Tuesday, May 25, 2010

ONE WEEK- What am I doing again?

Down to the last week and things are really ramping up! I've unpacked and repacked from my last adventures, and it looks like I've got pretty much everything in order so that I can sleep soundly whilst abroad. Literally and figuratively. Most of my bags are packed, various obligations fulfilled, some good-byes already made. Although I feel on top of it all at the moment, I just know I'm going to forget something huge which will send me racing around that last day. For example, the first time I ever moved out of country I forgot to pack. Yeah, really- so I was up until 4am (needing to leave at 6am for the flight) just trying to get my bag ready. Clearly, I've now learned at least a bit since that past mistake. 


Now that the big countdown has started, I thought it worthwhile to let you all in on what I am getting myself into:

I was originally in Municipal Services Development which would have involved "working at the municipal level with an institutional counterpart... a municipal employee, a city council member, or in a few cases, the mayor. The work is based on a project plan designed to increase and improve services provided by the municipalities through a) participatory planning and increasing public participation in the decision-making process; b) improvement of the tax revenue system through the creation of property tax database and possible computer training for counterparts; and c) improvements of municipal management functions in general."

My new assignment description in Community Economic Development is actually pretty similar except with a focus on community groups, municipal departments, and education/cultural committees (versus municipalities and cooperatives). In particular, my work can include "civic education- organizing and teaching people of all ages their rights and responsibilities as citizens; neighborhood commissions- helping to form or support existing groups to define and achieve their goals (often this means teaching them about project management, grant writing and how to work as a team); business skills- assisting individual business owners in marketing, finance, accounting, etc.; Construye Tus SueƱos- a new course focused towards young people or women that teaches entrepreneurial skills and ends in the development of a business plan; IT/Technology- form/assist in the management of computer centers or help small businesses to incorporate computers into their administration. Some Volunteers work with municipalities to use GIS mapping skills to create various maps of the community for tax and management purposes. Many other common activities include working with/expanding community run libraries, teaching the importance of saving via family finance, work with artisan groups and more!"

Given this lovely description- it's easy to see this is right up my alley! I wrote my MA dissertation on participatory peacebuilding, so in a way I'm kinda doing just that. Exciting, eh? It's also a good combination of my prior experience in various coordination, volunteer, and community ed roles. One of my friends has fairly identified my new work as attendance and truancy intervention (my most recent job) on a slightly larger level. Haha- it's really true! I'll let you know just how true once I really get started.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Joining the Peace Corps- Application Timeline

Now that I'm down to the crunch time, it seems as if only yesterday I was filling out the application. Looking back, however, it was certainly a longer wait than I had originally anticipated. Fresh out of my MA and back in the USA only late last September, I foolishly thought I was only a personal statement and a few recommendations away. Since then I've graduated, traveled southern Europe, taken a full time job working on truancy back in the US, volunteered all over the place, built 2 houses and an addition to a rehab centre in Mexico, learned to play guitar (albeit not gracefully in any way at this stage), and read many many books.

So what took so long anyway? Lets take a closer look at the process:

September 1, 2009- Started PC Application
October 2, 2009- Submitted PC Application Online
October 19, 2009- PC Recruiter Interview
October 20, 2009- Official Nomination: "NGO Advising" and "Latin America" for May 2010
October 21, 2009- Legal Review Complete
November 30, 2009- Dental Review Complete
February 26, 2010- Medical Review Complete
March 1, 2010- Placement Contact and Application Update
March 10, 2010- Preliminary Placement Review Complete
March 11, 2010- Invitation to Join the Peace Corps in Paraguay!!!!

As my family can tell you, I almost couldn't bear to go to work every day as I became ever obsessed with watching the mailbox for my big blue envelope with my invitation details. After a gruelling (ok, I'm exaggerating but you get the idea) whole 6 business days, it arrived. :-) YES!

My original assignment was in Municipal Services Development to depart on May 25, 2010. I gladly accepted having seen each of my degrees somehow itemized in the assignment description. Perfect :-) From there a whole new process began:

March 23, 2010- Passport Application Mailed
March 26, 2010- Aspiration Statement and Updated Resume Submitted
April 19, 2010- Staging Date Pushed to June 1st
April 27, 2010- Assignment Change to Community Economic Development
April 30, 2010- My Birthday & Official Resignation Submitted to Employer
May 5, 2010- Travel Reservations Confirmed (NM-> TX-> FL-> Brazil-> Paraguay)
May 6, 2010- Application for World Wise School Match Submitted
May 14, 2010- Last Day of Work
Last 2 weeks in the USA- Packing and Parties
June 1, 2010- Departure for Staging
June 2, 2010- Departure for Paraguay

Needless to say, it's all been a bit of a whirlwind in retrospect. Lesson learned? For those of you waiting anxiously for your Peace Corps invite and ship date, it won't seem like it was such a wait when it's all over.

Wooohooo I'm a PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER!

The Beginning

It all starts here. I've been wanting to join the Peace Corps since age 13 when one of my teachers told me about his work with elephants in Africa. Now, nearly 10 years later, I find myself on a mystical dream journey of my own to Paraguay. (Sorry no elephants) Just what does this adventure have in store? Only time, and this wee blog can tell.