucigalpa with support group leaders from all over the country. If all goes according to plan, we'll leave behind a proven training curriculum for support group leaders that can be implemented not only by Peace Corps Volunteers but also by Hondurans. If that happens, then there's at least one project I point to that has achieved the elusive goal of sustainability.

2 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:17:00 +0000

This week marks two years since I left for Peace Corps. I flew from SF to DC on February 11, 2007, tried to get to Honduras on the 14th, and finally made it down on the 18th. It's hard to believe so much time has passed.

It's also hard to imagine leaving Trujillo. I'm looking forward to returning to SF, sure. But Trujillo has become home, and I'm reminded of that everytime someone says hi to me on the streets, everytime I watch the sun set, evertime I lie in my hammock with an iced coffee and a good book.

Luckily, work is keeping me from getting too emo. This Friday, I'm facilitating a 3-day training of PLWHA on how to organize and run support groups. After that I do follow up with the support groups in 4 different municipalities during the month of March. Plus my parents are coming to visit. April is semana santa, a possible visit from my brother, packing up, moving out, training the new health volunteers, and doing my exit interview and mountains of paperwork. Then I'm on a plane to SFO on May 1st!

I'll try to update a bit more before I leave. Thanks for reading.

Hondu-10 (my training group) at our COS (Close of Service) conference in late January:

There were 50 us two years ago. Now there are 36.

Thanksgiving in Trujillo

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay in posting. Since my last post I've been traveling a lot. I'm finally back in Trujillo for a good long chunk of time, and will be posting backdated entries to catch up.

First up, Thanksgiving!

For turkey day of 2007, we all got together at Mary's place in Sonaguera. This time, many of the same people (and some newcomers) came all the way out to Trujillo for the feast. And what a feast it was! Helmuth (the project manager for Health, aka my boss) donated a turkey, and Suzie, an expat friend, donated her gorgeous house for us to use for cooking and dining.

Beforehand, some of us prepared thanksgiving-themed decorations including construction-paper turkeys and a paper chain of thanks. (We wrote things we were thankful for on strips of paper and made it into a paper chain.)

The food itself was plentiful and delicious, and much fun was had by all.

Soccer Shenanigans

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Honduras is a soccer-crazed nation. How crazed? The only war Honduras fought in the last 100+ years was over soccer. That's about as fanatical as you can get about a sport, I think.

Last night Honduras played arch-rival Mexico in the last match of the first round of pool play to qualify for the world cup. This was not an elimination game, but it certainly felt like it. Honduras hasn't qualified for the World Cup in decades, and almost always because they were eliminated by Mexico. On top of that, Mexico habitually insults Honduras, considering them an insignificant team in international competitions.

During the game Trujillo looked like a ghost town. I got dinner from a normally-busy street vendor and was the only customer there. On my way back, Honduras scored a goal and several people came out to fire guns into the air. After a few minutes the streets were empty and quiet once again.

Until the game ended. I was amazed at the scale and energy of the postgame celebrations after Honduras beat Mexico 1-0. Hundreds of people streamed from bars and houses, yelling and chanting, whistling and blowing horns. They sported jerseys, facepaint, honduran flags. Everyone loaded into cars, pickup trucks, dump trucks and anything else with wheels. They formed a parade around the central park. Motorcycles weaved between the larger vehicles and trucks swayed under the mass of humanity that covered them and overflowed from doors, windows and truck beds.

It was quite a sight, and pretty dangerous. In the space of 20 minutes I saw two car accidents (no one hurt, luckily) and one kid fall from the back of a dumptruck and injure himself badly enough that he was taken to the hospital. None of this diminished the celebratory mood, however. A girl I know was in one of the car accidents and just got out and continued celbrating.

I've never seen celebrations in the USA reach such a fevered pitch. Super Bowls and Obama's victory probably come closest.

Nov. 5 Headline of La Prensa

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:11:00 +0000

Nov. 5 Headline of La Prensa
Originally uploaded by StormyPetrel

Better late than never...

