There is a book in the works

Hi everyone-
I wanted to let you all know that I have started to compose a book about my experiences here in Honduras. When in 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship he outlined the organization's mission as having three simple goals:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

It is that third goal which I'm working on by writing this book. I reach my 6th month mark after swear-in this Saturday ( 9 months in country). I have had a bunch of experiences and insights that I need to put into type because I don't want to be selfish with this. I want to share these experiences. They have changed my perspective and the way I view life and hopefully I can convey some of these feelings to you the reader. By doing helping to create some sense of what life is here I am an advocate for those I have created great friendships and other lasting relationships. In that way I am fulfilling the 3rd goal by promoting the understanding of others back home. Also, remember, that Peace Corps is funded by your tax dollars. If not a novel it will be like a really long essay.

You may be wondering, "Jeez, this guy cant even keep a blog updated." Well, trust me. I have learned how important is to write and to convey these ideas. The most important thing I can come away with from here is an experience I can expose and get others to understand the human condition of life down here. My work here in the long run doesn't mean much. What matters is that though an understanding there can also be a change of heart. That means the way we talk about people and groups. We begin by not using words like Mexicans as a pejorative, wetbacks, invasion, job stealer', and law breakers. We should see people as they really are and once you begin to really know them then we treat others as ourselves. When one speaks of our current situation with immigration having a more loving attitude may create an environment where healthy and humane solutions begin to come forward.

So, this book is a cursory introduction to some of these people who have families and houses and put all they can into making a living. That perspective hopefully will be well portrayed here from the campo (farm/ rural area) and I want to bring it to you. It's also just a great way to show how I lived day to day along with some of the more adventuresome and cool things I have come across.

Also, The blog is also beginning to be updated regularly and parts of it may become passages in the book. I will also try to put parts of the book I already have and post them on the blog. The brownie story was one of those from the book.

I want your input! Please please please send me questions about life here or other general things that you think would be important to add to this writing. Thanks!

I have a picture blog too

For those who didnt know already, I have a picture blog which I have often been updating. Sometimes it is easier to convey my ideas and thoughts through pictures. Often it's harder to put or to begin to put those experiences in words.
The link is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/barkerbj07

Feel free to comment on the pictures or to send me questions about them. Not all of them have explanations or my comments yet.

Also, remember that my e-mail is:
barkerbj07@gmail.com

And my cell phone down here is:
011-504-9810-3339
Dial exactly that. Cheap phone cards can be found for around 10 cents a minute. I agree with most that I'm not worth that much. Or feel free to send me a text, which you do not need a phone card.

Free texts can be sent by using the message box on the following web address. Make sure once you type in my phone number (put your name in the box after "de"), click "Invitar Adicionar", type your message, hit "enviar" (which means to send) and nothing else.:
www.tigo.com.hn

But I am on Skype which is free, plus you can see me because I have a web-cam too. You can skype me at:
brian.barker07

New and Permanant Mail Box

Hi Everyone-
Here is my permanent mail box address:
Brian Barker
Apartado #209
Comayagua
Honduras, C.A.

This is located in Comayagua and is much closer to my site than at the Peace Corps office in the capital. Feel free to send me anything. Just mark on the outside of the box something like "school supplies" or "learning materials". The mail is more reliable than I imagined it would be. Most times volunteers dont have problems. With that in mind though, make sure if you are sending a package that you tell me that it is on its way so that I can lobby the mail clerks. Keep in mind that letters, postcards, and packages take around 3 weeks to get here.

*Note: "School supplies" = "Materiales para escuela"

