As you many have notice much of my service has revolved around trash and what to do with it. One of the projects I am most known for is the tire chair. Many of the people in my community, long before I was even close to leaving, asked for my chair after I left. I decided rather than figuring out who to give it to I would teach them how to make their own chairs. I planned a workshop to teach people about the "Three R's" (reduce, reuse, recycle). I created a presentation and brought in examples of things I had made from recycled materials, such as a pencil holder form a soda bottle, a bowl from magazines and a few other things. Also we did an activity to demonstrate how long certain materials take to decompose and everyone was very surprised as how long things plastic, and even paper take to break down. The municipality donated money so I was able to buy paint and brushes to paint the chairs and also a re-usable bag for each participant. There were 8 participants, which was fewer than I hoped, but it worked out well because I was stressed enough trying to help them get their chairs made, I can't imagine I what I would have done with more people.
Although my time here in my little town of Moriningo is coming to an end, my time in Paraguay is not. I have decided to extend my Peace Corps service for another 13 months. I will be working as the Volunteer coordinator for the environmental sector. I will be working in the main Peace Corps office in Asunción helping volunteers find resources and being an overall support person for them. Also I will be helping the environmental sector managers with new site development and visiting current volunteers. About 70% of the time I will be traveling with them. I am excited for the change and the opportunity to see more of Paraguay, but not looking forward to another Paraguayan summer. Fortunately I will have a month of home leave which I am taking in December to escape a little of the heat and get in some much missed skiing and family time.
