A Redefined Weekend Warrior

Coronarita on the Potomac with Tobs (at Cantina Marina)

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:54:41 +0700

Coronarita on the Potomac with Tobs (at Cantina Marina)

7.5 hours later…

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:57:26 +0700

7.5 hours later…

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:57:21 +0700

7.5 hours later…

Saturday morning Chesapeake Bay fishing trip

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:01:46 +0700

Saturday morning Chesapeake Bay fishing trip

Starbucks and a little World War 2 nostalgia.

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:52:05 +0700

Starbucks and a little World War 2 nostalgia.

Train to Stockholm

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:49:10 +0700

Train to Stockholm

Well…more like 12 Days of Christmas. Stockholm, Berlin,...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:05:42 +0700

Well…more like 12 Days of Christmas. Stockholm, Berlin, Prague, and Copenhagen….bring it.

Work Casual.

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:59:57 +0700

Work Casual.

Boom Baby Boom..

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:57:17 +0700

Well… the honeymoon period is over. In what the Taliban is calling the new “Spring Offensive,” which began 1:13pm today Kabul Time, (4 hours ago), Kabul, Jalalabad and a few other areas of Afghanistan came under attack. The below is a summary so far of the day:

• A Taliban spokesman said fighters have attacked embassies in the diplomatic enclave, Nato’s HQ and the parliament building in the west of the capital. Multiple blasts and gunfire have been heard across Kabul.

• There have also been attacks the in Logar and Paktia provinces and reports of suicide attacks in Jalalabad, according to the Taliban.

• Nato said it had reports of attacks in seven locations in Kabul but there were no reports as yet of any casualties.

• The British embassy has been targetted, with two rockets hitting a guard tower. Witnesses told Reuters that a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into a house used by British diplomats.

To Reiterate to the rentals and everyone else, my compound is around 1.5 miles from the attacks. We’re under lock-down and from the looks of it, the APPF (Afghan People’s Protection Force), as well as the private security are patrolling the area to ensure our safety and keep us abreast of the developing situation.

Now for the bloggy part of this blog post..

The only thing I really have to compare to this is the familiar Tornado Warnings of Oklahoma….except this includes suicide bombers, gunfire and a lot of helicopters overhead. Aside from that, totally the same…

It’s been surreal. Attempting to act completely casual while the reports flow in, all the while sitting next to Afghan staff who have dealt with this for most of their lives along with Expat staff who have had much closer calls than this, has been, well…surreal. Internally, there’s the 24 year old Yuppie American with no background in this sort of thing wanting to lock myself in a Jodi Foster level Safe Room until it’s over. Outside, however, is the 24 year old Yuppie American with no background in this sort of thing wanting to lock myself in a Jodi Foster level Safe Room until it’s over, but instead, has to fill out excel sheets and blaring Pepper Rabbit in an attempt to diffuse the stress rising.

The Expats, however, seem about as conflicted regarding this situation as they would be about getting a diet coke when they had ordered a regular. Part of it gives me a sense of security while the other end just wonders if everyone here is just gone bonkers. Like I had mentioned previously with the trip to Baccacio’s Italian Pizzarreia, this is just another day in the neighborhood. Granted, that neighborhood has something a little worse than the local Crypts or Bloods.

Somewhere in my head though is this sick sense of excitement and elation, this weird pride for having yet another experience to tack on my wall. I can’t tell if that’s fucked up or not. Probably. Knowing that everyone around you have these amazing experiences, stories and backgrounds leads to this twisted sense of wanting not to compete, but to enter their ranks. At least, it has for me. Ever since joining Creative, I’ve been running a personal marathon of experiences, attempting to catch up as soon as possible.

Well, guess I just hit the next mile marker. This one has me a little winded.

Dr. Pepper's Kabul Adventure

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:13:46 +0700

So uh, about that trip to Afghanistan.

