World Map Project | Proiectul Harta Lumii

When a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer had to urgently leave the country, she wasn't able to finish the World Map Project she initiated in her community. The World Map Project is a worldwide Peace Corps initiative that began in 1988. A Volunteer in the Dominican Republic was struggling to teach her geography lessons without materials, and thus resorted to painting the map directly on the wall of her classroom.

I traveled to my friend's former village this week to help her community implement the project. Through a penny war, the students raised close to 300 USD, enough to re-finish a wall and buy all the necessary supplies to paint a map in their main corridor. Though I was rather intimidated by this project, my friend's former partner (Liliana) and I found the Peace Corps' World Map Handbook extremely easy to follow. We even finished the project hours ahead of schedule.

We spent the first day reading the manual and organizing our plan. Day two we made a grid on our map to make the sketching of the countries practically fool-proof and started painting. According to the manual's color-coding, Russia was painted yellow, Ukraine red, and China pink. If you are eager to make a political joke about the color coding, too late. I've heard them all this week!

By the end of the third day, we had every country painted and came back the next morning to make last minute touches and let two girls from the eighth grade scribe the names of each country.

I could not be happier with the results of this project. I was a skeptic at first. Had no idea what I was doing. How could I help with a project I knew nothing about? But now I am seriously considering doing a World Map Project in my own community. I owe a big THANK YOU to the other volunteers who gave me advice along the way. You know who you are!

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.