The 2nd time around

Believe it. The first development classes of DiscoverHope Fund have been organized and are on the February calendar. I can't believe how much easier it is to organize classes the 2nd time around. Last year I went on a wild goose chase around Cajamarca to look for artesian, literacy and health teachers. This year I have a whole phonebook full of teachers. And this year I am entering into conversations with our contracted teachers with a written contract. What a great concept! This way both DHF and the teachers are held responsible for taking responsibility for making the classes successful. We are trying to avoid the late-show teacher or the teacher that holds a class and then disappears into her tienda (store) while class is going on (both of which have happened to us before). It is all part of the learning process and I consider this a huge positive step in implementing our lessons learned into actual physical action change.

Next month we will have a sewing with ribbon, natural juice nectar, and a ring making class. That is a lot for the first month of classes, especially since next month Carnival jumps into full swing with costumes, parades and yes, more water balloons. We are using our trusted and true teachers from last year, but part of what the next couple of weeks will bring for me is a search for other teachers that can teach new things to our loan recipients. For the month of February we will ask the women to squish into the current Afider office or travel across the city to a garage that we often use for classes. Then, in March, I am already dreaming of using our community center space for classes. Oh, how lovely!