Books for Butajira - updated wish list

    Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

   Corduroy, Don Freeman

   The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

  Good Night, Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann

   Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne

   The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey

   Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown

   The Story of Babar, Jean De Brunhoff

  The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters, Janet and Allan Ahlberg

   Gorilla, Anthony Browne

   Would You Rather?, John Burningham

   I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, Lauren Child

   Where’s Spot?, Eric Hill

       The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr

       The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss

       Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish

       Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Voirst

       The Arrival, Shaun Tan

       Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

       The Borrowers, Mary Norton

       Caps for Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina

       Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

                  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin and John Archambault

                  Curious George, H.A. Rey

                  Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems

                  Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel

                  George and Martha, James Marshall

                  The Giver, Lois Lowry

                  Jumanji, Chris Van Allsburg

                  The Lion and the Mouse, Jerry Pickney

                  Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans

                  Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey

                  Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale, John Steptoe

                  Olivia, Ian Falconer

                  Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

                  Ramona the Pest, Beverly Cleary

                  Rickshaw Girl, Mitali Perkins

                  The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

                  Strega Nona, Tomie dePaola

                  The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka

                  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, Verna Aardema

                  Oh, The Places You’ll Go, Dr. Seuss

                  The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

                  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig

                  Arthur, Marc Tolon Brown

                  My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett

                  Stuart Little, E.B. White

                  Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech

                  Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Richard Atwater

Books for Butajira

I absolutely love, love, love to read. Always have and always will. Living here though, I’ve come to realize how much I took all those books I’ve read for granted. In America books are easily accessible.  In Ethiopia though, most students have never seen or opened a fiction book or a children’s story book. The community has three libraries and my school also has one. The library at my school was recently built. There’s plenty of space and all the windows bring in enough light to make it a welcoming environment. The problem is that the only books on the shelves are textbooks and reference books. There is no fiction! Growing up I remember spending hours at the library. The library was part of my childhood and I can’t imagine not having one. Students here come to the library to study, which is good, but they don’t associate the library with reading for fun. There is no reading culture here and developing creativity, imagination, and critical thinking in these students is proving to be a huge challenge. So my goal in the next year and a half is to stock the library with all kinds of books for the students at Mekicho. That’s where you come in.

Friends and family, I need your help!! In a previous post I mentioned a book drive to get books to my school. Well, I have set up the book drive through a great organization called Better World Books. PCVs from previous groups have done this and have been very successful in their communities. All you have to do is buy the books online through the website, give them my address here in Butajira, and they ship it for free… yes for FREE!! All the way here in Ethiopia! And it gets better, the more books you buy, the more discounts you get. Below I have listed my address and a list of all the books I think would be great for my students. Buy them new or used, it’s up to you. I will update the list every week so you can see which books have been bought.

I hope to start developing a reading culture at the school with these books. I’m planning on working with interested teachers and the librarian to hold trainings for students on how to take care of the books if they want to check them out. I want to create reading logs, maybe create a reading club or have these in the library and have competitions for whoever reads the most books. I think it would also be great if we started a program where the older kids go and read to the younger kids. I know that just getting the books at the school will not solve any problems, but our school needs the basic materials to be able to start any of these reading programs. Just know that these books will not be sitting on shelves unused. I plan on working with my school to show them all the potential we have with these books.

If you know anyone that would be interested in helping me out, please let them know about this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would be extremely grateful and I know you would make many Ethiopian children happy.

I’ve made a list of some books I think would be great for the school. You can stick to the list or go through the website and find any others you like. There are hundreds to choose from. After you have purchased a book, please let me know which one so I can cross it off the list (facebook or email).

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas you can email me at chevallierhelena@gmail.com

Thank you all so, so much!!! Now, let’s get some books for these kids people!!!!!!

Here’s the website you can buy books at:

betterworldbooks.com

Send them to this address:

Helena Chevallier

PO Box 153

Butajira SNNPR

Ethiopia

If you already have books that you would like to donate, you can also send those to me, you will just have to pay for shipping on those and that gets expensive, but it’s up to you.

Thanks and I’ll update you soon.

Better World Books Wish List!

