Peace Corps Play Day!

Why wouldn't you build a stove and play in a girls volleyball match in the same day? Why couldn't you take a nap in the hammock in-between activities?
Why shouldn't you do this all with contact dermatitis that itches so bad you would swap skin with a snake?
I am sure there are a number of reasons for many of these questions, but alas I am in the Peace Corps and it is generally best not to ask questions, but to just do, have a great time doing it and then turn around and see what you accomplished.
Monday morning I got on a moto out of my campo, jumped on a 3-hour bus ride to San Juan de Maguana and then mounted the back of another motor cycle through hills and valleys and ended up in La Jagua. La Jagua is what some might call in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn't really differentiate it from any other Dominican Campo. La Jagua is a great little campo that boasts enthusiasm, charm and some of the sweetest Dominicans I have ever met in this country. There is a saying here.... "forma de ser" which means way of being more or less and me encanta su forma de ser en La Jagua (I love how they are in La Jagua) I went there to visit Maureen, a great health volunteer who is finishing up her stove project and learn how to build these stoves to do a similar project in my site. The long and short of it is.... food and cooking is a big deal in this country and mothers and daughters spend hours upon hours in their "kitchens" preparing lunch before the clock strikes noon. The areas they cook in are far from meeting any kind of health code even a five year old could put together. Most women and girls are inhaling the amount of smoke a smoker would inhale smoking a pack a day. This prepares these chefs, not to mention the kids they have latched onto their hips, for countless respiratory problems and a lot of time in uncomfortable smoke. The genius behind these fogones saludable (healthier fires) is to use less firewood (better for the environment/ less kid time looking for firewood) and have the smoke leave through a chimney as opposed to getting trapped inside their lungs.

They are built out of cinder block, cement, ceramic pieces, zinc and a little color sprinkled on top to give it some style.
I am hoping to do this project with my women's group and get about 20 of these stoves built in my community to improve at least some families' lifestyles. After my visit to La Jagua I am a self-certified fogon builder! I will keep you posted on the project as soon as I get a grant!
You may think that could fill a day... making a stove, but it doesn't stop there! A few months ago, team La Jagua made a presence at the Volleyball tournament hosted by Rancho Campeche and I couldn't help but to join them on the court! It was great to give these young athletes a few volleyball tips, see their enthusiasm and inevitably revisit some of the oh so familiar cheers we learned at the Torneo de Volibol! Sirve con Fuerza (serve with force). I don't remember who won, but we had a blast and the sun setting over a late afternoon volleyball match certainly put a sweet close to my visit to La Jagua. I will be sure to go back there stoves and volleyball or not!