I know I’m a little behind on this one, but on March 11, Moldova played host to a very exciting visit from our Vice President, the Honorable Joseph Biden. In case you missed it (his visit happened the same day as Japan’s earthquake and tsunami), here is the AP story.
The Vice President’s visit marked the highest level visit of a U.S. official to Moldova in its history. Though he was only on the ground in Moldova for 6 hours, you wouldn’t have known it from the country’s enthrallment in all things Biden for a good solid week before, and many days after as well.
Biden met with the government while Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden toured a wine cellar outside the capital with the Prime Minister’s wife. The Vice President then gave a speech to a large crowd in front of the opera house (video embedded at the end of the post), which was followed with further meetings, and then a closed door event for U.S. Embassy Staff and Peace Corps Volunteers. Needless to say, volunteers were more excited than even the Moldovans, and I’m not just talking about your own political junkie of a blogger here.
The only picture I've been able to find that offers proof I met the Vice President.
Where's Zach? Look to the left, in the top row. It's a little like Where's Waldo...
(click to enlarge)
Last Tuesday, March 1, marked 50 years to the day since President John F. Kennedy - less than two months into his presidency - signed the Executive Order 10924 establishing the Peace Corps. It would take Congress an amazingly short additional six months before approving the final legislation on September 22, but the first group of volunteers were already in training by June. Since that time, over 200,000 American men and women have served their country as Peace Corps Volunteers, working at the grass roots levels in 139 countries.
Those early days were heady times, filled with idealism, learning moments, and a healthy dose of experimentally making things up on the go. It's hard to remember sometimes in todays globalized world that the notion of volunteering abroad was a radical new idea in 1961. Today, many (most?) volunteers have already studied abroad in college before beginning their service. In 2008, over 1 million Americans reported doing some form of volunteering abroad.
Despite the change a half century inevitably brings, however, Peace Corps remains unique in the length, depth, and quality of that service. We stay for two years, living in our communities, learning the local language, and participating in the events of a daily life, from work to celebrations. We don't helicopter in and disappear, and we're not paying a travel agency or firm for the opportunity to do our work. We have host country nationals as bosses and co-workers, and we grind through work with them on a daily basis. And in the end, well, it's probably still a little too early for me to finish that sentence...
The 50th Anniversary is more than just a one day commemoration, it is a yearlong period of reflection and celebration, both for the organization and those of us here in Moldova. Check out Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary website, where I particularly recommend the interactive 50 year timeline.
My Health Education poster for the Coffee House event
You can also discover the action closer to home - well, my home - at Peace Corps Moldova's 50th Anniversary website, "365 Days of Peace & Friendship."
Here in Moldova, we kicked off the anniversary year with a round table and coffee house event in Chisinau. Volunteers from each program were asked to prepare posters at this event, and yours truly was one of the representatives for the Health Education program. Check out the full story here! (If you just want to see me, mom, scroll to the bottom.)
This is unlikely to be my last reflection on this unique American tradition, but as it is my first, I'll let President Kennedy have the final word. I find those words to be as relevant today as they were in 1961.
Hey readers! It's been almost a month, and I've been heckled a bit for that vacation update. Well, instead, today you get a whole new blog: http://carahasani.cetatenieactiva.com/
The youth in my club are 10th - 12th graders, the age group I've probably enjoyed working with more than any other. Back in PST when my Program Manager was interviewing us for site placements I stressed that I wanted to work with high schoolers. Only a few of us healthies teach students this old, and most of the health clubs are for 5th and 6th graders. She listened to my request and it's been one of the best decisions I've made in "making my service my own," (a mantra emphasized by our Country Director).
My youth chose the very descriptive title "Club de Sanatate" for our group, which can literally be translated as "Health Club". Since choosing the title, however, we've gone more in a civic engagement direction. In the HESC program objectives, these clubs are designed to teach youth to be peer health educators, but with this age group, I find it important to give the youth leadership over their group's direction. For me, as long as they're learning, we're succeeding. And as they take control over activities and lead their own projects, there is no doubt they're learning.
