3 Month In-Service Training

November 26th, 2009

In my last post I focused on the best part of my trip back to Paso de Oro...the family.

In this post I would like to share a little bit about what In-Service training (IST) was like as part of my continuing effort to give you a glimpse of what development work in general and Peace Corps development work in particular is all about.

IST, this time called “Reconnect” since it was the first formal occasion in which my training group got together, was a 3-day event held in Guarambaré. Remember this place?



It started around 8:00 AM on Tuesday, November 24th and ended around 12:00 PM on Thursday, November 26th.

Before we arrived we responded to a questionnaire about what we would like to learn about in the following sessions:

• Language
• Country Director Brief
• Lunch with Programming and Training Officer
• Programming Session with Associate Peace Corps Director
• Medical
• Round Robin of other topics/sectors

LANGUAGE

During the course of the 3 days, we spent most of the time in breakout style language classes. We were grouped according to what we wanted to study (Spanish or Guaraní) and what level or common themes within each. I picked up and honed a few things but overall think language is not the best use of time for an IST mainly since it is such a short period of time, which implicates that the incremental gains in language at this point pale in comparison to the potential for large incremental gains in our technical area. Personally, I would have liked to see a lot more effort and time put into sector specific technical training especially now that we are coming in with a pretty good perspective on our sites and counterparts. If leveraged correctly, this newly gained in depth perspective could be used to give us some great technical training and guidance/advice, but that’s just one opinion among many.

COUNTRY DIRECTOR BRIEF

Country Director Donald Clark provided a brief in which he covered many topics. He started out by describing the Country Director conference in LA he went to in which he was able to see the new Peace Corps Director and hob-nob with other Country Directors from around the world. He then talked about some important changes to Peace Corps Paraguay Pre-Service Training (basically, Peace Corps Paraguay has not renewed its contract with CHP in the outsourcing of our training).

CHP Paraguay was the latest and last victim among a long, historical spree of severed ties between the training supplier and Peace Corps. They used to conduct training for many of the Peace Corps posts and systematically lost every single contract through the years. There is an important lesson to be gleaned from this experience. I’m not sure about the other Peace Corps posts that dropped CHP, but at least in Paraguay, the executive staff was satisfied with their work. It was a policy change and corresponding order, which came down from headquarters in Washington that delivered the final blow to CHP. Companies or organizations contracting with the government better make sure to diversify their offering and customer pool in order to hedge against risks associated with fickle government policy, which could end the company with a change of a just one law or even interpretation of a law. That goes for the private sector as well. A company should never rely to heavily on one customer or supplier because of the leverage afforded to the other organization in negotiations as well as the huge implications for survival prospects implied in a decision to end the relationship.

Our Country Director also talked about some ongoing IT issues concerning Internet at the office, and information/collaboration/knowledge sharing platform improvements, which are desperately needed. He also addressed volunteer behavior as a result of some recent incidents, which include broken glass in the pool of one of our preferred hotels and streaking naked in public during a Volunteer get-together. He discussed the importance of Peace Corps partnering with other government and non-government organizations engaged in similar work. Finally, he talked about the need of Peace Corps to create more unified, branded programs, leadership camps as an example, at the national level.

LUNCH WITH PROGRAMMING AND TRAINING OFFICER

Most of the Volunteers, myself included, went out for lunch so we missed the Lunch session with the PTO. I came in on the tail end of it and it seemed like a pity party in which Volunteers described difficult situations and frustrations experienced in site.

PROGRAMMING SESSION WITH ASSOCIATE PEACE CORPS DIRECTOR

The APCD session went really well. I had asked for examples of what other Volunteers in our sector were doing. Betsy, our sector’s Volunteer Coordinator, prepared a great one pager describing the main activities of many of the Volunteers in our sister G. I had also asked for an exhaustive listing of the most common organizations (Government, NGO, Nonprofits) with which to work as a RED Volunteer including brief explanations of each and contact info. Betsy delivered big time on that one as well.

Two former Volunteers from our sector also offered a session in which they broke their service down into 4-month segments revealing the nature of the two-year service and the activities they did within their communities.



