Nadine Arrives

"You can be useful by being sincere and polite and leraning about each other's cultures. How many opportunites will you have to do something like this? And, at the end of the day, who gives a shit if you took 10 blood pressures?"

All week, we had been hearing rumors of Nadine's imminent arrival, and after many delays, we finally met with her on Thursday. The Asesora General de CASA founded the center in 1981, and her husband designed the building. Now, she spends a large chunk of time obtaining funds for CASA. "Ella es muy buena honda, sino grita mucho," I was warned. She is an excellent lady - but she screams alot. She must have a heart of gold, though, to head social service work.

"Don't worry, she is relaxed", Lourdes informed Kelsey, me, Tim and Maribelle, right before our 2:00 appointment. Still a bit nervous, we climbed the stairs to her office, which is located in the cupola of CASA. Nadine was on the phone, but she waved us in. We spent the time getting to know Maribelle, who will start in a few weeks.

Then, Nadine got down to business, even passing around a sign in sheet. She quizzed us on our orientation, our impressions of San Miguel, our mastery of Spanish. When my turn came, I began, "Well, I have two projects in mind, nutrition and migration." I passed over my outline, thesis, and draft nutrition questionnaire, aimed at the mothers of the communities around San Miguel. "The nutrition project has 3 parts..." She laughed, "You're just like Pat (my mentor)". I was elated.

The objective of the questionnaire is to gather data about the behaviors, attitudes and knowledge revolving around nutrition, as well as to attain funding for the blossoming program. We agreed that it should be limited to 20 residents per 10 communities (instead of 20, as I originally planned). "Who is going to enter all that data?" she asked.

The second part, the interview for Atención, the bilingual paper of San Miguel, was underway. I scheduled interviews with Lourdes, who has a degree in Sports Administration and with Yolanda, my pilates / spinning / aerobics instructor. (Spinning is the shyzznyt, btw). I also plan to get quotations from various young people.

The play would be harder, she observed, since the script must be well-planned out in order to actually make an impact. She provided me with the contact information of a certain Mary Murielle, a public relations specialist and an NGO volunteer. She then instructed me to book appointments with Conchita and Violeta, the coordinators of TEATRO and ECOSS. We all also set up weekly meetings on Fridays at 5. Nadine did not play.

The meeting with Nadine, however, provided more than focus. Nadine, who has handled hundreds of volunteers, put us on to the big picture. "Tiene que quitar el idea que va a ayudar," she said. "You have to get rid of the idea that you're going to help." Truth: The programs function brilliantly without us. This is largely because all the promotores' training is strictly structured, there is a large emphasis on letting people find their own way. "We all want to feel confident and competent, to feel the adrenaline rush / orgasm of wow, look what I did." So, there is much learning by doing, which provides a sense of ownership. "Yeah, we can buy fancy laminated posters of the reproductive system, which will last longer - but if I create the poster, then its mine, its my work."

"You can be useful by being sincere and polite and leraning about each other's cultures. How many opportunites will you have to do something like this? And, at the end of the day, who gives a shit if you took 10 blood pressures?" At the same time, she instructed us to put in our opinion, with tact and class (i.e., my horror at the midwife not washing her hands before administering a GYN exam.)

She concluded, "The more we mix the races, the better off we'll be." I wanted to hug her.