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Vaina Quotes "There absolutely no reason for me to have pene.
I mean pena! Oh my God! I can’t believe I just said that!"
"Does she speak English?"
http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=121 &releaseid=6094&magazinearticleid=96079 http://owinok.hypermart.net/index2/Quattro.htm Small-scale Shrimp Farming : www.gaalliance.org/revi.html
Soap Making: www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/makesoap.html http://hometown.aol.com/oelaineo/soapmaking.html www.soapcrafters.com/makebase.htm Solar Cooking: http://solarcooking.org/ Solar Drying: http://www.humboldt1.com/~michael.welch/ extras/ fooddeh.pdf Stoves: www.efn.org/~apro/atrocketpage.html www.efn.org/~apro/atjusta.html Water Filters: www.permapac.com/waterfilter.htm Weaving: www.hallnet.com/build.html Woodworking: www.sawdustmaking.com RE: $5000 available for fish farming/aquaculture Hello Everyone! I hope all is well in your respective countries. A private donor, an RPCV from Jamaica, has made a cash grant of $5,000 available for fish farming/aquaculture projects. Please share this information with volunteers and encourage them to submit a Peace Corps Partnership Proposal if their communities identify fish farming/aquaculture as a need.Warm Regards OP-ED A Complaintby Mitchell P. CumsteinAuthor’s note: This message was conveniently "lost" by our intrepid Vaina staff due to amazingly convenient technical problems before last issue. If it seems out of date, it is for that reason. Hey Vaina, why don’t you act like adults and quit using poor Edgardo as a human shield. You make me sick! I had just opened my hot off the presses issue of the August Vaina when I was met with a shocking statement. You see, apparently I don’t exist. There it was in 12-point font, "And Mitch doesn’t really exist." Imagine my surprise to learn this. At first I was just shocked. When had I ceased to exist? Had I ever existed at all? How had I been so easily fooled? What were my parents going to say when they found out? Or were they in on this little farce, too? And if I had been fooled, what about the Peace Corps, I mean those suckers had accepted a guy who didn’t even exist? What fools! But then I thought about it a little more. If I didn’t really exist would my weight fluctuate as much as it does? Would Willy have my Peace Corps record setting 32 distinct cases of parasitic infection on file in his office? Would I still get hate mail, I mean, correspondence from my old site in Lancaster County? I don’t think so. Would I still have those painful movements every morning? I don’t think so. So in the end it came down to this; I shit therefore I am. Now that I am fully convinced of my own existence, my shock has turned into outrage. How dare you sirs and madams of the Vaina Staff? How dare you decide that I don’t exist? Who gave you the right? Just because I had to take a hiatus from the Vaina to work in my site maximizing the output of our child laborers, you think that gives you the right to cancel my entry from the book of existence? What hubris! What gall! Why don’t you guys spend a little more time trying to make that rag of yours funny again, and a little less time attacking others. I think someone (read Janice) needs to flush the toilet on the whole Vaina staff, washing the dirty bowl of your editorship clean and leaving the office and all of Peace Corps Panamá clean and sanitized, with a fresh and new editorial staff. Disgustedly and disappointedly yours, Mitch OP-ED It depends…by Gerin Finley RiverBack in college, my friends and I had a way of speaking of Truth (yes, with a capital "t") on a sliding scale, which we described by referring to the size of the "t." The idea harkens back to high school stats class, talking about Venn diagrams and how certain representations of reality are larger and encompass smaller ones. An example to illustrate: the statement "Behind every good man there is a good woman" has an element of truth, albeit sexist, but the statement "Behind every good person is another good person" would be more true (bigger "t") since it doesn’t exclude over half of the human population. Culebras y Ratones is an activity in the Enviro. Educ. Guides that I have used numerous times in my service as a CEE volunteer in the primary schools. It is a fun activity in which you brainstorm with the students about what snakes eat, about what rats and mice eat, and then make the connection that snakes in fact eat the rodents that eat our food and therefore help us. After the brainstorming you take the students outside to play a Red Rover-esque game where the mice get eaten by the snakes while they attempt to get to the corn. They love it, it is fun, and it drives home the point well that snakes can be good. Last month when I arrived at school one Monday I was told that Manuel, a 6 th grader who I have known for nearly 2 years, had been bit twice in the head by a "vibora" while monteando for camarrones over the weekend. He had been taken immediately to the hospital, a journey of nearly 2 hours, half on foot and half in car. At that point no one knew anything more of his condition. I was dumbstruck. All day I was stuck thinking about the fact that, in my 20 months in my site, I have known 5 people who have died from snake bites. An additional 10-15 have survived bites, although some with digit amputations, permanent limps, and/or other life long consequences.From the depths of my fears about Manuel’s fate, I remembered that only months earlier I had been standing in front of his class doing the Culebras y Ratones