These pictures are of children painting at my camp, a wooden church in Maramures and the Primarie or Mayor's office in Sighisoara, Transylvania decorated for Christmas!!
I have been in country for one year and working at my job for about 9 months now. I have made about 2400 contacts with children in the classrooms. I work in 12 schools with 17 different teachers. I have worked mostly with 5th -8th graders and some high schoolers. I work in some villages around my town as well as in my large town.
From now until the end of the school year, we are having a contest to see how much plastic the schools can recycle. Students need to keep a journal and will get extra points for beautifying their grounds and keeping their school grounds clean.
Trash on the ground or littering is quite a problem in my city. The Primarie or mayor's office does a pretty good job of keeping the streets clean. It is the school grounds and the grounds outside blocs or apartment buildings that need the greatest attention now.
I also started a summer day camp last summer. We hope to improve on it and have two more camps this summer. We worked with the zoo and had the camp near their grounds. So we spent a day getting to know the animals at the zoo, we did a bird day, a water day and a compass day. The compass day entailed using a compass to do a scavenger hunt. The kids had a great time and we did too.
Since I have been here, I had a grandson, Auggy born. So in September I went to the states to visit him. Since then I have traveled by train mostly, to many parts of Romania. I have been up to Maramures where the wooden churches are. I have been in the northeast part of the country where it is quite beautiful. I have been to medieval cities in Transylvania as well.
Romania is a beautiful country with quite a mountain range for the size of the country. I have not been to the seaside or the Danube Delta. That must come this summer.
Peace Corps will be phasing out the environmental sector after this year. Instead, they will only have English teachers and they will try to place them in small towns and villages where the need is greater. So, some fellow enviros and teachers and I have been putting together a curriculum to help them teach environmental lessons since we won't be here to do that. We are doing a pilot program this spring we put together for 5th-8th grades.
So, la revedere for now. I do not update this blog often. I am too busy with my work or my traveling to see other parts of my country. Sorry!!
1 comment:
Hi Susie,
My name is Amelia Hakim.
Hope you get to see this soon...Jennifer Yess & I are in aerobics together...she gave me this blog & tried to send you an email to contact me if you are willing...it came back to her.
I've signed up for the Peace Corp and will be having my interview 10/29/09 here in Dertoit at Wayne State...
I'm a little older than you but we appear to have some things in common...the trilogies & potter,classical/ celtic music.
They are apparently going to have me doing business development / advising since that is the skill area I had to elaborate...I'm hoping to be placed in a spanish speaking country since I already have some spanish.
My background is 25 yrs with Unisys doing 12 different jobs up to Exec Ed'n; worked up to a high level in co. I also had my own small business...Skate World of Troy for 30 yrs until sold end 2004( time overlapped obviously)...I'm divorced, no children and am delighted to be going forward with the peace corp now that my condo here will be sold!
I was hoping to be able to connect with someone my age currently in the peace corp doing business development/advising and Jennifer thought you or your friend Pan?? did that.
In any case it would be great if you have time...haha...to connect with me...your blog has helped with some of my questions though since it appears my job responsibilities would mirror some of the work you do in advising & start up!
Sounds like you are doing good work! Did you go home between your 3 month training in country and going to your site in Romania or did I misunderstand?
Amelia Hakim
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