pleasantly surprised

11/8/2002:
good day today. feels like a pleasant summer afternoon back home. the last few days have felt like this, as we move into the dry season. these transitions between seasons here are great. such pleasant weather.

my APCD paid me a visit. a "how are you?" visit, as he put it. but we talked about quite a few things. in fact, i'm really very happy with the entire thing. go figure! between this visit today and my talk with the CD, our administration is actually being receptive/responsive.

i was pleasantly surprised by my APCD today. the things he said about the teacher training program i would've never expected from him. same man i had that conversation with in Yaounde a few weeks ago? it's like night and day.

i guess he'd heard it from enough people (and seen it himself in Nkambe, at least) that our teacher training program... well, sucks. to put it a little less than technically. i vented about students, teachers and school admin. he listened. talked, too, of course. and i even asked and got answers to long-time questions:

1. Q: why not primary school PCV teachers? A: because we're over-qualified, capacity building is low, and their needs too great or numbers too big.
2. Q: why not educational consulting PCVs working in an entire town at various schools? A: because we'd have to work with a local delegation office (Lord no!) and need PCVs with skills which aren't easy to find.

these aren't absolute/final answers... but they were good to hear, regardless. i still think we could diversify our approach, and take PCV placement case-by-case. placing some here, some there. according to their skills. that's probably tough to manage, though. they are thinking about placement in technical schools. SARs [i've forgotten what this acronym stands for?], too. but who'll have those skills coming in? anyway. at least i got decent answers. acceptable. and no doors shut.

i'm telling you! this was a different man. i wonder if the CD spoke with him? he even copied down the numbers i showed him on NW/SW TTC [teacher training college] admissions. he said he'd take them to MINEDUC [education ministry] in Yaounde and speak to the man in charge of TTCs/ENIEGs. ask him why they're so low and what they're going to do, if anything, to change that.

so he'll get it from the horse's mouth, instead of all this local speculation about whether the government will or will not do anything about our situation. no assimilation. low attendance. low motivation. if not apathy. too many teachers. i'd love to hear what this man in charge has to say about all that. i'll have to follow-up with my APCD.

hmmm... we also spoke about extension. transferring to Morocco, 1st. extending up North, 2nd. he'd hoped i'd entertain staying on as PCVL [peace corps volunteer leader] in Bamenda. ummm... no. i don't know??? all that - transferring, extending, etc. - seems distant now. a remote possibility. what changed? me, family, grad school? God knows.

get this. my APCD even told Auntie that if she didn't get more students next year, no PCV. i think she just won't get a PCV, regardless. we went out to visit GBSS [govt bilingual secondary school]. my APCD knows the principal there well. seems they were classmates. seems he had a PCV in Bafmen before. even asked my APCD to send another his way. good for him. i'm going to strongly recommend one. will fill out the site prospective form in december, insha'Allah. after i do some more research on the school.

i hope to be as blunt with Auntie as my APCD was today. should've seen how deferential she was to him! really, though... why do we humor her? protocol, yes. but i should just tell it like it is. i ain't gonna lose a job. she needs to hear why she (not she, our school) isn't getting a PCV. it's complicated. a shame, also. i don't want to see us pull out of training teachers completely. to lost that capacity building. maybe things will change? in other schools, if not ours.

so my APCD is leaving that option open. and the option for PCVs to teach at a TTC if they wish. he'll make a teacher training component available in PST [pre-service training]. albeit limited. i doubt secondary school teachers will look for more teaching hours at their local TTC, though. and vice-versa.

so... some questions answered. some questions remain. all in all, i'm quite satisfied.

