The Global Bulldog #1

The Global Bulldog

Issue 1

Winter/Spring 2013

Peace Corps Master’s International Students

World AIDS Day

Training in Mozambique

PCMI student Stephanie Dempsey gives us a look into World AIDS Day in Malawi.

Find out who Gonzaga’s PCMI students are and what they are doing around the world.

Page 2

Cheyanne Greer shares her perspective of Peace Corps pre‐service training in Mozambique.

Page 3

Page 5

Coordinator Corner

Updates from Campus In September, I had the pleasure of attending the Peace Corps University Programs Coordinators’ Conference in Washington, DC. The three‐day conference covered a variety of topics and below I’ve included some highlights.

• Gonzaga University is one of 84 Master’s International Programs and one of 16 offering a degree related to English Teaching.

• Of the TESOL Programs present Gonzaga had the most students.

• There are currently over 9,000 Peace Corps volunteers in 76 countries. The Peace Corps is looking to bring the number closer to 8,000.

• Peace Corps is narrowing the focus of primary projects to education, health and agriculture related to food security.

• Currently 40 percent of Peace Corps volunteers are serving in Africa in the

education sector.

• New Peace Corps sites include Indonesia, Nepal, Colombia and Tunisia.

• Peace Corps is implementing a new application process where PCMI students are streamlined and nominated by sector. Volunteers will receive Melissa Heid, PCMI Coordinator

Amanda Walsh received her placement–Togo

their region or country placement earlier in the application process.

1

Britt Harmon received her placement–Macedonia

Megan McCann completed her Peace Corps service in Nicaragua–November 2012

We have a new PC Regional Representative: Marya Nowakowski Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Agroforestry Soil Conservation Dominican Republic 1987–1990

Megan McCann, Marya Nowakowski and Melissa Heid are presenting at the Spokane Regional ESL Conference– “Peace Corps and Grad School from Start to Finish”

Meet Gonzaga’s Peace Corps Master’s International Students

Placement: Lilongwe, Malawi Position/Project: Teacher Development Facilitator (TDF). I am responsible for training teachers in ongoing professional development (I run workshops on various teaching methods). I teach English part‐time. I am also involved in Diversity awareness and Volunteers Supporting Volunteers.

Favorite thing about your placement: I live in the village, but I am very close to the city.

Also, people here are very friendly. That is why Malawians are known for living in the Warm Stephanie Dempsey, PCV Heart of Africa.

Placement: Homoine, Inhambane, Mozambique

Position/Project: I was placed at an IFP, which is a primary school teacher‐training institute. I will be teaching English and methods courses in a small town three hours from the the town of Tofu. I am lucky enough to have electricity, Internet and possibly running water at at my site, which is not too far into the countryside. It is a beautiful sandy town with lots Cheyanne Greer, PCV coconuts! Feel free to come visit anytime and we will go Humpback Whale watching!

Placement: Boaco, Boaco, Nicaragua Position/Project: I was a TEFL Teacher/Trainer. I worked in a public secondary school co‐teaching English lessons with three Nicaraguan counterpart teachers and I also worked at a private secondary school assisting a U.S. Embassy funded micro‐scholarship program for students to study English. I taught adult English community classes in the evenings, gave workshops for English teachers in my town and worked at summer camps as well.

Favorite thing about your placement: My favorite part about my placement was the beautiful landscape‐‐Boaco is called "The City of Two Floors", meaning that part of the city is on one “floor” and the other part is on the second "floor" (hill). There are tons of hills and Megan McCann, RPCV beautiful greenery surrounding the whole town.

Placement: R.I. 3 Corrales, Caaguazu, Paraguay Position/Project: Community Health Educator‐ I work with local schools and the local health clinic to teach health topics including; dental hygiene, hand sanitation, parasite prevention, life skills (high schools students) and many more health related topics. As one of my secondary projects, I teach English to local high school students.

Frances Peterson, PCV

Favorite thing about your placement: The tranquilo lifestyle of Paraguay and yerba máte.

