And the Work Begins...

Recently my cousin asked me, "So what exactly is your job?" This is a GREAT question, that can't really be answered simply. To do so, I need to explain a little bit about the Peace Corps.

The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote World Peace and Friendship. This mission involves three main goals of which each volunteer here in Moldova strives to meet:
1. Helping the people of Moldova in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served in Moldova.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of the people of Moldova on the part of Americans.

This is broad, but the flexibility is what allows us volunteers to do so much!

As for tactical things that I will be doing, I am placed in a mayor's office in a small, Russian-speaking village. About 2,000 people live here, though it is probably less because many parents are working in Russia and abroad elsewhere, leaving their children with the grandparents...This is a HUGE issue in this country, and I will explain more about the living conditions and wages later.

Anyways, what I learned on the first day of work was the word "ot-poos-koo", which means leave/vacation. My work partner is on vacation for three weeks in August, as are many Moldovans this time of year. This leaves me to be completely on my own for a bit. I am spending my time researching about Modolova, history, country-specific issues and problems, and chatting with the few people still working as I study my Russian. I learned that my colleague applied for a grant to help with sanitation improvements, and I am busy trying to translate the grant to understand specific details about my village.

However, for the time being, for the most part, my job at the moment is to learn the language and to make friends. Pretty good, huh? In the coming months as I learn more and more about site-specific needs I will better be able to plan, organize, and help my colleagues and members in the community. I am completely flexible for what these project and development needs may be, but I hope to do some work with business development and infrastructure improvements.