The biggest part of the day was that we were sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During Counterpart's Conference, which leads up to Swearing In, we had heard that Clinton was in town. There were rumors that she might make an appearance. On Thursday it was confirmed.
I keep trying to think of a way to explain why this was so cool, but as I always remind you, I am not a very good writer. It was exciting to have someone so high up the political ladder conduct something that is so important for our transition from Trainees to Volunteers. By having Secretary Clinton swearing us in, I felt somewhat validated in what we are doing here. Mind you, I don't necessarily feel that I need the validation, but prior to coming here, I was questioned a lot about what the Peace Corps is and how valid a program it is and blah, blah. Maybe this acknowledgment is enough for those naysayers...maybe it isn't.
Here are some pictures (sadly we weren't allowed cameras in the U.S. Embassy, so no Clinton pics).
This is a picture of all the trainees from La Union. These are the people I know best in the Philippines. They represent 3 training clusters (2 Education, 1 CYF). They are scattered throughout Ilokano-speaking Luzon now. It is sad not seeing them regularly.
Here I am with the other 4 CYF Volunteers and 2 trainers that I trained with for 12 weeks. These are the people that I saw every Monday through Saturday (and most Sundays). It will be odd not having them here in Caba with me.
Note, the shirt I am wearing is called a Barong. It is a formal shirt that my host dad lent me for the event. He wore it at his wedding. Pretty awesome, eh?
Ok. That's all I've got for now. Keeping watching Twitter to the right. Also, we have a new mailing address...send us presents. Or send us Amazon.com gift cards to my email address. We have a Kindle now and books aren't cheap!
Pis Out
3 comments:
Congrats again! I was glad I got to tag along to your swearing-in...SO much cooler than ours.
Hi, I'm a Cebu native obsessed with Western civilization and wishing to meet up or speak with Peace Corps Volunteers for language and knowledge exchange. I'm a native speaker of BinisaYA' (Cebuano), and I'm fluent in Tagalog and English. I speak English almost like an American, and I speak the basics of French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Minnan (Taiwanese), Polish, Russian, and Spanish. I'm 1 of the 2 authors (the only Filipino author) of Pimsleur Tagalog, a Tagalog audio course for English speakers. I'm trying to learn how to speak English fully like an American and also how to teach non Filipinos how to speak Philippine languages almost like a native speaker. I'm interested in Anthropology, Evolutionary Psychology, Population Genetics, Prehistory, Fitness, Nutrition and Poverty Alleviation. I enjoy sprinting, kayaking, mountaineering, boxing, stickfighting, archery, playing basketball and tennis, cooking and traveling. If you'd like to meet up or talk, please call me at 916 338 3807. Please also feel free to forward my message to your colleagues. Thank you. -IYU'
Scott and Jessie:
I am COO of Water Charity, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that does water, sanitation, and public health projects worldwide. We recently started a new initiative, Appropriate Projects, to fund small water and sanitation projects very quickly.
I am a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Bolivia ’66-’68), and am well aware of the difficulties Volunteers face in the field. Appropriate Projects is an addition to our regular Water Charity model that is allowing us to provide project resources to PCVs in the field immediately.
Often there is that little project that must be done now (before the rains start, before school begins, or in response to a critical need), but there are no funds available. Traditional funding sources are cumbersome, and there are long forms, detailed requirements, limited resources, and long delays.
PCVs working in water and sanitation usually have potential projects lined up. For those working in other program areas, there may be water components to their projects, or improvements needed where they work or teach.
Sample projects may be: a rainwater catchment, handwashing stations for a school, water for a clinic, piping, tanks, pumps, sinks, latrines, wells, etc.
We like to “finish” projects that have been started, and “fix” things that have ceased to function.
We encourage follow-up projects that expand upon the successful completion of the first small project.
If you have a project in mind, please fill out the application form. We want this to be easy for you, so we have developed a simple form that you can fill out in one sitting.
If you have any questions about the appropriateness of your project, or you need some time to get it together, just let us know.
We pre-fund projects, so you don’t have to wait around for donations to roll in.
If you do not have a project that qualifies, please pass this message on to your fellow Volunteers who may have an interest. Finally, if this initiative resonates with you, please let others know what we are doing through your social networks, websites, and blogs.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Averill Strasser
Appropriate Projects
http://appropriateprojects.com
Water Charity
http://watercharity.org
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