MSC Mid-Service Conference
Good afternoon friends and family. This post is about our latest trip to Addis and a Peace Corps program called Mid-Service Conference. If you remember back to August 2014 we had IST (In Service Training or Reconnect). This mid-service conference was a great mile stone for a lot of us. We were reflecting on the first 16 months of service. So, that means we have approximately 11 months of service remaining. We were informed our first COS (Close of Service) date would be March 29, 2016 and would go until April 29, 2016! We have unfortunately lost about 12 volunteers from our group who either early terminated their service (chose to leave) or who were medically separated. We are very hopeful that no one else will leave early and will be with us at the end.
This conference was full of information. We were split again into health and environment groups where we received more technical trainings and ideas for upcoming projects. Environment (Evan’s group) went through trainings such as fruit tree management, forest trees, nutrition, GIS mapping, watershed management, and motivation and experience sharing. The health group went through WaSH (water and sanitation and hygiene), pregnancy and ANC, malaria, sexual health condom programming, HIV/AIDS discussion, and motivation and experience sharing. The groups together discussed changes to the PC Ethiopia programming and changes with policies. As one large group we discussed programs such as working with people with disabilities, school clubs, and income generating activities. It was a great time to boost motivation and hear what other people were doing at site. Some projects were working really well, and some were just the opposite. It gave us a great opportunity to be in the same place to talk openly and candidly about our experiences.
There were a few reflective sessions that reminded us why we joined Peace Corps Ethiopia. This session brought about a lot of raw feelings and emotions that were apparently bottled up for many months. I know this was a difficult time for many of us and we were all at different points emotionally. Some really are enjoying their service, some wonder why they are here, and some feel their service would be better if … Ethiopia is known as a more difficult post for many reasons, but to add to that list the work ethic is just different here in some arenas. Sometimes it is really difficult to get projects going and when they do, to keep them sustainable, while some projects just take off with similar circumstances in different sites. It was nice to encourage one another and be able to empathize with everyone and our different points of mental well-being. The PC tells us a relatively accurate timeline of a PCV and the ups and downs that will come emotionally during our first three months of service. Experiences are different from one PCV to another, but our highs and lows can be very similar. Evan and I are super thankful we have one another to share these times and try to keep optimistic even when situations are not ideal.
We also discussed the bitter sweet topic of our COS (close of service) options. It was fun to talk about the end of service and everything that goes with it. We talked a little about extensions for a 3rd year in Ethiopia, and what that looks like for a volunteer and their prospective new organization to work with, applying for the non-competitive eligibility status with federal governmental jobs, and the Coverdell graduate programs. We all have different ideas of what our life will look like after COS, but first we must make the most of the next 11 months in our communities.
I think we all left MSC with many different perspectives in mind, some new, altered, or forgotten. Hopefully everyone has ideas of what they want their last portion of service to be like… productive and worthwhile, not regretful. Ethiopia can be a difficult country to live and work in, but overall this is a wonderful opportunity with abundant opportunities to be resilient and always life changing.
Thanks to all of you who have been supportive from the beginning and throughout. It really means a lot to us the thoughts and prayers, emails, FB messages, cards, care packages with our favorite goodies and necessities, and anything else that shows love and support. We are thinking of you all back home!! Here’s to the last 9 months 🙂
evanwcraig 