Zumba: An Unlikely Peace Corps Project

What's that noise echoing around town? It's ZUMBAAAA!

Before I joined Peace Corps I had a vision of what my life would be like. -  I would live in a mud hut. I wouldn't have running water. I would be living in an isolated, sparsely-populated village where wifi access wouldn't definitely not be an option. With that in mind, I thought that my projects might include building an electricity grid, setting up a water system or even helping out at the local hospital with basic triage. I didn't imagine that I would be leading a class... for Zumba! But I am surely glad that I am.

What started off as an idea from some brief conversations with local youth and some support from friends back home, slowly turned into a regular group that has been meeting for over a year now. We are a rather small group, yet consistent. No less than 4, no more than 8. Through this class I am noticing several things. First, the girls feel comfortable around me. This took a bit of time. In the beginning, I noticed that there was a good mix of boys and girls. Once the boys realized that they would have to use their hips, they quickly got embarrased and would sit down and just watch. I could see that they wanted to participate, as they would get up for another song and dance again, only to sit back down when any hip action made its way into the routine. I asked why they weren't willing to try the routines, they said that they simply don't have hips. "Only girls have hips." to which I replied "Really? Well, I wonder what all those football players use to kick the ball, then." They were still not convinced. But it was of no concern to me. If the girls want to continue, I would be there.

We insist on having fun!

Zumba is not something that many people have a chance to do here in Albania, yet it is accessible for those with the motivation. We use Youtube videos to learn routines, practicing with videos projected on the wall. We simply follow along. We learn together (and make mistakes together). It's not about being perfect, it is about having fun, exercising, and doing something positive together.

We use music from several influences - latin (salsa, merengue, tango, reggaeton & cumbia), latin pop, hip-hop, pop, middle-eastern influence, and more). I like to pick videos that use people of different ethnicities, ages, body types, using both men and women. As the students learn with these diverse people through their videos, they get to share a sort-of bond with people of all backgrounds.

Gummi time at Kampi Pa Emer (summer camp)!

After 9 months of dancing with these youth, they asked me if I could teach the younger kids to dance. They also volunteered to help teach the classes with me! I didn't realize at the time, but this might just turn into something sustainable. Again, I don't teach the classes so much as learn the routines alongside them. Thus they are just as skilled as I am. The little kids Zumba has really taken off, bringing up to 25 kids at a time. Imagine for a moment the 25 little kids ages 4 - 10 wiggling to "Uptown Funk" or shaking to Moves Like Jagger. Adorable! They love to move, dance, and just act silly. Some of these kids have very little at home and really take to activities like this that let them just be kids. This has only been possible with the help and coordination of the older kids. Thus real community impact is starting to happen.

Me with an adorable lil Zumba princess

As of yet, we just make due with what clothes we have, but I would love to see some actual workout t-shirts or fun arm-bands, hip bands or something to make it more "Zumba-ey." Maybe a magic donor will arrive one day... Who knows? Maybe a flash mob in front of the Municipality will actually happen come spring time. :-) Yeah, this is Peace Corps. And yes, it is pretty frickin' awesome.

Breaking the Ice

Winter is Persimmon season!

With temperatures hovering near freezing, life out here in Librazhd seems to be slowing down. It's like we are all preparing to hibernate. No one is scheduling any new activities for the rest of the year. It is a sort-of domino effect. If one person is out, then others hold off their planning and meetings until they return. This causes everyone else to put things on lockdown for the time being. Integration in Peace Corps is all about adjusting to your environment. When people say 'wait,' you wait. That being said, there is still much that can be done until the complete holiday shutdown. In fact, this has actually been a productive week. With two active grants, I am quite pleased to see things moving along. One grant for LGBT outreach and another for Breast Cancer.

University students posed for a group photo with presenters from Peace Corps and ProLGBT

The LGBT Outreach project has been progressing splendidly. Our outreach team (the "pink posse") held its third outreach session in the Southern sea-side town of Saranda. Response from the University level audience was primarily positive. A couple participants had an issue with acceptance of LGBT people, but it made for some good discussion. Despite some differing opinions, all participants were respectful and gave us their full attention throughout the session. I feel like if we allow people to ask the questions they need to ask in order to understand what being LGBT is like, then they might be more willing to change their pre-existing beliefs. If we can leave the audience with a good impression of us, it may help improve their overall opinion of LGBT in general. I believe that face-to-face interaction in very important. If you can like just one LGBT person, you will be so much more likely to be open to others. So far, we are seeing some mostly-positive reactions.

