TED Workshop

I spent the past week in Mantasoa, at the Peace Corps training center. I love that place….its beautiful, we get delicious food, and it reminds me of Northern Michigan. Myself and 7 other volunteers joined 15 PC staff for a 3 day intensive workshop to plan the training for the incoming volunteers. The regional advisor from PC, who oversees 15 different countries, came in from S. Africa to lead it. We worked really long hours (especially compared to our village lives), and we went a little crazy by the last day....but it was a really fun week.

PC Training Center...int he rain! 

It was really interesting to see the process PC goes through to design trainings, and it was a really good opportunity to make our own mark on training…since we’ve all been through it before!  Each sector went through the whole process of determining the KSAs (knowledge, skills, attitudes) needed for each program, deciding what competencies were needed after training, writing learning objectives and then sequencing them and organizing sessions around the learning objectives….it sounds really boring, but it was actually the most interesting workshop/training thing I’ve done here! (I also think I liked it because it was really, really structured and detailed…and I like those things!)  

PCVs who attended the workshop....entertaining ourselves with self-timer pictures. 

We worked long days but we still had a ton of fun. Everytime we are in Mantasoa, we get fed really well. So much good food. Snack twice a day. And a huge bowl of popcorn all day, every day. Staff knows how to get volunteers to work…bribe them with good food! (And do our laundry in a washing machine!) I also recently acquired the game Cards Against Humanity (thanks JENNA!) so that provided hours of entertainment. Especially when our regional advisor decided to play with us. Aside from the awkward moments of laughing at politically incorrect humor with our boss’ boss…it was really fun. And good bonding, you could say.

Excited about delicious food!\

Back in Tana, I did “big city” things…went to the grocery store, ate Thai food, and caught up on internet times. I’m heading back to site now, hoping that the cyclone that was hitting the E. coast yesterday, didn’t do too much damage!