Somewhere between Dulles and Dubai it hit me what was going on. While I may have said the word “Afghanistan” every other sentence to the subtle chagrin of those around me, I don’t think I really understood what I was in for. Then again, sitting here in my room writing this right now, I still don’t. Thanks to the media and the perpetualization of war images, Afghanistan stood akin to the boogeymonster of nations. So, naturally, I spent the first night watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in my room eating a snickers and drinking a Dr. Pepper, decked in a Kevlar vest and Helmet. Partly out of hillarity, mostly out of a brimming paranoia that the next knock I heard would be a mortar coming down.

Since arriving in the lush capital of Kabul, I’ve been on edge. I’ve been on edge whilst eating a spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a A&W Root Beer, during the Always Sunny marathon, the work meetings on the green lawns of the compound hotel I’m staying at, and most extremely, while taking my hot showers, acompanied by the intricately-hipster playlists of 8tracks.com. In all honesty, there is a need to be on alert, but so far, you could have fooled me.

The most extreme case I’ve had in having a moment of clarity in regards to the situation I was in came last night. The dreaded 3 armored-car convoy we had to take on our way to Kabul’s finest Italian eatery, the Baccaccio.

During my welcome meeting with our security group, I was shown the various “hot zones” of Kabul, all of which are snuggly located ever so closely to my compound. One of which, Kabul’s Airport Road, has had a high level of activity (the road, accurately named, provides travel between the airport (crazy right?) and the center of all international community buildings), over the past few years. After a long day in the office, the staff was anxious to get out and get some non-compound food. I’d assumed that’d be some local Afghan eats. After jumping into our armored convoy, I asked where we’d be going. Aparently the name Boccaccio didn’t strike me as Italian.

The ride out of the compound and down the Aiprort Road was a welcomed slap in the face. On the one hand, it showed me the truth of the security concerns and what war has done to this country. At nearly every intersection stood armed guards pulling cars over left and right (our own a few times) and a deadly quiet that seemed to engulf the streets. On the other, it showed a city struggling to adapt to the changing world around it, with signs advertising the introduction of 3G to Kabul, face whitening creams and levi jeans. Sitting in the car with two staff members who have been here for a few years and the security manager providing our ETA and notable sites in the area, I finally had a taste of what I was in for.

Then we arrived at the restaurant. Situated in the heart of downtown Kabul, Boccaccio stood behind checkpoints, armed guards and metal detectors.

Inside? A pizzareia and enough balloons to pull an “UP” in case things got bad for little Yusef’s 8th birthday party.

Ok Kabul, I’m intrigued.

By the way, these are the lovely ladies of sedgwick aka my...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:29:04 +0700

By the way, these are the lovely ladies of sedgwick aka my roommates. They kind of kick ass, like a lot.

Two years have passed. Things changed. Good.

Miss you ladies while I’m galavanting and looking forward to the BBQ upon my arrival.

Life After Peace Corps

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:07:30 +0700

It’s officially been two months since my PC life in Cambodia and things haven’t stopped moving. After about two weeks back in the states I made the move back to DC and landed the job I could only have hoped for. A month after that and they’re sending me out to Afghan land to help with their program start up.

Being back in DC had been so uniquely euphoric in so many ways yet very, weirdly, normal. Being back has been as if I never left. It’s been great falling back into life here and I’m excited for my second return after this next month or so.

Sometimes I feel like my life is a Narnia novel, minus the talking animals and Christian-message undertones. I’m down with it.

Flight to Dubai leaves in 20 minutes and once again that grin I get before another adventure can’t be wiped off my face. That may change once I get to Kabul, but then again, probably not. Updates to come as I’ll be attempting to keep ya’ll in the loop while I sift through the thousands of resumes and files in a towering compound in the land of the Silk Road.

Be easy,

-Mateo

Life after peace corps. Still on my toes.

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:57:36 +0700

Life after peace corps. Still on my toes.

Applying for jobs

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:53:12 +0700

Akin to being punched in the stomach by your crush on the playground and then her not telling you for two to three weeks whether or not she did that because she likes you or likes likes you.

Et tu?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:12:17 +0700

It’s funny how nostalgia has a way of setting in the second a decision is made. External factors can be whatever you’d like them to be, yet it isn’t until that precise moment that your conscious comes in line with your subconscious that you truly start to feel that sense of finality. This is that post, the one where I talk about how I decided to leave the Peace Corps.

