The Village Retreat

After three routiera rides and one stint of hitching, I arrived in the southern city of Cahul, on Sunday afternoon, for a two-day session examining civic education in Moldova. More specifically, how to transform the curriculum from merely reading about how a democratic republic should operate, to actually allowing students to participate in it's evolution. It was only a few months ago that civics became a requirement in Moldovan classrooms. The quick decision left many schools with no choice but to turn to teachers outside the discipline to teach it. Furthermore, most of this generation of teachers had Soviet birth certificates. It may not remember the days before independence, but it is carrying the burden of the transition. At least, that is my opinion.

The specific model for improving civic education that is being proposed by Vincent's partners is a program called "The Village." For a good comparison, think Model UN. Typically, it is carried out over the course of 10 months in which students are not only responsible for constructing their community, but also for running it. City councils need to be elected, currency must be printed and regulated, decisions need to be made regarding the use of public lands, taxes must be levied, and commerce needs to develop in a free market. The program has been run once in Moldova, and to a greater extent in Poland and Bulgaria.

Vincent (pictured left) invited those interested down to Cahul to meet with his partners and discuss (in three languages) the viability of The Village on a large scale in Moldova. Anyone that know's Vincent will tell you he has one speed--overdrive. If he had it his way, I'm sure he would have just marched over to the Ministry of Education and tried to convince them to adopt The Village in Moldovan classrooms tomorrow. But alas, there is a bit more work to be done to prove that more participatory models work better in achieving the goals set forth for the civic education curriculum.

There are many more posts to come on this topic. This summer we hope to condense the 10 month program into a 10 day camp to be attended by Peace Corps Volunteers and respective host country counterparts that will then carryout the larger program in at least 7-10 Moldovan communities. The photo to the left is the rest of the team as it stands now Craig, Chris, Vincent, and Matt. I hope to be quite involved in the monitoring and evaluation of this project, both during and after the completion, using some of the evaluation techniques I studied in Kenya (using Participatory Rural Assessment). Depending on the results of our investigation, we could indeed have a serious impact on the civic education of Moldovan youth.

Finally, it should be noted, that this was also simply a great stop on my week of travels. Here is a photo of Jessica (Vince's wife, Health Education PCV) and I putting together the pizzas on the last night. The kitchen looks so American from this angle. Please note that is not the standard. It could be said that anytime PCVs get together around a table it's a "round table discussion." We have each offer unique perspectives on a very similar experience. First of all laughing, then learning, from one another. Pofta buna!

GLOW Day Seminar #1

This is Melissa, a Volunteer in a village near my town who teaches health to middle-schoolers. She invited me out to co-facilitate our first GLOW Day seminar in 2010! GLOW is a worldwide Peace Corps Initiative that stands for Girls Leading Our World. Here in the 'Dova, we've decided to not only offer the traditional one-week summer camp, but also a serious of day seminars to shed a glimpse of light on the curriculum in smaller settings.

As you can see, Melissa's village is swanky. This lake is much larger than most in Moldova, combined with a late breeze, it almost reminds one of a shoreline. Almost. It was so much fun being back in a village where everyone on the street was either one of Melissa's students, former host families, relative of her partner teacher, or neighbor.

Melissa is one of our single living Volunteers. But unlike most who live in apartments in small towns, she literally has a villa. Nice house, huge garden, sun porch, a trusty little alarm system that eats just about anything (see photo). After a great curry dinner that she cooked for us on her soba (fireplace), we got to work planning the GLOW seminar's activities. The next morning we were so glad we spent that hour doing so because we sort of forgot about daylight savings--BIG SHOUT OUT to Jen Flannery here for her text that saved us from being late to our own event!

Six girls from grades seven and eigth came to the seminar where we discussed diversity, leadership, and the correlation between health and beauty. The participants were active, eager, and incredibly fun to listen to. When one of the girls literally said, "Oh, I get it, you have to be healthy before you can be beautiful" I almost did a personal equivalent to the touchdown dance. The best Sunday morning I've spent in Moldova yet.

I also really appreciated Melissa's invitation to co-facilitate the seminar for the sake of my language development. Volunteers from different programs have different sets of technical vocabulary and I learned quite a few new things just simply listening to her. I can't wait to do more of these seminars around my district and look forward to the summer camp in August!

This is my stride

For the last week, I've woken up before my alarm every day, walked in sunshine, laughed at my luck for being caught in the hail, and shook hands (unusual for a woman in Moldova) with government ministers and community partners alike. Come to think of it, I don't know why exactly the hand shaking took place, but I'll chalk it off to goal number two. I love my job.

The young man in the center of this photograph is the Minister of Youth and Sports. He was in town this week to speak with youth and sports specialists from around our district. We took the opportunity to share about the youth council's leadership course and other activities when he came to visit the center, after the larger meeting.