Their first activity was organizing a Halloween party. After that, my partner and I attended a training on Public Achievement, a program designed in the U.S. but now used around the world. The training was organized by awesome second year COD volunteer Vince N., his wife Jessica (a fellow Healthy), and his partner NGO Speranta as part of their Active Citizenship Initiative ("Cetatenie Activa" in Romanian). The youth agreed to give the Public Achievement method a try, and now they're working on a community project they initiated: building a park where local students can sit and relax next to the school.
Unfortunately for readers back home, this is a Romanian language blog - it's designed as part of our reporting requirements for the Public Achievement program. But it will also include lots of pictures and even the occasional video of the club's activities. So, if pictures know no languages, and we combine that with another cliche, then there are thousands of words there that anyone can understand! So, check it out and watch our progress from project idea to completion!
R. Sargent Shriver, the founding director of the Peace Corps, passed away at the age of 95 last week. The timing is significant, as the Peace Corps approaches its 50th Anniversary in March. In his New York Times obituary, he is quoted as saying:
"Break mirrors. Yes, indeed. Shatter the glass. In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbor and less about your own.”
Below the jump is a historical excerpt from his time as Peace Corps' Founding Director. R. Sargent Shriver left a lasting legacy of public service, not just amongst the more than 200,000 volunteers who have served in the agency's 50 years, but amongst all Americans. The Peace Corps family is grieving the loss of this incredible public servant this week, but more importantly, we are remembering his call to service.
The semester is done. Six months + in Moldova done. Goals completed, more work added. Probably a good time for reflection. But a better time for vacation!
So with that, I scurried around my site for the past two days, saying goodbyes and reviewing where we'll start up again after the holidays are over and I return. I've gotten very good at saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Romanian over the past 48 hours.
Now, dear friends, I am off for my first vacation in 6.5 months. I'm not taking my computer, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me. If there's time, I'll sneak in a blog or too of my travels.
The Plan
12/24 - to Chisinau
12/25 - to Balti
12/26 - to Budapest via Iasi and Cluj, Romania
Chilling with Bill and haunting my old haunts
12/29 - to Brasov, Romania
New Years, friends, Couch Surfing, and skiing! (What more could I want?)
1/5 - Depart for Chisinau, arrive in the wee hours
1/6 - First bus back to site, in time for Orthodox Christmas on 1/7
That, plus the schedule for 1 of my trains is about as much as I have planned. Wish me luck!
My friend and colleague Melissa visited my site last week, braving the first Moldovan blizzard we've had down here in the South in order to facilitate a youth experience exchange between my youth club and a neighboring village. Melissa is a COD (Community Organization and Development) volunteer, so she has a bit of an outside perspective on my job. Not being me, she also has the amazing ability to take photos of yours truly while he works.
This is the final part of a three post series introducing the work component of my life as a Health Education Specialist in Peace Corps Moldova. The series has moved from the broad to the specific, so Part III will conclude by a look at what my work actually involves on a daily basis. Part I is a general introduction to the public health situation in Moldova, and Part II examines my different projects at the general level.
When I started writing this series at the end of October – yeah, it’s been a long time in the making – I had just passed the point where I had been at site longer than in training, and it was really starting to show in my work life.
The soaring towers of paper accumulating on my desk are only the most visual sign that this work life is finding traction. Those who have lived around me know me to be a crowded desk person. Some say “crowded” is just a euphemism for “messy”, but in my opinion the difference is that there is a logic to my system. That’s probably in the eyes of the beholder…my dad claims the same thing. My desk hasn’t yet reached the state of his fire hazard, but then I also don’t have many bills to pay.
In what may have been an indication of concern, my host family recently put a second desk in my room. This was one of the happiest days of my life, though they didn’t seem to understand the natural logic of the law of desk space: desk piles will expand to occupy the space available. (On the other hand, my host family probably considered it a victory simply that these piles moved out of my bed and off the floor…) What might concern them more is the fact that what’s going on in my head at any given moment tends to resemble my desks… It also, however, provides a glimpse at my daily work life.
Starting our tour a desk #1, we find the computer in the dominant position.
The contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect any position of my employer or any other entity with which I am associated, including but not limited to the U.S. Government.
