"Would you rather have one arm or one leg?"

Or, "Would you rather be blind or deaf?" Remember that game where you sit around and choose between two really not great options? That is how I felt this weekend when I spent the whole weekend on the mountain with Engineers without Borders as they took measurements and water samples for the water and sanitation project they will start in October.

The first day we went up the awful 1.5 hour road and held a community meeting. Many community members showed up and we were able to get a good sampling. The main goal was to ask what project they would like most- clean water, electricity, latrines, or a more passable road. That is when it started reminding me of that game I mentioned before. Can you imagine choosing between all those choices which ALL sound pretty necessary? Well, a percentage of the families live with all those things and greater percentage live with only some or NONE of those things. They drink water as it comes out of the ground, they used oil lamps at night, and if they need to go to the bathroom they find the nearest bush. So, really, any choice is a good one. What do you guess they all voted for? Latrines. They all said they wanted places to do their business and not contaminate the ground water. However, the results were skewed bc Salvadorans have a tendency to vote with their neighbor. Later, many more people said clean water was a priority (when they weren't being influenced by their neighbor.)

The next day, we returned to the community to take measurements (elevation, locations of existing latrines and water springs) as well as gather samples of water in different parts of the community to see where was most contaminated. The engineer very prepared for the trip with a nice rain jacket and NYC skyline-painted rain boots. I soon regretted my under-preparedness when it started pouring rain. Instead of helping all day my co-project coordinator, Laura, had to lead the way all day as I sat holed up in her room. blah. But, they got lots of good samples and we made it down the mountain after hitting up the last house a bit too late at night and were greeted by a man with a giant gun. (ha sounds like Texas!)

It was a successful weekend that was highlighted by two more great things. One, by Laura and I "winning" this project over the other PCVs who bid for it, we managed to not only gain this project but a five year commitment to our community for this and other projects! So, that means the next 5 years my community can engage EWB for other necessary projects. Second, a doctor from El Sal who was travelling with us, met our local counterpart (and my soccer friend) who is 21 and great. She can't afford to go to college and as we were discussing this the doctor said he might be able to get her a scholarship to study nursing. Very exciting! This week I will sit her down and talk through it with her. It would mean leaving home for a far off place and for awhile so I will have to gauge her reaction. Much like in the States, its hard to leave home to go to college but even more so here. Families are much closer knit and usually spend their whole lives in the same house or town.

All in all, a really great weekend. Looking forward to having the engineers back in October even if they might mess up my debut weekend at home in Texas :)