This isn’t the post where I talk about how disillusioned I’ve become, or how home sick I am, or how doing little to nothing day after day has led me down a spiraling road of depression. Because frankly, that’s all a load of bull shit. I’m about as happy as it gets here. I’ve had an amazing experience, a wonderful host family and community to foster that time and fellow Peace Corps Volunteers that have been there going on the ride along with me. My time as a Peace Corps Volunteer has been an invaluable experience with unbelievable ups and downs. It’s been a time where I’ve come face-to-face with all that I hate and love about myself and I’ve come out the other end a more whole individual. It was also a time when I realized that no matter where you are, it’s always someone’s home and, to them, it’s about as interesting as a pile of cow dung.

I don’t think I can pin just one reason down for the decision. Since visiting home in October for the funeral of my grandmother, I’d come to realize something about myself. I’m not as cold as I like to think I am. Living in a host family of 8 and being surrounded constantly by PCVs with healthy home relationships really did something to my system. It showed me the strength and happiness that comes from family. My constant need to find the next adventure, the next escape, has essentially left me finally at a state where I’ve realized the one thing I’ve neglected is as important as everyone says it is. Then again, if I hadn’t spent the time I did here, I may have figured that out a bit too late in life.

I’m not going to get all sappy in here, spilling my heart out like some 16 year old, considering this is public domain and can be read by anyone, but I feel like a watered down explanation was warranted.

Aside from the family aspect, my time at site has drawn to a close in terms of how much I can continue to contribute. With the school attendance rates rapidly dwindling, the prospect of teaching as a way to keep busy seems a bit uh….optimistic.

All of those projects I’ve been ranting and raving about for the past year? They’re doing great. Actually, they’re doing so great, that it hit me hard and fast (that’s what she said) that I’m not the integral part anymore. BCDO has done a remarkable job adapting, learning and replicating (actually improving) what I’d introduced.

A year later, they’re a full fledged organization with funding, a waterwell, an organic farm, a full list of tourist activities, alternative fuel source production and research, volunteer teaching opportunities, community outreach programs and so much more. I can’t help but smile at the fact that I had a hand in that. And, while it pained me to realize I was no longer needed, there’s a huge satisfaction in the fact that I watched it happen and I know after I’m gone, they’ll be moving right along.

So, with a date in mind and the next steps being lined up, I’m leaving here with a happy heart. I couldn’t be in a better place with my time here, my decision to leave and the next steps. And thanks to the hilarity that is nostalgia and the wonderful mind tricks it can play on us, I have a true appreciation for all those annoyances and am looking to soak them all up, one by one, until that fated flight back to the States.

Partnership for Clean Indoor Air

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:50:57 +0700

As you all know, most of my time here has been devoted to establishing and working with BCDO (Botamsakor Community Development Organization) the Biomass Briquette Project. There’s an earlier post explaining the basics of the project. Below is a link to an interesting report on just that as well as various alternatives to alleviate the very serious threat of not only indoor air pollution, but fuel security and an improvement in resource management.

http://www.pciaonline.org/bulletin/pcia-bulletin-issue-29

Specifically, this is the section provided by the Legacy Foundation, based out of Ashland, Oregon which has been the single greatest asset we could have asked for in putting together this project:

Overview of Briquettes and Comparison with Traditional Fuels
Richard and Joyce Stanley, Legacy Foundation
info@legacyfound.org http://www.pciaonline.org/legacy-foundation

The Legacy Foundation (LF) is a U.S.-based non-profit (501c3) organization. The Legacy Foundation’s mission is to promote sustainable human development and preserve our environment through the integration of technology innovation, media, and management.

LF founders and staff have worked since 1994 to introduce a singular and effective solution to both fuelwood-based forest destruction and rural poverty: hollow-core biomass-based briquettes manufactured in simple and inexpensive wooden or metal presses by micro-enterprises, often led by local women. These briquettes can be manufactured from virtually any biomass material, including agricultural waste (leaves/ grasses/straw/husks), scrap paper, or sawdust. Their production and use generates local income, reduces the consumption of conventional fuelwood, and requires very little capital to initiate.