Isabel Opens the First Restaurant in Ojos

My neighbor Isabel opened her new store this last Saturday. She has always been known for her great cakes and other sweets so she decided that she would like a place to make and sell them outside of the house. It's a small restaurant built on property her mother gave her next to her house farther in town. It has 4 tables and serves great fried chicken with fried platanos and baleadas. She has done such a great job. She and her husband have been saving up for a long time in order to create this business. They bought all the materials and equipment outright with cash which is unheard of without any need for a loan. The restaurant has been worked on since I arrived here a little under 6 months ago and I would always stop by to see how she was doing and look at the progress that was made.
When I first got here I was surprised that there was no place to eat out. It was kind of a downer because I knew I had to cook everything myself or rely on Norma, my host mom. I couldn't believe that no one thought it would be a good idea to have a restaurant in town. Now, Isabel is the only restaurant with a captive population of 2,000 plus another 4,000 in the smaller towns around ours.
One thing that I think was important was how she and her husband did it together and wanted to keep it their own. I asked her several times, since I am a business volunteer, if she wanted any help with a business plan, advertising or anything. She consistently turned me down for advice. The invisible hand of the market is working. She knew there was a niche here in town and that the demand was great enough to invest the family's savings into this business. Her business has been so successful that she is not able to keep her cakes in stock. She told me the other day that it has been a great surprise.
Sometimes there is a feeling of helplessness among the people in Honduras. There is good reason for this feeling. For example, the majority of people in rural areas are subsistence farmers. These guys live poor but reasonable. Unlike other regions of the world, many of these farmers have access to fertilizers and high yield seeds, markets to sell their produce when there is extra, and basic state programs (when there are funds) which extend grants or credit to these individuals to get basic farm items, fertilizer, etc.. That is how it has been a long time, much of the time without the states help. What is going on now is that the kids of some of these farmers are going to college and getting degrees, which hopefully and usually, gets them a more middle-class existence. This middle class is not the type I would be familiar with back in St. Louis or Denver but you can tell the difference because they are not on the brink. They are able to afford a motorcycle and sometimes a car. They eat better, they're healthier, they dress better, and have electricity and cable tv.
That general feeling of helplessness has turned into actionable progress for Isabel. It also is no surprise that the opertunites to go to school and better health services have allowed Isabel to live this type of middle-class lifestyle that her parents and many other older individuals never had when growing up. Her father was a farmer. Now, her husband works in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, which is two and a half hours from here. He leaves every Sunday for work and comes back to be with the family every Friday. The money he makes and the little Isabel makes from selling cakes out of her house have allowed them to start this new business. They also are making sure their kids go to school and later to college.
It is this generational progress which is amazing. The generation now which is just coming out of the grade schools and the high schools has had a fuller set of opportunities which their parents did not enjoy when they grew up. Fifteen years ago Ojos de Agua did not of electricity. It has that and also cable TV. My little sister, a part of the generation that parents like Isabel are raising, has grown up on MTV like programing and wants more things her parents could never have had. If you go into the larger towns with markets or grocery stores you will find many imported products from places like China or America. The town also got a sewer system within the last 3 years. Before every house had their own latrine. Many of these kids in school now see themselves going to college instead of becoming farmers. That's great news. Hopefully in a generation or two this trend will help lead many more out of their poverty.
But breaking that cycle of poverty begins with people like Isabel who have received an education and kept themselves healthy and are now investing in the town by opening their store. Like I said before, I'm very excited for them and I wish them the best.

Brownies

I made a big commotion the other day by baking brownies.

So, I bought regular brownie mix which cost the equivalent to $2. I added 3 eggs and 1.5 sticks of butter and that's it. As I was cooking the brownies my host mom, Norma, kept telling me that they were never going to be cooked all the way and that I needed to crank-up the heat and keep them in longer than the directions. I got nervous and called my real mom in Denver. She reassured me through my self doubt that I was making them correctly. Afterwards, I deemed them ready I let them sit and cool.
After cutting them everyone in the family I'm living with tried a piece and thought that they were great. I decided that I was going to hit the road around town and walk the dirt streets until there were no more brownies left. I went with my 8 year old little sister here,Ana, and I walked over to my neighbors house, Isabel, and let them try the brownies.
Next, I ran into Edgar. Edgar is the new, and fresh out of school, science, math, and English teacher at the grade school here in Ojos. Every once and awhile I'll help him with his English class curriculum and it's his class that I teach on "values". He was outside of his house talking with a friend. I gave them both a piece of brownie to try and they loved it.
Later, I went to Nati's house. I think of them as my second family here in town. After work I usually walk past their house and if they are sitting on the porch I'll stop to talk and kid-around with them. One of their older son's owns a coffee plantation in the hills. He told me that once picking season begins in November that he will take me with him to pick coffee. Their neighbors saw that I was handing out goodies and they tried the brownies too and loved them.
I ended up afterwards in the central park. In the park was a group of grade schoolers who I have in class. In town, and every town in Honduras, there are a group of kids who if they are together they will laugh and call out your name when your back is turned. But if you catch them alone or with only a couple of others they love to talk with you or will at least say hello. They called out my name and started giggling so I took that as my queue for me and my little sister to say "hi" back and visit them. They all tried a piece and I went on my way after telling them goodnight.
I walked passed and saw a couple of the guys from my counterpart NGO in front of one of the pulperias (random stores you'll find anywhere here) eating and drinking. I let them finish off the rest of the brownies and they were surprised when I told them that I had made them.
Usually men are never found in the kitchen to cook. First, the usual feeling by the men is that it's women's work and they expect to be waited on and served. Secondly, on the women's side they bolster these sex roles by saying that men are not able, or incappable, to cook or to even take care of themselves.
I feel like being taken cared of too; if that means having someone make dinner for me or me eating out while in the States. Here though, I find myself going an hour and a half by minibus (a sardine cramped death trap) to buy my groceries in the department capital. Side note: Comayagua is the department capital (sort of like a state; Honduras has 18 while the country is only the size of Tennessee). I end up cooking and cleaning everything for myself to the initial astonishment of everyone else. Norma likes it though.
Anyways, the point of the story is that everybody was amazed by the brownies which they have never had before and that I had actually made them. It has been about a week or two after that night and I still have people asking me when I will make the brownies again.

