Día de la Mujer and a funeral

March 8^th was International Woman’s Day (Dia Internacional de la Mujer)! It’s one of those holidays that no one really celebrates in the states, and here even less. Hardly anyone here in Chocta had even heard of it and it took some convincing to get them to believe that it was really a thing. The women here are really amazing and work so hard, so I thought it’d be a great excuse to celebrate them! Hence came the first event I held here with Peace Corps!

The planning started a week before with the Health Post. I brought up the idea and they all really liked it. Great!, I thought, they’ll help me out! Not so much. In addition to always being busy with work, the older staff have families and are a little unmotivated. None the less, we came up with a schedule for the morning of March 8^th. Since it was the first time this town would be celebrating woman’s day, and I wouldn’t have much help from the Health Post, I figured I’d keep it short and simple. After a week of getting things ready by myself which consisted of chasing down with the guy who has the key to the “town hall” type room (also finding him the morning of, cause god forbid he’d remember to unlock the door for me), soliciting a projector from the elementary school, making and distributing invitations, buying decorations, and making posters, the day was here. And good thing we didn’t make it a whole day celebration, because an older man in town happened to die the day before and the funeral was in the afternoon. (more details to come).

Low and behold, the staff from the health post weren’t there an hour before to set up like we agreed. I gave them the benefit of the doubt as Peruvians aren’t as punctual or anal about being on time as we are in the States. (how many of you set your clocks 5 minutes ahead so you’ll be on time if not early!? Ya- it’s different here.) But when 10:30 rolled around, a half hour after the event should have started, I assumed they wouldn’t show up. So instead of having our parade at the end, I decided to start with the women who were there and walk to the homes of the health post workers! And that’s what we did. Walked up to their doors and called them out. Gotta do what you gotta do! After that, the morning went smooth with an educational session about women’s health and a raffle after brainstorming what we like most about being a woman.

I’m proud of my little celebration. A good amount of women showed up and really seemed to appreciate that we were celebrating them. And even though it was frustration without a lot of support from my health workers, I kept a good attitude and made it work. I got some good advice from a Peace Corps staff member: Instead of getting upset at the staff when they are lazy or lack gusto, lead by example. If I do what I do with enthusiasm, they’ll hopefully see the benefit and catch on.

Then came the funeral. Here, they spend 10 days mourning  the fallen. For the first couple days the family has an open casket in their home and everyone can come and sit with the family. Guests usually bring something and the family will serve food. On the 2^nd or 3^rd day they walk the casket to the church for a ceremony, and then walk it to the cemetery, not unlike the traditions at home. I didn’t know the man, but remember passing by him last week as he was sitting in a chair with lots of blankets out-front of his home.

On that Sunday, my host mom and I joined the precession right after the mass as they were walking to the cemetery. The crowd consisted of the casket, followed by weeping (loudly) family members, some people, a band (trumpet, drums playing a depressing tune), and some more people. It seemed like everyone from Chocta filled the street as we headed to the cemetery. After walking for about 10 minutes, we turned up a hill. There was a path, but with all the rain, it was muddy and safer to walk through the grassy field. It was kind of comical seeing the mass of people trudging up a grassy hill. I wish I had my camera. Then we got to the grave spot (a concrete box where they’d insert the casket). A few people said a few words and then the band started up again as the family pushed the casket into the concrete box. Then a guy sealed it up with more concrete, and some people left but most people hung around. Family members walked around with soda or traigo (a strong alcohol they serve- not sure exactly what it is) serving those who hung around. After about 20 minutes and it started raining, we headed back down the hill and to the family’s house. They had a mass cook-out to serve at least 150 people. There wasn’t space for everyone so people waited outside and you ate and left, no dilly dallying. The poor family members with their red swollen eyes were running around like crazy trying to get all the people served. I guess it’s a good distraction.

So that was my long day with my first successful event and my first funeral...