"Imagine yourself waking in the morning to the sound of roosters, thinking about the peaceful day ahead of you, hand washing your clothes, leisurely spending time with neighbors, and taking walks in the countryside. This was my life just a year ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. My name is Nanette Long, and I thought that for my icebreaker I could share some of the similarities and contrasts between my life then and now."
Peace Corps Volunteer Nanette Long in Guatemala: Guatemala and Indiana
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Toastmaster Icebreaker Speech - round 2
Imagine yourself waking in the morning to the sound of roosters, thinking about the peaceful day ahead of you, hand washing your clothes, leisurely spending time with neighbors, and taking walks in the countryside.
This was my life just a year ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. My name is Nanette Long, and I thought that for my icebreaker I could share some of the similarities and contrasts between my life then and now.
Currently, I drive to work every morning from *********, Indiana to the ******* building, where I am an Information Systems Auditor. My job is to make sure that the data in the bank is secure and that the business processes are robust and run smoothly and efficiently. I assess risk, plan audits, interview employees, analyze processes, create and conduct testing, and make recommendations on how to make it better. Most of my time is spent asking questions, reading documentation, and writing reports. I work in a nice, climate controlled office with computers, phones, coffee, and carpeting. The majority of the people around me have college degrees and comfortable homes in the suburbs. Topics of conversation often revolve around children, travel, sports, home repairs, TV, movies, and cars. Topics of concern are gas prices, how to get more tax breaks, car repairs, real estate tenants, and the costs of weddings and child care.
In Guatemala, I started many of my mornings washing my clothes by hand and hanging them on the line. I would say Buenos Dias to the people walking by my house and water my garden. Then I would walk to various houses to talk about life, community projects, and whatever else seems to come up. I'd hold meetings to run a jelly business, organize grant proposals, lending for small businesses, nutrition classes, animal vaccinations, tree plantings, and other things that come up. My main project was with a cooperative of women who make and sold jelly. We would purchase what was needed at the lowest costs, make quality control standards, market our product, take records, and analyze how our business was doing. Most of the women in my group could not read or write, except for a couple who knew only the fundamentals. They all had small children to take care of. They lived in adobe or cement houses with dirt floors and had no cars. Topics of conversation were church functions, how the beans and corn were doing, chickens, soap operas, and children. People were concerned about getting medical attention, relatives trying to go to the US illegally, gangs, corrupt officials, getting water, when the electricity would come back on, and finding work.
In my free time in the US I surf the web at home, watch cable, go to the movies, go shopping in the malls, garden, read books, ride jetskis, and eat out with friends. Here I have all of the amenities - constant, hot, running water, heat and air conditioning, consistent electricity, windows, trash disposal, washer machine and dryer, etc.
In Guatemala, I'd spend my free time reading books I got from the Peace Corps office, hanging out with people, playing with kids, making food from scratch, going to the market, writing letters, and walking. In Guatemala, I had cold water for a couple of hours every other morning, inconsistent electricity, mosquitoes and scorpions, bars on my windows, burn pile outside, and a sink area to store water, wash clothes, and wash dishes. Most children in our village got to go to elementary school, about 1/3 went to middle school, and only a couple got go to to high school in the town nearby.
Although my life is different here, I personally am very much the same. I live a happy and full life, enjoying the world around me and spending time with people. I also am always looking for opportunities to enrich my life with knowledge and wisdom and to be a better person. I also have the same motivation to contribute to the world around me where I can. As Mohandas Gandi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn new skills that I can use to make my community a better place.
