Lisa Roberts applied to the Peace Corps and left in January 2003 for Paraguay, where she spent three months training to teach children in San Juan
'Bittersweet' homecoming
A 2002 graduate had been in Paraguay since January 2003 as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Courtney Roach - DAILY STAFF WRITER
April 01, 2005
Going home had never been so hard for Lisa Roberts, an OU alum. Her friends threw a going away party and she promised she would come back in five years. However, Roberts said she felt like she was leaving home, rather than returning.
"I was happy to be coming home to my family, but it was bittersweet and emotional," Roberts said. "I became close with the families there."
After graduating from OU in 2002 with a degree in elementary education, Roberts applied to the Peace Corps and left in January 2003 for Paraguay, where she spent three months training to teach children in San Juan.
"Training is so intense, it is everything you need to know," Roberts said. "There was a lot of language training. I studied abroad in Mexico for a summer and a year in Spain. I thought I knew how to speak Spanish."
Roberts said Paraguay has two official languages, Spanish and Guarani, an indigenous language.
After finishing her training, Roberts was put on a bus to her work site with no plans for housing. She stayed with a Paraguayan teacher for four months until she found a house.
"The teachers [in Paraguay] really wanted to learn things and teach more to students, but they were just tired from the culture they lived in. It is such a corrupt culture," Roberts said. "When you don't have anything, no one supporting you, it's really hard."
Roberts said students go to school with only a notebook and pencil.
"The teacher has a chalkboard and that's it," Roberts said. "I did a lot of recycling to make [teaching tools]. I don't think people [in the United States] realize how fortunate we are."
One of Roberts's assigned goals from the Peace Corps was to help plan workshops for teenagers in Paraguay, she said. The workshops would educate the participants about everything from gender issues to AIDS awareness. Participants were required to have permission from their parents.
"It is still very taboo for most Latin American countries," Roberts said. "They're comparing it to Africa in how widespread the AIDS is becoming. It's an epidemic. They don't want to accept it because it is a taboo subject."
Roberts said that in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, young kids who had AIDS were going to the shelter. This became the reason for the workshops, she said. Both workshops had more than 60 teenagers participate, and two smaller workshops were planned just for girls.
"Being a female volunteer, I would have girls come to me at my house wanting to talk," Roberts said. "They had never had that option before."
Roberts said the Catholic Church had a huge influence on the culture and the volunteers got permission from the church before hosting the workshop.
"We were careful not to step on anyone's toes," Roberts said.
She said the most shocking thing was how life can be so non-stressful.
"Life's short. Enjoy it," Roberts said. "Paraguayans taught me to take it easy, enjoy the time you have with your friends and family."
She said she thinks the people of Paraguay enjoy free time more than Americans because they also do a lot of manual labor every day.
"I think here in the United States we get caught up in 'What time is it, am I going to be late?'" Roberts said.
For two years, Roberts woke up when the rooster crowed at sunrise, she said. School started at 7 a.m. and everyone went home in the afternoons to eat lunch with their family and take a "siesta," which is a nap.
After school, Roberts would try to take personal time for exercising, but in rural Latin America, it was unusual to see a woman exercising, she said.
"The kids would run up, shouting 'Profesora! Profesora!'" Roberts said. "Then they would run behind me."
The children attended school in the morning or afternoon, and they spent the rest of the day doing chores at home. The family-oriented culture extended to neighbors and throughout the community.
"There were lots of celebrations," Roberts said. "They really valued family and friendships, material things are not so important. It is a poor country, but people are so rich inside."
Roberts said she felt like a part of the community, and when it was time for her to leave, there was a farewell party.
"I told them I would be back in five years," Roberts said. "I'm going to try to keep that promise."
Roberts said her opportunity in the Peace Corps is one she wishes more people could experience.
"Some days lasted forever," Roberts said. "I had really long days, but it was the fastest two years of my life. I look back and it's like 'Gosh, where did it all go?'"