I had also asked to get more information about how to most effectively implement the entrepreneurship course (class size, frequency, appropriate ages, how to market it, certificates?, ideal duration of class, ideas for practical application of what’s taught in the class, etc...). In order to address that, they brought in Eric, a Volunteer from our Sister G, who is teaching the course. He showed us an example of a class and then gave tips concerning most of the above.



MEDICAL

The medical session was basically structured as a free-flowing question and answer session, which was followed by distribution of much needed sun block and OFF. We discussed how to keep cool in the summer heat, which foods are and are not ok to eat if left unrefrigerated, and a handful of other topics. Medical Mary gave us a sheet with a few good recipes and common standard to metric conversions for cooking.

ROUND ROBIN

In the Round Robin style sessions current Volunteers offered us the following:

• AIDS charla
• Working with Youth Charla
• Gender and Development Charla
• Trash Management Charla
• Basic Computer Skills Training Charla

I chose to attend the first three charlas.

Aids Charla

In the AIDS charla, Lauren (the special third year extension AIDS volunteer in Asunción) quickly delivered the standard AIDS charla using a nicely designed flip chart so that we could see how it goes and how to deliver it in the event that we decided to conduct the presentation in our sites. I found it well designed, really entertaining, interactive, and informative. As an example, Lauren asked us what were some common reasons for not using a condom, one of which was reduced pleasure/sensitivity. She responded to that by asking for a volunteer participant (which of course was me) to come up for a demonstration. She told me to close my eyes and hold up the index and middle fingers from my right hand. She then proceeded to place a condom over those two fingers. She instructed me to guess what action she was doing to my fingers as she performed them. I correctly observed all of her actions, which included stroking with her fingers, blowing, and licking. She told me to open my eyes and then gave some statistic to the rest of the group and I, which states that the genital area has (huge number) more nerves than your fingers, so if I felt and discerned all the differences with my fingers, imagine the heightened sensitivity with the other area indicating lack of sensitivity is no excuse for not using a condom especially when weighed against the risks of contractions of STDs and unwanted pregnancy.

Working with Youth Charla

An Urban Youth Volunteer gave us examples of ways to work with youth, provided knowledge of some existing pre-prepared projects/activities, gave some helpful tips to keep in mind while working with youth, and then broke down her activities in site.

Some of the helpful tips:

• Don’t drink or smoke with your youth, despite if they’re of legal age
• Mix it up by changing the meeting place, buying food, playing games, etc...
• Keep it short and simple at first.
• Be patient, be more of a peer than a know it all Volunteer
• Make sure the youth know what they’ve accomplished, even if it’s small
• Listen to their ideas and do what they want at first...build the rapport, give them what they want, and then start pushing your agenda later
• Set regular meeting days and times, and don’t change them

She broke down her activities in site which include:

• Teaching basic computer skills
• Offering sessions on self esteem, decision making, communication, etc...as part of the community project class at a local high school
• Assisting a local youth group in doing whatever they want to do such as fundraising for a soccer tournament, making a garden, and writing up a request for funding for trash cans.
• Exercise Group- Offers a 45 minute exercise classes three times a week, and facilitated a weight loss contest in the school.

Gender and Development Charla

To be honest, I don’t really remember much from this charla. The first part took the form of an open-ended group conversation, which was followed up with Q & A. Rosana, the go to Volunteer on GAD issues, asked what gender roles and differences in gender relations we noticed in our communities. We went around sharing our observations and experiences. The typical things came out like how men and women separate into two different groups at gatherings, the chauvinist comments guys make, the dichotomy of traditional roles in the house and work, etc...

She also told us about the GAD committee, it’s annual camp, and I think she mentioned a few ways to conduct GAD related work in our communities and how to handle some touchy topics.

So there you have it...a Peace Corps Paraguay RED sector 3 month In Service Training. I enjoyed catching up with some of my fellow Volunteers and especially enjoyed hearing about their sites and activities in site.