Placement: Patamea, Savai'i, Samoa Position/Project: My current project is Primary Literacy and conversation skills. I'm hoping to research the intersection of gender identity and English acquisition in Samoa.

I’m also interested in potentially using Small Talk in a Samoan context.

Zach Wegner, PCV

Favorite thing about your placement: My favorite thing about Samoa is the weather.

2

Njewa Zone World AIDS Day

make presentations that demonstrated creativity and a knowledge for this important subject.

It was beautiful to hear the students of the junior section, grades 3‐4, use their many gifts and talents to express themselves through drama, singing, marching, and poetry recitation. One student from each school’s senior section, grades 5‐8, was given a chance to practice composition writing by creating written projects that raised their concern about the issue of HIV/AIDS. The students who were selected to read their compositions were each given a certificate signed by the Deputy District Education Manager of Lilongwe Rural West, the Primary Education Advisor of the Njewa Zone and Public Affairs Officer from the

Stephanie Dempsey, PCV Malawi

On Dec. 1, 2012, the Njewa Zone in Lilongwe, Malawi (my site), presented a World AIDS Day event. Our theme for the day was “Making the Learners the Teachers of their Community.”

The students from each of the 11 schools in the Njewa Zone created projects around various themes that taught about the topic of HIV/AIDS. After receiving their assignments, each school worked busily to create compositions and oral presentations to teach their communities about HIV/AIDS. The topics covered how this virus affects men, women, children, teenagers, the disabled, their country and Africa as a whole. They also covered information about HIV and ways to prevent it. Through the guidance of their teachers, the students were able to

Public Affairs section of the American Embassy.

These special guests made sure to encourage the student’s efforts through their guiding words. They were also joined by the inspiring rhythms of Music Crossroads and the heart felt, thought provoking presentations of Theatre for Change. Theatre for Change is a drama group of about 10 teachers from the Njewa Zone who usually raise issues about HIV/AIDS.

3

(Continues on page 4)

Along with the on‐stage presentations, the students and teachers received more information through hands on and visual activities such as Grassroot Soccer facilitated by Peace Corps volunteer Cassandra Moore and Jessica Libes and ANAMED facilitated by Aisha Alhassan. The children were even given a chance to let their voices be heard by drawing hope messages that were posted on the Teacher Development Center wall. These creative activities were led by volunteers, Mayamiko Kalawe, Tiana Richmond, and Mollie Mitchell.

Dec. 1st was a proud day for the Njewa Zone.

Teachers commented that the open day was an event that they did not think would actually happen in their zone because of lack of funds. However, I made it a point to emphasize when the school zone and the community come together for an important purpose and work together, anything can happen. As a result, they anxiously wait to do it again next year. Njewa World AIDS day was sponsored by the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the Embassy, and the District Education Manager’s office. The World AIDS Day committee would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped us though out this process. We also want to send a special thank you to Limbani Chimpembere of PAS. The day was a huge success for us all!

Peace Corps and HIV/AIDS Education

“Nearly 40 percent of Peace Corps volunteers conduct HIV‐related activities as

part of their primary or secondary project work and more than half of all

volunteers work on an HIV/AIDS‐related project regardless of their

assignment area.”

‐peacecorps.gov, November 29, 2012

4

First Impressions‐ Training Namaacha, Mozambique Group 19 (Sep. 15‐ Dec. 4, 2012)

Communication Peace Corps Style Frances Peterson, PCV Paraguay

Cheyanne Greer, PCV Mozambique

Missing family and friends is one of many struggles I have faced thus far serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay. Fortunately, times have changed as far as communication is concerned for Peace Corps volunteers (at least in Paraguay that is).

