IST

Last week was a long one, from Monday to Friday we were in San Salvador doing workshops and trainings with volunteers and their counterparts. Monday-Wed was IST(In Service Training) with my COED group, the focus was developing projects and working with ADESCO's. We also got a little run down on how to make a free website, something I have interest in for the community or women's group.


-I also got to help...I shared recipes for making shampoo with honey, soap with honey and disinfectant...

Norma, Ceci, David (stand in country director), and me at the end of IST.

 

Here is the whole group of PCV's and counterparts at the beginning of the Business Training.

Flor, me and Aura at the end of the Business Training.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in San Salvador, a VERY nice hotel. One of the nicest hotels I've stayed in, I can only imagine how the counterparts felt being there. It was a huge treat...a beautiful pool, big buffet for breakfast and dinner (everything you might want-including tipico Salvadoran). Swimming at 6am with counterparts was fun and entertaining. Saying that, it also felt like being in prison for a week. We couldn't leave at night and during the day we were in stuffy/chilly meeting rooms. But we gained new avenues for doing our job, and more importantly our counterparts learned. They walk away with folders filled with resources, pages of notes, calculators, record books and mountains of information. This was more evident to me during the ADESCO meeting yesterday. Norma, the secretary of the ADESCO, called the meeting to show the others what we learned-to show them to work we did. She went through pictures on her phone, showing the meeting rooms, the people working, she went through ALL of her notes with the ADESCO. They seemed excited, about Peace Corps, about new projects, and work in general. Not all ADESCO's are like mine, at least moment I feel like I lucked out. They are driven and have experience. These last couple months has been interesting sitting in on the meetings.

BONUS:  Some recent jewelry from the lovely Flor!