At the meeting, our district president (Brown coat on the right) asked me to participate in the conversation. I took the chance to discuss the Minister's efforts in promoting the work of volunteers in Moldova.

The results of one completed project are illustrated in this photograph. The penny war wrapped up, and our most diligent counters wanted to capture something memorable with some of the income.

A gym teacher used to love telling my class to stop mall strolling and walk with purpose. It just so happens that is my stride. Each morning has a purpose, each day has a plan, and my goals are becoming more and more specific. And much to one of my dear colleague's pleasure, quantitative.

Excited to get up and going in the morning. This is my stride. Planning a training course for five boys that want to build a outdoor basketball court, a course that will teach them how to plan a project of this scale. This is my stride. Participating in discussions about how to teach the newly required civic education curriculum. This is my stride. Connecting Peace Corps Volunteers with Moldovan Volunteers to educate youth about internet safety, domestic violence, and human trafficking. This is my stride. Collaborating with PCVs in near by villages to host empowerment day camps for young girls. This is my stride.

Patience is a ...

Well, winter isn't giving up over here. It snowed last night---again. But as much as my host Mom and I laugh and lament about the drawn out winter, there was a day last week where I succeeded to wash and dry my clothes in one day. So I will let spring and summer duke it out a bit longer, the real goal here is get to my vacation in May.

If you haven't heard yet, I'm headed to Greece for a solid two weeks. I managed to plan overnight transportation for about a third of that, so I anticipate a slightly exhausting, yet budget smart trip of a lifetime!

When I went to Prague, I all too easily fell into the role of tourist, didn't learn one word of Czech. This trip, though, I think I'll be a bit more prepared. I downloaded some quick Greek lessons from itunes to get me through the typical meal in a restaurant, the common courtesy stuff, etc. Most of all, I can't wait to get a tan. Come to think of it, I think I have wrote about this on the blog, sorry for the repeat, I'm just too excited!

At work, my hands are in a dozen little things right now, just waiting for one to catch. Speaking of which...my phone just rang and I guess I have a meeting with the youth council in 30 minutes. Since I live 30 minutes away, I better get a move on!

Sometimes I know what I'm doing, sometimes I don't

[+] On the last weekend in February we finally celebrated youth week in my district (it's actually in October, but was cancelled because of H1N1 outbreaks). This ceremony honored the youth who have produced the most 'beautiful' results in our community. The president of my youth council was honored along with the national champion judoist (the sports specialist's speech relayed his utter amazement that a girl could be so strong), a young soldier, and another youth volunteer. I also agreed to help the district's newspaper man revamp the youth newspaper known as "Generation 9." More on this project to come...

[+/-] There were four days in a row I didn't see my partner at all. But, the weather was gorgeous and I took great walks, took my bike out for the first spin, and hung out with the neighbor kids. We played uno, a Moldovan card game, and ate rice krispy treats. Special note: there was only one of those "doamne feresti" phone calls home during this down time.

[-] I continue to lose the card game that requires you to make animal sounds because I can't remember how the kids here make the noises. They thought cockadoodledoo was just ridiculous.

[+] We had a concert for the March First holiday that marks the beginning of spring. For a country that glorifies disco and Lady Gaga, I was really surprised how many of the teenage acts involved a bass, guitar, and full drum set. The concert was also honoring a famous singer from our raion, so all the songs were his. His wife and son were in attendance as well. My favorite part of the concert was the very beginning, when the Star Wars song was blasted from the speakers so loud the vibrations put the ride at Diseneyland to shame.

[+] Martisor is my new favorite Moldovan holiday!! There are several legends about the Martisor (the red and write strings that get pinned to your left lapel). They all involve a princess named Primavara (spring), a dragon, and blood being split in her honor. On the first of March, we give the Martisor to mark the departure of winter (the white), and the coming of spring (red). Spring is here!! With the youth council, we gave out about a hundred of the Martisoare. Here is Marcela pinning Victor at the district government offices.

[+] I recently had a fabulous weekend with fellow PCVs. It involved three very productive meetings, a whole lot of socializing, eating great food, and sadly, starting the goodbyes. A group of PCVs is about to COS (finish there service), and a Dutch volunteer (left, third picture) heads our this weekend as well. It's been great getting to know Sarah. She arrived in January and has been working at a Dutch NGO for elderly people, she most enjoys the activities room. She leaves Moldova on Sunday for Israel, where she will be spending another couple months volunteering at a hostel. It's people like Sarah that making work abroad so much fun!

[+] On International Women's Day I got a free bus ride. I will remember that kind bus driver next time I run across a less amiable one.

[-/+] A fellow volunteer and I decided that since all the deadlines for grad school in 2010 have passed, it's time to start getting serious about applications for 2011. Yikes. But the more I read, the more I'm certain that I know what I want to do with my life. Which is exactly what I hoped the Peace Corps would help me determine.

[+] I love Moldova.