A head full of ideas

Jordan here: So I just finished a long training session in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. All of the Natural Resource Management volunteers came from around the country to learn about how to write grants, to bring up issues and concerns at sites, and have meetings with groups that wouldn’t be together except for a large-scale training. After 4 months at site, Sarah and I have developed a bunch of ideas for potential projects and meaningful things. This training, seeing and hearing about what other people are doing and want to do, just inflated my ambitions. We had a session about how to report all we’re doing. It seems simple, but since we’re technically a government organization, its quite complicated. Essentially, Washington wants to know how many people we’re reaching and how to quantify the difference we’re making. The more numbers on this difference, the more Peace Corps seems like a group worth funding with your taxes J Regardless, I figured I should start jotting down all the things that would be worth reporting. Then I started adding ideas I haven’t done yet and the page filled quickly! Its overwhelming. They also had a session with our PC Medical Officer presenting info about managing stress and she handed out a sheet of a typical emotional timeline that a PCV follows. It’s pretty spot on, outlining the roller coaster of feelings. One day we’re down in the dumps wishing we could be at home under a blanket, tv and familiar food. The next day, we’re completely energized by this whole experience and thinking about staying an extra year. Some days you’re vulnerable, the next you’re invincible. This week was no different. One session inspires me to want to write a grant, contact NGOs, and rally the village troops behind my cause. The next session, I overhear a different Volunteer talking with their Ghanaian counterparts about the progress they’re making and what they’ll do next. Then I second-guess my efforts and feel like I should just hang out and let everyone else make a difference. It has been great to actually make some progress with the Volunteers working with producers of shea butter to get organized and talk about how we want to empower our groups to inprove their product, and reach bigger buyers. Plenty of other things need to be done, but we need to start somewhere. I also have a few grants we want to write (one being a way that friends and family have the ability to donate to, wink wink) and a lot of groups to educate. Now I’ll head to another 2-day training on dry-season gardening and then finally head home to Tarsor and my wife I haven’t seen in a month. I love talking to people here about ideas and getting advice etc., but no one understands me like Sarah. So you can see how a head full of ideas and a village and a wife awaiting my arrival, I can’t wait to get back…