Ahecha

Ahecha means "I see" in Guarani, and it is the name of an amazing program here in Peace Corps Paraguay. With this program, volunteers who sign up, receive a kit with a number of cameras inside to use in their communities to teach photography!

I received my Ahecha kit at the end of November. This ended up not being the best time for me as I was traveling a lot for holiday season, last minute planning for the camp and just to escape the summer heat. So my Ahecha experience ended up being a little more unofficial than  others, I didn't teach any classes or workshops, but, interested children would show up to my house and have impromptu sessions. We talked about various topics from how to use a camera, how to treat cameras, and what makes a good photo.

Children here are so fascinated with cameras because they are not as common as they are in America. Some kids didn't really care to listen to the lessons I would teach and would just take pictures of anything and everything (including a million selfies!). But I did have a handful of students who really paid attention and put in to practice what I taught them.

Here are a random selection of some of my favorite pictures taken:

"Volando" - AnaLiz (age 16)

"Ojos" - Elena (age 5)

"Chipa" - Fatima (age 13)

"Locitos"- Fatima (age 13)

"Aventuras" - Fatima (age 13) 

"Tomando Mate" - Mariana (age 9)

"Guapa" - Mariana (age 9)

"Pensando" - Mariana (age 9)

This project can also inspire other effects aside from creativity. I've talked about Elena before in other blogs. She is my 5 year old neighbor. Most times I absolutely adore her and other times she drives me insane. Honestly, I can see why she acts the way she does though. She is no longer the baby of the family now that 3 year old Alex, who is actually her nephew, is around and that can be hard for any child to understand. But, also she has her mother, grandparents, 2 older brothers and 6 older sisters who all are telling her what to do all the time and that can definitely be confusing to a 5 year old girl, especially if she gets opposing messages from them.

So when we started this project and I gave her the responsibility of taking care of this camera for a few hours at a time, she was SO excited. Before, I was a little nervous that she might break it, but, she took such good care of it I was so proud of her. One day at her grandfather's birthday party I told her she was in charge of taking pictures of the fiesta. At one point in the day, one of her sisters took the camera away from her for no reason, only because she  said she was too mala (bad) to be allowed to have it. Normally, I don't like to get involved in disciplinary situations like that, numerous times they have told me to hit/spank Elena or Alex when they do something bad too me or in front of me, it is very uncomfortable. But, this time I stepped in. I told her sister that I had specifically given her the camera to take pictures of the party and explained that Elena knows how to take good care of it. I also told her that you can't expect Elena to learn about responsibility and how to value things if you don't give her a chance. I really hope this experience has given Elena a little more confidence because sometimes I'm worried she'll get lost in the shuffle of her large family.

http://ahechaparaguay.blogspot.com/ - Here is a link to the Ahecha blog if you want to check out more pictures.

Camp Deporte y Vida!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately. I got a little busy with the holiday season and then the final stages of planning for Camp Deporte y Vida! (Formerly named Camp Caballero) But, it all came together in the end and it was amazing!

Last week 33 youth from all over the country came together at Tierra Prometida in Carapegua, Paraguay for a 4-day male sports and leadership camp.

All together there were 59 youth and volunteers involved in the camp!

The initial idea of the camp was a leadership camp for young men, to teach them values, planning for the future and by doing so making them a part of the gender equality discussion. We also made it a sports camp because we wanted them to have fun as well and show them that the same values that are important on the playing field are also important in your everyday life. We achieved this through a number of sports activities, because we also wanted to introduce them to new sports that they don't get to play normally. Soccer and volleyball are the two main sports played here in Paraguay, so we taught them to play American Football, Tae Kwon Do, Wiffleball and Kickball a well. There were also a number of informational sessions on subjects that ranged from, diversity, women's rights, planning for the future, sexual health and domestic violence.

Wiffleball!

Tae Kwon Do!

We had people from the NGO - Centro Para el Desarrollo de la Inteligenci (Center for the Development of Intelligence) come and teach the soccer segment of the camp

CDI has a program called "Partidi" that teaches young men and women good values through soccer. So they were a perfect addition to our camp!

We also had a "Professional Men's Panel" that included 3 men from CDI and one of the doctors from Peace Corp. They all talked about their individual journey to success.

Working on an activity called "Interview with myself in 10 years" it helped the boys think about what they envision their life to be in the future.

American Football!

Session on Domestic Violence. This is a topic that is not really talked about in this culture but is definitely a problem. He touched issues like self-esteem, machismo and healthy relationships.

A talk about women's rights with 2 people from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Women. This was an amazing moment seeing all these young men so interested in this subject, something most of them have never talked about before.

I was so impressed with the young men who attended this camp. They were all so involved in both the physical activities and the sessions. They all have such bright futures ahead of them and I hope this camp helped them realize their potential.

Also, thank you to all the people who donated to this project and made Camp Deporte y Vida! such a success! We couldn't have done this without your support.