Quick and Dirty since it's been a while

In my last post I had submitted an extension proposal and was awaiting an official decision from Headquarters while meanwhile going about the rest of my life as a regular teacher and PCV finishing up his 2 years of service.

There's a couple better posts forthcoming, but since that was about 4 months ago, a bit has happened since then.  Actually, more than a bit, quite a lot more.  Hence the radio silence here on Embarkations.  So I thought the quickest way to dispatch with the news would be a quick and dirty list.  In bullet form.

The context:  In March, we hosted the Simulation Games Development Conference, we launched Public Achievement with the training conference, and on March 28 I officially submitted my PCVL and extension proposal.  Since then, it's kind of been a blur.

• April
• Early April: Our SPA Project "To Teach with Care" is approved to build school technology and interactive teaching capacity
• Mid-April: PCVL Transition Team Meetings begin for Health Education (HE) Program (basically, moving things from the previous PCVL to me)
• April 18 - 21: Bill and I manage a vacation to Kiev over Easter break
• Focus In/Train Up (Peace Corps-wide initiative) revision of HE Program begins in earnest
• May
• May 3: Program Manager and Director for Programming and Training visit Carahasani for a site identification meeting to determine if a follow on volunteer should be placed there after me; this is also my first time in one of these meetings (something I'll be doing more of as a PCVL)
• May 4-5: Site visit to Susan Adams' site for her Hygiene Campaign (we want to develop new training materials based upon her campaign in order to encourage this model in the future)
• May 7: Simulation Game Project Meeting, then back to site
• May 9 - 11: Back to Chisinau for Close of Service (COS) Conference for M25 Volunteers and M24 Extendees
• May 12: Haiducii Training for our newest members
• May 14: Another Simulation Game Project Meeting, then back to site again
• Ongoing: medical clearance for year 3 tests and appointments
• May 19: Final HE Partner Conference
• May 20: Planning for M27s' Pre-Service Training (PST) begins
• May 21: Bill's bday in the village (my host mom wanted him to have a Moldovan birthday)
• May 23 - 26: Bill and I attend a conference sponsored by a Romania Fulbrighter and RPCV on Public Health and Social Services in Romania
• May 28: Medically cleared!
• May 29-30: Last days of class, last days as a teacher
• May 31: Last Bell, the school does not realize I am leaving but does ask me for a toast at the celebration afterwards
• May 31 (evening): I look at my June calendar and realize that when I leave for Chisinau the next morning, it is effectively for good.  Packing and purging begins...
• June
• June 1: To Chisinau; may days of PST planning meetings ensue
• June 4: Susan Adams and her husband Curt become the first of our group to COS (i.e., leave), Matt Mockerman will follow suit later that month, as will MacKenzie (the M24 Healthie who was our program's previous PCVL)
• June 6: Comments back from Headquarters asking for clarification on our PCVL work assignments (not the easy process we were looking for)
• June 7: The M27s arrive!  (more commonly known as the "newbies" or, more bureaucratically, the "trainees")
• June 7: I opt instead for a monitoring and evaluation trip out to 2 Public Achievement groups on the borderlands with Transnistrea (the newbies will see plenty of me soon enough)
• June 8: Bill's going-away BBQ
• June 11: Health Education technical sessions ("tech") for PST begin; my personal life ends
• June 11-15: First week of PST
• June 14: Elvira (the HE Program Manager) has an accident and suffers a severe contusion to her foot, effectively taking her out of the first 5 weeks of PST and complicating things for everyone a bit
• June 15: Lease ends on Bill's house (earlier than expected) and 2 months of vagabondage begin 
• June 16: Final Public Achievement Conference
• June 18 - 22: Second week of PST
• June 23-25: Two sacred nights back in the village
• June 26: Bill and I leave for vacation!  Desperately needed.
• June 26 - July 8: A great 2 week romp begins that takes us to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Annual HIA Conference and a week in Italy with Jess and her fam
• July 8: I return to Moldova but Bill heads off to Poland
• July
• July 9: Back to the grind, while luckily the trainees are on visit to their future site and it gives me a couple days to catch up
• Also, the Stenbergs (Heath and Leigh) COS, marking the full start of COS season and a constant string of goodbyes to the volunteers I've served with for 2 years
• July 13: One treasured night back in the village, it will be the only one this month
• July 14: Opening of a SPA-funded basketball court outside Chisinau
• July 17-18: Trainees conduct micro-lessons, their first time teaching in Romanian
• July 19: We finally simulate the simulation game designed as a Peace Corps training tool!
• July 22: A day off.  Strange.
• July 25: Lindsay Wing, my best friend of the past 2 years COSes.  F@!#.
• July 27: Final Practice School prep time with Trainees; first Practice School tears
• Sometime in July: apartment search
• August
• July 30 - August 4: Practice School Week 1, more tears ensue
• Bill gets back
• August 6 - 11: Practice School Week 2, slightly fewer tears
• August 10: Moving day!  (Finally get to move into a permanent home)
• Aug. 15: Trainees swear in and become Volunteers!  Immediately leave for their new sites.  They're a great group, pretty well prepared, and we didn't lose a single one from the Health Program.
• Exhale sigh of relief.  
• Aug. 20: Facilitate Haiducii for a summer camp
• Aug. 21: PCVL training (better late than never)
• Aug. 26 - 29: In the village (now officially my former site) for 4 days of facilitating technology seminars
• Aug. 30: Technology training for another volunteer's school (luckily close to Chisinau that it was a day-trip)

