Regionals

This past weekend was the time when the Peace Corps Volunteers in the region get together for some refresher training. This year my regional meeting was held in Francistown (also known as "the ghetto" even though it's a really nice town, I personally like it better than the capital, Gaborone) at the Adansonia Hotel. It was super nice and a great weekend away from the village life. The hotel had messed up our booking so all of us got rooms to ourselves! This never happens, we usually have to pair up, which isn't a big deal, but it was super nice to have my own room and be able to crank the acon (air conditioner) full blast so I could cuddle up under the blankets for once :) And have the freedom to skype friends from home into the wee hours of the night and not disturb anyone. The weekend was spent lounging by the pool soaking in the rays, eating good food, taking advantage of showers, basking in air conditioning, sitting through a few training sessions, and hanging out with fellow volunteers.

cool waterfall that was on the hotel grounds

The training sessions were much like last year. Going over our reporting tool, PC Project Framework, the Emergency Action Plan, and Strengths and Challenges at site. At times I had a hard time paying attention, even though the actual sessions were only one day. I guess I am kind of checked out and my mind is elsewhere. But from what we were told in some of the sessions, it seems like PC is improving and is continuing to improve in their training plans. They have this new thing that they are calling "Focus In, and Train Up". It seems like the future volunteers will have better trainings when they first come in, with more of a focus on what they should be doing than what we had when I first came here. I think this will be a good improvement for PC as a whole. I feel like our training was very vague and spread really thin making it difficult to grasp what exactly it was we were supposed to be doing at site. Hopefully with the new training packets PC has made and the new Project Framework PC Botswana has come up with, future volunteers will be more focused, more useful at sites, and be better able to report back their projects to headquarters.

going over HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Project Framework...clearly I was more interested in doodling..

It was great to be around fellow volunteers, especially the still excited spirits of the newer ones. Their energy was great and actually made me a little bit excited about the few projects I have going on. The whole weekend I wondered if I still had that fresh glazed excited look across my face at last years regional meeting. I remember last year being jealous of the Bots 8ers who would be leaving soon, but this year that was me. It was weird to be the "senior" in the group. The one who had been there and done that, experienced it and knew what worked and what didn't. The one who was counting down the few days left in country and eager to be home soon. There were many discussions about plans after Peace Corps among us Bots 9ers. It will be great to have so many connections all over the US when I get back. I am excited for the RPCV community I will be apart of upon my return to the States. 

me and lucie by the waterfall :)