LF began introducing and building capacity for these biomass briquettes in Malawi in 1994, and it has subsequently developed projects in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Mexico and Perú. The most effective methodology, developed from these experiences, involves three critical components:

    Introducing the technology by training a group of local producers;
    Launching a national marketing campaign that shows the economic and environmental benefits of the biomass briquettes; and
    Training, from among the most capable initial producers, trainers who will extend the technology to many additional villages and producer groups.
Now, working with more than 25 NGOs worldwide, LF supports development, extension and capacity building to introduce low cost biomass briquette-making technology for small-scale entrepreneurs and community groups. Legacy’s primary focus is to support local groups, especially women’s groups, to become totally self- sufficient in the briquette production activities – increasing income while saving time and labor. In the same context, briquette production conserves the environment through reduced dependence on and consumption of fuelwood for cooking and heating.

LF supports its associates through online technical assistance, encouragement, and networking connections and considers its greatest accomplishments and the overall goals of any project to include1:
    The self-reliant development of training capacity by those LF has trained.
    The reduced demand in participating communities on use of wood for fuel, thus preservation of forests.
    The development of regional networks of biomass briquette producers and trainers through timely and thorough technical assistance to all on-line requests.
LF, for example, is presently completing a very successful project in Uganda and Tanzania, financed by a three-year grant from the McKnight foundation, focused on training of trainers. This project has trained thousands of biomass briquette producers, has helped to establish a regional network of biomass briquette trainers and has led to the establishment of an East Africa Biomass Producers Network.
Based on Legacy Foundation’s experience, we believe that fuel briquettes should be an option for all clean cook stove programs. That said, fuel briquettes made from agricultural residues and commercial processing wastes have a specific niche. They are at once easy to produce and use, but sometimes involve more labor than simply gathering nearby wood. Generally one briquette producer using any of several hand-operated devices can produce enough briquette fuel for between 60 and 200 persons a day, depending upon press, material processing type and blend used. In areas with easily and safely accessed fuel wood (e.g. where someone can gather a week’s worth of fuel in one day), briquettes will find no real market unless subsidized by the government or other donor institution, which is not sustainable. However, if there is an increase in the distance/difficulty and/or decrease in the safety of access to that fuelwood supply, the market will tend to favor the biomass briquette.

Briquettes can be made to fit a variety of stove shapes and sizes (as sausages, small wedges, cylinders or squares between 30 to 150 mm in diameter x 30 to 75mm height), and can be made from a range of blends (from mostly waste charcoal and paper blends to pure agro residues). It is not the briquette type or thermal output, or even cooking habits or stove design that is critical to briquette adoption. Rather, it is the issue of their economic and ‘fuel-gathering-security’ advantage over wood and charcoal which determine their potential as a viable alternative fuel. Key to the briquette option, and an added advantage, is the fact that briquettes can be monetized allowing the user to provide a means of incentive and payment for the cook stove—and that seems to be a big hurdle to many cook stove
extension efforts.

Pros and Cons of Non-Carbonized Briquettes

Pros: The non-carbonized briquette does not require the generally polluting and time consuming char-making
effort. Instead, it utilizes existing waste char fines and crumbs from charcoal sellers. Charcoal dust and crumbs account for as much as 20% of the charcoal being offloaded, stacked and repackaged for individual sale. If you add about 20% charcoal dust and crumbs to an otherwise standard agro-residue briquette, it can generate the same amount and type of heat as char briquettes. The biomass briquette, whether made with charcoal additives or not, can be choked down towards the end of its burn to generate char as well.

Cons: Biomass briquette production requires water (100 kgs of briquettes require anywhere from 2 to 300 liters of water depending upon blend and press used). Briquettes also require four to six days to dry to ambient conditions before they can be used. Open-air storage of four to six days’ production is therefore necessary with this process.

