First Impressions

I arrived in Lima after a particularly long in-flight movie marathon on Monday and was greeted by CUSO-VSO in the airport. However, that did not end the whirlwind that I've been experiencing over the last few months! I was pulled directly into training where I spent the last four days learning about Lima and how the topics of Gender, HIV/AIDs, Child protection, Discrimination and Security apply in the Peruvian context. It was pretty awesome! We had guest speakers from other NGO's come in to talk to us and I got to learn a little bit about what's happening in the NGO community here.

One presenter told us about the Sierra Productivo which is an organisation that uses traditional methods of capacity building to improve farming techniques. The person who passes on technical information is called the Yachachiq. Farmers visit the Yachachiq to learn more about farming techniques in general and then they start implementing some of these ideas. Once they've had a chance to try out some of these ideas the Yachachiq visits their farm and helps them to fine-tune the process. What an awesome way to draw on local expertise and knowledge to produce sustainable results!

One theme that has come up over and over again the past few days from the Peruvian presenters is capacity building. The presenters were all really engaged with the idea of improving access to education opportunities and information for their specific topics. Perhaps the emphasis is due to the connection with CUSO-VSO values which are all about providing learning opportunities both for the volunteer and the organisation. However, I find this exciting because it means that there are local professionals who are engaged in the development process that I perhaps I can contact to solicit advise and expertise.

Seeing as I have spent my first days in the CUSO-VSO office I will save my first impressions of the city and culture for further posts! But let me just say that the food here is amazing and will need one or two entries of its own. Yum!

Check out the Sierra Productivo website (in Spanish) http://www.sierraproductiva.org/ or read the BBC profile on them (in English) http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/2010-finalists-project03.php

Goodbye - Part two

I leave tomorrow morning for Lima. I've been home for 10 days - just long enough to reconnect with my Nova Scotian roots. It's so beautiful in the Annapolis Valley. Tonight, I was driving into town to have one last dinner with my mom and the moon was rising as the sun was setting creating that harvest moon phenomenon where the moon looks 4times larger than it actually is. It was breathtaking. Then on the way home I saw a shooting star! I think that's a good sign for starting a new adventure!

Saying Goodbye to Ottawa

Ottawa has been my home for the past 2 years and leaving it has been tougher than expected. I've left many places in my life and I assumed this would just be one more. Of course life is always more complicated than that. It's funny how a place can really become a part of you without you even realizing it.

Doing all these last minute preparations for leaving one city and starting over in another has been quite an adventure in and of itself. There are so many little details to work out that it can become overwhelming very quickly... I'm so glad to have finished moving with the help of some amazing friends who helped me pack, drove me to the airport and sent me off in style! Thanks so much!

I'm now curled up on the sofa at my Dad's house preparing for round two of goodbyes in Nova Scotia. I've got 10 days here and I hope to see as many people as possible while still preparing for the new job in Lima! Luckily most of the packing is out of the way...

And the journey begins...

I was recently selected as a volunteer with CUSO-VSO. CUSO-VSO Canada is one of the best volunteer sending organisations in Canada. Their approach to international development is rooted in partnership building through sending skilled volunteers overseas to work with local organisations. They have a number of goal areas that they work on including "Secure Livelihoods" - which is the area I will be working in.

I am going to be a Social Communications Specialist at a non-governmental organisation called CAPLAB. Their programs are focused on women and youth. They offer opportunities for training to improve employment skills. They also offer microcredit to entrepreneurs. I'm really excited to see how this all works! Since I will be working on Web 2.0 technology I figured I'd better dive in and start this blog! It will hopefully give me the chance to try out what works and what doesn't. I invite feedback and discussion on any points of interest... after all that's what social media is about.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind for me. I had a super-fast-tracked process sped up by my willingness to pick up and leave, and the great fit between me and my placement. CUSO-VSO keeps reminding me to make sure I tell people that my case is unusual because the process can take up to a year to find the right fit. So if you're thinking about applying it can take six months to a year!

I spent all of last weekend in training with some fantastic people. I couldn't believe the wealth of expertise and experience in that training room. Most people had been overseas many times! In addition to meeting others in the same boat, I learned so much about myself this past weekend. We did a lot of hands on learning which is not really my preferred learning style since I always end up spending eons agonizing over what I did wrong. But it really gave me an opportunity to get to know myself a bit better and to learn about how to deal with a wide variety of cultural situations.

So here I am at the beginning with so many unknowns and so much still up in the air. Regardless of what happens I hope that you'll enjoy living vicariously through me and this blog!