My big project, Finishing the Ward 4 AMICAALL/Nhlangano Town Council Social Center, the PCPP

ITS FINISHED

Peace Corps Partnership Proposal (PCPP) with the Nhlangano Town Council (NTC)


http://swazilandreflections.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-big-project-finishing-ward-4.html

First application draft submitted Feb, 2011
Approved & Funding Begins on PC website May 17th
IT WAS COMPLETELY FUNDED on Sept 8th.
Construction started on Oct 24th.
All exterior construction done by Dec 20th.
Grand Opening Jan 5th, 2012
Round 2 of the Funding arrives in early January.
Interior Only Construction Restarts Jan 16th.
Construction all done Feb 16th (minus a million tiny To Do's)
Project Officially Closed May 4th, 2012

Let the children play, learn & be safe.


As of Aug 25th, 2012, I am no longer a PCV, I am now RPCV (Return Peace Corps Volunteer). This blog is my experience in Swaziland between June of 2010 & Aug of 2012. Enjoy.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Career Day with a Debate

So this is an event my office has been planning for months. The Youth Mentor Sabalo, who is just an idea generating machine came up with it. And here it is and its massive:

The office is renting out a 3000 person theater hall and have invited and they accept all for urban high schools to attend. That is almost 2000 students who are getting out of school to go to this event. So the structure of the event is the back wall of the hall is filled with tables with professionals from all kinds of the different jobs for the students to talk to. I discovered a great HIV/AIDS MTV produced movie called Shuga that was introduced to me by Doctors Without Borders. And when they showed it to me, we didn't have any debate topics, so the movie became the center piece of the event and DWB had created a debate structure for divided into 3 parts.

LIFE'S AMAZING TIMING.

Well, 2 months later we are one week away from the event. And I feel my movie production gear getting kicked back into action after a year in hiding. There is a ton to do, very little money for such a big idea and lots of partners and people involved, so lots of communicating. And believe this very little of it is done by email. And since phone calls are expensive cell phone. It is very much old school literally, landline phones and printed out and HAND DELIVERED LETTERS. Yep, honest to god letters is still the standard way to get it done over here. We are using stamps cause everything is so close since it is a small town, but still the time wasted.

Anyway, I took the role of logistics coordinator and have been literally doing what I believe I may have been born to do and that is organize CHAOS.

It seemed like the wheels were going to come off today when AMICAALL canceled the funding from the event down from 5400 to only 1600 (the venue rental). A serious blow, but Sabelo and I am literally walked out the door with letters in hand to ask for money. And we found some. The Male Circumsion group called PSI spends money every month to partner with a group, they hadn't spent theirs yet, so they are giving it to us, of course now they get to be a part of a massive event.

The film business prepared me very well for this kind of day.

7 more to go before gametime. It is exciting.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, I have been visiting your blog. ¡Congratulations for your work! I invite you to visit my blog about literature, philosophy and films:
    http://alvarogomezcastro.over-blog.es

    Greetings from Santa Marta, Colombia

    Hola: Soy docente en Colombia. Admiro la labor que desarrollan los miembros de Cuerpos de Paz en muchos pa{ises. ¡Felicitaciones!

    ReplyDelete