Honduras and the U.S. Election

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:45:00 +0000

I watched the election returns last night with an american, an australian and a salvadorean. Us two americans were glued to the TV set and very emotional about Obama's victory. My other two guests were interested in the elections, but understandably not as emotionally invested. I had a fun time explaining the electoral college to them.

However, there are many Hondurans who are very excited about the elections. I received this text message last night from a friend here in Trujillo:

TE DAS CUENTA
EL MUNDO ES DIFERENTE
¡Change we need!

A dirt road was cleared and repaired yesterday so supplies can be tranported into town. This morning's edition of La Prensa was available at newsstands, and was a hotter commodity than flour, rice, beans or bread. Almost all copies had been sold by the time I got there at 9am. The cover featured a huge color photo of Obama with the headline 'Obama, Elegido'. People were snapping up copies as keepsakes, to show their kids one day. I thought that was remarkable.

It was incredible to see the footage of celebrations across the United States. What most impacted me were the scenes of jubilant strangers hugging, laughing and crying in the streets across the country. I wish I could've been there.

Weather damage

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:16:00 +0000

There have been rumors flying the last few days about the status of the road and bridges that connect Trujillo to the rest of the country. I have photos of the actual situation thanks to a photographer for La Prensa, and it's not good.

The highway a few kilometers outside of town.

Collapsed bridge over Rio Chapagua.

Trujillo is completely cut off and it's still raining.

I'm pretty well-equipped to handle this: I've got plenty of drinking water, food, and cooking gas (which I can use to boil water if I run out of the bottled stuff). The only rough thing is that I don't have running water - I have to capture rainwater for washing, bathing, and toilet-flushing.

Many hondurans have no resources to deal with this kind of disaster. Especially those living in rural communities that have been completely cut off. Thousands of people are homeless and many municipal buildings normally used during emergencies are themselves flooded, exacerbating the problem. It's hard to get any concrete information, though. COPECO, which manages emergencies in Honduras, can't stay on top of everything that's happening.

I'm heading out with a friend from Médicos del Mundo to see the damage for myself. I'll post an update if I learn anything new.

Rain, rain, and more rain

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Honduras rarely gets international news coverage, so when the beeb is talking about us you know it's a big deal.

The rainy season kicked off with a big-ish storm in late September, and it's only gotten worse from there. First there was a Tropical Depression and a low pressure system that collided right over Honduras, causing widespread flooding and landslides. Now there's a cold front dumping rain all over northern Honduras. The road through Tocoa is flooded for the umpteenth time this month, essentially cutting off Trujillo and eastern Colón from the rest of the country.

It's drizzling right now, which is the first time it hasn't poured in about 36 hours. Trujillo is weathering all this pretty well - we're a town built on hills so the water just runs into the bay. But food prices - already up 20 to 40% in the last year - are likely to shoot up as almost all domestic crops have been severely damaged or lost completely.

For the time being, I'm fine. I bought a pair of galoshes and a big umbrella and so I'm able to get to the internet cafe to do work and write blog updates. I'm also spending a lot of time cooking and reading at home. And there is one big benefit from all this rain: it's cold! Highs only in the mid 70's this week. I actually slept with a small blanket last night.

RPCVs + Honduran Artisans = ArteVida

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:45:00 +0000

When I first arrived in Trujillo 16 months (!) ago, there was already another volunteer here. Brent had been in Trujillo for a year, and helped introduce me to the town and it's people, gave me lots of invaluable advice, and became a good friend.

Brent is an RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) now, but he still maintains a strong connection to Honduras. Along with two other RPCVs he founded ArteVida, a fair trade arts and crafts store that provides an online marketplace for Honduran artisans. They just had their grand opening, so check them out! Every purchase helps support small business and sustainable development in Honduras.

lightning strike

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Almost identical to last year, this year's rainy season started off with a bang, with a huge multi-day storm in late September. A little over a week ago, I was out in the central park when the storm hit, and lightning started crashing all around us. As soon as the rain let up a bit and the lightning moved off into the distance, I hurried home.