PEACE CORPS 101

In today’s post I would like to share a little information about Peace Corps worldwide. In later posts I plan to elaborate on the specifics of development work within the Peace Corps in general and within the various sectors Peace Corps Paraguay Volunteers are working in particular, but the purpose of this post is simply to provide a little background and a framework from which to understand my future posts concerning my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Agenda

1. Origins of Peace Corps
2. Goals and Mission
3. Peace Corps Today

Origin of Peace Corps:

At 2:00 a.m. on October 14, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy addressed students on the steps of the University of Michigan Union. He was on the campaign trail and had stopped for rest, but was met by a crowd of college students eager to hear him speak. On those steps, Kennedy delivered a short but powerful speech that changed the course of history and the lives of so many. Kennedy challenged the students to give two years of their lives to help people in developing countries around the world.

Excerpt from that speech:

“How many of you who are going to be doctors, are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend your lives traveling around the world? On your willingness to do that, not merely to serve one year or two years in the service, but on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country, I think will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can! And I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past.

Therefore, I am delighted to come to Michigan, to this university, because unless we have those resources in this school, unless you comprehend the nature of what is being asked of you, this country can't possibly move through the next 10 years in a period of relative strength. So I come here tonight to go to bed! But I also come here tonight to ask you to join in the effort...”

In his 1961 Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy said, “To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves…”



Perhaps the most remembered words spoken by the president came later in this same speech when he said, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy made good on his promise to those who were impoverished and in need around the world by signing an executive order that established the Peace Corps. Later that year, Congress adopted the Peace Corps Act, the purpose of which was to “promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower, particularly in meeting the basic needs of those living in the poorest areas of such countries, and to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served and a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people.”

Thus was the birth of the Peace Corps, a governmental agency that shares “America’s most precious resource—its people” with developing countries around the world. Thousands of Americans responded to Kennedy’s call, and the program grew rapidly. There were 7,300 volunteers serving in 44 countries by the end of 1963. By June of 1966 that number had more than doubled to 15,000, the largest in Peace Corps history. To date more than 195,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries across the world.

Goals and Mission

The three goals implicit in the purpose given to Peace Corps by congress in 1961 are still relevant today and form the foundation for all Peace Corps activities. Those goals are as follows:

1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans

Peace Corps Today:

Where are we? (Countries)

We are in developing countries around the world in almost every region...Central America, The Caribbean, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

Current number of countries served: 70 posts serving 76 countries



Most of us are in Africa, but there are also a lot of us in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Central America.



Who are we? (Volunteer Demographics)

Statistically speaking we are single, 20 somethings recently out of undergrad; however, Volunteers come from many different walks of life.



What do we do? (Sectors)

We do development work.

Peace Corps’ idea of development is, “any process that promotes the dignity of people and their capacity to improve their own lives.”

Well that’s great but when a Volunteer in Africa walks out of their hut and into the village, how are they supposed to translate that into something tangible? To help Volunteers navigate the ambiguity of development work, Peace Corps places Volunteers in various sectors, which have sector specific goals and objectives. To accomplish these objectives, Volunteers engage in a range of activities and popular projects that you just kind of hear about during training, by talking to other Volunteers, and reading Peace Corps publications.

Most of us work in Education and Health & HIV/AIDS. Other sectors include Environment, Business Development, Agriculture, Youth Development, and Other.



Additionally, Volunteers in all sectors incorporate meaningful work in information and communication technology (ICT), women in development/gender and development (WID/GAD), HIV/AIDS, and youth development into their primary and secondary activities.

For more information visit this site.

Look for posts in the future, in which I will detail Peace Corps Paraguay, my sector, and give some specifics of the work Volunteers are doing in Paraguay.

Official Site Presentation

October 7th, 2009

Site Presentation is when the APCD of your sector comes to officially present you as a Volunteer to your counterpart and community.

My site presentation went off without a hitch.

First, the general manager presented a general presentation about the cooperative.



Next came a presentation by Elisa, my APCD, which was about:

• Peace Corps and it’s goals
• RED sector’s goals
• What is and is not a Volunteer,
• Roles and responsibilities of all parties involved
• Rules and regulations
• Our training
• Pay
• Job assessment

I really like my APCD and Volunteer Coordinator. They are on top of things, and extremely helpful. So if you get a RED assignment in Paraguay in the next little while, you're in good hands. Not to mention, Elisa knows EVERYONE and has tons of experience in this field.

