Woodley's World: My Site

So finally, after weeks of waiting and after the Technology group already knew their sites, us Environment kids finally found out where we were going to be living. Oh, the anticipation was killing us let me tell you. And of course they wouldn’t tell us first thing in the morning. We had to do a reconnect session first and talk about what the plans were for the week. Talk about suspense. Luckily our director Alberto didn’t make us wait at all once we were able to meet with him. He called out our names and we ran to get our booklet. I looked at the cover of mine and it said El Batey. My first thought was that I was going to be in a batey which is generally a largely Haitian or Haitian-Dominican community that was organized around the now almost defunct sugar cane companies. However, most of these are in the East and my site was in the Southwest. So once I realized it wasn’t a batey, I was a little shocked to find it was in the Southwest. I had been hoping to be in the mountains in the North of the country. I knew very little about the Southwest and had not been drawn to it by what I had heard. I read through my whole booklet that I had been provided and found that I was solicited by a health volunteer who had just finished up her 2 years in November with the main goal being that many women still use only the fogon (traditional super smoky stove that uses lots of wood). I also learned from the booklet that the area I would be working in has about 3000 people or roughly 450 families spread out over a valley into 13 loosely grouped communities. It’s a pretty big area for an environment volunteer. Still I had very little to go on and I was going to meet my project partners and head out for my site the next day. I’ve come to find that Peace Corps often times is more about the adventure of finding things out for oneself because there just isn’t an easy answer to anything.

Wednesday arrived early and hot. We had the majority of our bags packed and most of us took taxis to Entrena so we wouldn’t have to haul them from our communities. We loaded up and headed over to the site where we were going to meet our project partners. As luck would have it, the volunteer who was here before me who finished her service here in November had extended her service for another six months in another part of the country so she came to meet me and see her friends (my project partners). It was awesome to have her there because she could tell me so much more about the community than I would have learned just showing up here. Then there’s my project partners Nivin and Francisca (who’s also my host mom). They are absolutely wonderful people and leaders in their community. Everyone knows them and respects them and they are super supportive and excited about having another volunteer in El Batey.

After a morning of meetings we headed out with all my bags in tow, which I'm relieved to say I shouldn't have to deal with again for the next two years. The trip out was beautiful, although I did notice it seemed to get drier and drier as we headed west. We arrived in El Batey around 5:00 pm. The road out there leaves a little to be desired. The part that's paved is not in good condition and the last 10 km is just a dirt road which is not in good condition either as there are low areas where the water rushes through when it rains, which it does most days this time of year.

I had a tough first night, but after seeing more of the area and meeting more people I think I'll like it there and be successful. I have a ton more to write about but I'm feeling worn out right now. We've been having tests all day so I'll write more later. In the meantime, here's some pictures of my site.