My apartment was filled with acrid electrical smoke when I arrived home. My speakers, fan, and laptop power supply (which I had stupidly left plugged in) were all fried. Until I get a replacement power supply (about 4 weeks or so given honduran shipping times) there probably won't be many blog/foto updates. Just so you know.

My birthday was also this week! Mary, Amanda and I celebrated by watching the VP debate, and cooking lots of good food (including Dr. Dingman's Favorite Pumpkin Pie).

[on soapbox]
In about an hour I leave for La Ceiba to pick up my absentee ballot and vote! I'm very excited about it. Hondurans here are abuzz about the US elections. If you're american, then you have the privilege to affect the outcome of elections that will in turn affect many people all over the globe. Don't take that privilege lightly. Please do your research and vote.
[off soapbox]

That's about it for now. I hope everyone who's reading this is well and good, wherever you are.

SCUBA Diving and Útila

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:49:00 +0000

A few days ago I got back from a short vacation to the Bay Island of Útila. I went there with some friends to get certified as a PADI Open Water Diver.

The certification takes 3 and 1/2 days, with 1 day of classwork and the rest diving. First we practiced in a shallow area at the dive shop, then we moved on to actual open water dives.

Útila is the most inexpensive place in the world to get your dive certification. We stayed and took the course at Alton's Dive Shop, a really nice, happening place right on the water. It's filled with international travelers and has a very energetic, friendly vibe. If you want to go diving in Útila, I highly recommend it.

Diving itself was a fantastic new experience. Everything about it is fascinatingly different: from breathing underwater, to exploring the bizarre and beautiful plant and animal life of a coral reef, to having complete freedom of motion and virtual weightlessness underwater.

Our last dive of the trip took us to site called Ron's Wreck. There's a sunken sailboat about 17.5 meters underwater. The boat had been taken over by the reef, and was covered in aquatic plants and filled with ocean life. Our instructor told us that there was a giant moray eel living in the stern of the boat, but we didn't see it.

Here are some pictures (not mine) of things we saw diving the reefs of Útila

Flamingo Tongue.

Christmas Tree Worms.

Barrel Sponge.

Ron's Wreck.

A Long Jalón

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:06:00 +0000

I'm in Siguatepeque. I need to get to La Ceiba, 4 and 1/2 hours away, by 3pm. I have a ticket for the 9am bus. But now it's 10:30am and the bus hasn't showed. The guy at the ticket counter walks over and explains that the bus has been delayed by strikers in Comayagua who have put up a roadblock on the main highway.

"But the bus will be here soon," he says.

"Are you sure? Do you know when the strike will end?" I ask.

"Well, no, but I'm sure it'll be here soon."

Right.

I relay the information to my travel companions, and we decide to try our luck buscando jalón - hitchhiking. We figure that jaloning (as it's referred to in PCV spanglish) will get us to Ceiba, but probably not in time to make connections to our respective destinations. We know people we can crash with in La Ceiba, so it's no big deal. Strikes, roadblocks and travel delays are so common in Honduras that you just deal with it and don't get too upset.

A half hour later, roasting in the sun, choking on exhaust fumes from dirty trucks whizzing past us, the plan doesn't seem so great. Maybe we should just stay in Siguatepeque and hope the buses can get through tomorrow.

Just then, a tricked-out electric blue extended-cab pickup truck with chrome rims pulls up to us. "Where you goin'?" says the catracho in english with a half-honduran, half-NYC accent.

"Ceiba."

"We're going to Ceiba! Get in!"

"Is there space in the cab for us?"

Traveling in the paila.

There is space, but only for two. And we are three. Being a gentleman, I take the bed of the truck (paila), sitting with our backpacks on the hot black plastic that lines the bed of the truck. We take off, careening through the curves of the mountain highway at breakneck speeds. I slather on sunscreen, don my wide-brimmed hat, and hope for the best.

