When I returned from Armenia in July, the sound of “peeps” was louder at my house; there were now baby ducks with white feathers and with brown feathers, geese, turkeys and chickens. The white ducks were growing the fastest. The geese got to hang out in a makeshift glass house for a week until they … More New baby birds
Tudora’s peach festival was on Sunday July 15th and I was honored to be a part of the team to help organize it. During the festival, I was part of the group that welcomed people to the festival and handed out peach scarfs and peach compote. It was really fun to great all the tourist … More Hai La Piersici! Peach Festival 2018
For the past two years, my village has held a Peach Festival, to promote the peach growers in the region and to promote the area as a place for tourism. This event was the idea of one of my partners, Dorina. She is amazing entrepreneur and through a team of volunteers, this event continues to … More Preparing for the Peach Festival
The Unity Community Center ran a two week summer camp for 25 students and had 8 youths volunteer during the camp. There were great activities everyday and I am really grateful that I work with some amazing women at the center. Ludmila, Liliana and Viorica are in the first photo with hand painted “Unitate” branded … More Unitate Summer Camp
As part of the grant for the summer camp, we were able to purchase some furniture for the center. The ordering of the furniture was an interesting process for me. Moldova does not have the large warehouse type stores like Ikea, Costco Office Max, etc. so you can not just go to the store and … More Preparing for Summer Camp
In the beginning of 2018, Liliana and I started talking about what project could use additional funds to improve the already great services that the Unity Community Center provides. We discussed the idea of improving the summer camp that the center had produced for the last two years and how that could be enhanced in … More Grant Writing and Creating a Better Summer Camp
There is a chart for Peace Corps service that talks about the sweet spot of the intersection of the country priorities, the local community priorities/resources and the volunteers skill set. For me, this spot is with technology and digital communications. I love technology and thinking about the future. I follow futurist thinkers, I enjoy reading … More Creating a Tech Club
The first goal of the Peace Corps program is to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women. In the COD (Community Organizational Development) sector, this means that our projects are focused on capacity building in communities; how can we support and encourage organizations and individuals to learn … More Capacity Development in a Moldovan Village
As villages/towns/cities expand and contract, there is always a building or two that sits dormant for awhile. And my village has one in the center of the village. I have asked about it and was told it was some sort of bank / accounting center during the Soviet times. Every time I saw the building, … More View inside the mystery building and Ziua Nistrului
Every year, the Unity Community Center celebrates Children’s Day, which is on June 1st in Moldova. This year was a special event as the center received a sponsorship to take the children from grades 2-5 from the center on an excursion into Chisinau. It was such a delightful day, starting with watching the children’s eyes … More Celebrating Children’s Day June 1 2018
