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P orps omaniaeaceuarterly ewsletter
C RQ N
Issue 6, Spring 2012
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Letter from the Country Director 2Volunteer Stories
PCV Justin Setty Comes in 6th at the Cluj Marathon 5 Skype Session with Senator Isakson 6 Environmental Project: Trees for Peace 7Volunteer Voices PCRV Jennifer Brooks: Teaching Independent Life Skills 8
Volunteer Interview Peace Corps Volunteer Leader: Andrew Matusick 15
Farewell to PCV Group 27 3
Let’s Put On a Show! 12
Good Projects Spring Forward
Peace Corps Romania OfficeLetter from the Country Director, Sheila Crowley
Dragi Partners, Supporters and Peace Corps Community,
Spring, the season of rebirth and renewal has arrived bringing not
only the rains, and the flowers but many new exciting projects and a
busy work schedule for our Volunteers. From teaching independent
life skills, piloting non-formal educational activities, to planting trees
PCVs are making a difference in their communities and through their
partnerships they are inspiring more and more people to do the
same.
The people to people connection that Peace Corps Volunteers
promote in their everyday lives is at the core of volunteerism, they
give of themselves and strive to make a difference in the lives of
many. How do they do this? Through community empowerment,
skills exchange, collaboration and partnership. By listening and being
there for their friends, students and colleagues. By modeling the
essence of service that it is better to give than to receive and by
honoring Kennedy's vision that to achieve a world of peace you must
promote peace and friendship.
Across Romania, PCVs are teaching countless of hours in classrooms,
engaging in extra curricular activities and building relationships. I
admire their achievements and I am inspired daily by their
enthusiasm, optimism and desire to do more. In Peace Corps
Volunteers the spirit of civic responsibility lives on as each one of
them embraces the call to serve and one by one, hand by hand and
heart by heart, they leave their „world” a little better than when they
discovered it. This is something truly worth sharing.
So read and enjoy as we share and highlight the exciting things that
Peace Corps Volutneers are doing in their communities.
In Peace and Partnership,
Sheila
Page 2Director Sheila Crowley together with PCV Kevin Denunzio
Volunteer Stories
Page 3
It’s been almost 24 months since Peace Corps Volunteer Group 27 came to Romania with the task of sharing their knowledge and expertise with the Romanian people.
Over the past 2 years, Peace Corps Volunteers in Group 27 have taught English to more than 27,000 young Romanians. Not only that, they have helped to educate thousands of Romanian English teachers. They have also worked in many communities throughout Romania in environmental projects, while others have worked in small towns as community development advisors.
It was Shakespeare who wrote, "Parting is such sweet sorrow", and so it is. Many schools and small communities all over Romania will miss the help and guidance you provided as Volunteers over the past 2 years. But the legacy you leave behind goes beyond the knowledge of the English language; it’s a two-way cultural
exchange and a window opened to understanding the world. You will soon be gone but will certainly never to be forgotten for your hard work and unending efforts to serve others.
In your last moments as Peace Corps volunteers before your official split from Romania you say goodbye to Peace Corps, but not to your friends. Savor the time you have left in Romania and cherish both the goods and bad for they have made you what you are today: ambassadors of peace and friendship, role models and catalysts for change. All the good work you have done is truly inspiring!
So our message to you is to continue to try and make a difference. Give life nothing short of your best. Try your best in everything in what you do and what you say. Trust your decisions for YOU can be anyone you want to be, you just have to try!
Farewell to Group 27
“The biggest lesson I have learned thus far is just up and do it; try; go; do. Even if it seems hard or long or exhausting, new things, new activities, new experiences matter more here and teach you more here than in any other aspect of your life.”
Emily Franzen
“The most recent lesson I have learned is relatively simple: try everything at least once. This is directed toward the dinner table more than anything else. Food is an excellent way to experience a culture. Metaphorical ly speaking, exper ienc ing a n o t h e r ’s fo o d i s l i ke receiving nourishment from their culture/heritage”
Marco Rufolo-Roger
“In teaching, one must be patient. Sometimes it takes t i m e a n d r e s p e c t f u l persistence, but finally, suddenly, even a half-attentive student can amaze you by what he or she has picked up in your hours together”
Kristi St. Amant
“There is only so much preparation for things you can take into account for until you actually arrive and settle in at post, but now I can easily call Romania home.”
Christopher Williamson
ARON
ASHLEY
REBECCA
AMANDA
ANASTASIA
JULI
JOCELYN
KRISTI
EMILY
BRAD
CHRIS
ELLIS
EVELYN
FREYA
JAMES
BEN
BREANNA
ALLEN
NICK
TESSY
MARTA
MIKE
SARAH
MEAGAN
SARA
MARISSA
TARA
RYAN
MARCO
STEPHANI
JULIE
KYLE
In just 2 years, Peace Corps Volunteers have worked with:
Organizations
Service Providers (e.g: teachers, health care
educators, community leaders, peer educators)
Students
32
144475
26,463
Volunteer StoriesGroup 27 Statistics
PCV Justin Setty Comes in 6th place in the Vodafone Cluj Marathon
PCV Justin Setty came in 6th place in the 2012 Vodafone Cluj Marathon. The second edition of the marathon took place on April 22nd and it comprised 5 races: Marathon (42.195 km); Half M a r a t h o n ( 2 1 . 0 9 7 5 k m ) ; Marathon Relay (4x10,55km); Popular Race (6 km) and Kids Race (2 km). 91 male and 11 female crossed the finish line at the end of the race.
