Here is a belated August update from Peace Corps Ecuador.
Peace Corps Global Gender Workshop
The GGW was held in Washington, DC, March 16-24, 2015. Youth and Families Development Program Manager Cristina Rojas attended the workshop and represented PC/Ecuador in this worldwide initiative. The Global Gender Workshop came on the heels of First Lady Michelle Obama’s announcement of the Let Girls Learn initiative, a powerful collaboration with the Peace Corps to expand access to education for girls around the world. These two events provided Peace Corps with an excellent opportunity to reinvigorate our programming and training in gender. Currently, PC/Ecuador is in the process of redefining our gender strategy at post.
As Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet has said often in recent months “Peace Corps Volunteers were integrating gender long before it was mandated in the Peace Corps Act in 1978. And, they have continued to do so not because it is required, but because it makes sense. Our Volunteers see gender roles up front and personal and it is our task to give them the tools to make sure that everyone in the community—women, men, girls, and boys—are included in our work”.
Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet visit to Ecuador
From July 18th to 23th, we were honored with the visit to Ecuador of our Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet along with Ken Yamashita Director of Global Operations. They spent a week visiting almost 45 Volunteers at their sites, having meetings with senior staff, visiting the Training Team and the Trainees.
Recycling Workshop
From August 5th to 7th, we will be holding the second Recycling Workshop of the year with approximately 40 participants between Volunteers from the fourth programs and Host Country Nationals from different regions of Ecuador. We are excited to strengthen communities’ skills with this recycled art initiative, which centers its attention on the creation of art from recyclables, and aims at promoting environmental awareness within the community. We also focus our attention in the importance of eco-clubs as a mechanism to build capacity and to encourage service-learning. The goal is for all participants to take their newfound knowledge back to site and replicate it with their eco-club, teachers, community members, and women/youth groups. We have had great success in building capacity in youth and community leaders of all ages, who prove to be the backbone of the community and have turned theory into action upon return to site.
Swear in OMN 114
The 37 Trainees of OMN 114 will swear-in on Tuesday August 18th. This group has spent 12 weeks receiving cultural, technical, safety and security, medical and language lessons to be prepared for their sites and their service as Community Health Volunteers and Youth and Families Development Volunteers. All the best to them as they begin their service as Peace Corps Volunteers.
“Escuela Para Padres” Training of Trainers
Based on the vital importance played by mothers and fathers in family relations and in Ecuadorian society, the Youth and Families Development Program will hold its third Training of Trainers workshop on Parenting Skills for Volunteers and Host Country Nationals between September 3-4, 2015. This workshop is based on the “Manual Escuela Didáctica para Padres” whose methodology will be transferred to Volunteers and project partners. Through this workshop we expect to equip the participants with tools to promote parenting skills, resources and methodologies to become effective community facilitators on parenting skills at their sites.