Students presenting on HIV

My counterpart and I held a session on HIV/AIDS with 8th and 9th graders at town about 30 minutes down the road. They actually knew many facts about this subject, which was a great surprise. This was through our work with the Directorate of Public Health in Librazhd (which essentially oversees Public Health outreach throughout the region - roughly 87,000 individuals.) We are trying to get out of the city of Librazhd and bring our lessons to more areas of need. Of course this is quite a challenge, as funding for such efforts is not always available. It is a mystery, but a reality - how can a community promotions department operate with a budget of 0? Usually my counterpart and I will end up paying for our work travel ourselves (which is rather silly, as neither of us is earning very much at all.)  We got a grant to fund our expense for the Breast Cancer project, but we are still left to our own devices for all other health lessons and outreach. If dipping into our wages can help us do our jobs more effectively, then it's just something that needs to be done. I do wonder what will happen when I eventually leave my position here. I hope my counterpart will find a sustainable way to keep on doing this good work.

Middle School students wore red ribbons to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in a small town in Eastern Albania

Through my PCPP project my counterpart and I will be holding our second workshop in the isolated village of Stravaj, educating women about Breast Cancer. Planning these sessions are quite a challenge, as we must take much into consideration: weather (snow), transportation (it takes about 2 hours to get to these remote mountain villages) and potential for event participation (the day/time/weather all need to be right for them to show up). Once it snows, all bets are off and we must wait until the thaw to hold our sessions. In many developed areas, this might not be an issues, as people have cars and can drive and meet us there. Our project primarily targets some of the poorest areas of Albania, and in Europe by extension. These are places with internet, power, and cell phone access. Let's hope the weather holds up!

Let the Holidays Begin!

Thanksgiving means family time

The Holidays were kicked off with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner here in Librazhd, celebrated with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and local Albanians. After all, Peace Corps Goal II is to share American Culture with 'host country nationals' (aka the 'locals'). We made our favorite dishes, including sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, stuffing and cranberry sauce. I made my not-so-famous but oh-so-yummy breaded cauliflower. :-)

My sitemate's colleagues trying out our T-Day cuisine. :-)

We even went around the room and each said what we were grateful for. Every single Albanian even participated. It was great! Plus, it seemed that they appreciated being included in this celebration. That is oh so Peace Corps. We are representatives of America, and in sharing our culture we are acting (albeit on a local level) as ambassadors. We learn the language, live with the families, work with the locals and even celebrate alongside them. That is something that Peace Corps really fosters through its structure - making individual and small group connections that can be so incredibly meaningful. Many people we encounter have never met an American in person. We therefore must be a little more open, a little more understanding, and that much more cognizant of our actions. We are representatives from our country, here to help and have a cultural exchange. Sometime that means one simply must put on their dancing shoes and party! (Albanian style of course)

Kids in Traditional Albanian outfits from the Librazhd Region

I recently went to a couple Albanian cultural performances in my community here. It was really nice to see local Albanians performing these traditional dances and songs, and reciting culturally-significant literature. I finally got to see the dance of my community - the Valle Rajcë with people dressed in local garb. Traditionally the Albanians in the Librazhd region were known as the 'çorape te kuq' which translates to 'the red socks' (something much loved by my friends from Boston).

With two of the most awesome boys in Albania and their families!

Both performances were packed. Every seat in the local Cultural Center was taken and people were even standing on the wings just to watch (including myself). I heard from a friend that two kids we knew were going to perform, so I thought I'd go and show my support. It was great! All the performances were done by students in the local schools. I was thoroughly impressed. What was even better was the fact that the kids in the audience showed appreciation for their peers' performances. Something I really like to see. The celebrations were to commemorate the Independence of Albania first celebrated on Nov. 28, 1912.

See the red socks? That's regional Librazhd dress.

Girls singing traditional Albanian anthems