"grow up: how to fix the peace corps"

robert strauss just published yet another article on "how to fix the peace corps" (American Interest, Jan/Feb 2010). this is something like his 3rd or 4th public piece on the topic. as always – though i'm sure not everyone in the peace corps community would agree – i found the article intelligent, insightful, scathing and well-written.

i agree with just about all of the main points strauss makes, though i'd take the edge out of the piece if i was writing it. but that's robert's style. it stings... just to make sure you're paying attention. for the most scathing peace corps critique, however, one still has to go back to ivan illich's 1968 "to hell with good intentions."

again, i don't agree with everything in strauss' article. but i do think his major suggestions for "re-imagining" the peace corps are right on point. that idea in and of itself, for the peace corps to re-imagine itself anew, is a compelling one.

here are nine of his main "fixes" for the peace corps (eight more suggestions can be found in the original piece):

1. tabling any discussion of enlarging the Peace Corps until it fixes the basics regarding administration, recruiting, country selection and volunteer placement;
   
2. reducing the number of political appointees from around thirty to two or three;
3. getting rid of the Peace Corps’s unique-in-government rule, which forces 85 percent of all American staff members out of the agency, along with whatever expertise they have gained, after a maximum of five years of employment;
4. exponentially increasing support to volunteers so that they are visited and supervised directly every six weeks rather than every six months, as is currently the norm under the best of conditions;
5. getting serious about doing meaningful, quantifiable work that makes a difference in standards of living overseas;
6. demanding a much higher standard of volunteer performance (and a much lower AWOL rate);
7. providing post-service benefits, comparable to the GI bill, so that more Americans would serve in the Peace Corps in the first place;
8. focusing on a limited number of technical fields that would give volunteers true expertise to offer; and
9. allowing terms of service shorter than the standard 24 months so that, again, more people could consider serving

all that said, i disagree with a point strauss makes in the article about peace corps' "unwritten 4th goal" (here are the first three PC goals). perhaps not total disagreement, but i'd state the point differently. strauss writes:

And forget the unwritten fourth goal of the Peace Corps being a place for young Americans to “expand their horizons.” Host countries aren’t interested in Americans who are searching for life’s meaning; they’re looking for people who can get stuff done. Americans who are lost, whether young or old, don’t often “find themselves” in developing countries.

i agree that inexperienced, unprofessional and immature volunteers aren't going to learn much about themselves or do much to help others. but i do think experienced, professional and mature volunteers learn a good deal about themselves through their peace corps experience.

and here's where i really emphasize my difference with robert's take... that if such volunteers aren't learning something about themselves, then there's something wrong. precisely b/c that would mean that they're not open to learning from others as others learn from them.

if they aren't open to that deep reflection and learning about another culture (or people or way of doing things) as they work together to "get stuff done," and to learning about themselves in the process, then something is very wrong.

i frame this in teaching-learning language, b/c i'm an educator. for robert strauss and others, it's about development. but there's international development and its focus on results (with facts and figures, monitoring and evaluation), and then there's internal or self-development that facts and figures can't capture. but that relationship, between "development agents" and "recipients," can. in both directions.

i suppose this comes down to what part of the relationship/results (or process/product) pairing one chooses to emphasize. robert strauss is emphasizing the importance of results for peace corps. a major point of neglect for an organization that thinks of itself as an agent of sustainable development.

on my part, i'd emphasize relationship for peace corps volunteers as agents of development. i wouldn't disparage that unwritten 4th goal, b/c the kind of cross-cultural learning implied by goals 2 and 3 isn't enough. americans need to learn more about themselves through more open, engaged, and unprejudiced relationship with other peoples.

but ivan illich's words still haunt us, in that regard: "The damage which volunteers do willy-nilly is too high a price for the belated insight that they shouldn't have been volunteers in the first place" (from To Hell with Good Intentions, 1968). i have two points to make about this. the first is cynical... maybe it is important for other people to learn how "lost" young americans can be, in spite of all the stuff we bring along with us!

my second response to illich's argument is that, in this day and age (though surely even in his), it isn't simply volunteers going abroad that "do damage." our american lifestyle does enough of that, without us even having to leave the comfort of our homes, cars, supermarkets, schools, suburbs, etc. i'm making a social, politico-economic and ecological argument here.