Required Materials for Briquette Production

There are about twenty five different types of presses and a least four different processes for grinding/ chipping/ mashing materials by hand. Hinges, screws, ratchets, hydraulic jacks, levers and other more technical mechanisms, ranging in cost from a few dollars to several hundred dollars, are constructed from metal, wood, or even cement and plastic, and can require from one to a dozen operators. The same, although to a lesser extent, applies to threshing, chopping and mashing technologies for preparing the agro residues. For more information on the range of presses available worldwide, you can contact the fuel briquette network at fuelbriquetting@googlegroups.com
Mkombozi Women’s Group Members making briquettes with the wood press
The choice of which type of press to use is best determined by a full survey of the production culture, resources and skills and the market it is intending to reach.

Challenges
The notion of compressing biomass, which in its original form is of lower thermal value per kg than fuel wood and charcoal, into a fuel which can match or even exceed the output of wood or charcoal per unit weight because of its unique shape and blend, challenges conventional wisdom and therefore acceptance in the local markets.
At the same time, because briquette production appears so easy, it is sometimes replicated without comprehensive understanding of the correct briquette- making process; this results in inefficient production or a poor-quality, low thermal output and a smoky product. One smoky briquette producer can quite easily damage the credibility of ten other good quality producers.

Briquette production of this type does not easily lend itself to the model of wide spread distribution from mass production centers because of the briquettes’ high bulk relative to their weight. A full chest-high guinea sack can only contain 100 briquettes with a street value of only US $4 to $6, reaching a market of roughly 40 to 50 persons a day. The added cost of transport and the easy replicability of the production in surrounding markets tends to limit its widespread distribution from any one center except in more densely populated urban areas.

Opportunities
Briquette production is relatively easy to start up, with little investment. With engagement of local artisans, locally managed training and solid assessment of the real market for biomass briquettes, and with locally-managed training and extension services in effect, biomass briquettes have the potential to provide a completely self sustaining solution for ameliorating the effects of deforestation due to over demand of fuelwood and charcoal. We have just completed a program in Uganda and Tanzania which started as a training of two small producer groups and has led to the development of four well established briquette training and press production businesses. These businesses have trained more than one-hundred producer groups. The trainers are thus successfully extending the reach and impact of biomass briquettes in Uganda and Tanzania. In situations where the trainees cannot afford to pay the trainers with cash, we have seen briquettes used directly as payment for training, thus providing a win-win situation for both the trainee and the trainer.
The spread of the biomass briquette technology tends to follow a molecular/ cottage industry, sustainable pattern of growth, rather than the more conventional larger production-center based business model. This, coupled with increased internet and cell phone prevalence in developing nations, has enhanced local ownership of the process. Local producers are increasingly contributing to the growth of awareness about the product and access to briquettes and training.

“We are now aware of briquette production or training activities in 46 countries. Yet, we see this as only the tip of the iceberg. The potential briquette-using populations in these countries are much larger than the current adoption rate.
Locally owned and managed biomass briquette production needs to be increased dramatically to reach more potential users—and it can with very little effort or cost. Legacy Foundation provides a free information- planning sheet for assessing the potential of a briquette production project in your area. Briquettes can be easily tailored to the needs of each individual clean stove- promotion program. They can also be used to finance the stove projects’ expansion and sustainability.”

Projects, Life and the In-Betweens

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:42:03 +0700

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything. People have been asking what I’ve been up to, how the 2nd year of service has been, and the happenings of my day-to-day life.

Short answer; I’m not sure.

But, as you all know, I’ve never been good at being concise, so here’s the typical long-winded, rambling storm brewing in my head.

Since the death of my grandmother back in September and the literal overnight switch between the understanding I would not be heading home until my service was completed, to jumping on a plane and 24 hours later stepping foot on US soil and a hasty return in mid-October, I still don’t think I know quite what happened. My grandmother’s death had been anticipated for quite some time, so that wasn’t the shocker. The recognition that being back in the US as not being a reprieve wasn’t it either. Nor the lack of homesickness that seems so common upon returning to Cambodia.

So what was it?

