Send
off for new Peace Corps Volunteers A couple of weeks ago the newest group of 13 two-year volunteers to FSM
finished their three months of training.
They will be teachers in schools all across FSM. After three months, they were ready to go. Their final obligation was to perform at
their swearing-in ceremony. They spent
the time during training living with local families and learning the language
and culture of their destination island.
As noted in the picture, they donned traditional costume, sang songs, and
danced in tribute to their adopted communities.
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| Fortunately, Lin and I were not required to do this at our own swearing-in ceremony! |
The Peace Corps Associate Country Director, who was responsible for most of their training, also said a few words and recited the attached poem. It was a poignant reminder of what has motivated many of us to end up way, way outside our comfort zone.
Pacific
Island Forum Comes to Town Kolonia has
been a busy place for the last week.
Pohnpei, FSM is hosting the 47th Pacific Island Forum. The Forum is a grouping of some 16
independent Pacific island countries including Australia and New Zealand to the
south, Palau to the west, Kiribati and the Cook Islands to the West, FSM and
the Marshall Islands to the north and a whole bunch of island nations
in-between. In addition, the Forum
attracts “Observers” like the United States and the UN, as well as various
other entities like the Asian Development Bank, the Pacific Fisheries
Commission, and the World Bank. In other
words, a pretty big deal. Their mission
seems to be all-encompassing from economic development to good governance; from
embracing cultural diversity to addressing immediate concerns such as climate
change, health issues, and guardianship
of the ocean and its resources.
Along with more traffic and people on the island, the biggest impact on us was the decision to close schools for the week. It seems that someone in authority felt that school buses would serve a higher need by transporting visiting dignitaries to events rather than children to school. Obviously not my call…. Fortunately, teachers and principals were expected to find their way to school, which allowed a full complement of staff development to take place during the week. Lin and I were busy—I with principals; Lin with teachers.
One other impact was the decision by the U.S. Embassy and the Head of the United States Delegation to the Forum to host a cocktail party in honor of the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary in the FSM. It was an interesting event. The new Ambassador, Robert Riley, is a former Peace Corps Volunteer who spoke of his own experiences, as well as those of his daughter who is a current volunteer in China. The Head of the U.S. delegation also spoke. He has some role within the State Department that had him traveling with President Obama in his recent travels to Midway, China, and Laos as part of his G-20 trip last week. There was an interesting mix of Peace Corps, State Department, and other folks, and of course, it was nice to be recognized as current Peace Corps volunteers.
Along with more traffic and people on the island, the biggest impact on us was the decision to close schools for the week. It seems that someone in authority felt that school buses would serve a higher need by transporting visiting dignitaries to events rather than children to school. Obviously not my call…. Fortunately, teachers and principals were expected to find their way to school, which allowed a full complement of staff development to take place during the week. Lin and I were busy—I with principals; Lin with teachers.
One other impact was the decision by the U.S. Embassy and the Head of the United States Delegation to the Forum to host a cocktail party in honor of the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary in the FSM. It was an interesting event. The new Ambassador, Robert Riley, is a former Peace Corps Volunteer who spoke of his own experiences, as well as those of his daughter who is a current volunteer in China. The Head of the U.S. delegation also spoke. He has some role within the State Department that had him traveling with President Obama in his recent travels to Midway, China, and Laos as part of his G-20 trip last week. There was an interesting mix of Peace Corps, State Department, and other folks, and of course, it was nice to be recognized as current Peace Corps volunteers.
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| New U.S. Ambassador Riley |
Update on Our Work Our work in the
schools has continued to evolve. As a
group, the Peace Corps Response Volunteers in the education sector have been successful
in convincing both the Pohnpei Department of Education and the Peace Corps
leadership to rethink our positions.
Long story short, instead of being assigned to a limited number of
schools, we are now working in all 30-some schools on the island, but with a
more limited focus for each volunteer.
My role will concentrate on building leadership capacity. I am now working with all principals and
Department of Education leadership, providing workshops and training. Linda and another volunteer are working with
teachers. They are providing workshops
for teachers all around the island, concentrating on the basics such as lesson
plan development, teaching strategies, classroom management, and assessment. They are also attempting to involve the
Department of Education curriculum specialists in these initiatives, hoping to “train
the trainers.” A fourth volunteer is
concentrating on data collection and other matters related to the accreditation
process—a process initiated (so far with limited success) to drive school
improvement. All four volunteers have
been (re)located to Kolonia and now work out of common office space at PICS
High School. It has been a good move,
allowing us to better coordinate our work and reach more teachers and
principals. It has also allowed me to
continue my relationship with the leadership at PICS, which continues to need
all the help it can get.
It’s Not All Work We are discovering
new food and drink:
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