activity. I had felt confident in the knowledge that the "t" of my charla was much bigger than the average campesino’s belief that all snakes must be killed. And in an absolute sense I still think I was right, because not all snakes are dangerous and they do play a vital roll in the environment. But where I had been horribly wrong was that I thought the campesinos equated snakes with evil, while in fact the equation is SNAKE=DEATH. My "t" is bigger than theirs, since the Venn diagram of my truth would encompass theirs, but maybe this is a case when it isn’t the sizeof the truth that matters, but the ramifications of being wrong by following it. The cost of being wrong in their Venn is loss of corn. The cost of being wrong in mine could be loss of life. It is a truism that life is not black and white. It takes work to distinguish between the shades of gray that make up our world. This is a intellectual principle I try to base my life upon, but I think it may have met its match in the practicality of having a supreme fear of snakes. In Panama that truth snakes equate death may be limited in its scope, but its shortcomings are overcome by its utility. Earlier this month Manuel came back to school. He was lucky, having been successfully treated with antidotes. It looks like he won’t suffer from any long term side effects of his attack, save one; for the rest of his life I am sure he will be the first to kill any snake he ever comes across. Regardless of whether it really is a venomous or not, far be it from anyone to try to convince him otherwise. OP-ED by William N. WoodfieldWhy Charlas Rock Your Lame Ass This last-minute submission is intended as a response to the Op-Ed column of the last issue, in which Rainbow noted the drastically decreasing use of charlas by PC Panama Volunteers (This is also a subtle plug for Charla Corps). As a Volunteer with 3 and-a-half-years (and 4 AVCs) under my belt, I too have witnessed the Decline and Fall of the Charla Empire. The once-mighty Charla, once hailed as an indispensable tool for adult learning, has slowly but surely given way to…something else. Something amorphous and androgenous. Probably a whole bunch of somethings. Rainbow, while thoughtfully begging the essential question, coyly clams up with regard to the Charla Alternative. But more of that later.
Warning! A good charla will deliver all of the above, but a poor charla could result in the opposite for every case. That’s why it’s so important to give a good charla (and that’s one of Charla Corps’ objectives, to evaluate andimprove charlas and their presenters) Now we have finally gotten to Follow Up, where the Charla Disbelievers can join in. I agree that a Charla by itself, despite the 5 rockin’ reasons above, isn’t enough. A good charla can only point the way, but a guide will probably still be necessary for the tricky bits. That’s where the rest of our work comes in. In my site, I gave a seminar of 8 business topics–one charla per topic, with individual follow-up work for every participant. The follow-up work was the most demanding, and rewarding, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the charlas. Other Disbelievers say that people in their site don’t like charlas. That could be true. But have these Volunteers really tried? Carmenza & Co. in Bocas, once upon a time, did some great charlas with Ngabe women–who are not your most traditional charla-goers. Thanks to a charla, 10 individual furniture makers in my site united. Thanks to another charla, they launched a communal hardware store, buying in bulk to reduce costs. In another Volunteer’s site, thanks to a charla, a community group built the first Panamanian landfill in the campo. Of course there was follow-up work in all these cases, but the charla was the match that lit the powderkeg, the enzyme that lowered the activation energy, etc. I could go on and on, but hopefully the point is clear. Charlas can rock the lame asses of you and your community. And Charla Corps can make those charlas better than ever and get them to people who have a need for them (including other Volunteers), while laying the groundwork for the necessary follow up. And as for you Charla Disbelievers–the majority of current Volunteers. What suggestions do you have for us? What alternative techniques have you developed to replace the role that the venerable charla once filled? Although he has less than one week left in Panama, this old dinosaur wants to know. (Thanks to Gerin for inspiring what I hope will be a fruitful exchange for everyone. Also, the word "charla" in this article appears 41 times. Just in case you were wondering)
Quick Reference for the New When to call Out of Site Box · If you are sleeping out of your site for ANY reason. This includes vacation and your four free days When to call your APCD · If you are leaving your site for any reason that is not
covered under your four free days When to call the Duty Officer (676-3131) · If you are coming into the city What to do in the office if you are spending the night · Sign in at the desk True False Quiz 1. I am leaving my site to go to David to check my e-mail and go shopping. I will sleep at a hotel there. I do not have to call my APCD, but I should call the out of site box. 2. I am leaving on vacation for two weeks. I should write that into the out of site book in the office, even though the office has my vacation form. 3. I am going to the city to do work in the office. I will spend the night there. I must call my APCD as well as the Duty Officer, but do not have to sign in the log-in book at the receptionists desk.