Back to the short answer; I’m not sure.

At first, I had figured it was just the lack of preparations during that time, deprived of a chance to put two and two together and time to adjust. But that simply didn’t seem to fit the myriad of feelings I was experiencing upon my return, feelings that I still feel today, nearly two months later.

Through my continued day-to-day efforts at site and through my work with fellow PCVs on the textbook curriculum development project, it hit me quick and clean.

Things at site were moving along too easily. My Biomass Briquette Project was still moving forward, having completed two rounds of testing on materials, completed press, cylinder and even acquisitions of trainees and contributors in my absence. Tourism in the area was continuing to grow and BCDO, as always, was continuing with their efforts to provide accommodations, tours and volunteer opportunities. The library I established was in full operation 4-5 times per week.

In short, I realized I’m no longer an integral piece of the puzzle in the projects I fostered and helped establish.

Well Crap…

I’ve come to see through my service how volunteers help establish themselves within their new lives in various ways. Some foster strong relationships with their host families, others with significant others, some with an epic book collection, and many more by throwing themselves into their projects. I’m of the latter. My life here has been defined by the projects that gave me purpose and the drive to continue another day. Yes, my community ties are strong and I have a bond with my host family I will not soon forget, but my true love and drive has been the work I’ve put into assuring “my place” in the community.

With that work taking on a life of its own through the continued efforts of the community, Botamsakor Secondary School, and BCDO, I felt as if my core had been taken from me. The one thing I had counted on since day one to provide a sense of place, was no longer as strong as it had once been.

But is that the case? What is the true goal of project development and implementation? Is it meant to provide satisfaction to the donor or project coordinator? Or is it meant to affect real change and a shift in practices for the betterment of those you work with?

Obviously, it’s never been about the donor nor the coordinator. True development work is there to instill growth and personal strength within the individuals we devote our time to. To see the library functional, regimented even, as well as recognizing that I am no longer needed to guide the Biomass Briquette project along, was difficult. But, even more than that, it was something I would have felt unfulfilled if I hadn’t seen.

During one of the worst classes I ever had to sit through, Cross Cultural Communication, we spoke of the differences between mindsets of different cultures. Specifically, there was a section on the importance Americans place on time in relation to personal growth. When given an assignment alongside a deadline, you will never see anyone so flustered as us. The typical response, based directly upon date of completion, allows for a typical response, what every college students knows as procrastination. The late nights in the library the night before a 20 page paper is due, the red bull after red bull and the comatose nature the next day.

In my case, the necessity to base experience on a regimented timescale left me with an initial sense of defeat. My two years weren’t up. I’m not done here, I have 7 months left. What am I going to do now? Not once in the “rationalizing” of my situation did it occur to me that if I’ve learned anything in my time in Peace Corps, it is that nothing is what it seems and, under that, nothing will ever evolve how you would assume. What I had implemented, I hoped would carry me through my time here.

Rather than looking at this as a success and a chance to watch my work evolve on its own, I found myself wallowing in self pity and boredom. This can continue no longer. I need to get over my ego and look at this as an opportunity to change that about myself and foster an evolution in what I define as self worth. Yes, my time may be considerably freed up now, but that does not mean I can’t keep moving forward. Stagnation is not an option. As tempting as those books and dvds may be, I need to look forward.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

In my remaining time, however long that may be, I’ll do all I can to involve myself when requested and continue to provide any assistance I can. But more than that, I’ve decided I need to look ahead. My service here has helped me realize that this is not the seminal experience of my life, the defining factor that shaped my core being. Yes, this experience has truly and utterly affected change within myself, but I look more to my time here as the first step of many in my journey into what I now recognize as what I want to devote my life to. Development work may be a broad spectrum with hidden agendas, diplomatic precursors, and failed results, but it is a necessary function. It can succeed and it does provide strength to those previously unable to gain it themselves. But it also provides so much more to those working within the sector.

I have learned more from my community and BCDO than I will ever have provided them. Even more so, the days where I had nothing but thoughts to occupy my time were the days I learned more about myself than I could during any other time in my life.

