A daughter of a friend just passed away suddenly. Seventeen years old. Lo mataron, they say: she was murdered. She had fallen in with bad people. This is happening all over the country. I can't even imagine what her family must be going through. I didn't know her, but everyone in the community chipped in to help pay for the coffin because the family cannot afford one. We paid our respects at the funeral... There really are no words to describe how to face it when a life so young is so brutally cut short.
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On the brighter side, we've almost successfully completed training. Only two weeks (and still lots of homework) to go, and then we will swear in on September 16 and head to our new site on the 17th. And then... the great wide world of Peace Corps service awaits. I have few illusions of superheroism or being a rock star Volunteer. I'll do what I can, but I feel that even the process of learning what a community needs and wants (and not just what I want) can take many months, even years. Development is slow work with many pitfalls. Success is hard to measure. Sometimes the most successful volunteers are not those that build a new Casa Comunal (town hall) or get grants for the community, but those that spend their days really knowing the people, making organic shampoo, giving a hand in the field, teaching students (and even more important, teaching teachers). We shall see…
I feel like I am just getting to know the people in my training community. Every day I discover more about the complexities of the deceptively 'simple'-seeming life in the campo. Every decision a person makes might mean the difference between food on the table or privation. Every community member is a fountain of knowledge about the families, relationships, history, and context of their community. I will be sad to be leaving for my 2-year site just when I feel I am getting to know my community here near San Vicente, and when I still have so much to learn! I will miss my training host family, who have been so wonderful and essential to learning about El Salvador.
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