World Maps, Project Proposals, and Operation Smile; wasn’t I just complaining about not having anything to do?!

Blog Entry 22.05.2012

Back in my town after another busy week out; it’s been a few of those weeks where I not only have things to do, but I’m scrambling to get them done (which, I’ll admit, feels nice).  While it is sad that very little of the work I’ve been doing lately has had anything to do with Environment, it is extremely nice to be busy and I have enjoyed every minute of my other random jobs.

World Map:

There are exactly three primary schools in my town: one that I tried to get involved with in Environmental Education earlier on only to be frustrated with certain teachers demanding extra pay and trainings on subjects I had no intention of teaching, one that only has younger grades (which, I will admit, I am scared of- that’s the age that throws rocks), and one on the hill that I have truly enjoyed working with.

 While I’m just starting out, so far I have met with the teachers about environmental club and English curriculum ideas, provided seeds and project ideas for the club, and games and resources for remedial English lessons.  So, as I walked around the school grounds one day, I realized that not one of the murals on the school buildings was a world map, and, as Peace Corps has a great ‘World Map’ project (a manual of how to draw the world map in a grid, color code it, and label it) I decided it would be a great way to spend some time.

I spent the first few days drawing out the grid (it was over 2 meters wide and 1.25 meters tall…) and the next few days Katherine, a neighboring volunteer about 2 hours to the South East, and I drew and painted in the World Map.  I always tend to think highly of my geography skills until I do a project like this; usually as I search for 20 minutes to color in ridiculously small countries like Seychelles or Maldives, I realize I know nothing, and that I’ve been to a very small part of the world.  There were also other challenges like, where exactly should I put the line for South Sudan?  And what on earth is Zaire called these days??  Possibly the most frustrating moment though was one afternoon I set out to continue working on the map only to find some kid had taken a pen to Antarctica and (rather stupidly) written his name all over it.  At the moment I threw what I’m sure the teachers considered a right little fit and they assured me they would speak to the students and find the kid who did it (which, as they had his name, shouldn’t be too hard).  I slightly dramatically told them if it kept happening I wouldn’t bother finishing it- but this had taken us nearly 5 days, so I thought I had the right. 

One of the biggest surprises I found with the world map came from when a few of the other teachers asked to help.  We would give them a color of paint and then read off what countries were that color.  As I read down the list, I truly didn’t expect her to know where Thailand or Kyrgyzstan was, but when I announced Somalia, she hesitantly looked at the map and pointed to… South Africa?  As a neighboring country to Ethiopia, I thought for sure she would recognize the country; however, maybe the map is there to benefit the teachers as much as it is there to benefit the students.



Phase 1: believe it or not, the grid was the hardest part!!



Phase 2: getting closer...





Phase 3: and the finished map!!



Project Proposals:

Within the past month, I have been meeting regularly with the environmental club and its supervisor at my local high school and we are finally on our way to getting this well and tree nursery idea underway.  After a great discussion with the whole club, we decided that what the club really wanted to gain out of the following year was tree planting know-how, knowledge on tree varieties and uses, and irrigation and tree maintenance techniques.  So, with that in mind, the club advisor and I devised a plan to encompass all the students’ ideas.   And, now the fun part, I get to pull together all the information to write a grant proposal to get our well and supplies funded.  Things are moving along, although, we’re at a standstill until we can meet again and discuss the project budget… that always seems to be the hard part here; just getting people to find the time for a small discussion.

Operation Smile:

WAS SUCH A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!  We, being 10 Peace Corps volunteers, volunteered for 5 days a piece of the 10 day operation smile mission here in the Tigray region.  First off, Operation smile is an NGO that provides medical surgeries for cleft lips and cleft palates- they work all over the world, but this is their first mission in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.  We were divided into two shifts, the first half of the mission and the second half of the mission, and I and 4 other PCVs chose to work the second half.  We spent the first couple days at the hospital during their final two days of operations- I spend a lot of time working in the medical records and filling out charts, and then separating charts, but I also got to spend a lot of time in the pre-op room and the post-op room helping with (minor) translations, playing with kids, and just talking with patients and answering questions.  The last couple days we were there  we spent at the shelter that operation smile had set up for the patients (about 120 patients, which means over 300 people) working again to just answer questions, monitor patients who were having complications, and, of course, play with kids.  The last couple days of the mission are also doctor check-ups and clearance for the patients to leave, so we were really busy with that whole procedure- although, myself and one other volunteer got the fun job of compiling donated clothes and toys from the states into goodie bags for each of the patients; we had fun discussing if this would fit this kid, or if this girl would like this toy- it was especially rewarding to give the child with no shoes on a brand new pair of sandals (or the kid with no pants a brand new pair of pants.. how he got here with no pants is beyond me). 