Justin started his 14 year distance running career when he joined the cross-country team in the 7th grade. “Luckily this is a sport you can continue your whole life and the marathon is one of the steps you come to after finishing college. Three of my former teammates and I completed our first marathon in Ohio in 2008. I finished in 2 hours and 59 minutes. I remember it as one of the most satisfying days of my life. When I joined the Peace Corps, I found myself putting running on the b a c k - b u r n e r . I p l a y e d f o o t b a l l / s o c c e r w i t h m y colleagues at site for over a year, which prevented me from running seriously due to a persistent knee injury. I eventually decided to stop playing and focus on rehabilitating my knee. After a year of rehabilitation and building knee strength, I was ready to train for my second marathon.” Justin said. Racing another marathon during his Peace Corps service had always
Page 5
Volunteer Stories
been a goal for Justin. “I happened to sign-up for the Cluj Marathon because it was at the right time for when I would be healthy enough. I was hoping to run faster than my personal best of 2:59 by about 10 minutes but it was too lofty of a goal. I maintained a pace at the beginning that would eventually tire me out and I hit the proverbial wall around the halfway point. When I crossed the line, I was surprised I finished 6th in 2:57 since I had slowed down so much toward the end. Being a distance runner in my town is lonely because this isn't a sport that is well understood or well recognized by the general public. On the other hand, I've
made a few really good friends here at site that I wouldn't have made if I hadn't decided to come back to running. I'm glad I had the opportunity to compete in Cluj because it helped validate what I do. Placing well in this marathon helped my friends and students understand why I run. I'm currently training again for a trail m a rat h o n i n t h e A p u s e n i mountains in July. Fortunately when I tell people now that I need to go run they understand exactly what I mean.” Justin concluded.
Justin Setty is a 3rd year TEFL Volunteer currently serving in Romania
Photos by: Dalina Borcan
THLast Thursday evening, May 24 , four hours after their normal classroom hours had ended a group of twelve eighth grade students gathered together, along with their English Professor, Lizeta Ducec, and Peace Corps Volunteer, Melissa Royer, for a very special event at Scoala cu Clasele I-VIII, Nr. Suceava. Dressed in their best, participants from class 8A, were afforded the opportunity to speak with S e n a t o r J o h n n y I s a k s o n , a representative from the state of Georgia in the Senate of the United States of America. Using the internet program called Skype, Senator Isakson and the students were able to see each other through a webcam and to speak with each other via microphones.
The Senator gave a short 2-3 minute introduction about himself and his work as a Senator to begin the session. Afterwards, the Senator opened the floor for Questions and Answers, led by
Volunteer StoriesSkype Session with Senator Isakson
the students themselves. Topics that were discussed were decided upon by the students and included public service, government, ambitions, goal setting, environmental health and economics. The experience afforded both parties the opportunity to communicate in English, exchange cultures and ideas about the world. “It was a joy to not only see our students speak confidently in English to a widely respected politician, but also to see their faces fill with joy and optimism, and to see their minds hard at work, analyzing the responses they were given,” said Melissa after the meeting had taken place. Both groups were extremely pleased with the success of the collaboration and hope to continue collaboration efforts in the future.
Melissa Royer is a 1st year TEFL
Volunteer currently serving in
Romania
Page 6
Volunteer Stories
When asked at the 2011 all-TEFL conference to think about projects that could celebrate the 22 years of peace and friendship promoted by Peace Corps in Romania, a group of Peace Corps Volunteers came up with the idea of planting one tree in each PCV host community. Trees have been a long-time symbol of life and growth and, as Peace Corps Romania comes to a close, a tree seemed to be an appropriate symbol for the sustainable development that is central to the organization’s role around the world. Even though the agency’s work in Romania is coming to an end in 2013, the impact will continue to grow in those communities where volunteers have served, with seeds planted not only in the projects that volunteers have completed along-side their Romanian counterparts, but also in their countless interactions with Romanians.
Peace Corps placing one tree in each host community would have not only installed this symbol in a community that has worked hand-in-hand with Peace Corps, but it would have also been Peace Corps way of giving thanks to those
communities that have helped it prosper in Romania. “The idea and t h e s y m b o l i s m represented in the project were important but it would have been logistically inefficient to plant just one tree in well ove r 2 0 0 d i f fe re nt communities. For that purpose the project was changed so as to keep the meaning of the project but to make it
more efficient given the resources available.” said PCV Andy Matusick, the coordinator of the project.