Answers: True; True; False, both books must be signed.
The Peace Corps Panama Virtual Office By James Schreiber The PC Panama Web Site is now finished. Please enter it at http://pcpanama.n3.net. You will need to enter a username and password that each and every volunteer should be emailed. Our Web Page Managers are as follows: Erubey — Technical and the News page. The web page is accessed on the secured server in the library of the office. Please do not use that computer, because you could be responsible for shutting down access to the web page. Only those responsible for updating the web page are allowed to use the computer in the library. We could use more people for updates, especially with web page design experience to help. If you are interested please talk to Janice. Thanks to Dennis we already have a phonebook that includes all of your phone numbers, emails, etc., but we cannot include that information on the web page until every volunteer sign their permission to give their information. I am sure Janice will be addressing that shortly. Some administration forms, such as vacation, extension, incident report, etc. are on the Forms section. We have a calendar with Peace Corps events logged until December of 2002. You have access to writing tools such as letterhead and example certificates, on the Forms page. On the Project Assistance page, you can download the forms to fill out for a SPA, Partnership and AOL Peace Packs grant. I worked very hard on this for the last month, in hope that it will benefit volunteers for years to come, but the web page is not finished. It will be up as long as volunteer’s use it, think about what could be useful, and express that to the people who are responsible for the update. Just like La Vaina, we will always need people with a little technical knowledge to help with the website. I wish everyone well, and good luck with the rest of your time in Panama.
"Center" Requests Decisions Thank you for the Center activities requests included with your
Operating Plan submission. Activity Title: Project Plan & Training Program Design Comments by Champion: Brandt Witte We are happy to inform you that the Center supports this very important activity and would like to provide you with the assistance you will need to design your Environmental Health Project and training. We would like to begin the dialogue between the Center and the Environmental Health APCD as soon as possible so that we can determine how best to assist you in preparing for the arrival of the first Volunteers in January. The Center’s Water and Sanitation Specialist, Brandt Witte will be contacting you in the near future to talk with you about what needs to be done between now and January and how we can best help out. We would also like to advise you that a Center staff person would not be able to travel to Panama until after November 15, 2001. Activity Title: Project Evaluation Comments by Champion: Ron Savage The Center is pleased to be able to fund this worthwhile activity. As discussed, two Center staff, the PLU evaluation Specialist, and IAP RAU Ag-Env Specialist, have committed to assisting Peace Corps/Panama with this joint project evaluation. It is our understanding that both the Agriculture and Environment Sector projects will be looked at during the review period, consequently we have agree to the participation of two Specialists. It is anticipated that this activity will be carried out in the 3rd Quarter (March), but we recommend that post and the Center discuss the Scope of Work and confirm dates, hence Center Champions will be in contact with you soon. In the event that one of the Specialists is unable to participate we will consider the possibility of a qualified APCD assisting. Activity Title: Community-based Ecotourism Workshops Comments by Champion: Ron Savage The Center is pleased to be able to fund this important request. There is growing recognition that ecotourism is potentially an important programmatic area for PeaceCorps in the IAP Region, and that it provides ample opportunity for collaboration between the business and agriculture sectors. We are particularly pleased to see that this activity will support Peace Corps efforts in working with indigenous peoples and conserving biodiversity. Activity Title: Community-Based Marine Biodiversity Regional Workshop Comments by Champion: Ron Savage The Center is pleased to be able to fund this important request. There is growing recognition that coastal resources management is potentially an important programmatic area for Peace Corps in the IAP Region, and that it provides ample opportunity for collaboration between the business and environment sectors. We are particularly pleased to see that this activity will support Peace Corps efforts in working with indigenous peoples and conserving biodiversity. We look forward to assisting Peace Corps/Panama in any way we can in the implementation of this endeavor and receiving a brief report upon its completion. Activity Title: 2002 Gender Awareness Building and Women’s Development Activities Comments by Champion: Lyn Messner This Gender Awareness Building and Women’s Development submission was actually three different activities added together. As the format, content and expected outcome of each activity was different from the others, they were considered separately. 