As most of you know, I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, South America from 1983-1985, during the Stroessner dictatorship. I was an idealistic 24 - 26 year old while I was there, working as a physical therapist and special ed consultant in Pilar, Paraguay. I worked directly with handicapped children and their families, sometimes in the home, and also in the one school that was offering special education classes. In addition to working with physically disabled children, I also helped develop programs for a few students that were deaf and established a youth support group. I had much help from a variety of local resources, including a local pediatrician, whose family I spent a fair amount of time with. The Pilarenses were welcoming and supportive, especially if I was willing to help translate Michael Jackson songs, teach the Jane Fonda workout, eat chipa and drink terere.
Paraguay and Peace Corps was the cliched but true, life changing experience for me. The people and memories have always stayed with me. I had always vowed that I'd return one day to visit, that I'd never forget them; yet until now I've never made it back. This year I turned 50, a year my mother never saw for herself, and I decided it was high time to make that visit. The very weekend that Jen and I decided we'd make the trip, the pediatrician's wife found me on Facebook after more than 2 decades without contact, So, now in this wired and connected world we're soon to be on our way, with reunions planned via Facebook. We'll be posting photos and comments as we're able.
For now you can enjoy some of the before photos. Ja ha'pe (I'm not sure if that's how you spell it, but it's Guarani for "Let's go!")
PS: First stop Buenos Aires, then Asuncion, Paraguay to Pilar, Paraguay. From there we're off to Brasil: Foz de Iguazu, the Pantanal, Salvador, Bahia winding up at an island called Boipeba, before arriving back home on Friday the 13th of November.