And finally, last but not least, I presented a rather fantastic presentation, if I do say so myself about:

• Me (Where I’m from, childhood, interests, etc...)
• Educational experiences (including courses and projects)
• Professional Experiences
• Reasons for joining the Peace Corps and coming to Paraguay
• My vision for the next 2 years
• Some ideas for possible projects I could work on
• Q & A

In order to gain credibility and confidence as well as educate my counterparts of my education, skills, and experience, I gave them specific examples of projects I’ve worked on, with photos of the final deliverables, and specifics of my education and work experiences such as course work and accomplishments/duties for various professional roles.



I also performed a rather compelling speech about my vision of my role within the cooperative and community, and what I expect to gain and give during the experience. I ended by throwing out a lot of good ideas for projects, based on fact-based observations and research, which could make the cooperative and/or community better.

An excerpt from that part of the presentation:

“First, I believe the Cooperative and the town of San Juan have much more to teach me than I have to teach them. I've learned a lot in my short time here, such as the importance of relaxing and taking time to enjoy life, and have learned a lot about the day to day operations of a well-run business just by being here and observing the cooperative.

However, I do bring a fresh perspective, energy, the willingness to work long and hard, and some educational and professional experiences that may allow me to work effectively within the community.

Throughout the two years, I would learn from the cooperative and the community, and also provide some good ideas and a new perspective, lead important community and cooperative initiatives, serve as a connecting agent to external funding and technical assistance as well as facilitate the transfer of information.

At the end of the day, I want to serve as a resource for the community and cooperative while working together to increase economic development and the standard of living in San Juan Bautista, it’s surrounding areas, and Paraguay in general.

I would like to engage the community in conversations that will challenge forward thinkers to adopt different ways of thinking, which will benefit the community. I would also like to work with the community and members of the cooperative in identifying and solving existing problems and challenges facing the Cooperative, San Juan and Paraguay.

I am excited to develop my leadership skills, so I'm more than willing to help organize groups and events or to increase the impact of existing groups and causes that are working for the social good.

I am eager to gain a deep understanding and appreciation of the Paraguayan culture.

But above all, I hope to develop in some sense, lifelong friendships, while having the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others.”



After the presentation, most of us went to another meeting area, where my Coop did it up big by serving baked chicken, chorizo (sausage), and potato salad. Then Elisa and Betsy, my Volunteer Coordinator, drove me back to my place where they gave me my bike, my mail, and some other important documents.

I think I accomplished several things during this presentation and I also think I learned a few things about the business culture in Paraguay from the experience.

1. I successfully built credibility and confidence in my ability to effectively work within the cooperative and community.
2. I gained rapport with several senior members of the Cooperative (I mixed in a healthy amount of jokes, Paraguayan slang, professionalism, and evoked pathos and ethos from emotional descriptions of the necessity for certain types of projects. I also allowed some of them to speak during my presentation and specifically addressed some of their earlier questions and points from the previous presentation, recognizing the legitimacy of their point and taking it to the next level).
3. I gave the managers some ideas for my work.
4. I learned that hierarchy is important to Paraguayans.
5. I learned that Paraguayans love to eat snacks and sip on drinks during presentations. The day before, as I was making rounds, confirming attendance, I kept getting the question of what we were going to eat and drink, and I haven’t been to a meeting yet where snacks and drinks weren’t served.
6. I learned that it is normal to take phone calls in the middle of a meeting, get up and walk out, as well as for someone to walk in and begin serving drinks during a presentation.
7. I learned that Paraguayans, when possible, like to try to impress people and take control of a meeting.

All of these are great insights about the business culture of Paraguay and will be invaluable as I plan other meetings and presentations as well as if I ever enter into a negotiation type scenario.

Of course these are generalizations and stereotypes based on a very limited amount of experiences so keep that in mind. It would be like attending a few meetings in the US and then claiming you knew what US business culture is like. Kind of ridiculous when you think about it that way, but hey, I have to start somewhere right?

Overall, the site presentation could not have gone any better. The cooperative was great in that most of the important people attended and they provided lunch. It was a great start to the professional aspect of my 2-year Peace Corps experience.