Getting to know you

Community Meetings
For four days we had nonstop rain with crazy wind. Flooding was happening in many villages and we were constantly getting text messages to stay put. Thankfully the cyclone that was attached to that rain just missed Samoa so we were safe. However, that did not stop me from becoming nervous of what a cyclone might feel like. This was the week that was dedicated to community mapping and we were hoping that the meetings would still go on as planned.
I went to Elisa’s meeting and was amazing at how supportive the woman’s committee in her village is as they have already taken so much initiative into helping her with all of the projects both she suggests and they do as well. Elisa came prepared for that meeting looking professional and speaking such amazing Samoan. Even though her meeting was in the middle of the rain storm so many people showed up for it.
My meeting happened to be the day the storm ended. I had planned two. One was with the church youth groups and the other was with the Woman’s Committee. I had asked the two main churches if their youth could come to the meeting and they said they would inform the youth about the meeting. For political reasons I knew I could only ask the two. One of the churches has been banished in the past and the pastors do not seem to get along and the other church is so tiny without much youth. Our meeting time passed and no one was there. One of the pastors sent someone to get the youth and about 30 kids showed up from their church.
We started the meeting and they mentioned the different things they would like to see in their village. Water tanks, piped water, computer center, farm equipment, fences, low cost in medicine (I felt like the US government-lower taxes and better health care!), fix the fresh water pool, build a malae to play sports on with the sports equipment, and much more was mentioned.
I found out after the meeting that since only the one church showed up that they feel that I should be here for their needs solely. If I write the grant the things should be given to the families in their church first. If it is money given directly to get things I should hand over any money to the church to find ways to spend the funds. I should get computers to put inside the church and not anywhere else in the village. It was frustrating how they view my position in their village.
I was hoping that the meeting with the Woman’s Committee would go better and I brought Elisa to help me with the project. The meeting time passed and no one was there. Apparently the president of the community forgot to share the word about out meeting. Slowly people began to trickle in and we began drawing village maps.
I asked them questions about what was where and the important things in the village. The most important things they talked about were the Morman church, the Methodist church, their pastors’ houses and the Womans’ Committee Fale. I also learned there is a cricket field and they told me that people spend time there, however I have never seen anyone there. (Trust me I am looking, I am getting sick of volleyball all the time!)
When asking them about what needs to be in the village they mentioned the water and also projects that seemed less important. They feel that they need a new fale. I asked them why because it appears to me that their building is in good shape. They told me that there are 109 members of the committee and they can’t all fit in their current fale. I asked where all the members were then because only about 30 showed up. They also want a toilet for the fale which does make sense. However they then took that idea a step too far and said that everyone in the village needed a new toilet. We talked about what kind of toilets they had and everyone has working flush toilets, but it is just the want of something new I think. They also want me to build a computer center inside the woman’s committee. And of course….have all the stores sell medicine and lower the cost of them. (Medicine is expensive to people here, which is why they use the old medicine with plants, but it is still a lot cheaper than it is at home.)
It seems like every group I meet with will think I am here for them and projects should be what they need and not always what is best for the community. I guess I will have to find a way to do what they want and get what I think might be better for the community done.
The Peace Corps motto is the “The toughest job you will ever love” and I can see how that is. It is very frustrating getting things done, but still at the end of the day you see all your neighbors and all the people who express their love for you being there and you can’t help but smiling. I love my life here. I do get frustrated with the little things that make my life completely different than it was in America, but at the end of the day I still get to laugh at the love for canned spaghetti sandwiches and the love for singing at every event you attend.