Riding in the back of a truck is pretty fun for short distances over smooth roads. You get a wide view of the countryside, and are frequently gestured at by honduran drivers amused by seeing a gringo in a paila.

The bus for Trujillo.

Riding in the back of a truck for nearly 5 hours is exhausting. It's like sitting in a tanning bed during and earthquake while getting blasted by a 200-horsepower blowdryer. But despite the sunburn and dehydration, this was a fantastic jalón. We stopped for a sit-down lunch and still made it to La Ceiba by 3pm.

The guys dropped us off at the mall, and I felt waves of relief as I entered the air-conditioned sanctuary. Two soft-serve ice creams later, the echoes of roaring wind had mostly stopped ringing in my ears and I began to feel human again. That night, I slept for almost 12 hours.

Hot Hot Hot

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:03:00 +0000

I took a vacation to the states a couple weeks ago and one of the best things about the vacation (aside from seeing people I love) was the absolutely perfect weather. Always clear, never too hot, never too cold.

It's been somewhat shocking, to say the least, to return to Honduras and the endless 95 degree days and 90 degree nights with 85% humidity. This year as a whole has been a lot hotter than the last.

The heat really impacts my quality of life. I never stop sweating, and if I forget to drink water constantly then I become dehydrated in no time. I'm going through about 3 liters a day, more when I do a lot of walking around town. I take two cold showers a day but feel dirty and sweaty minutes after toweling dry. It's hard to fall asleep at night, but I still wake up early because my apartment heats up as soon as the sun hits it.

The rainy season comes in a month or two, and I can't wait. In the short term, I leave for a Peace Corps meeting in the much-cooler town of Siguatepeque next Wednesday, and after that I'm going diving off the Bay Island of Útila (hopefully it won't be as hot underwater).

Peace Corps Budget Issues?

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:00:00 +0000

There have been rumors for some time that the Peace Corps is facing a bit of a budget crunch, but until recently I couldn't find any official mention of a budget shortfalls by Peace Corps officials. The Washington Post recently ran an article detailing the budget crisis.

See also:

- Peace Corps is closing it's Minneapolis recruiting office. Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN) has written a letter to the Director of Peace Corps, Ron Tschetter, asking him to reconsider.

- The Denver recruiting office is also slated to close. The Denver office handles recruiting for five states: Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah and Kansas.

- The Peace Corps is closing several smaller posts, including Kiribati.

The consequences of the budget crisis have been felt by PCVs in Honduras. Our living allowances have remained unchanged over the past two years, despite price increases of 20-50% for food and transportation.

Of course, we can manage without getting the extra living allowance. However, Peace Corps is cutting the number of volunteers, closing posts and closing recruiting offices. In order to save costs on training, Peace Corps Volunteers who wish to extend their service are limited to countries where they already speak the language (so Honduras PCVs can no longer extend to Africa, Asia or Eastern Europe). All of these changes result in fewer "boots on the ground." Despite the challenges we face in our communities, I am convinced that Peace Corps Volunteers make a difference at the very least by fomenting understanding and goodwill between the USA and other countries. Fewer volunteers means less goodwill, and the USA doesn't have much of that to sacrifice these days.

Please encourage your senators and congressperson to fully fund Peace Corps.

UPDATE: Erica Burman of the National Peace Corps Association directs us to the MorePeaceCorps campaign, which is advocating for a reinvigorated (and fully funded) Peace Corps.

Peace Corps Georgia

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:23:00 +0000

The Third Goal of the Peace Corps is "To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans." So even though this has nothing to do with Honduras, I figure it's worth posting.

I've been following the news of the escalating conflict in Georgia for the last couple days, and it finally hit me today: is there Peace Corps in Georgia?