1)   Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

2)   Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

3)   The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein

4)   Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

5)   Corduroy, Don Freeman

6)   The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

7)   The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper

8)   Good Night, Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann

9)   Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne

10)                  Are You My Mother?, P.D. Eastman

11)                  The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Dav Pilkey

12)                  A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond

13)                  Flat Stanley, Jeff Brown

14)                  The Story of Babar, Jean De Brunhoff

15)                  Each Peach Pear Plum, Janet and Allan Ahlberg

16)                  The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters, Janet and Allan Ahlberg

17)                  Gorilla, Anthony Browne

18)                  Would You Rather?, John Burningham

19)                   The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle

20)                  I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, Lauren Child

21)                  Where’s Spot?, Eric Hill

22)                  The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr

23)                  The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss

24)                  Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish

25)                  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Voirst

26)                  The Arrival, Shaun Tan

27)                  Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

28)                  The Borrowers, Mary Norton

29)                  Caps for Sale, Esphyr Slobodkina

30)                  Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

31)                  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin and John Archambault

32)                  Curious George, H.A. Rey

33)                  Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems

34)                  Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel

35)                  George and Martha, James Marshall

36)                  The Giver, Lois Lowry

37)                  Jumanji, Chris Van Allsburg

38)                  The Lion and the Mouse, Jerry Pickney

39)                  Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans

40)                  Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey

41)                  Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale, John Steptoe

42)                  Olivia, Ian Falconer

43)                  Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

44)                  Ramona the Pest, Beverly Cleary

45)                  Rickshaw Girl, Mitali Perkins

46)                  The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

47)                  Strega Nona, Tomie dePaola

48)                  The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka

49)                  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, Verna Aardema

50)                  Oh, The Places You’ll Go, Dr. Seuss

51)                  The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

52)                  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig

53)                  The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper

54)                  Arthur, Marc Tolon Brown

55)                  Clifford, The Big Red Dog, Norman Bridwell

56)                  My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett

57)                  Stuart Little, E.B. White

58)                  Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech

59)                  Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Richard Atwater

60)                  Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Beverly Cleary

Teacher Trainings

My main focus as an education volunteer is to hold trainings for the English teachers at the primary schools in Butajira. I am here to support and help the teachers in any way that I can. Having completed my CENA, gone through our group’s IST (In-Service Training for G9) and with the second semester begun, I along with the education office here in Butajira started programming for the teacher trainings. After a brief meeting with the head of the education office, other members of the office and the cluster supervisor, we decided to focus the trainings on active learning methodologies since that it what the Ethiopian English syllabus wants teachers to focus on. We have teacher trainings planned for the next 6 weeks, every Saturday morning from 9am to noon. Teachers are split into 2 cycles. Cycle 1 teachers grades 5 – 8 while cycle 2 teachers grades 1 – 4. Teachers meet every other week depending on which cycle they are. In all, 28 English teachers were invited from the 4 primary schools in the Butajira area.

            Safe to say I’ve been pretty nervous and uneasy about holding these trainings probably ever since I found out this was what my job entailed, so for a few months now. I held my first training yesterday morning. Of the 16 cycle 1 teachers that were expected to come, 13 showed up. I was pleased with that number. I prepared all week, going through all the material volunteers from previous groups had given me, my notes from my own training sessions with Peace Corps, and all the material we had received from Peace Corps. It was a lot. All week I prepared flip charts to present to the teachers and went into town to print out some useful handouts for them. I decided to start with an introduction to communicative teaching methodology and to compare it with other methodologies that are commonly used in Ethiopia. I did my best to make the trainings as active as possible so that teachers would see how they can use active learning in their lessons. I had the teachers start by sharing their own teaching experiences. Teachers don’t seem to do much collaboration and I think it would be to their benefit to share their classroom experiences and practices. We then looked over the teaching methodologies that were previously used in Ethiopia and what method (communicative language teaching or active learning) the new syllabus is expecting teachers to follow. I thought this would be a good idea so teachers could see what method their teaching falls under and what practices they should aim for.  

            After our sai-bunna break (tea/coffee break which also includes a fried pastry called koker that I love) I thought it would be a good idea to discuss doing group work and pair work in the classroom since this is one of the techniques of active learning. Many of the teachers do not know how to incorporate group work into their lessons or if they do, they have trouble making it effective. Having eighty plus students in your classroom however makes it difficult to make group work successful. I split the teachers into groups and had them discuss some of the challenges and advantages that they have when doing group/pair work. Next, I gave them a handout and went over some group work activities that they can do in their own lessons. I challenged them to try one of these techniques in the next 2 weeks, reflect on what they did, and bring their notes and ideas back to the next training.

