I have a little over a month before I leave. Although I do not feel ready I am finally starting to cross tasks off of my list.
My family seems pretty proud of my impending journey. I know this because everytime my Grandma Curtis introduces me to someone she says this: "This is my granddaughter Rachel. She just graduated from University of Illinois and she's going to Paraguay for the Peace Corps". I am very thankful for my supportive family. My little sister is taking it the hardest (or she's just more vocal about it). She's so adorable when she writes me little notes letting me know how much she is going to miss me.
In this post I thought I would give everyone a little run down of what exactly I am going to be doing. My job title is Crop Extensionist. My purpose is to work with the farming families and help them use their available resources to improve their standard of living and increase food security. Exact project I will be working on are still unknown and depend on the community's needs and its resources. Sesame and honey are potential projects as they provide income to families and do not require large scale operations. I will potentially be working with NGO's and the Paraguyan government's agricultural extension service--Direccion de Extension Agraria (DEAG)
Peace Corps volunteers are encouraged to integrate into their community by starting secondary projects. Examples of secondary projects are sports camps, health and nutrition education, cooking demonstrations, art camps, teaching English, teaching computer skills, and HIV/AIDS education to name a few ideas.