It was very rewarding to work with operation smile; as Peace Corps volunteers we don’t always, if ever, see the benefits or outcomes of our projects; usually our projects are teaching skills and sharing knowledge- something we hope is making a difference, but not something we can always see.   With Operation Smile, you got to see a child with a cleft lip or palate go into surgery scared but determined, and then again on the other side, with a completed surgery making a wonderful, visible change.  We got to hear families thank us over and over again for the surgery and the chance for their child to have a normal life without discrimination and ridicule, and after a few days of recovery we got to see children and adults see and adapt to their new lifestyle and get ready to go home.  I was glad to be a part of it.

At the rock hewn church Gabriel Tselamao, my friend Kibrom and the priest showing me how the drums are used.



Posing with the Priest for a picture in front of a few of the beautiful murals at Gabriel Tselamao



A little late, but blog entry from May 8, 2012

Blog Entry 08/05/2013



Beautiful Eastern Tigray...the view from my house



Back in Tigray, and I have to say, after bussing to and back from Hawassa, I really have found a new appreciation for my home way up north.  While, sure, Hawassa was beautiful, the bus ride to it was not so much (sorry to any volunteers that have their post somewhere in that vast stretch of sand and acacia trees…).  My only point is that as we stepped off the plane in Mekele after three weeks out, it was a relief to breathe in the high-elevation cool air and see the surrounding mountains (though I did miss the trees).  It was even more of a relief to be back in my town in my own house and finally cook for myself again after eating out three large meals every day (not to mention tea and coffee break twice a day every day). 

I’m not sure if I appreciate or detest this, but Ethiopians seem to be as honest and blunt as they can be about everything including your appearance, and when I got back a few different people exclaimed, “you got fat!” -I would just like to note that fat is beautiful here, thank you very much- and thank you to one particular friend who compared me to John Seena…  Also people would pull this ‘eeew’ face and ask what was wrong with my skin (sunburn, mosquitos, and bedbugs...).  While this probably should have affected me far more than it did, I did at least start back on my Insanity workout every day, and I was just announced by a friend that I’m “no longer fat”.

Anyway, moving on to work!  I think every PCV experiences those first few months when it just seems like nothing will ever work out and work is never going to happen... and then bam!  One day it just all seems to come together.  I have finally got things rolling with my high school environmental club and have met with the students and discussed project ideas for next year.  Our plan is the apply for funding to put in a well and pump system so we can start some projects; one of the largest interests we found with the club members was learning about tree varieties and benefits as well as proper tree planting techniques and maintenance for trees.  So, what I proposed was to create a club tree nursery in which we could explore all of those things.  I want to include a demonstrative forest to show all the indigenous tree species for that area, experiment with fruit trees: lime, papaya, mango trees don’t grow at this elevation, so instead I want to see about apple trees and other typically western fruit trees (plums, cherries, etc.).

Secondly, I and another volunteer, Katherine, have started a world-map project at one of my primary schools just for fun more than anything else, but it’s nice to be busy and be painting.  This particular primary school didn’t have a world map yet and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to start the project.  Then, in a few weeks we will head to Katherine’s site to help with a world map painting at one of her schools. 

Thirdly, I have volunteered for a week with Operation Smile, and NGO that works with cleft palate children to provide corrective surgery.  Next week I’ll head into Mekele and spend a week volunteering at the hospital with them which is pretty exciting to be working with such a well-known NGO.

Finally, the Tigray group of volunteers are putting together a summer camp this summer and I just met with my high school director about this and about the selection process for our campers (each PCV is bringing 3 campers from their site).  It was just really exciting to see how well the idea of the summer camp was expressed; I don’t know who was more excited about the idea, the assistant director of the high school or the potential campers!  It was just really great to see people get excited about something we’ve been working on for so long.  Later this week I’ll head back to the school to have an informational meeting those interested in attending.

So as far as work goes, that’s where I am, and I just finished another meeting with my counterpart and the head of the tree nursery site here in town about a few projects in the planning stages with them- such as composting, a seed collection bank, and getting their well repaired.



Mmmm, Doriho Wat, or Chicken Sauce; my favorite Ethiopian Dish!




Drumming for Ethiopian Labor Day!