About a month ago (see: "Casa de Grapas" post) I mentioned that I had entered the Presidential race for the Volunteer Advocacy Council. Well, I'm thrilled to announce that I won and swore-in last Friday to serve the volunteer community until September of 2010.
The Volunteer Advocacy Council, or 'VAC', represents the 180 Peace Corps Volunteers in Guatemala in new policy decisions at the country level and helps boost morale by organizing events like the annual 4th of July party and regional welcome parties for new volunteers. It consists of eight volunteers: one representative from each of the seven regions where volunteers serve in Guatemala, plus the president. In the 90s, VAC had a reputation of being just the party-throwing committee and didn't garner a lot of respect from the Peace Corps administration, but has really changed its image and function in the last ten years for the better. The Council is tapped every time volunteer input is needed at the administrative level and is the voice of the volunteer community for issues ranging from Living Allowances to relationships between volunteers and Project Directors. For example, the Asst Director of Peace Corps Guatemala will be making revisions to the Volunteer Handbook, (our manual on codes of conduct etc.) before the new year and has asked the VAC to be an instrumental part of the process in which the revisions that will be made. So it's a considerable responsibility as President to lead the VAC, but I'm really excited and it should be fun.
A couple of the things that we have discussed initially as a group are establishing a peer review board to hear cases that could result in the expulsion of a volunteer, improving volunteer/staff relations, making it better known which volunteers are where and what their strengths are, continuing the campaign to increase the volunteer living allowance, and keeping the tradition of throwing a rockin' 4th of July party.
Our first meeting is this Friday. We will establish our goals and objectives for the year as well as assign people to the various services that VAC provides (such as merchandise, cook book, survival guide, and calendar to name a few).
Jamie Staples' Peace Corps Blog
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Milpa!
Remember how I mentioned a few posts back that I had planted corn by my house? Well here it is! About a month and a half old and 8 inches tall!
Will's Wedding
Apologies for the lack of posts, but September has been crazy busy.
In late August I went home for the first time in eight months for my brother’s wedding. I expected more of a culture shock when I arrived in San Francisco after being in rural Guatemala for the majority of the year. But to be honest, it was just like I left it. My friends were still there, the good places to eat hadn’t changed, and we wound up going out to the same bars that we had always gone to. The only thing that changed was that the Giants were winning. Maybe I should stay down here for a little longer…for the good of the franchise.
I did notice that everything was cleaner in the U.S. than in Guatemala: less trash strewn everywhere, less burning plastic, less gritty. Also, it felt nice to be surrounded by English speakers and people who didn’t make me feel like Andre the Giant.
I spent the following week on the Monterey Peninsula for my brother’s wedding. Will, my brother, did an amazing job planning and threw a great party. We sampled local wines one night, had a beachfront sunset cocktail party the next, and shared the wedding ceremony on the third day in the gardens of an old Monterey adobe that also serves as the Monterey Museum of Art. Truly an amazing week.
Coming back to Guatemala was not as tough as I though it would be. On the contrary actually, I looked forward to getting back. However, no sooner did I get to site did I get sick again. We think it’s some kind of virus (maybe related to mononucleosis) and really didn’t make it easier to settle back in for the next year and a half. Getting sick down here is probably the worst thing in the world because it totally blows up your perspective on everything and really gets you down. But oh well, I always know to expect it when I get sick, so now it’s just a matter of getting better, which I’ve already started to do.
In late August I went home for the first time in eight months for my brother’s wedding. I expected more of a culture shock when I arrived in San Francisco after being in rural Guatemala for the majority of the year. But to be honest, it was just like I left it. My friends were still there, the good places to eat hadn’t changed, and we wound up going out to the same bars that we had always gone to. The only thing that changed was that the Giants were winning. Maybe I should stay down here for a little longer…for the good of the franchise.
I did notice that everything was cleaner in the U.S. than in Guatemala: less trash strewn everywhere, less burning plastic, less gritty. Also, it felt nice to be surrounded by English speakers and people who didn’t make me feel like Andre the Giant.
I spent the following week on the Monterey Peninsula for my brother’s wedding. Will, my brother, did an amazing job planning and threw a great party. We sampled local wines one night, had a beachfront sunset cocktail party the next, and shared the wedding ceremony on the third day in the gardens of an old Monterey adobe that also serves as the Monterey Museum of Art. Truly an amazing week.
Coming back to Guatemala was not as tough as I though it would be. On the contrary actually, I looked forward to getting back. However, no sooner did I get to site did I get sick again. We think it’s some kind of virus (maybe related to mononucleosis) and really didn’t make it easier to settle back in for the next year and a half. Getting sick down here is probably the worst thing in the world because it totally blows up your perspective on everything and really gets you down. But oh well, I always know to expect it when I get sick, so now it’s just a matter of getting better, which I’ve already started to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)