1) "Gender Awareness and Capacity Building with Men" was approved for funding at $1,773 after adjusting the contractor travel and cost to subtract host country contributions that were duplicated in Center request. Depending on the timing of this activity, it may be possible to share lessons learned here with other staff at the GAD Phase III Practicum in Nicaragua. Either way, consider contacting Vikki Stein, APCD Health PC/Nicaragua, as she is conducting an activity called "Defining Men’s Roles in Health Activities" and would very likely be interested in your goals and experiences. The WID/GAD Coordinator is also interested in hearing how this activity progresses and can provide feedback or advice if needed. 2) The Center did not provide funds for "International Youth Development and Cultural Exchange". It is suggested that if an exchange of this type is conducted in the future that post consider working with an NGO or partner organization like Panama Verde to support its regional leadership and build the capacity of Panamanian groups to organize and conduct such an event. While the issue of safety and international travel for youth is always problematic, this approach could prove more strategic and lasting. 3) "The Fourth Annual Rural Women’s Seminar" was approved for funding at the level of $1,875 when duplicated host-country national contributions were subtracted from the Center request. From your e-mail response with the revised budget break-out, it was clear you understood that the Center does not fund recurring activities, yet, since this activity is on its way to sustainability, and clearly supports your efforts to collaborate with other organizations and strengthen partnerships, it was approved this year. In the future, post will need to seek other funding sources or build the cost into the operating budget. Activity Title: Needs Assessment and Evaluation Comments by Champion: Leesa Kaplan The Center is pleased to be able to fund this activity. An evaluation of training addresses both post’s and headquarters’ priorities to establish training competencies, to develop strategies for on-going training evaluation, and to integrate programming and training. The Center’s Language Specialist and Education & Training Specialist are available to conduct this evaluation jointly.
Activity Title: Mini-Conference on Formal & Non- Formal Environmental Education Comments by Champion: Leesa Kaplan The Center is pleased to fund this request, as it is an excellent opportunity for the Environmental Education project to address many of the requisite education skills. Training topics could include developing educational materials, improving PCV relationships and "influence" in the schools and with the teachers, and incorporating communities in educational issues. The Center’s Education and Training Specialist is available to travel to post to offer technical support and to participate in the workshop. Activity Title: SPA Grants Comments by Champion: Cindy Ferrin We are happy to support this request. In light of new imprest fund regulations and agency cash flow considerations, SPA grant authority will be transferred in two allotments, Q1 ($15K) and Q2 ($15K). Depending on the availability of funds, it may be possible to send additional authority to post at PBR 1 or 2. Please remember to submit a copy of the Activity Abstract for each approved project, and an Activity Completion Report upon completion of the project to Cindy Ferrin, SPA Coordinator, and to submit these reports regularly throughout the year. Please contact Cindy if you have any questions.
Official 2002 Vacation List January 1 Tuesday New Year´s Day PCVs and Office February 12 Tuesday Carnival PCVs and Office March 29 Friday Good Friday PCVs and Office May 1 Wednesday Labor Day PCVs and Office July 4 Thursday Independence Day Office September 2 Monday Labor Day Office October 14 Monday Columbus Day Office November 3 Sunday Independence Day PCVs and Office (observed Mon. the 4 th)November 10 Sunday Upr. Los Santos PCVs and Office November 11 Monday Veteran´s Day Office November 28 Thursday Thanksgiving PCVs and Office December 8 Sunday Mother´s Day PCVs and Office |
