Holy moly. I have just about 5 months left in Armenia. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by, especially when it seems to drag through the cold, cold winter months. I have begun the ‘wrap-up’ process of my service, searching for all those physical and emotional loose ends that need to be tied up nice and tight before I can begin to leave this place that has been my home for the last 2 years. I am happy, and sad, and nervous, and excited all at the same time, and all of the emotions swirling around are taking up WAY too much space in my head. Thankfully, I have a lot of ‘loose ends’ to keep me busy. Well, that and the new projects that I am involved in. Whoops.
Let’s start with all of those pretty little loose ends. My time here has come full circle, and I am working now on Green Camps (or Environmental Leadership Camps) 2011. While on one hand I am happy that at least year I won’t be just tossed head first into the deep end and forced to learn how to swim, I am also disappointed that a lot of what we worked so hard on and for last year never came about. I guess that is the nature of these projects. What is that saying? ‘Reach for the moon and you will land among the stars’. The PCPP grant that we worked on has fallen a little bit short, and so in the last few days another volunteer and I have been working to cut and adjust and wheedle every single thing that we can out of the money that we did receive. So far, it looks like we will be having 3 small-scale day camps in 3 different regions of Armenia (Tavush, Gheghardgunik, and Syunik if you want to check out a map). Which means about 120 Armenian children will be able to attend. We will have the same(ish) curriculum, which hopefully in the next few weeks we will be able to go through and adjust to not only reflect the reviews from last year, but to also account for the fact that there will not be any ‘advanced environmental leadership’ camp this year. On the up side, we will be working very hard this year to increase the visibility and sustainability of the ‘Green Camp’ program. A group of us, as part of the newly established Camps Initiative (which I co-chair, proud moment right here mom and dad, wipe that tear from the corner of your eye) have developed a sustainability plan which will allow future volunteers working with NGOs to transfer skills in a way that is logical and sustainable for the NGO and local community. These skills include budget management, curriculum development, logistical support, and evaluation along with a few others. Hopefully, the step by step plan is also flexible and clear enough that it can be easily passed off between volunteers as old ones leave and new ones come. With this plan, and a new memorandum of agreement, we will be approaching new NGOs in different regions of Armenia, offering our assistance in the planning and implementation of a ‘Green Camp’ in their area. Cross your fingers for us! While I am not doing nearly as much work as I had to do last year, just hearing the words ‘Green Camp’ tend to push my mind into a state of anxiety and exhaustion…but I know that in the end the reward will be worth it. Even if I only go to one camp this year : )
Oh, and if by any chance you would still like to donate to the ‘Green Camp’ cause, you can learn more about the project here:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=305-063
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