And that pretty much brings us to today.  Cheers!

Millennium and Peace Corps win €5,000 HIA grant for simulation project!

Snuggled under every coat I own last night as my bus lumbered through our first blizzard of the winter on the three hour trek home from the capital, big news flashed across my phone: a team I've been coordinating just won a €5,000 grant from Humanity In Action to implement a project that will develop Moldova-specific simulation games for civic education!  With just four months to implement, it looks like I know what I'll be doing this spring in my spare time.

So what is this project all about?  From our application, the short version:

Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991, setting its course towards democracy.  After 50 years of Soviet rule, Moldova’s politicians struggled ministering a seemingly alien form of government as did its citizens in figuring out their role within it.  As markets opened, the cultural and ethnic diversity previously suppressed by Soviet culture came to the forefront of the political discourse, with formerly persecuted and silenced minority groups (such as the Roma and Gagauz) demanding justice, respect, tolerance, and in some cases increased autonomy.  Predictably, there were xenophobic, racist, and discriminatory backlashes as Moldova marched toward full-fledged democracy.  Such backlashes still occur and this march is not complete.  Thus, our project aims to develop and run Moldova-tailored simulation games that will compel its participants to address all these contentious historical points typical to nascent democracies transitioning from authoritarian rule. 

This project has two objectives:

• To create and run (24 times) a politically-oriented simulation game for Moldovan youth across the country 

• To create and incorporate a culturally-oriented simulation game in the trainings of newly-arrived Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to speed their adjustment to the oftentimes confusing historical and cultural idiosyncrasies of Moldova.

Led by HIA Senior Fellows (SFs) and staff, who are experienced simulation facilitators, we will write the simulations during a five-day workshop that will bring together historians, civil society leaders and PCVs to design, test and translate them into Romanian and Russian. The project team will then travel throughout Moldova to administer the games.  Peace Corps Moldova has 120 volunteers, living in both cities and villages, both Russian and Romanian speaking, making it easy to identify seminar sites across Moldova’s disparate demographics.

This project is designed as a collaboration between three organizations: HIA, the U.S. Peace Corps, and the local NGO Millennium. With the network and expertise of Millennium, Peace Corps, and HIA, this project will promote deeper understanding of history’s legacy on democratic processes and civic leadership among its participants, a small but vital grassroots step along the slow path towards full liberal democracy.

Needless to say, I'm extremely excited about this project for a number of reasons.  As a national project and a collaboration between three organizations (a governmental agency, and international NGO, and a local NGO), this is undoubtedly the most far-reaching project I've found myself supporting yet.  At the same time, with its simultaneous objective of developing a simulation for Peace Corps trainees, this initiative also puts me smack in the middle of improving internal training and support. The implementation team is incredibly diverse, including people from all levels of the respective organizations: from MillenniuM and Peace Corps both staff and volunteers, from HIA both staff and Senior Fellows. Finally, the core project team includes some of the most talented PCVs I've ever had the pleasure to work with this past year and a half.  I may be the link between the funders and implementers, but none of this would have happened without those great PCVs pushing me all the way.

For those unfamiliar, a bit of background on the simulation games, courtesy of PlanPolitik, the German NGO that facilitated the HIA training I attended a few years ago that first introduced me to the methodology.

Politics is a matter of negotiation. Who gets what? And how much? The aim is to unite conflicting interests and to reach decisions concerning the distribution of money, power, security, autonomy etc. Usually, negotiations consist of tough and lengthy wrangling about what appear to be small steps of progress and minor compromises. Outside observers often find it difficult to understand why negotiations or attempts to settle conflicts succeed or fail. Which concessions have made an agreement possible or which demands have prevented it? Which strategic considerations are the actors led by? What scope are they given within institutional, domestic and other constraints? Which negotiation strategies are successful?