Peace Corps Romania has teamed up with the United States Embassy,
Asociatia MaiMultVerde (MMV) and local communities to plant 22 trees in 10 communities throughout Romania. The project’s aim is to promote volunteerism at schools where Peace Corps volunteers are serving as English teachers. The students were directly involved in a beautification of either their school or other parts of their community. The project’s sustainability will be evident in the growth of the trees that will be seen
for years to come, the sense of accomplishment that the students will be continuously reminded of and the community’s capacity to conduct this easily replicable project in the future. At the same time the project brings to light e nv i ro n m e nta l i s s u e s , s u c h a s deforestation and littering, that NGO’s l i k e A s o c i a t i a M a i M u l t V e r d e continuously work to address“ PCVL Andy Matusick says.
The 10 Peace Corps Volunteers involved in the project worked with their counterparts to organize small tree planting projects in their communities. Using funds from a mini-grant provided by the US Embassy they acquired the trees while other necessary materials where either acquired with the funds or donated locally. In addition to gathering
all necessary materials, the PCVs, together with their counterparts selected volunteers from their classes to plant the trees. MMV provided instruction on proper p l a n t i n g t e c h n i q u e s a n d organization so as to educate not only the planners of the project but also those students with shovels in hand on how to properly develop and implement this kind of project. Additionally, seven of the 10 communities involved in the project worked with American Corners to organize a field trip for their students to visit the closest
American Corner to their site. Transport for the students was acquired locally and the PCV worked with a representative from the American Corner to develop an educational program related to volunteering for the environment. This not only gave the students a chance to see a new place and learn about available resources but also acted as a reflection of the volunteer activity that they participated in.
Environmental Project: Trees for Peace
Page 7
Volunteer Voices PCRV Jennifer Brooks: Teaching Independent Life Skills to the Blind
Page 8
Continued on page 9...
This series of spring visits took us to Targu Frumos, a small town in the northern part of Romania, to visit Jennifer Brooks, a Peace Corps Response Volunteer (PCRV) currently working at a highschool for children with visual impairments. A former Youth Development volunteer, Jennifer started working at Liceul Moldova back in 2007. Founded 45 years ago, the school offers a harmonious education for visually impaired children and youth, helping them both to properly integrate into society, as wel l as to be as autonomous as possible.
Soon after her arrival at site, Jennifer
began looking at ways to implement
projects focusing on teaching
students with visual impairments
daily living skills, such as teaching
kitchen skills through a series of
techniques specially tailored for the
blind. “Although Romania had made
great strides in transitioning into a
democratic society, there still remain
portions of the population that
continue to need assistance from
civil society organizations, including
children with visual impairments.”
Jennifer says.
Acknowledging the need to integrate
teaching of independent life skills
into the curriculum for children with
visual impairments, School Director
Margareta Pristavu welcomed the
idea to create a kitchen lab furnished
with kitchen appliances for teaching
life skills to visually impaired students.
At the time, the school had no
equipped facilities to properly teach
the students these skills.
The hope was that through the
provision of this facility and the trained
teachers, students would be able to
transition from an institutional setting
and a dependent lifestyle to a life of
independence. ”Teaching basic life
skills can easily improve a student's
quality of life. It can allow them to be
self sufficient and therefore be able to
attend to other needs such as
employment and giving back to their
community” Jennifer adds.
Jennifer applied for a SPA grant and
with the money received, the idea of
the kitchen lab turned into reality. The
lab was equipped with all the
appliances and tableware that one can
find in an ordinary kitchen: gas stove,
electric plate, microwave, plates,
cutlery etc. During the first week, the
students were taught basic orientation
of the room and the appliances: where
the fridge was located in relation to
the stove; exploration of shelves,
drawer; exploration of the oven to
understand where the gas is lit and
w h e re t h e f l a m e i s l o cate d ,
manipulation of the items while the
oven is cold so that it can be easily
done when home. As students became
more and more familiar with the new
lab, they were then taught how to turn
on the stove, how to cut, peel, and
slice, how to measure and weigh
liquids and dry ingredients and
properly boil fry and bake.
Almost three years later, the students
are now able to move around the
kitchen independently and perform a
variety of tasks with minimal
teacher the need for his mother or
sister to cut his finger nails as he had
never learned due to fear of hurting
himself. All of these events came to the
attention of one professor of the school
who, after seeing the success of the
previous independent living skills
activities began to set in motion
alongside Associat ion 'Respect
Diversity' the idea of a hygiene studio.
Typically, students with disabilities-
e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e w i t h v i s u a l
impairments- tend to be less
knowledgeable about their bodies and
sexuality. This lack of knowledge can be
a direct result of their visual
impairment: they do not have the
typical visual input that most children
have (of bodies changing, of physical
differences between boys/men and
girls/women), or it can stem from
cultural taboos or misinformation. For
example, parents can be reluctant to
discuss these topics of sexuality and/or
not know how to explain them to their
blind child.
Due to a student's visual impairment,
he or she may need more specialized
supervision. Due to the availability of
the lab and proper instruction the
students now have the necessary life
skills to live independently and when
they finish school, they will have a
greater chance of becoming active,
contributing members of society due to
the independence that they have
acquired through these classes.
In the spring of 2011, experts from
various other European countries
visited schools and organizations
throughout Romania, including
Moldova School, to learn about the
state of special education in Romania.
The visitors were impressed by the
kitchen lab and the progress made by
students but one of these visitors
mentioned a school for the blind in their
own country also having a special place
for students to learn how to take care of
themselves.