with that in mind, perhaps it is important for a generation of americans (not immature and inexperienced) to learn about themselves and their lifestyles... and about what it means for other people in the world, who can only dream about living that life. and what it means for a world that couldn't sustain it if well all did.

training americans to be change agents is what the peace corps is about. but you can't bring change if you're not open to it yourself. in fact, if you're not open to changing first. as i've written before, my notion of change starts inward and reverberates outward. in both directions. in my case, that means for both this young american and for his cameroonian friends and colleagues.

administrative grievances

8/12/2002:
10 past 1AM. latest i've been up on my own since . . . had a long apres-midi nap, rain and a visit from Todd earlier this evening. a little tired. should sleep. tomorrow will be busy. need to get my 1/4 reports done, a letter of recommendation for Paul and the GLOBE lectures. small-small...

had a long talk with Todd just now. PC Admin gripes, of course. around that letter from the CD. so here's the "specifics" he was asking for:

• pre-service training (PST) interview... be frank about what the administration cannot or will not do for the new volunteers-to-be. be more transparent about posts and the requirements they may have.
• general feedback (including in-service training (IST) and site-visits)... be forthcoming with information from past experience with PCVs and posts... don't just say this hasn't worked in the past, explain why it didn't work. give suggestions and explanations based on this.
• open to "new" ideas and approaches... basically, get us off the need to know basis. share information. develop a mutual give and take, within the context of a supervisory relationship. explain why you do things this or that way, or why they're done at all.

Todd also got me thinking about any association with admin... WHY BOTHER? do your job. less frustration. more contribution. job satisfaction. we came for service and cross-culture, not paper-work and bureaucracy.

and i'm thinking about this EE position, NW Provincial Rep... WHY? travel, long not-so-fruitful but frustrating meetings and what else? i have done and will continue to do EE. someone else can attempt to coordinate. i'm unsure... maybe i'll keep an open mind through the first meeting.

on training...

so what is TDW?... it stands for Training Design Workshop (which comes before TOT, but that'll come up after a few more posts). TDW is several days worth of meetings b/w peace corps' lead (in-country) trainers and a few volunteers who'll be involved in training the next batch of trainees-soon-to-be-volunteers.

we're basically outlining the incoming peace corps trainees' (PCTs) pre-service training (PST) schedule, making sure we hit all the competencies they need in each of the 5 training components...

1. language
2. personal health
3. safety & security
   
4. cross-cultural
5. technical

...and in an integrated way. i.e. in such a way that these various components reinforce and strengthen each other. this, along with community-based training (CBT) or learning/living with a host-family in-country, is supposed to make training more realistic and relevant. less abstract.

i share all this as insight into how PCVs are trained. a lot of theory goes into this, and much experience and learning on the part of trainers and the peace corps in general. so is this enough?... are PCVs well trained?

i think so. if you come in with the right mindset and skill-set – though what these are is an entirely different, yet very important and relevant debate – i think peace corps training is more than adequate.

but i also think there are things peace corps simply can't train you for. nor can they be realistically expected to. there is a basic set of skills (or, if you like, KSAs... knowledge, skills and abilities) that you need, and peace corps offers them to you in training... but beyond that, each volunteer's experience will be different. that's obvious, right?... life can't be predicted or controlled.

so at some point, being a peace corps volunteer at post – or being human, really – becomes less about control and more about clarity of mind in response to the unpredictable. granted, training people to be better decision-makers can help in those situations. in any situation. but no matter how well you've been trained, they'll always be something you just aren't ready to handle...

that's where this story starts:

in this town. on this hill. in the middle of this road... since the Germans first opened it. if not since the Lord first put it there. there has been this rock...