            To finish the training, I had the teachers answer some feedback questions. I asked them what they liked and didn’t like about the training they received, and what trainings they would be interested in receiving in the future. All the feedback was positive. Teachers thanked me for giving the training and are excited for the next one. They explained that they never receive any material so these trainings are great. They seemed to really appreciate what I was doing and the work I had put into it. They want to continue coming to the trainings which was great to hear. I couldn’t be happier with the results and I’m excited for the next 5 weeks of training.

One last point I’d like to mention. I feel that there is a lot of pressure put on teachers, English teachers in particular since all subjects are taught in English from 5^th grade on. They are being pushed to teach using more communicative methods and make their lessons student-centered instead of teacher-centered, but they have very few resources, their classroom sizes are ridiculously large, and they are not given any material on how to make their lessons communicative. They are told to use active learning, but they have never been taught how to use such methods. I have a lot of work to do in the next year and a half but if anything, this first training showed me that the teachers want my help and are ready to work with me. I’m excited for the work ahead. The future looks good.  

My model classroom

After my last post was pretty negative, I’m hoping this one will make you smile. One of my tasks as an education volunteer is to set up a model classroom. I don’t do any direct teaching or have my own set of students (except for my English club). The space I am given is to be used to show how a classroom can be used as a teaching tool either by decorating it in a certain way or making and putting up examples of teaching aids. It’s important to create a welcoming environment for students to want to learn and study. A typical Ethiopian classroom has a used/cracked chalkboard, dirt floors, mud walls, and is filled with old, overused wooden desks. There are usually 3-4 students to a desk (at least at my school) meant for only 2. Average class size at my school is 80 students. In the lower grades (grades 1 and 2) however, I have seen over 100 students in a class! It’s pretty overwhelming and I don’t know how the teachers do it. Most rooms are very dark and somber looking. As you can imagine this does not create the best learning space for students.

Since I’ve gotten my model classroom I’ve been working on making it a nice space for both the teachers and the students to enjoy. I had the room painted a few weeks after I was given the key. Since then, I’ve gotten some more desks from my school and a chalkboard. (I’ve been very lucky with my placement in this school system. The administrative staff, the teachers, and the education office support me completely. They are always telling me that anything I need to just ask. My counterpart, the cluster supervisor for Butajira primary schools, tells me not to worry every time he sees me. Whatever I need he will get it for me. I know this is not the situation for a lot of volunteers so I’m very thankful for this placement). With the model classroom I’m to show how teachers can make their own teaching aids using few resources. I thought I would post some pictures of what I’ve been working on. It’s not completely finished, but I’m getting there and so far, the school seems to like it. Teachers and students come in when I’m there to look at what I’ve done and read all of my posters. The education office has visited my room and they would like me to show and help teachers do this in the classrooms of the younger grades.

            Some of the projects I’m doing in my classroom include English club and teacher trainings. I’ve got an English club for grades 7 and 8 already going. We meet once a week for an hour, on English Day (Thursday for my school). I’ve included pictures of what we did in our last meeting. We discussed setting goals and made “Life Goals Tree.” We talked about not only the importance of setting goals (represented by the branches of the tree) but also knowing the steps we need to make to make our goals a reality (represented by the roots of the tree). The roots help us get to our goal. When the students were finished I had them tape their trees on the walls.

I’d like to start a club for grades 5 and 6 as well so hopefully in the next couple weeks that will be set up. This week I’ll be going to one of the other primary schools in Butajira to discuss getting a space for a model classroom and setting up some English clubs that I can run with the English teachers. This week, I will also be starting a series of teacher trainings to last 6 weeks for all the English teachers in the primary schools of Butajira (look for a future post on how that goes).  

And finally, thanks to a donation from one of my wonderful friends in America, I have books in my classroom as well!! With my classroom being almost finished I brought the books to school and now slowly, students are coming in to look at them and read them. This makes me so, so happy!! I’ve got a project lined up for a book drive to start collecting some more books for my school so be on the lookout for that in the future.