Immediately following this, there were
incidents between students that
resulted from lack of knowledge and
curiosity towards their sexuality. In that
same year, a ninth grade visually
impaired student expressed to his head
...Continued from page 8
Page 9
instruction in the areas of sexual
education, hygiene, and self-care. This
specialized instruction includes specific
or adapted equipment as well as
instruction in methods that have been
proven efficient for those with visual
impairments.
The creation of a special studio where
this equipment can be used as well as
where these, perhaps delicate,
discussions and lessons can take place
on a one-to-one or small group basis
was ideal. Together with her colleagues,
Jennifer applied again for a grant, this
time a VAST one.
With the money received from the
Peace Corps, a hygiene lab was created.
The studio consists of separate work
areas for boys and girls. Each area is
equipped with a vanity style desk with a
sink, mirrors, magnifiers, shelving for
intimate items, adjustable mirrors
which magnify, Braille and large print
labeling, and special lighting which can
be adjusted per student visual
preference.
It is truly remarkable what the small
group of professors at Scoala Moldova
and one PCV were able to do for these
students. Being the first school in the
region committed to teaching these
skills, Scoala Moldova has the potential
to become a resource center for other
schools and organizations in the area
e i ther by shar ing the wr i tten
information, materials, or the actual
two labs. Moreover, the successes,
struggles, and results can be shared with
other schools for the blind who can then
use the model as a starting point for
their own kitchen and hygiene studios.
See page 10 for a one on one interview
with Response Volunteer Jennifer
Brooks.
Continued on page 10...
PCRo: Many volunteers worry that they may not have the correct skills to add value. Was this one of your concerns when you started working in Targu Frumos?
JB: Actually it wasn't- I was very pleased with the placement. It seemed, and has proved to be, a perfect match. I have m u c h t o o f fe r t h e teachers and students here and they are more
than willing to take advantage of my help- the only thing missing is enough time! :)
PCRo: What are some of the most common challenges children with visual impairments face in Romania?
JB: I believe the largest obstacle that these children face is the mentality that they are incapable and should be dependent on others. Many people, sadly, feel sorry for the 'poor blind child' and therefore do everything for them or expect less from them than they would from other children of the same age. However, everyone, regardless of their circumstances, needs to feel useful and to feel that they have something that they too can offer others. By providing these children with life skills, we take a step in that direction. We are telling the child, “Yes, you can” rather than, “No, don't”.
PCRo: Where did the idea of the cooking class come from?
JB: In the States, these activities are part of the Curriculum for children who are blind. Young children can learn about day to day tasks simply by watching others and copying their movements; however, a child who is blind cannot learn in this way. He or she
...Continued from page 12
Page 10
needs to be involved hands-on in every step of the process in order to understand.
When I first arrived to the school, the director gave me a tour throughout the school. She mentioned wanting to create a kitchen in one of the rooms and the idea caught on from there!
PCRo: Do you see a change in the children's behavior since you first started working there? If so, what are some of the most obvious changes?
JB: The look of triumph on their face when they finally peel the potato that they'd been fighting with for 20 minutes; the pride that shows when they eat their pizza that they made for themselves; the delight when they tell me how they helped their mother cook dinner over the weekend by cutting up a carrot for her…. These new attitudes are priceless!
We knew that giving the children these important sk i l l s would empower them and therefore increase their confidence and self-esteem…. However, I never expected to see a difference to the degree that we've witnessed in the children at 'Moldova' school.
They suddenly have the desire to try things for themselves in other areas of their lives; they want to be involved in even more activities; they hold higher expectations for themselves and for their peers which, in turn, almost forces us adults to hold higher expectations! Their self-esteem and confidence have increased more than I could have imagined!
PCRo: What are some other things you would like to achieve while working at Scoala Moldova? Future
On the ocassion of our visit to Targu Frumos, we asked Jen to tell us a few words about her work as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Romania.
PCRO: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
JB: This is my fourth year in Romania, first as a PCV and now with PC Response. I worked in the States as a teacher for the blind and have transferred that knowledge to my work here in Romania. PCRo: How did you become interested in working with children with visual impairments?
JB: I kind of just fell into this field and ended up loving it; I read an article about Orientation and Mobility Specialists (who teach methods and techniques for a person without sight to travel safely and as independently as possible around their home, school/work, community, and to use public transportation) I became fascinated, found out where I could study this field, and it all happened from there! I received a Master's degree in Education for the Visually Impaired in 2007.
I absolutely adore working with these children; I know that what I teach them are practical skills that could change their lives for the better.
Continued on page 11...
JB: What lessons have I not learned during my time here in Romania should be the question! I believe that the main lesson I have learned is patience and what patience really means: to be patient with myself- using Romanian grammar correctly will not happen overnight; to be patient with change- it may not always occur quickly and it takes time for it to take hold permanently; finally, I have been reminded to have patience with the children in that they need repetition and practice in order to learn these necessary life skills.
PCRo: What plans do you have for the future, once you'll be completing your PC Service?
JB: I would love to find a way to continue my work here in Romania with schools for the blind; I am hoping to find another international organization, interested persons, or a local NGO that would like to get involved in this project and make a life-changing difference to children in all of the special schools for
projects?