I have Internet. Not just from a local Internet café, but in my home. Real live Internet. Using my computer as a router, I can even have wireless Internet. It is slow, and often frustrating, but when I feel homesick and want to check my Facebook, I can. Along with the privilege of having Internet comes all of the great free ways to connect with people in the U.S. The best to contact home, in my opinion, is Skype. From my little casita in rural Paraguay video Skyping is often limited, but so far voice‐call Skyping has been a wonderful free way to communicate with people back home. During training, before I was issued a Peace Corps cell phone, I put money on my Skype account and made calls from a local Internet café. The charge was a whopping two cents per minute to make calls from Paraguay to the U.S. Now, whenever I get a chance to head to a big city, I take advantage of high‐speed, wireless Internet and video Skype with anyone who has time. Another great way to make free calls and text for free is through setting up a Google Voice account and routing calls through the Talkatone application for smartphones. One last communication lifesaver for me has been iMessage. I brought my old iPhone and use it to iMessage any family member or friend who has iMessage. When I left the U.S. last February, I was prepared for life without Internet or regular communication with anyone outside of Paraguay. These modern conveniences have made it possible for regular contact with people in the U.S. In August I even attended my niece’s first birthday party via Skype.

Thanks to the World Wide Web, more and more Peace Corps volunteers are able to access inexpensive ways in which to communicate with people far, far away.

As I sit listening to a technical session on management of large classrooms with 32 other soon‐ to‐be English teachers, I hear the sound of chickens cackling and roosters calling behind me. I watch a gaggle of pigs wandering about searching for anything they can find to nibble. I have mud on my Chacos that is over an inch think and I smell the sweet scent of rain mixed with burning garbage. The “building” where our sessions take place is neither outside nor inside. It doesn’t protect us from the smoldering heat or the freezing rain. The wind blows the makeshift boards and papers around as the sketchy wire‐exposed extension cord attempts to power the shaky projector. There is breathtaking view of foggy, lush mountainsides and fruit trees that are contrasted by muddy latrines and hungry‐looking dogs. Despite the many difficulties however, we manage to discuss and learn about culture, education and language. My first impressions of Mozambique all come down to one simple word–beautiful. The landscape, the fog, the ocean, the people, the languages, the food, etc… all have varying degrees of beauty. What an amazing country to be placed in. Of course there are less beautiful things just like any other country–poverty, gender roles and expectations, maltreatment of animals, and crime to name a few, but these are problems found on different levels throughout the world.

5

Upcoming Events

Spokane Regional ESL Conference Feb. 23, 2013 8 a.m.‐4 p.m. Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute‐ Spokane

Peace Corps Week

Feb. 24‐March 2, 2013

peacecorps.gov/pcweek

Peace Corps Visits Gonzaga Feb. 28, 2013 9:30 a.m.‐4:30 p.m.

Crosby Hall‐ Gonzaga Campus

TESOL Convention March 20‐23, 2013

tesol.org/convention2013

First Friday Forum The first Friday of every month Schoenberg Rm201‐ Gonzaga Campus

Contact Information

PCMI Students

Gonzaga Campus

General Information gonzaga.edu/pcmi pcmi@gonzaga.edu (509) 313‐6560

Stephanie Dempsey, PCV

Peace Corps P.O. Box 208 Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa sdemps80@hotmail.com

Melissa Heid (PCMI and MA/TESL Coordinator) heid@gonzaga.edu (509) 313‐6560

Cheyanne Greer, PCV C.P. 31 Maxixe Inhambane Province, Mozambique chey82@hotmail.com

Mary Jeannot jeannot@gonzaga.edu (509) 313‐6559

Megan McCann, RPCV Gonzaga University 502 E. Boone Ave. Spokane, Wash. 99258‐0088 mmccann@zagmail.gonzaga.edu

Frances Peterson, PCV Cuerpo de Paz 162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López Asunción 1580, Paraguay South America fmanring@zagmail.gonzaga.edu

Zach Wegner, PCV Peace Corps Samoa Private mailbag Apia, Western Samoa, South Pacific wegner.zach@gmail.com

Please share your ideas, events and articles for our next newsletter.

Email: fmanring@zagmail.gonzaga.edu

6