I have to say, it feels good to finally have some stuff happening. 

Having a rough week

Last week was probably one of my worst weeks here. Nothing seemed to go right and it made me feel like terrible emotionally speaking. Everything seemed to go wrong all at once, I guess that’s how it usually happens. First, things didn’t seem to be moving at my school. Looking back on it I was probably impatient, but I felt like I was getting nothing done. Second, the harassment seemed to be worse than usual. Maybe I was just noticing it more last week or maybe after weeks and weeks of ignoring it you finally just can’t take it anymore. That’s probably more like it. Sometimes the harassment just makes me want to cry. To add to the negativity, I had communication issues with my landlady. The light bulb in my bedroom went out so I went to ask her what kind I needed to buy to replace it and where I could get one. After I bought it, I thought I had bought the wrong one so I went to my landlady’s house again. She speaks no English and I speak almost no Amharic so having had a bad day, plus not being able to communicate and needing my light bulb fixed I got so frustrated and impatient. After understanding one another I felt like shit because I had been impatient with her, so then I felt like an awful person and hated myself. I told myself I was a terrible Peace Corps Volunteer. Again, not great for my already fragile emotional state.

To top off my week, my 7^th and 8^th grade English club was to meet for the first time this semester (we met a couple times last semester). The English teacher who helps me set it up said he told all the students about it. I spent quite a bit of time working on a lesson plan. When the meeting finally came, only five students showed up. I had not prepared myself for this at all. My lesson plan was meant for the entire class. So when I realized that those five were it, I had no idea what to do. I was completely unprepared. We did a short activity that I had planned and then I had them read some books. After club, I walked home and felt like the biggest failure. I don’t know how to describe it. I have never had that feeling before. I was disappointed in myself. I was mad at myself and mad at Ethiopia. I kept asking myself what I was doing here if no one was going to come to my events. And then if I get harassed every time I walk out of my compound people must not want me here. These were the thoughts running through my head. Throughout training Peace Corps tells you to be flexible because many of the things that you plan won’t go how you want them to, but no one told me how this would affect me emotionally. After getting over the fact that only five students came, I hated myself because I felt like I had failed those five students. I felt like I had given up when I realized they were all that were going to come that day. I kept telling myself I should have been prepared for that to happen. I felt like the biggest failure and walking out of that classroom after the hour was over I had no idea how I was going to get back from this.

So of course I called my girl Theresa and told her what had happened and how I was feeling. It’s always nice to have your feelings validated and know that other volunteers are going through the same stuff as you. I still didn’t feel great, but after our conversation I felt better. What I needed to do was go home, watch a stupid movie, eat some chocolate, and worry about Ethiopia after the weekend. And that’s what I did. I had a Skype date with my sister that night and I feel like an awful sister because when she asked me how my day was I flat out told her, “I don’t want to talk about it, seriously.” Because I thought if I told someone back home what happened I would start crying and feel like an even bigger failure. That’s not what you want people back home to know. You don’t want them to know you failed, that what you are doing isn’t working, that you want to quit. Well now that I’m feeling better I feel I have the strength to tell you how it is, at least for this week, who knows what Peace Corps will have for me next week.   

So what did I learn from all this? Failure sucks and having “Bridesmaids” on your hard drive is a life saver. But no matter how painful failing is, I’m seeing how necessary it is in understanding how to do better and how to improve. And as Theresa told me, my English club wasn’t a failure. It didn’t go as planned but that doesn’t mean it failed. And now I know how to go about it in the future. For my next English club, I went into it with a completely different attitude. Expect nothing and everything, be flexible, and don’t give up. If only five students show up then you teach those five students and they get all your attention. As for the harassment, there are people who don’t want me here. I just need to face the facts. Probably a lot of people don’t want a white girl here. But I know some people who are happy to have me, who want my support and help, so I need to focus on those people and talk and hang out with them. I shouldn’t worry about the rest.

Last week I felt like I fell, deep, very deep. When I fell, I wanted to go home and give up. I got back up though, didn’t let last week get to me and put it behind me. Instead, I had a pretty amazing week this week. Probably the best week I’ve had in country so far. Oh Peace Corps, what are you doing to me?

