Field based training and training of trainees

PHEW......... Sorry I haven't written in a while, I've have been very busy in the past week with the current trainees.

To refresh, if you remember or were following this blog one year ago, I was living in a community called San Miguel Duenas, and was in "training", learning Spanish and training in preventative health. Therefore, at this moment, a new group of trainees for our project (previously named Rural Home Preventative Health) Healthy Homes arrived at the end of April, and is in the office for three months training to do our jobs in different locations around Guatemala.

One of the main parts of training is Field Based Training (FBT), where the trainees spend a week travelling to the sites of serving volunteers and work in their Centro de Saluds and work with their groups giving charlas etc. I was a host of FBT and therefore had 7 trainees, my boss Basilio, a Spanish teacher and a Peace Corps driver hanging out in my site for a week. First of all, the trainees were amazing. Their Spanish was top notch, they were energetic, wanted to learn and be there and made my job MUCH easier. That being said, it was a lot of work and pressure knowing my boss was around for the entire week watching how I interacted with the trainees and seeing my work.

We did charlas on natural disasters, nutrition, family planning, germs/bacteria and a 3 hour long workshop on HIV/AIDS to a high school in one of my communities. It was a busy week, and afterwards I just wanted to sleep for a couple days...Unfortunately, I did not have that opportunity, as the day after FBT Ferney and I were hosting a BBQ in San Vicente to celebrate Ferney's time there as a volunteer and to say goodbye (he is leaving in July!). It was a great party, with some good friends and good food.

The next morning I then got up around 6, drove down towards the coast, picked up a fridge, a stove and a toaster oven from Katy and Joe, two friends who are also leaving, and drove them back to my site with my friend Ana's home stay dad. We then piled back in the car (all the people still in my site from the fiesta) and her home stay dad drove us to cuatro caminos, where we hopped on a bus and went to Antigua.

This week, and part of next week, I am in Antigua. This week I am working with a small group of trainees to help them learn how to give the HIV/AIDS workshop, which we will be giving it on Friday to a high school. And next week I am giving a presentation to the trainees for the GAD (Gender and Development) committee, before taking 2 volunteers back to San Vicente to live and work with me for three days.

I KNOW RIGHT, I'm tired just thinking about it! But I'm also excited to be working with this great group of trainees, and know that my 2nd year here will be wonderful, as I'll have them to work with.