What can be learned through simulation games? The participants are asked to play a role. In order to do so as realistically and successfully as possible, they will aim to acquire the information they need about the given crisis or negotiation situation. Participants also gain analytic insight into the conflict or negotiation situation. On one hand, this involves analysing the conflict’s basic scenario, its relevant players and their interests. On the other hand, participants learn to contemplate the political options: which option is desirable, which one is realistic? They realize that there is a big difference between policy and politics, i.e. the actual implementation of policies is rarely congruent with the initial idea. Too conflictive are the interests of the relevant actors.


Secondly, the game inspires in participants a more reflective way of viewing the chosen conflict and indeed political decision-making processes in general. Players of the game gain concrete experience of how, in interaction with others, interests develop and how, depending on the other players’ conduct as the game progresses, these interests are subject to change. Moreover, participants learn just how difficult negotiating is: not all targets can be met and compromises are inevitable. One can gain insight into possible strategies for resolving conflicts in the “real” world. 

Finally, participants are confronted with a rigid time frame for making decisions, establishing priorities and implementing strategies. Being forced to cooperate with others, for example in a negotiation groups, is conducive to enhancing team work, negotiation skills, willingness to compromise as well as a culture of discussion.

Humanity in Action - testimonial

Having not posted in a while (and lacking the time to write something thoughtful on the direction a new U.S. foreign policy should take) I have decided to post a 'blast from the past.' I reference Humanity in Action (HIA) quite a lot, but you may wonder, what exactly is HIA? Well, the short answer is that HIA is a transatlantic network educating young adults on the issues surrounding democracy, minorities, and human rights. Building on humanism's core values of human dignity and moral responsibility, HIA is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that believes "a true test of genuine democracy is how it treats its...minorities."

Last summer, a fellowship with HIA took me to DC, Copenhagen, and Berlin, and challenged me at every step along the way to question my beliefs and consider what I can contribute to this world. I am now a Senior Fellow with the HIA network, a privilege which puts me in the company of many of the most amazing scholars, activists, and social entrepreneurs I have ever met. This weekend, I'll have the pleasure of joining many of these Senior Fellows in Berlin for a reunion focusing on migration in Europe (as well as some socializing, of course).

The rest of the post is from a testimonial I wrote, reflecting on my experiences with HIA. And should anybody be interested, applications for the 2009 summer fellowships in Europe and New York are now available here.

Stepping off the D.C. streets and into the Historic I Synagogue for Humanity in Action’s first session, I prepared myself for the small talk of typical introductions. Minutes later, I was instead embroiled in a challenging discussion on pressing global problems.

Humanity in Action first entered my life as a blitz email with a subject line promising “Free travel to Europe.” At the time, I was in my final semester at college, and found myself in the depths of a foggy limbo characteristic of college seniors trying to figure out the next step. My goal was to make a difference, and I was open to anything, but as every college senior knows, the possibilities for those holding a Bachelor of Arts are sadly limited.

Friends involved with HIA strongly urged me to apply, and glowing testimonials encouraged me. Nevertheless, a nervous skepticism lingered: HIA seemed like a good fit for me, but I feared my academic interests were too economic, and that I might not be a good fit for HIA. Over the following months, a barrage of preparatory articles held my fascination. But the question lingered, could HIA really live up to those testimonials?

No meaningful confrontation of human rights issues can ever be rosy. HIA earns glowing testimonials because of its profound effects on lives. Reflecting on this fact, I am struck by the irony of the flippant “Free travel to Europe” subject line. Would-be sightseers be warned.

Back in the Synagogue making introductions over politics and philosophy, I quickly realized that the diverse group of fellows surrounding me included some of the most brilliant and dedicated people I have ever met. In every corner of the world, they pursue unique initiatives, the kind you read about but never think yourself capable of. That feeling has stuck – HIA continues to introduce me to incredible individuals and challenging opportunities.

HIA became the opportune next step, showing me that active advocacy can take more forms than imaginable. Beyond teaching me a great deal, HIA helped me put things in perspective. The transition from the foggy limbo could not be greater; I will never again be short on ideas to pursue, and I know there is a network of people behind me ready to support in any way they can. The specifics of one’s studies and experiences are not the critical factor in whether HIA is the right fit; it is one’s devotion to protecting human rights and promoting democracy, the very values HIA embodies.

Birthday Fun and Neo-Nazis

Well, as promised, a birthday update is in order. Generally, last Friday was one of my best birthdays ever, and it far exceeded my expectations (which I had purposefully pegged pretty low, under the assumption that I wouldn’t yet know many people). That much of this post will examine one negative aspect of the day should not obscure its overall greatness, but to skip over the low point would be to miss an event that will affect my long-term thinking far more than the trivialities of parties and presents.