TDW Day 2

5/23/2002: TDW Day 2

Writing Integrated Competencies (with David)

Integration across language, personal health, safety & security (S&S), cross-cultural (X-C) and technical components of training:

• Health/S&S: risky behavior (HIV/AIDS, alcohol and drugs)
• Lang/X-C: cultural notes w/in context of lesson
• Tech/X-C: context of work (info on ministries/politics)
• Lang/S&S: survival language skills
• X-C/S&S: culturally appropriate behavior
• Lang/Health: survival language skills

Definitions:

• task: an action (many = activity) towards achieving an objective
• competency: a desired level of KSA (knowledge, skills and abilities)
• integrated competency: one that involves attaining level in more than one component
• learning objective: specific level to be attained after a session/activity (many gained = competency)
• activity: work towards achieving objective
• session plan: (many = activity) lessons that, after achieving objective, lead to competency

to make an impact

2/3/2002:
looks like Mali will be playing Cameroon in the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations. they beat South Africa in Kayes [western Mali] today. Cameroon plays Egypt before the semis... don’t think that’ll be a problem.

reached Weh today. Maggie and i, of course. took the road to Esu a little out of town to this rock outcrop. nice view. whole thing took a couple hours. introduced Maggie to Pa Wango on they way back.

she thought he was cute. he is. also sensed he’d be a great person to sit and talk to. he is. i cannot believe i neglected to introduce him to mama. bad form on my part. especially b/c he’s got kids in the Maryland/DC area. alas...

a note. Maggie and i had mexican last night. got to talking about posts and PC admin. after dinner. especially as i got a package with some memos in it... Grace [PC staff from Yaounde] came out to visit her brother, the State Counsel.

anywho... we were talking about posts. my opinion is put volunteers in small, remote villages and give them a post-mate. that towns like Wum (and by implication, anything bigger) are too big for volunteers to make an impact.

Maggie agreed that it’s difficult to make a difference in larger towns, but that that is the challenge. to make an impact in towns like that. Africa is heading in that direction... urbanization, that is. and that’s an important step in development.

it’s easy to make an impact or a difference in a small village... the same needs to be done in towns, though. and that may be the setting where we’re needed most.

grievances

11/21/2001:
been a little while since i've written here. guess i’m adjusting to the Ramadan schedule. my APCD came around a week early for site visit. he and our PCMO [Peace Corps Medical Officer]. no big deal. house and yard were clean. mosquito net wasn’t up. the Doctor wasn’t overly concerned about that. said i should get it up though.

the APCD observed my Year 2 EE lesson on Biotic Interactions. no TELE-aids today, of course. no big deal. he said it went fine. it did. i tried to talk to him about some of my concerns but nothing came out or across clearly. GTTC issues. house issues. site issues. they’re not really ISSUES, just things i’d like him to know about. things a good volunteer “should” (?) be critical about. but, again, nothing came out right.

not surprising when i think about it, though. just finished writing a Peace & Freedom entry about it. the APCD only wants to hear that we’re happy, healthy, safe... and working to some extent. all else bounces off his shield of “i’m the APCD, the man with all the answers.” that’s not fair though, b/c i suppose that’s the case with Admin in general. only PCVL Mike has sat and listened enough (and empathized... i guess that’s the key) to allow me to vent with satisfaction. the rest of the PCVs too, of course.

it’s funny how we learn, with time out here, who to vent about things to. it’s sad that the people who listen are only the ones in our shoes and, in many ways, as helpless to do something about the status quo as us. so we learn to bite our tongues and keep all those things we want changed (no matter how trivial or grand) inside... we just say what they want to hear. the easy/simple/clean/comfortable answer. “no, all is well... no complaints.” God forbid we be dubbed complainers.

it’s sad b/c that’s exactly how things don’t get done. how they don’t get changed. strange how we adapt to so much of the culture. even the notion that you can’t change things... at least not with your voice/tongue/words. that’s too bad. b/c it’s a good thing in American society. all the higher-ups need critical, constructive and regular feedback. here it’s not thought of as feedback but complaints. and it’s not wanted and looked into but dealt with on the spot with some half-assed answer. “good, on to the next point.” bounces off people like a dud.

