On a recent visit to Talia in Nicaragua I was reminded of the
importance of spending time with the people who matter most. I went to Nicaragua not simply to travel
around from one beautiful backpacker’s hotspot to another, but to spend time
with Talia. Having lived with Talia
throughout college and spending countless evenings revealing our fears and
hopes over coffee for Talia and tea for me, maintaining a very real friendship
is important. Phone conversations,
emails, blog posts and facebook updates were just not doing it for me. They seemed insufficient in truly attaining a
sense of what Talia’s life in Nicaragua as a Peace Corps Volunteer
encompassed. Prior to my trip I knew
Talia was living in the small town of Pueblo Nuevo and working as a health
educator, but really I had no idea what that actually meant or looked
like. I knew that to gain a better
understanding of what Talia was doing in Nicaragua I needed to come see for
myself.
Before heading to Talia’s town we spent the weekend in Granada. She emphasized the importance of integrating,
something I believe few people outside of the Peace Corps world could actually
understand. Despite all the words and
explanations Talia could relate about what she was doing, I still found it
difficult to imagine how one can fill such unstructured days somehow
integrating and developing projects to benefit the community. I needed to see Talia in action.
Time seemed to be an essential ingredient in Talia’s current
accomplishments. She makes an effort to
spend time speaking with anyone and everyone around her community. Within ten minutes upon arriving at her
house, we were back out and Talia was chatting at length with her
landlord. Throughout the week, Talia
engaged in an endless number of conversations about personal interests, food,
family, places and how one was spending his or her time. At any given moment you will find people
sitting out front of their houses, as if simply waiting to engage in some sort
of conversation. I believe it is with
these interactions that Talia will become more involved in the lives of her
friends and neighbors in Pueblo Nuevo and continue to find direction in the
projects she chooses to pursue while in Nicaragua.
With only four months in-site, Talia is already quite active within
her community. However, I don’t think it
is possible to go through Peace Corps without questioning one’s role in his or
her community and even the world. It
seems that as a PCV you have the ability to do just about anything, although at
times it could feel as if there is nothing you can personally do to make
change. Therefore, it is necessary to
focus on the day-to-day activities.
Talia makes herself present in her community. She spends a significant amount of time at
the health center. One morning integrating
meant making French Toast (Tostados Francesas) at the health center and having
everyone who works there try some. In
the evenings she goes to guitar lessons, theater groups and even runs her own
youth group! Talia is a captivating
speaker and gives engaging talks on pertinent health topics to both students
and adults throughout smaller communities surrounding Pueblo Nuevo. Meanwhile, through all of her activities and
interactions she is looking to figure out what more she could do, and how she
will make a difference in her community as a PCV.
The truth is, most of what Talia and other PCVs spend their time
actually doing is totally abstract and will not necessarily produce something
tangible. That is not to say that
gardens, bridges and health centers are not being built by PCVs throughout the
world, as I do believe they are, but such concrete projects do not define the
two year journey PCVs experience. The
tireless efforts that prelude such projects are invaluable and come with great
amounts of time spent connecting with others and developing relationships. Without such a foundation, the value of more
visible accomplishments is diminished and lacks a certain level of significance
within the community. It all takes a
matter of time. For Talia, the people in
her community hold an important place in her life as a PCV in Pueblo Nuevo, and
so she is taking the time to engage with them and become fully integrated. As Talia continued to build relationships
within her community, I was lucky enough to spend time with her
reflecting on the past and chatting about the future, but most of all just
enjoying the time together.
