It’s amazing how little one can actually get done in an office. I mean tangible things. It’s just a bunch of little things added up that sometimes sum up to something real but you never get a chance to see. If you are stuck in the office that is. My move to Lita in September 2008 was for a good reason. I just have to deal with the situation until the end of my service. I probably will give another shot at doing some community work again however. Persistence has paid off in the past and I’m sure I could find reasonable arguments to get back in the field where I belong.
The FCAE office was a depressing place this month. With no coordinators to work with I found myself litteraly staring at my computer wondering what to do with myself. I started looking for jobs but that gets me even more depressed. Reading all these job descriptions really get me down, I feel I don’t fit anywhere perfectly. That said the job market is very dry these days. Nevertheless I’ve had some decent days as well this month. Since I can no longer go to Awá communities, they have been coming to me. Baboso’s teacher and other community leaders asked me to help them put a proposal together to buy 10 hectares of land to resettle the education center to more stable grounds. I handed them a draft but am worried about their inadequate planning: they have absolutely no funds to actually make this transaction happen any time soon.
later in the month a commission from Palmira visited me in the office and asked me to put a proposal together to refurbish their education center. That sounded like a more reasonable project but the list of things they asked for was beyond that: giant speakers, microphone, footballs and volleyball nets…It sounded more like an Awá party project proposal than anything educational. Nevermind, I indulged them with their proposal and handed it in tofay for review. With my last competitive proposal being recently turned down by the ministry of culture, I was glad to be given another shot at it. I’d be thrilled to secure funding for a decent development project before I officially COS.
Talking about COS, Omnibus 99 is having their conference next week. We are indeed almost at the symbolic “2 years in country” mark. I really look forward to see my PC buddies again. Most of them I only get to see during these official PC reunions. Apparently it will focus on our post-PC life so it should be interesting enough. In the meantime, I’ll try to get the best out of this FCAE office experience. They hired a new social development coordinator and another planning coordinator should join the team shortly. I also planned to do some community work with my good Sicilian friend Mauro who now works for a small NGO in Otavalo. That should give me some good fresh air and ideas. I desperately need inspiration.