I believe that what we have achieved has exceeded, far beyond, my original expectations. I am extremely impressed with my colleagues who have worked very hard in changing their teaching methods, incorporating new teaching activities, and advocating for these lessons in order to give these kids a chance at an independent life after graduating from 'Moldova' school.
Future hopes are to include Orientation and Mobility into instruction by providing teacher trainings as well as to continue to incorporate hygiene skills into the Independent Living Skills activities. We are also working on outreach to other schools for the blind so that their children too can benefit from these activities.
PCRo: What sorts of things did you learn in Romania that you think will prove valuable lessons in your career and life?
...Continued from page 10
Page 11
the blind in Romania. O u r h o p e i s t o s p r e a d t h e accomplishments from 'Moldova' school to the other seven schools for the blind throughout Romania. Some work in this area has already been done (I have completed teacher trainings at a school for the blind in Bucuresti and the other schools have attended a conference at 'Moldova' school on Independent Living Skills projects.) but there is plenty more to do. There are over 1000 children with visual impairments enrolled in schools across Romania who need these same skills, but are not yet being reached.
Jennifer Brooks can be reached at for
further information on her work with schools for the blind.
You know you're probably going to get
into trouble when you come up with a
great idea for a gala open house for a
thousand parents and five hundred
children in April during the aptly named
“Something Else Week” -- a great idea
that you have loosely attributed to one
of your host country counterparts since
everything must be initiated from the
grass roots, as we had been told during
training. But you figure this is going to be
alright since the Altfel Week is totally
new for everyone, being something the
Ministry of Education came up with just
this year, and since everyone has to
come up with ideas the counterpart
seemed cool with it, it would look
good on paper, and all the Ministry
expects is that educators “do
something different”.
That was back in December. I talked
up the idea every chance I got but it
was pretty clear that my Romanian
language skills weren't up to the
challenge. As the time drew near for
the Altfel Week Open House it was
looking more and more like I might
be the only one doing it. The cookies
and cakes from the mothers and
bunicas, the student writing which I'd
tried to solicit from my five
counterparts, the student artwork
from the two art teachers, just wasn't
materializing.
I could recall a time back in 1968 when I
was a Head Start teacher one summer
in Ann Arbor, all of us cute and sweet
little co-eds who'd been recommended
by the University of Michigan Education
School, and one of my fellow teachers,
the cutest and sweetest and littlest, in
fact, suggested to an overweight,
always tired, old-before-her-time,
African American single mother of 10
small children that her offspring might
enjoy making chocolate chip cookies
with her some afternoon after she'd
come home from her double-shift as an
LPN and before she made them supper.
I lived in the African American
community and as the story of this
suggestion made the rounds in
churches and corner grocery stores it
was greeted with hoots of laughter and
rambunctious knee-slapping. I could
only imagine that my fellow teachers in
Romania, many of whom had taken on
extra jobs in order to make up the
income they'd lost when their wages
had been cut 25% because of the 2008
economic crisis, felt much the same
way about the gala Open House during
Altfel Week suggested by the too-
earnest Peace Corps volunteer.
Not that it mattered. I had 500 students
and they'd all been doing good work. I
had about two decent, displayable
pieces from each student, poems and
essays and short stories, 1,000 more or
less. I had asked the kids who finished
first to illustrate their writing while they
waited for their classmates to complete
the assignment. I had plenty of
illustrated writing. But where was I
going to display it?
I was shown a dark, cluttered storage
room, up a cluttered staircase in a back
building, a room that would need a lot
of work before it could become a
display space: cleaning, painting, even
lights. There was also my classroom but
it was a tiny, hot, top floor, corner room
Volunteer Voices
Page 12
Continued on page 13...
Let’s Put On a Show!!! An Article by Kathleen Stocking
deliberately doing the work in front of
everyone – on the front steps of the
school if it was sunny and inside in the
lobby if it was raining -- so that
parents might come out of curiosity, if
nothing else. “Che facette?” people
would ask. And I would say, “Oo La La!
Altfel Open House!! Trey Aprillie.” I
always liked saying “aprillie” because
it made me feel like Chaucer saying,
“Wan that aprillie . . . than longen
folke to goon on pilgrimages.” I was
longing to goon on a pilgrimage
myself, a long one. This whole Altfell
Open House thing was a big mistake.
It was going to be a horrible disaster. I
was going to do all this work, day after
day, and when April 3 arrived I was
going to be sitting there alone, in the
rain, with my crepe
I had generated the writing with my
usual tricks: turning cartwheels and
somersaults on the lawn, chasing my
tail and emitting high-pitched yips of
joy. Saying, “Bravo!” And, “Way to
go!” And, “Good job!” And, “I love
paper streamers.
Easter vacation. Was there going to be
anyone left?
The week before the event, I learned the
Small Project Assistance (SPA) grant to
host the Altfel Week Open House had
been approved. My very first thought
was that I should turn down the money.
