It's been awhile since I last wrote. The longer I'm here, the more rudimentary and routine life becomes. I spent the majority of summer break (April-May) researching and writing grants for the CABRAD program. My coworkers were off attending various trainings and conferences while I hovered over my computer day in and day out. I can't complain too much about this exile as it offered relief from the unrelenting heat and humidity. I stayed busy planning for the expansion of CABRAD to four new high schools. Many letters were sent, meetings held, and proposals submitted. After a lot of planning, backtracking, and stress, the two day Life Skills Training of Trainers went exceptionally well. The file below gives an overview of the training. (Some names & details have been censored.) Enjoy! Hopefully this gives you a better picture of the program and capacity building I do as a part of my service.
Following this TOT, I hopped a boat to Bohol to help fellow CYF PCV Kate with a similar life skills TOT at her site. She is based at a government-run center for abused, neglected, & trafficked girls. We trained the house parents from her center along with house parents from three other NGOs. This training was much smaller and offered a different set of challenges. Less leadership experience and English skills among the participants. We spent a great deal of time building the confidence of the house parents and speaking (and rephrasing) Cebuano. It was a great experience to work with a different population and help a fellow PCV, plus a little R&R at the beach after the training certainly helped!
During the summer, I also applied for and had my five month extension approved. In order to best serve Euphrasia and the CABRAD program goals, it was ideal for me to stick around through the school year, until April 2013. I'll be monitoring the progress of the program expansion into four new schools while also trying to bring the OSY (out-of-school youth) portion of the program to those barangays as well. The extension will be intertwined with staff capacity building, organizational development, making manuals, grant writing, and networking.
Although there is exciting work ahead, as my three months of service remaining turned back into eight, it felt daunting. Mentally I'd been anticipating the last half, quarter, eighth of my service and now the clock has been reset. I struggle some days over my decision to stay on. My batchmates are busy planning for post-Peace Corps travel and entering the next chapter of their lives while I'll still be here. The pace of work is frustratingly slow, allowing time for my mind to wander and contemplate heading home.
I'll push through. This whole experience has been about resiliency. I've grown in ways words cannot perfectly grasp. I'm used to ups and downs within a matter of hours of each other. I've pushed myself to be uncomfortable and flexible. When I become overwhelmed and want to escape the pollution, poverty, weather, corruption, and disorganization, I remind myself to stay motivated & grounded because this is only temporary. One day I can leave here, but for Filipinos this is life. And for that I need to do my part to accept where I'm living and do what I can with the resources available to make a small difference.
For each additional day I stay on will be another opportunity to explore the land, exhange culturally, help those in need, and share knowledge with the wonderful Filipinos I am surrounded by.
P.S. Expect another "my year in numbers" post as my second Peace Corps anniversary quickly approaches.
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