only once have complaints (no i’ll use grievances) been dealt with effectively... our 'gripe-session' at the end of stage with the CD. but you get the sense that he listened and took in the difficult, uneasy answers b/c he could do something about them. would be quick/easy for him to follow up and change things. so is everyone else who has grievances bounce off them just doing so b/c they really can’t change things? or don’t want to go through the trouble of getting the ball rolling to do so?

this has been a journal entry about grievances and the art of accepting/handling them. this journal entry itself is a grievance. not to some higher authority that can change things. but to/for myself. at least i listen. at least i let myself vent. at least i don’t attempt to answer every grievance even when i can’t. at least i can admit that some things cannot be easily answered or realistically/effectively/efficiently dealt with. but i listen and i let myself speak my mind.

AES-SONEL

so my last entry had a somewhat tangential comment on the recently privatized Cameroonian electric utility, SONEL. who bought it just a few months before i (an american peace corps volunteer) first started interacting with it at post? an american firm, of course. AES Corporation... “one of the world’s largest power companies... in 28 countries on 5 continents.”

i bring all this up b/c i think there are some interesting parallels (and perpendiculars, if you will) b/w AES’ presence in cameroon and the presense of american peace corps volunteers. not the least of which is an american expatriate living off a government stipend (me!) paying a majority american utility company (AES-SONEL = 56/44% partnership b/w AES and the Cameroonian govt.) for his electricity bills in central africa.

don’t read too much into this and other connections i’ll be making. my intention isn’t to unravel a conspiracy or grand plot for global corporate hegemony... just to offer some context for what it was that i and my other peace corps volunteer mates were embarking upon, in terms of both the scope and scale of our work as “agents of sustainable development.”

in that regard, it’s interesting to note that AES has a corporate social responsibility program (see here for AES’s CSR work) with a focus on things like community development, environment and HIV/AIDS... all the same issues i would be working on! par example, see the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) summary to the IFC project that helped finance a new power plant in Limbe, Southwest Province. there's a mention in there of environmental and social management plans and programs.

my fellow volunteers and i often found ourselves discussing the scale at which we were “doing development.” what we thought of as small, of course... often just one person in a town or village. especially as it compared to bigger, more technical organizations that we saw and/or interacted with in Cameroon: USAID and GTZ come to mind... but also other volunteer organizations like the British VSO and the German DED. not to mention the likes of the UN, World Bank and IFC.

AES is by no means a “development organization,” but it’s interesting to compare the size and scope of their CSR-related work to that of a peace corps volunteers. an apples to oranges comparison, no doubt. but peace corps isn't really a small organization (some PC stats)... it’s more like an upside down pyramid–many upside down pyramids, that hit the ground where one volunteer is stationed. in my case, this pyramid started with the $265 million budget approved by congress and the president to the US Peace Corps in 2001... and ended in a small town called Wum.

i won’t say much beyond that now... but this theme will come up again, especially as some of my fellow volunteers and i begin to discuss the merits and demerits of different approaches to sustainable develolpment. peace corps’ included. and especially as i start to interact with the peace corps administration (both in yaounde and washington, DC) more towards the end of my service. with that in mind, i'll end this post with a word or two on hindsight...

hindsight is 20/20, right? and in rereading, researching and posting my journal entries to this blog (and the web-based medium is certainly essential in this) i’ve started to see and make some of these interesting connections, in hindsight, that i either overlooked or simply couldn’t have seen while in cameroon. examples include the fact that renowned cameroonian author Mongo Beti passed away about a month after i first started reading his novels...

again, don’t read too much into such things. just interesting connections and a way to locate what i was up to within a more global context. there are also the points that i brought up above with AES-SONEL and, ultimately, the fact that i helped bring the motorcycle i fell off of (the same motorcycle that appears in the picture above my profile on this blog) to wum in the first place. stay tuned for more on that! :)