But I hate to turn down money. I weighed
the pros and cons and ultimately it came
down to my Calvinist-banker-horse-
trader-rum-runner DNA. This is not the
visible DNA, the free spirit-poet-I know-
you'll-still-love-me-in-the-morning-
anything-for-a-windmill-Don-Quixote-
join-the-Peace-Corps DNA; this was the
hard-drive DNA that goes back before
Calvin to mastodons and before that to
some swamp where I crawled onto the
land. It was only a little money, $500 is a
little money, but it was money. I felt I
would have to go through with it.
For the next few days I spent hours
putting student writing, photos and
illustrations in plastic protector sleeves,
hours cutting crepe paper streamers,
and the three flights of stairs – 67 steps –
were a daunting prospect. I would have
had to have started with big yellow
arrows at the front gate – and a student
standing by each arrow – to even get the
parents up there. There was only one
choice. The Open House was going to
have to take place in the front yard of the
school where parents coming to pick up
their children wouldn't be able to miss it.
But how crazy and aggressive and way
too earnest and in-your-face was that?
Well, totally.
II thought the smartest thing I could do
would be to cancel the whole thing.
None of my counterparts were remotely
interested. The students had never done
anything like this before and now,
whenever I mentioned it in class, which
was pretty often, the kids would look
down at their desks and finally someone
would say, “I'm not going to be here that
week.” The student population of the
school, even the week before Atlfel
Week, had thinned out alarmingly.
Students were clearly leaving early for
Page 13
...Continued from page 12
Continued on page 14...
what you're doing.” And, “Wow! You're
all doing such incredible work!” I
learned long ago that all anyone needs
is a little encouragement and they'll do
great things. Children don't know they
can't write novels. I'm really a cheer-
leader not a teacher. But I did this all –
at least the cartwheels and somersaults
– metaphorically, not physically.
If this crazy Open House idea was ever
going to happen, I was going to have to
get physical and go up a ladder and
hang crepe paper. I was going to have to
rake the litter out of the grass in the
front yard. Once I was young and
worked every conceivable job, from
picking strawberries to cleaning barns
to h ef t i n g h e av y t rays w h i l e
waitressing, but I haven't picked
strawberries since I was 12, haven't
been up a ladder since I tore my ACL
tendon in Thailand five years ago,
haven't done any serious raking for
longer than that and have steered clear
of hefting and hauling for years. So, like
Madame DeFarge with her knitting
during the French Revolution, I just kept
sitting there doing what I could,
repeating in my mind little clichéd
phrases of self-encouragement: there is
no success without failure; stay calm and
carry on; there is work to be done in the
dark before the dawn; no guts, no glory;
you have to stand for something or fall for
everything.
But what did any of this stand for? I had a
little time to think, sitting there sorting
kids' writing for hours, getting it ready for
presentation, pretty much like working in
a Chinese laundry. I guess, in a nutshell, it
came down to democracy: all of this
stood for democracy. You can't have a
democracy without thoughts and
feelings and that's what the kids' writing
was all about. It hadn't happened
overnight. It had been a slow process.
First there was no writing at all. “But I
have no ideas, teacher.” Then there was
bad writing – take me out and shoot me
bad writing – produced by people whose
only exposure to writing was essays on
the furniture in the Royal Palace. Finally,
there were little glimmers, like the
daffodils in front of me trying to poke
their way through the frozen ground of
the schoolyard. And, at last, real thoughts
and real feelings, from every kid. If I
displayed their writing I was saying it was
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Page 14
important. I was saying they were
important. With that thought, I knew I
was going to string up their writing if it
was the last thing I ever did in my life.
The worst thing that could happen was
that I'd make an utter fool of myself and
that was nothing new. I was very good at
that. It was far and away my best talent.
My mind went back to a day a few weeks
earlier when I had been in my Margaret
Thatcher mode with a new set of
students. They were all looking at me in a
slightly shell-shocked way after I'd given
my Sermon from the Mount demanding
that in my classroom they participate
fully, be kind to each other, not bad-
mouth gypsies or anyone else, express
their thoughts and feelings, and not be
tardy. “This is an American classroom,” I
said emphatically, “and we do things the
American way.” This was utter nonsense
since I had no more idea about what an
American classroom might be than they
did. “And,” I clarified, “I'm not doing
things the American way because I'm
trying to change you, I'm doing things
the American way because it's the only
way I know.” This had never occurred to
them and in fact, had never occurred to
me until I heard myself saying it.
Substitute “my way” for “the American
way” and you'll have something closer to
the truth. And, naturally, being an adult,
I was trying to change them which,
naturally, being kids, they knew. In
retrospect I think what I meant was that I
expected them to have feelings, to have
thoughts based on those feelings, and
that I just couldn't help myself from
expecting it.
They had done it. And the more they did
it the more they liked it. And the more
they liked it the better than got at it. And
here was the proof of the pudding. It
would be a kind of crime not to recognize
their efforts.
When I began to rake the yard, three
sturdy janitors showed up and did it for
Continued on page 15...
me. When I began to weed the flower
beds, they came out with the proper tools
and did this, too, a million times better
than I would have ever done it. Someone
showed up with flats of pansies and these
were planted in the freshly tilled ground.
When I asked for a ladder and began to
string up writing and crepe paper
streamers, my students appeared out of
nowhere and began to do that.