And with that I leave you with this quote:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”

 – Winston Churchill

Understanding Culture

In the afterword of a book that I just finished reading the author writes, “I realized that the world we live in isn’t defined by a collection of countries at odds with one another, but by the striking commonalities of the individuals who compose those countries” (John Shors). These words resonated well with me and made me ponder my experience here in Ethiopia. On my good days, I couldn’t agree more with Shors. The great part about this experience is seeing that at the end of day, humans are very similar. We all laugh and cry. We all feel happiness and sadness. The bond among family and friends holds the same strength and importance everywhere. These people exist in America and they exist in Ethiopia. Coming across such realizations makes all of this worth it. On my bad days though, when I’m trying to enjoy a hike with fellow volunteers and kids follow us, yelling at us, taunting us and nothing we do makes them stop, or when I get verbally and sexually harassed when I’m walking through the middle of town, or when I bump heads with teachers at my school because they put all the blame on their students for getting bad scores and can’t seem to see how the teacher can have a lot to do with it, in those moments I feel very differently than John Shors and I can’t help thinking that across countries, humans aren’t always the same.

            In these moments I am reminded that I am different. I can’t help feeling that even though we may all be human, our cultural differences, the environment we live in and our own personal experiences set us apart. This can be difficult and exhausting to deal with. And in those instances where I get so frustrated and I just want to scream and give up, I have to remind myself of where these differences come from. For instance with the harassment that I receive, I get it because of my skin color and because of my gender. I have to remind myself that Ethiopians, certainly children, are not used to seeing foreigners. I on the other hand, grew up in a country full of diversity so seeing people of all shades and colors is normal to me and at times I am left wondering why someone always need to scream at me when I’m walking down the street. Instead of getting angry, I have to remind myself that seeing people of a different color is not common, so I shouldn’t get angry every time it happens. With the sexual harassment, I remind myself that I am living in a country where men dominate and control everything. They have the say in everything and most Ethiopian women are to stay quiet and subservient. America still has work to do when it comes to gender equality, but I can promise you that we are way ahead of Ethiopia in that department. I have had to alter so much of my behavior as a woman for my own safety because I cannot be the way I am in America in Ethiopia and feel safe. And to have to change an important part of who you are, not because you want to, but so you can feel safe is difficult and was hard to grasp and understand when I first got here. With my teachers at school, I have to remind myself that the teaching methods they use are all they have ever known. This is how they were taught when they were students, this is how they were told to teach and they are working and living in a system where hierarchy is everything.

            So what’s the point of this post you might ask? What am I trying to get at? Well to be honest, I want my readers to see how confusing and lost I feel living here and to show the constant struggle and debate that is going on in my head. Are we the same or are we different? I’m trying to understand the people I am surrounded by. I’m trying to understand who I am and why I am the way I am. Why do I think this way while the people around me think a different way? And other times, why do different people respond to something in the same way? Sometimes I love Ethiopia. Other times I can’t stand being here. There are instances where I get to see the things that connect all of us humans together, regardless of our nationalities, and that is beautiful. Other moments though, I see how big of an impact culture has on every one of us and how different cultures do set us apart. But no matter how frustrating this whole experience can be, I think the point of Peace Corps is to show that by understanding one another’s cultures and what makes us who we are, we can bring peace. Too often conflicts arise because of cultural differences and people don’t take the time to understand why a person is the way they are. And if we don’t take the time to understand one another it is inevitable that we will never get along. But understanding another person’s culture is a huge challenge. I’m trying to figure out Ethiopia every day and it’s a constant struggle. 

My changing views on International Development

It has been way too long since my last blog post, but I have a good excuse. G9 had its In-Service Training (IST) so I was kept busy for a couple of weeks. It was wonderful getting to see everyone after 3 months. We got to share experiences, the good, the bad, the ugly.  