I don’t know what the next few months hold for me, but I’m looking to keep moving forward, fostering the growth and insight I have gained in my time here to continue the evolution I have seen in myself. Regardless of whether that means the continuing my service here, or recognizing that maybe the importance of set dates isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, I will not stagnate. I’ve come to a place in my life where I know who I am and what I want. That may be the naive 24 year old Peace Corps Volunteer who feels he’s seen “it all,” but I don’t think so. If anything, my time here has proven that I know little. I want that to change. My hunger for progression and responsibility can only be sated by moving forward.

So move forward I will.

Be easy,

Matt

What's on the iPhone

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:53:17 +0700

Hello Weekend

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:45:53 +0700

I swear I do real work. Just not this weekend.

August

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:50:46 +0700

The work update:

1) Over the past few months, a proposal came through regarding updating and facilitating an entire overhaul of the current English Language Curriculum for the Cambodian school system. This was luckily picked up by Peace Corps in conjunction with a few other volunteer groups and government organizations due to our on site experience in the low-performing schools in the rural areas, aka where nearly 80% of all Cambodian students reside. The current books in place are over 15 years old with no updated versions available and have been less than adequate for addressing the learning needs of students, the hesitancy of teachers and the lack of available hours to implement the lessons properly. So, with that said, they handed the curriculum development, textbook formatting and all creative freedom to us (with the Cambodian government’s guiding hand throughout the process). Along with around 15 other PCVs, we’ve been putting together drafts of the syllabi for review while waiting for funding from various organizations to put the project in place. It’s been a lot of reading up on textbook management and even more waiting, but it looks like we may be on track for the next step. With a two week workshop next month, we’ll be meeting with consultants and experts in the field along with our Cambodian counterparts to make sure we are addressing the needs of our students, teachers and the goals of the country in general. It’s an amazing honor and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of it.

2) BCDO has been working its ass off these past few months in gathering donations, supplies and researching various projects to test out. It’s been truly amazing being part of their work and seeing the changes they’ve helped foster in the area as well as the change within their organization. Our biomass briquette project is in the making, but with the amount of rain we’re having, getting the materials press-ready has been difficult. There are a few volunteers that are coming to stay with the organization in a few months which should prove interesting, but overall something I think may help us in the end. Tourism has been slow in the rainy months (it always is) but we’re still organizing tours and homestays in the area which is becoming more and more fluid with every group.

3) The new volunteers came back in July and have been in training for the past month. They seem to be adjusting…It’s been interesting to say the least, watching them react the same way we did a short year ago and go through the same hoops we went through ourselves. Between them coming and the K3s going, it really has set a time limit on my time left here.

The life update:

Things are moving way too fast. People always say that as you get older, things seem to pick up the pace more and more. A short time ago, I was the new one in the country and now we’re the ones leading training for the newer group. I’m down to around 10 months left in country as a PCV and with that brings the inevitable freak out of what comes next. On top of that is the crippling notion that I may not finish all that I’m working on before that time comes. I’ve looked into jobs in DC, the Foreign Service and even possibly working in Cambodia another year. I’ve really grown to love my life here and enjoy the time that I’ve been given. Between my host family, my daily routine, the amazing crap that is all around the country and the sense of avoiding the daily grind of city life in the States, I’ve been happier here than I have been in years.

Celebrating my 24th birthday (and 2nd in Cambodia) was a surreal experience but a good one. Between the Beer Pong in the German beer garden in Phnom Penh, movies at the new movie theatre and the disgustingly delicious bacon wrapped doughnut I was given, life just makes me smile over here. There’s some pretty great friendships here and it’ll be hard eventually saying goodbye to those, but I guess that’s just life. I miss my life in the states and the people there, but there is a sense of belonging and comfort in my life here.

Overall, things are going really well. I’ll be going to the islands this weekend for part two of my birthday week and for the birthdays of a few friends. After that, it’s one week at site before running up to Phnom Penh for the two week workshop, training in Takeo for organic farming for the new volunteers and then run back in time for the new school year and a few side projects.

Things are good