There is. There is also a directory of Peace Corps Georgia Volunteer blogs. Understandably, not many of the blogs have been updated since the fighting began (PCVs have been consolidated to a town near the Armenian border, and may be evacuated to Armenia if the fighting continues.) But there have been some blog entries that provide a personal, and emotional, perspective on what's happening:

"Gori, where Brenden and I lived last summer, was hit by seven more bombs today (there were six yesterday), and the neighborhood of Kombinati (our neighborhood) was particularly hard hit. The bridge between Kombinati and the rest of the Gori is apparently damaged, so the main east-west highway is closed down..." - B & C Go To Georgia

"for those of you looking for updated news, as always, I recommend www.civil.ge and www.alertnet.org" - Cuttino's Blog

"Imagine moving from your home and two weeks after you've left, you're seeing images of the neighborhoods being bombed and buildings that have caught on fire." - Ian MySpace Blog

One of the unsung benefits of Peace Corps is that it creates a network of americans living abroad at the community level. Combined with the Internet, this is a powerful tool for sharing information and perspectives that don't always make the front pages.

MSM and Funding for HIV/AIDS Prevention

noreply@blogger.com (Raphael) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:56:00 +0000

The XVII International AIDS Conference ended yesterday in Mexico City. Two leaders from the support group here in Trujillo received funding to attend the conference, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about it from them. In the meantime, an AP article today brought up some issues that are very relevant to combating HIV/AIDS here in Honduras.

In "Global AIDS prevention gives short shrift to gays" reporter Julie Watson writes that "less than 1 percent of the $669 million reported in global prevention spending targets men who have sex with men."

This is despite the fact that "new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men in many countries are rising at alarming rates," and that in many countries the infection rate among men who have sex with men (MSM) is double or triple that of the general population.

In many developing countries, homosexuality is taboo or even illegal. In some places it is punishable by death. Some countries (like Iran) deny that homosexuality even exists. This kind of eyes-closed-and-fingers-in-the-ears denial of reality makes it impossible for public health professionals and institutions to spend prevention resources on one of the populations that most urgently needs it. On top of that, discrimination drives gay and bisexual men underground, making it extremely hard for health workers to reach them.

Ms. Watson goes on to write:

Complicating matters is that in countries from Latin America to Southeast Asia, many men who have sex with men, insist they are not gay. More than 30 percent of Latin American men who reported having sex with men said they also had unprotected sex with women, according to UNAIDS. Many are married.

This is exactly true for Honduras. According to official statistics, nearly 85% of new HIV infections were transmitted through heterosexual contact. In reality, these numbers are almost certainly untrue.

One problem is how the statistics are gathered (when they're gathered at all, which is another huge problem). A person who goes to get tested at a public hospital or health center must fill out a form in which they are asked to state their sexual orientation. This form is filled out in front of the health worker (who is often someone from the same community). Although confidentiality is required by law, it is never practiced. Anyone identifying themselves as gay or bisexual on one of these forms would basically be coming out to their entire community by doing so.

Also, many men who have sex with men never self-identify as homosexual or bisexual. According to machista culture, you're not gay if you're on top, or if you're really drunk. As is stated in the article, most men are married and in many cases don't find out about their own HIV infection until their wives become pregnant and are tested for HIV as part of their prenatal care.

I'd like to say that I know of organizations here that specifically reach out to MSM, but I can't. I'd bet there are some in the larger cities, where homosexuality is more accepted. But in smaller cities and towns, there's nothing. I'm sure that some of the NGOs and GOs that do HIV/AIDS prevention would like to work with MSM, but because it is still so stigmatized here, it's very difficult to reach the population that doesn't want to be discovered.

The article touches upon some strategies for combating HIV among MSM populations. To navigate stigma and taboos, health workers can use sensitive or even coded language in order to ask about homosexual contact without scaring people away. Surveys that quantify infection rates among MSM can help convince public health authorities that action needs to be taken. But most importantly, the stigma and taboos need to be broken down - through education, advocacy and the examples set by those who are willing to go public about their HIV status and their sexuality. We in the support group have focused more on combating the stigma of HIV infection, since on the north coast homosexuality is less stigmatized than in other parts of the country. But I think the support group members who are open about their status and their sexuality have done more to reduce stigma than any public education campaign we might do.