Things were starting to look beautiful and
clean and shiny and fresh. There were
lines and lines of writing hung up like little
baby clothes. We ran out of places to hang
writing and had to set up tables in the hall.
The place looked like a hillbilly yardsale:
More inside!! The kids, by the day of the
Open House, had simply taken over not
only all the physical work but the
selection of writing to display, the hanging
of the home-made banner, the welcome
sign on the white board, basically
everything. At one point I said to one of
the girls, “Thank you so much for doing all
of this. I never expected all of you to
come every day and help.” She said,
somewhat non-plussed, “This is what we
like to do.” And I thought, slyly to myself,
next year I'll entice them to write by
telling them we're going to display it
at an Open House with crepe paper
streamers. I had coffee, tea, sugar
and hot water but no cookies. But
cookies miraculously appeared,
too.
If it had rained, the whole thing
might have been the disaster I'd
been picturing in those first few
days as I sat there sorting student
writing. But the weather was
perfect: not too hot, not too cold,
sunny and glorious. Blue skies.
Parents came. Lots of them. One
of my counterparts, the one who
had a daughter in one of my
classes, had a husband who used
to be a journalist and he still had
contacts in the media and he called
them and reporters came from the
newspaper and the TV station. The
kids were thrilled. It was worth it.
So, yes, “Let's put on a show!!!” You
never know who will come.
Kathleen Stocking is a 1st year TEFL
Volunteer currently serving in
Romania.
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“Scoala Altfel”
“Scoala Altfel” is a new initiative by the Romanian M i n i s t r y o f Ed u c at i o n p ro m o t i n g n o n - fo r m a l education.
For one week, schools are g i v e n f r e e h a n d t o i n co r p o rate i nto t h e i r curr iculum a ser ies of activities that go beyond the national curriculum on education. The initiative is hoped to bring value to the entire school community and to harness competency, cohesion, teamwork and last but not least put a smile on students’ and teachers’ faces.
The program was developed as a tool for engaging both students and teachers in interest ing non - formal activities that can enhance the value of their talents, extracurricular interests and competencies in a variety of fields.
To promote best practices, the Ministry of Education has also launched a competition where it invites people to v o t e o n t h e 1 0 m o s t i n t e r e s t i n g a c t i v i t i e s organized between April 2-6, 2012. A list of all activities developed during the “Scoala Altfel” week can be found on the Ministry’s website:
www. scoalaaltfel.edu.ro
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In this issue of our Newsletter we asked Andy Matusick, Peace Corps Volunteer Leader to tell us about her experience as a volunteer in Romania.
PCRo: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
AM: Well, I’m 26 years old and I come from a medium sized family with 3 brothers. I grew up in a small city named Corning located in a really nice region of New York. If you’ve heard of Ithaca, NY I’m close to there. I stayed in the area for Univers i ty attending SUNY Cortland where I studied History and a bit of Psychology. I’m a fan of both subjects. Other than that I grew up loving baseball, extreme sports and my most recent passion is travel.
PCRo: You’ve been a PCV in Romania for 3 years now. What led you to pursue this unique experience?
AM: I think it was early in my college years when I first heard about Peace Corps from a recruiter and when I arrived home that evening I did some more research. I’ve always wanted to travel and see the world but I saw Peace Corps as an opportunity to do more than just see. Learning the culture, speaking the local language, developing relationships and integrating into a community that I
would eventually call my second home were the things I imagined
Volunteer Interview Peace Corps Volunteer Leader: Andrew Matusick
when I first considered doing Peace Corps. These were my reasons for filling out the online application.
PCRo:Many volunteers worry that they may not have the correct skills to add value. Was this one of your concerns?
AM: Yes, this was absolutely one of my concerns both before leaving for Romania and then again when I was leaving for site. I had no previous TEFL experience and I didn’t really study English at college. At the same time I kept no secrets from Peace Corps. They new about my previous teaching experience, they saw my resume, they met me and they still chose to send me here. Reminding myself that Peace Corps believed that I had the correct skills to add value to a post helped me believe the same.
PCRo: You started as a TEFL volunteer and then applied for a PCVL position. What made you want to extend your service?
AM: I had been at site for about a year and a half when I decided to extend as a PCVL. At the time I knew I was ready for something else but I didn’t yet want to leave Romania. My language was finally coming around and I was speaking daily in Romanian with people at my school who I had been speaking to in English just a few months earlier. The PCVL position was a chance to try out something new for a short period of time but continue to be
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involved with Peace Corps and the volunteer community. After working as a TEFL volunteer I had begun learning about NGO’s and development work. I thought that it would be a great experience to work first hand with an NGO to learn more about how these organizations function and gain some valuable professional skills in the process. It really did seem like the best option for me at the time and I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to work as a PCVL.
PCRo: As a PCVL what are your main activities in Romania?
AM: As a PCVL my main activities in Romania are split. I have my activities with the Peace Corps office and then I have my activities with the NGO that I chose to work with, Asociatia MaiMultVerde.