On to my post for today, during our time in Addis, my good friend and fellow PCV Delia met some expats. The following week she was invited to a lunch they were attending and invited me to go along with her. As soon as we arrived at the home, it felt like we had stepped out of Ethiopia and entered America. The house and yard were beautiful. They were having a barbecue for expats. Everyone was dressed so nice, in clothes that I would never dare be seen wearing in Butajira. The food was amazing. I had desert and wine!!! A lot of the people there worked for big organizations, such as the UN, Save the Children, UNICEF, etc. There were Americans, Italians, Germans, Mexicans, Columbians, and others. After a couple hours with them though, both Delia and I got the sense that these people did not step out of Addis very much, let alone their homes and workplaces. One girl stated point blank that she had no desire to visit Ethiopia. These people drive everywhere they go, so they never really step into Ethiopia. One couple lived down the block and drove … yes, drove to the home where the barbecue was at. It looked pretty ridiculous. If they do see anything of Ethiopia, they take their nice cars and stay at expensive resorts, which is far from an accurate depiction of the country. It became clear that mine and Delia’s experience in Ethiopia and the ones of these expats was very different. You could almost say we were living in two different countries. And it got me thinking. The majority of these people work for some high profile organizations. They have positions that really matter.They work in positions where they have the power to make a difference, but they never step out of their little cocoon, so how can they really be helping Ethiopia? They are the ones making big, important decisions, decisions that will probably affect a lot of people, yet they can’t really tell you anything about Ethiopians. Because even if they know Addis, I can tell you that Addis is not Ethiopia. When Delia and I walked out of there I think we were both shocked. That first week of IST I had been feeling a bit low. I was questioning myself and what I was doing. It was one of my lower points in my service thus far, but walking away from that barbecue I remember getting a feeling of happiness. It’s hard sometimes. Well it’s hard a lot. But if I’m going to live here I’d much rather do it at a similar standard than Ethiopians. That lunch was just what I needed to boost my spirits and be happy with what I am doing. (Let me be clear that not all of the expats that I described above were like this. I am only speaking in general terms)

That afternoon that Delia and I spent with the expats led perfectly to a discussion we had in one of our sessions during our second week of IST with a PC staff member. Interesting fact before I continue. I think it is important for people to get rid of any misconceptions they may have about where the US stands when it comes to foreign aid. I think many believe that the US spends too much money to help other countries and should focus more on domestic issues. Well they are wrong. Fact is, the US spends less than 1% on foreign aid!  So if anything the US should be spending more.

Back to our session during IST, the leader of our discussion started off by asking us how we felt about international development. Had our feelings of international development changed in the past 6 months? Had we become more cynical, less cynical? Was it a career we wanted to continue after our service in the Peace Corps was over? Did we think international development was helpful or hurtful in the end?

When I first got to Ethiopia, my feelings on the Peace Corps were pretty neutral. I didn’t know exactly how I felt about it. Over the past 6 months, I’ve come to believe in the Peace Corps mission. The organization has grown on me and I feel that it is one of the best development organizations out there. On the other hand, I have to be honest and say that I’ve grown much more cynical of international development work in general. At least at this point, 6 months into my service, this is where I stand. Having lunch with all those foreigners validated my feelings. I feel that the international community has created an environment in the Global South where all people see when they see foreigners is money. They aren’t wrong for thinking this. Every day I have Ethiopians who ask me for stuff. People here always want me to give, give, give, because that is all they have ever seen foreigners do. Ethiopians are always surprised at how long my stay is here because they are used to only seeing foreigners here a few weeks or a couple months at a time. I don’t want to dismiss all organizations however. I do think some do very good and necessary work. But this discussion got all of us thinking. One volunteer stated that if foreign aid stopped wouldn’t people be forced to take care of themselves and figure out how to help their country on their own? Another volunteer responded to this by saying that if Americans got out of international development, another country would just step in and do it so pulling out is not the answer. Over the years, international development work as made some progress. There is still much work that needs to be fixed within the system, but it is getting better. Also, yes the Peace Corps is a great organization but does that mean that every organization should be doing international development in the same way as Peace Corps? Is it really possible to put all international aid workers on the field, living at this standard? Would that solve any problems? I don’t think that is the answer either. The Peace Corps model is great, but we also need those organizations that give money, the ones that build the schools, the hospitals, etc. Without those buildings we can’t do any work. Overall I can conclude that we can’t just do nothing and pull out of international development. Does international development work need improvement? Absolutely. I’m proud to be in the Peace Corps but I am questioning whether or not I want to continue in this line of work when my service comes to an end. These are my feelings after only 6 months in country. They are not set in stone and will more than likely be changing throughout the next 20 months.