For context, Friday marked the last day of the CEU pre-session. The university celebrated this occasion with the official opening ceremony. No university operates in a political vacuum, but as CEU’s President explained, our mission here is more overtly political than most institutions; George Soros founded the school shortly after the collapse of European communist authoritarianism, giving it “the explicit aim of helping the process of transition from dictatorship to democracy…and to nurture respect for diverse cultures and opinions, human rights, constitutional government, and the rule of law.”

The ceremony was followed by an open reception, at which I received birthday salutations from practically every person I’ve met over the past two weeks. These good wishes were in addition to the numerous messages I received from other corners of the globe (thank you friends and family!)

That evening, our residence center also marked the end of orientation with a dorm wide party – complete with chocolate fountain, dj, and open bar. By the time 11pm rolled around, I was feeling awfully lucky that my birthday fell on the day it did, and everybody else was feeling pretty good too. Needless to say, under the pretext of my birthday, it wasn’t very hard to round up a large group to take the party downtown.

We caught a bus to the local transit station, where we needed to transfer to a night bus. We must have stuck out as an odd group, but frankly, I was paying more attention to a new romantic interest than the other people waiting to catch busses. My bliss was shattered when shouting drew my attention to three men who were advancing on my friend Som, corralling him in the direction of a busy street.

The aggressors, sporting black leather jackets emblazoned with Hungarian flags, all had shaved heads. Som, of Indian origin, happened to be the only member of our group of a darker complexion. They were drunk skinheads, Som was the easiest target.

By the time I saw what was going on, a number of guys from our group had already put themselves between Som and the skinheads. When the rest of our group joined the others, the skinheads backed down quickly. Apparently, they liked the odds of 3 to 1 a lot more than the odds of 3 to 30. Some Hungarians helped pull the skinheads back – their association with the racists was never fully clear, they calmed the ringleader down, but didn’t appear to be friends.

A few minutes later, one of these Hungarians tried to apologize for the skinhead who had provoked the confrontation. In a broken mix of German and English, he stumbled to explain that the provocateur was a “good man, he just had too much to drink.” Then he switched the subject to rock music.

I tried to sympathize with this lame apology, recalling lessons from a Humanity in Action session last June when I met an ex-neo-Nazi who had grown up with a tough family situation in an even tougher region. People don’t become violent racists randomly – it’s a insidious blight with complex social causes. This skinhead must have had a rough past too. But as I looked at Som, one of the brightest students to befriend me here, a scholar deeply committed to conflict resolution and a caring individual who has been more supportive of my sexuality than any other classmate…as I looked at him, I found myself totally unable to even attempt understanding the difficult past of the cowards who attacked him.

After boarding the night bus, my thoughts continued to take me back to my time with Humanity in Action, where we spent a lot of time discussing the role of bystanders. In a group of thirty people, it had been easy to step in…the odds were pretty favorable to us. But what would have happened if there had only been a few of us? As it was, plenty of our “friends” stood idly by. Sure, a couple Hungarians had stepped in, but many more looked to the ground and “minded their own business.”

For the past four years, I lived in Colorado Springs, the heart of conservative American fundamentalism and a dangerous breeding ground for virulent homophobia. As a teenager, my last family vacation to our favorite summer retreat near Laramie, Wyoming, had been tainted by the recent murder of Mathew Shephard. Still, I’ve always refused to hide my sexuality in public. On board the bus, I wanted to take the hand of my date and find solace in his presence. But with the skinheads right behind us, I was not about to even try. Our relationship had quickly become more of a liability than a reassurance, and all of a sudden, I lacked the courage acquired from years in Colorado Springs.

Earlier in the day, CEU’s president had challenged us to consider how we could make a difference in those societies that remain oppressed, the connotation being those “other” societies in underdeveloped corners of the world. Our run in with the skinheads served as a sharp reminder of just how far we still have to go in the most tolerant societies.

This date, a Romanian born under the brutal dictatorial regime of Ceauşescu, would probably laugh at the triteness of that statement. But to those of us who have grown up in the comfort of liberal democracies, it is difficult to realize how quickly advocates can become bystanders when personal safety is at risk. Faced with this same risk, I myself quickly jettisoned “queer” behavior.

We may never understand why some choose to intervene on behalf of others in these situations…so far, the best catalyst seems to be the strength found in numbers. So stand up, don’t look to the ground, and make sure you’re numbered amongst those who won’t stand by. There are more like-minded people around you, they just need to know they’re not alone. Challenge the banal events of daily racism – those who rely on intimidation are cowards, so confronting the small instances forces the reality that they are a minority fringe. As to the times you’re alone, well, I haven’t come up with much yet other than knowing the signs and paying attention.

Truly, it was a birthday I won’t forget.