Ideas

I like ideas. I like having them. I like carrying them out. And I really like getting credit for them. The Peace Corps is not, well, about any of that. The Peace Corps is about listening to people, developing their ideas, and giving them all the credit. In this way, the community takes credit and responsibility and carries on the project after you are long gone.
And thus, those that decided, “this is dumb, I have great ideas” are doomed to have their ideas followed for a while, and then discarded, which is a very frustrating thing to watch.
Those who listen to their community, find that, well, people don’t share their amazing ideas with you all that often. They do. Just not that often. And in the meantime, you feel quite useless.
But, sometimes this listening pays off. A combination of patience, listening, subtle creativity, enthusiasm, a great deal of wandering around (see blog entry: April 23, 2008) and some more patience are required. Today two people shared with me their great ideas. TWO!! This is huge. This does not happen very often. And now the critical events that will let these ideas fly or sweep them under the rug will take place in the blink of an eye, even in slow, laid-back San Marcos.

Idea #1: “Oh, those are pretty bracelets you made.. from plastic bags? Really? My husband’s high school class is about to enter a contest in projects that help the environment. We could do that!”
Um, oh my goodness? How perfect is that? I have been trying to motivate someone, anyone, to see how amazing my awesome plastic bracelets (AND beads made from potatoes… pictures to come, I promise, they’re pretty cool.) are and thus pass the know-how on to San Marquinos everywhere. If done well and with style, they could be an instant fund-raiser. They are free to make, all you need is some plastic bags and time.
In the last few months, I had down shifted my strategy and was merely hoping to impart this information on anyone because when I attempted to do small projects involving this idea with the youth groups I was working with, no one seemed the slightest bit interested. So, I guess this was a combination of my idea and someone seeing it and getting excited about it all on there own, without any pushing on my part. Hence, “subtle creativity.”

Idea #2: “Well, I have to do a second Potable Water Course this year. I guess we could do it in Santa Cruz.”
Obviously, this will take a little more explaining for everyone reading to see the awesomeness inherent in this plan.
I was talking to the “sanitation technician” (he checks on the water systems and meets with the committee in charge of cleaning the system and chlorination of the water). (Gosh, it would be nice if they chlorinated the water…) He is one guy. Just one. And he has 28 communities to “oversee” and some of these communities are up to a two hour drive away… and then you have to walk. It’s basically insane what this poor man has to do.
Santa Cruz is the farthest sector from San Marcos. Perhaps even a three hour drive away and a couple hours of hiking after that. He has never been there. (“What?” – that’s what you say.) That’s right, never. We have no idea what kind of water they are drinking. No one does. The meager supervision that the national, regional, or municipal government has on this region is solely based on this technician, who, again, has never been there.
So, this grand idea is to have a two-day course in Santa Cruz and then he will visit all of the communities surrounding (all eight of them) throughout the following months to monitor their progress.
From absolutely nothing to a detailed workshop and monitoring visits for the next six months, it might seem like a small step for the residents of the fast-paced American mainstream but I’m really excited to see what improvements and positive changes we can incite in these communities.
And the best part? HE thought of it. And then he said it out loud. To ME. And now, I shall make him DO it. Ha.