Getting SPF for the CAE from VAST

Juvencio, my counterpart and fellow french teacher 

This past week I've been camping out at the beautiful Hotel Millenio for a Peace Corps conference called PDM (Project Development and Management). Throughout the week, we attended sessions on how to identify the needs in your community, select a project which satisfies those needs, delegate responsibilities, design objectives and measurements for the project, write a grant proposal, and identify organizations that would contribute funds towards the project. Though the goal of this conference is to teach volunteers and their counterparts how to choose, develop, and fund a secondary project, the more immediate benefits are what is really appreciated.

Nothing makes you feel more at home than checking into a hotel room which features the same minimalists architecture of any Holiday Inn in the states, walking down to the pool to go swimming, but after finding out its too cold going to take a 30 min hot shower, then stuffing yourself with self-served food from shinny chaffing dishes (yay Ken Rent for the vocab). Though it was the hope that I'd learn what I need to do to get my bigger projects off the ground that got me to the conference, it was the luxuries that kept me there. 

Conference room full of PCVs and counterparts

Since staying, I have learned a whole bunch of new acronyms that are used in the peace corps grant writing world. As many of you share my love of acronyms, I feel it only right to give you a taste:
APCD-Associate Peace Corps Director,
EMARTS-Especifico, Mensuravel, Antigel, Realistico, Temporal, Sensibilidade de Genero
r-the person who is responsible for the task
R-person who is responsible for the project
PEPDFAR- Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
VAST-Volunteer Activates Support and Training
PCPP-Peace Corps Partnership Plan

As usual, many of the sessions were a little to theoretical to be interesting, so I spent my time playing ultimate tic-tack-to and coming up with acronyms:
CAE-Centro de Actividades Extracurricular
SPF-Secondary Project Funds
POPCORN-Popular Options People Choose Often Remain Neutral
SHOWER-Supporting HOt Water Encourages Recovery

Dancing the cancan with Ariel and Steph during a project visit at an orphanage