Some of my Peace Corps activities include summarizing feedback forms, helping out with activities or sessions at trainings, making the annual report, finding and sending useful information/resources to volunteers and chatting with volunteers to see how things are
going at their sites and in their lives. I really enjoy hearing about what’s going on with volunteers because every situation is unique and each volunteer has an interesting story to tell. I was fortunate to have the chance to visit several volunteers in the fall and see what life is like at their sites. The site visits were probably one of my favorite parts about the position.
At MaiMultVerde I coordinate volunteers. I chose to work for MaiMultVerde because they have a lot of volunteer activities and I knew that I would get the chance to meet a lot of interesting people who believe that they can make a difference in their community. MaiMultVerde does a lot of tree-planting activities and I have been responsible for coordinating volunteers and our team of volunteer coordinators in those activities. I also help to organize secondary activities for some of our most active volunteers. The position at MaiMultVerde is really putting my Romanian language skills to the test. I have met some great people at the organization and have developed some lasting friendships with the
volunteers that I’ve worked with there.
PCRo: Take us through a typical day of work at Mai Mult Verde.
AM: A typical day of work at MMV is usually me in front of my computer sending out informat ion to volunteers and responding to emails. My colleagues at MMV are always there to help me with something that I don’t understand, look over my emails before sending them if I need and let me know if there is something that I need to be doing. If there is any down time at the office I am usually researching e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s s u e s a n d environmental NGO’s in both Romania and the US so I can get a better idea of what is going on in the field.
While a typical day at MMV is at my computer communicating with MMV’s rather large volunteer community, there are a lot of atypical days at MMV. The atypical days are the days when I get to meet new people, spend the day outside and take part in some good old-fashioned manual labor that I missed so much when I was teaching.
PCRo: So what makes Romania different from the other countries you have visited?
AM: This is a really difficult question to answer because before coming to Romania I hadn’t really visited other countries. Now that I’ve been traveling a bit over the past 3 years I can probably make a comparison but not without bias.
In my first vacation as a PCV I joined a few other volunteers on a New Years Eve trip to Belgrade. On our way back into Romania the border guard saw by looking at our passports that we were from the United States and
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he greeted us in English. We smiled back at him and responded in Romanian. That was the point when I first felt that Romania was my home and I was glad to be back home. Maybe it was the smile on his face or the unique exchange that made me feel so good about being back in Romania. It made me realize that what sets Romania apart for me is the outright friendliness and hospitality. I have met people in other places that have been friendly and a good conversation or a fun night out together will come of it. Only in Romania I’ve met people who after a short conversation are willing to help you with anything you need. This quality was a bit shocking at first but because of it I have developed some incredib le friendships. PCRo: What sorts of things did you learn here in Romania that you think will prove valuable lessons in your career and life?
AM: There are so many things that I can take from this experience that will prove valuable in career and life. Peace Corps is designed to allow the volunteers to work at
their own pace in a way.
In the TEFL program you must do your teaching hours but aside from that it’s up to you and your community what you do. The program gives the volunteer a lot of opportunity to make their service truly unique. At the same time it requires the volunteer to take a lot of initiative. You don’t have the CD looking over your shoulder all the time making sure that you’re doing specific projects involving a certain amount of beneficiaries. The experience has forced me to become the kind of person that takes the initiative and strive to make positive change. I think that this quality, learned in Peace Corps, will be one that proves valuable both in life and in my career.
I hope to leave Romania more like a Romanian. The hospitality that I have seen and experienced in Romania is something that I hope I’d like to share wherever I end up. It is very important to me to walk away from this experience having picked up at least this quality from the many Romanians that have helped me along the way.
PCRo: What plans do you have for the future, once you’l l be completing your PC Service?
AM: I don’t really have any set plans quite yet but eventually I would like to get back into teaching. Being a PCVL has given me some great insight to the world of NGO’s and development work but I miss being in the classroom and I think that’s really saying something. That doesn’t mean that skills and knowledge that I have gained as a PCVL won’t prove useful in a career as a teacher, if in fact that is where I end up. I see a lot of ways in which the things that I do now in Bucharest will be helpful in a future teaching career, both on a resume and in practice.
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F o u n d e d i n 2 0 0 7 , is a non-profit,
n o n - p o l i t i c a l , n o n -governmental association committed to protecting the environment.
www.maimultverde.ro
MaiMultVerde
Mission
Strategic Goal
To build a new culture of volunteer work for the environment in Romania.
To create an active community of volunteers that will make sustainable changes for the environment in Romania.
Page 18
Peace Corps Romania Quarterly Newsletter
is published by:
US Peace Corps Phone: [40] 21. 312. 12. 89Fax: [40] 21. 312. 30. 04
Website: www.peacecorps.ro
Editor: Diana TodaDesign&Layout: Diana Toda
Front Cover Photo: Manuela Lapadat
Contributors:Sheila Crowley
Justin SettyMelissa Royer
Kathleen StockingAndrew Matusick
Jennifer Brooks
Editorial Policy
Articles published in the newsletter represent only a snapshot of Peace
Corps Romania’s volunteer activities. For further information about Peace
Corps Romania please contact the editor or visit Peace Corps Romania’s
website at www.peacecorps.ro
Editorial Submission
We welcome letters, unsolicited articles or photographs. Queries
should be sent to the editor at