Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The invitation is here

It's HERE!

Last week while working at MSU, my invitation to join the Peace Corps finally came and yesterday, July 16 I accepted my program. After waiting months to get this, it feels like everything is happening all at once. There are still many things which I do not know, but here are some details that I do know and can share online:

Country of service: Guatemala

First day of orientation: August 27, 2007 (so soon!)

Training: I'll have about 3 months of training in Guatemala prior to my service. I'll have to pass this training period in order to begin my 2 years of service.

Primary Program description: Well, the overall purpose of the program is to increase the quality of life of Guatemalan rural communities by promoting sustainable farming practices for food security and income generation. I'll be focusing on the food security. Basically, it will be working with schools, organizations, and families within these communities:
1) to establish vegetable gardens while utilizing sustainable farming practices and environmental conservation
2) to raise poultry while utilizing sustainable farming practices and environmental conservation
3) to provide training and assistance on proper nutrition and on the preparation of home-grown vegetables

Many volunteers also have secondary projects once the needs of the community are known. This can include programs from teaching English and setting up libraries to participating in and or setting up local committee or sports teams.

So that I'll have something to write about until I leave and so that you are not barraged with information, I'll be doing some separate posts to describes things like what I expect my living conditions to be and what the country of Guatemala is like. I did, though, include a map of Guatemala and North America to orient your brain where Guatemala is. (Click on the maps to enlarge them)








On a separate note, while I am making these blogs, I'll am going to experiment with some polls to give some interesting facts related to my service. We'll see how it works.

Take care and thanks for your interest.