Currently Reading:
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Going on 6 months in-site

Hey everyone, I am about to complete my first 6 months in service (9 months including training) after swearing-in. I received an e-mail the other day, which I actually responded to, and I wanted to share it along with my reply. I think it will add a little insight into what I'm doing. This e-mail was from a girl who is currently going through the process to get into Peace Corps and asked me what I thought. I'm calling her Jane because I don't want to possibly embarrass her.
From Jane:

Hi there!
I met you once or twice long long ago. Not sure if you remember me. Anyhow, Rebecca just told me you are serving in PC as a business advising volunteer! I've recently been nominated for business advising as well, in francophone Africa for June '08. Now just going through the medical stuff.

Really glad to know someone who has taken on the challenge. Hope you are embracing every moment of the experience. And, if you don't mind, could you share what you've done and maybe some tips for me as I go through the process? Thanks!

best wishes,
Jane

My Reply:

Yes, I do remember you Jane. I'm glad you are interested in the Peace Corps and that you want to be a part of the business project. I have just a few things off the top of my head, so here they are:

Medical exams are tough and require a lot of time. Mine was practically flawless but I still kept getting snagged by Peace Corps.

Peace Corps will generally "forget" about you when it comes to nominating you for a specific country. So once you turn in your med forms and all other paperwork make sure that you are repeatedly calling the Africa Regional Office for an actual country nomination. Also, PC says francophone Africa now but they will change that whenever on their discretion. So now is a good time to read or look up the area to see if it is really a place you want to be. You have taken the first big step and gotten through the application and the majority of the med papers etc. so you are desired by PC. Therefore, if you decide Africa is not for you, you have leverage to say you want to go to a different region. You can also negotiate within the region when you want to leave and based on that they can assign a country.

One other thing about Africa. Africa is a hard assignment. You generally have to learn two or maybe even 3 languages. French, then possibly the regional language, or more likely the villages specific language. A lot of people drop out of these programs, and there is absolutely no shame in that, but also a lot of people love these too.

For me I would have a tough problem without access to communications. Honduras is surprisingly more developed than I thought. I have bought a cellphone here and call Rebecca everyday. I also have broadband internet access because I was lucky with the NGO counterpart I have. I probably would have come home by now if I couldn't be in constant contact with Rebecca.

What I have found to be true is that Peace Corps is an amazing experience and I have learned a ton. It has shaped me into a better person and has made me more focused and realize the importance of community and hands on, ground level, work. It's a great way to put your SLU Jesuit ideals to the test and to practice. I went in wanting to go off to grad school for international economics and do development work for life. But now actually being exposed to all of that and seeing how all the different pieces work together- government, private enterprise, and not for profits- I believe I can make the biggest and, I think the best, impact back in my community in the states. I want to get involved with my neighbors and local government and be an advocate for our own who are in need, who maybe is the person sitting next to you on the city bus. That means me wanting to find a job possibly in financial banking while using my free time to do local advocacy work or even something as simple as being a Red Cross Volunteer.

You cannot "save" anyone. Though, you can be their best friend or their advocate back at home when you return. Being able to test yourself during this time is critical and will change you. It has for me, even though I said it wouldn't. You take these peoples stories and insights and you become a spokesperson for them back in the States. That can be as simple as telling someone about the love you saw in a person when she told you about her daughter dying from poor prenatal care or turning down the temperature of your shower in the morning so that you are producing less greenhouse gases which create drought like conditions in Africa. You will in a sense be "saved", not really them.

One thing that has gotten me the farthest here in my village is simply asking about how are a person's kids and family. People love to share this and they will invite you into their house over a cup of coffee.

One last thing, I work with women's micro-business development and small micro-finance groups too. I'm in my 6th month post swear-in and I am still having trouble with work. People don't want to meet or realize that you have information that is in their best interest. That is their problem and not mine. What I have been doing though when things are slow is teaching in the local schools about values and I also have helped one of the teachers with his English course. Another thing that I do is I make a point to get out of my house and to meet as many people as I can. I stop by anyone outside and I will start a conversation and thus make a new friend and connection. I call this my Relationship Building project. It's very important and I thing the most lasting and most successful project I could have.

And lastly, I applaud female volunteers. They really have it rougher than the guys. Not only is it tougher for females to get passed their medical examinations and dealing with the constant health issues they have in country is amazing. They also have to deal with the constant deluge of whistling and very overt gestures and comments along with a lack of respect that goes along with macho cultures.

Alright, I hope this helps and I wish you the best. Have a great day Jane. If you have anything else let me know!

-Brian Barker

barkerbj07@gmail.com