Whirlwind November: Vacation and Innovation Weekend

I apologize in advance for the brevity (or lack of brevity if you ask some) in this post and the tardiness of it as well.  Maybe I should focus a bit more on the 3^rd Goal of Peace Corps after all- to help Americans better understand the people and cultures of other countries.  Then I’d be more inclined to blog more than once a month!

My Peace Corps service is often just one big whirlwind.  I look back at the last month and think, “what happened?”  So much can happen in the course of a week or two, let alone one day.

So allow me to share the highlights of the month of November: a vacation and the much anticipated Innovation Weekend!

Vacation

I must admit that I was very much ready for a vacation, a temporary halt in the busy schedule I had created for myself in the last month and a break far away from work, worries, and the often chaotic routine of my life in Moldova. 

Temple of Zeus in the front with the Acropolis in the distance.

Greece was a sunny, ideal place for escape and for relaxing the mind and body.  It took me a few days to truly enjoy my time on vacation.  Moldova can seep into your pores, and before you know it, all you can talk about or think about is MOLDOVA!  Work, project ideas, challenges, stories of life at site, and naturally just anything about the life we live now were all topics that stayed with me and my friends with whom I traveled.  Thus, we made a pact to shy away from chats about Moldova and indulge more fully in the culture, food, and historical relics right in front of our eyes.

View from Hydra Island

We spent three full days in Athens, where antiquity meets modernity.  One day was devoted to the Athens Marathon, which my colleagues Matt and Chris dominated.  We enjoyed all sorts of amazingly delicious food.  The slow food culture of Greece is just up my ally.  The locals who we met were all perfectly warm and hospitable.  Moments will likely lie in my memory for a while: the old jolly man pouring us his homemade raki at his family's century-old restaurant, the carpet salesman luring Philip in by offering his mother's homemade wine from the island of Crete, the Acropolis and the millenia that have passed since its construction. 

We also visited for a day the island of Hydra, where donkeys and your own two feet are the only means of transportation to navigate the sleepy, touristic fishing village found there.  We hiked up on top of the hills on the island, had a delectable lunch that included the fresh catch of the day, enjoyed a nice chat over coffee with the cook/fisherman of our lunch, and ended the day with a dip in the cold, refreshing Mediterranean Sea.  It was perfect.

A donkey on Hydra Island, loaded up with olive oil canteens.  I wish I could have carted one of those canteens to Moldova!

On our way back to Moldova, we had an overnight layover in Vienna.  While living in DC prior to my work here, I met an Austrian winemaker with whom I have kept in contact.  We were very lucky on our short layover.  My friend, Goose, picked us up, took us to his friend’s winery (his own was too far away), and then to a traditional restaurant named the Beethoven Haus for a wine tasting with some traditional Austrian cuisine.  How did we find ourselves sitting across from three world-class Austrian winemakers in Vienna, Austria?  The world is just a small, connected place with quite a few gracious people.  It was a jolly good time, absorbing the Austrian hospitality and wine culture.  I plan to go back.  A huge plus to volunteering in Eastern Europe that's probably evident by now to any frequent reader of my blog is that proximity to all of Europe makes for some amazing, unforgettable vacations!

Innovation Weekend

A team's canvas in progress.

After vacation, we got right back to business in Moldova.  Arriving on Thursday with a training to help facilitate on Saturday, the focus of the next couple weeks was all on Innovation Weekend.  The training on Saturday was for all the 20 volunteers (10 Peace Corps and 10 Junior Achievement), who would lead the teams of 6 students through the Lean Canvas training and pitch competition for the next weekend’s event.

Much of my time of the week prior to Innovation Weekend was spent preparing in Chisinau.  As the one administering the grant received through Peace Corps, I had to be there to purchase any necessary supplies and collect receipts of everything.  Junior Achievement also asked me to join them on a television morning show to promote Innovation Weekend.  I had to accept, power through exhaustion, conquer my nerves, brave my language barrier, and go for it.  I didn’t botch it too badly.

Fearless leaders of Innovation Weekend.

Soon came the weekend for which we had prepared for months.  “Weekend-ul Inovației” brought together 60 students from all regions of Moldova, who were eager to learn about this new concept called the Lean Canvas that rooted any business ideas to the basics.  Begin with the root problem you'd like to solve for your customer.  Find the solution, based on your customer needs.  Make sure that what you are offering adds value to your customer but at the minimum level, and after talking to the clients, tweak your product or service (“iterate”) and present your “minimum viable product” to your investors (or in our case, to the judges).

Team time.  Deliberation on what the Minimum Viable Product is that they're offering.

Day 1 was devoted to Lean Canvas training and Day 2 was devoted to teams testing their products on real Moldovans and pitching their business model idea to a panel of five distinguished judges.  I encourage you to find out more on our GLOW/TOBE page about the event.  Look through some photos, and get an idea of who participated and what they did.  The winning team had a business idea of a device that can be attached to a bicycle to create alternative energy. The team won due to the innovative aspect of the product, the feasibility of the idea, and the originality of the presentation. Other ideas that were awarded were for a smart phone app through which the driver can be informed about the traffic situation and also a delivery service of healthy to-go meals for students at school.

A team pitches their idea.

By the end of the weekend, participants walked away tired but with smiles.  They had learned a lot, worked hard to build and test their business model, and found the courage and team spirit to pitch their ideas in front of the judges.  Volunteers, participants, and Moldovan partners alike all want to see this Innovation Weekend become an annual celebration of Global EntrepreneurshipWeek in Moldova.  I hope they can find the will and the way to do it, and I will guide them in the coming months to try and make it possible.  Thank you all again, who financially supported my PCPP grant!  It would not have been possible without you!

After tying up loose ends on Monday, I went home exhausted and stayed there for an entire week.  That was exactly what I wanted to do for my Thanksgiving: stay home!  I called my host family on Thanksgiving day for the first time in months.  I went over there for a quick hello, which turned into hours of catching up and good cheer.  I then skyped with my family and relatives and counted my blessings. It was a great week of rest and a perfect Thanksgiving spent in Moldova.

Whirlwind November flew by, and I can now say that it was quite the productive one.  Now already a good ways into December, I'm filling out closing reports, working on a few more projects for the next few months, and enjoying the start of the holiday season.  

Cheers!

Toamna in Moldova

What a whirlwind month of fall (toamna in Romanian)!  As fall leaves have nearly all fallen to the ground with me paying little attention, so the last month has fluttered on day by day quickly and inconspicuously.

First off, the exciting news of the month is that we are fully funded for Innovation Weekend, coming up on November 23-24!  Thank you all again for your financial support of this cause!  We are busy preparing and planning for it to be a great event!

The biggest project of all in the last month was the international Youth Exchange: Be Active, which brought 40 participants from 8 different countries to Causeni through the European Union's Youth in Action Program.  It was an amazing, intense 8 days, and it left me completely exhausted. 

Eight different countries were represented in the Youth Exchange: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Italy, and Spain.  Talk about organized chaos!  The program included energizers; group-building activities; workshops on volunteering, discrimination, stereotypes, and human rights; a democracy simulation; two volunteer projects in the community; intercultural evenings; a Halloween party; Moldova exploration; and lots of intercultural dialogue.  New friendships were built, cutting through many geographical, political, social, and language barriers.  Causeni was exposed to new cultural ideas, and the culture of Moldova was shared with many who had never experienced anything quite like it. 

Kids' day in the city center!

They played some fun games that were enjoyed by both kids and participants!

The participants were welcomed into a typical Moldovan village house, where they learned how to cook traditional food.  Then of course they  got to try it all!!  Here you see Ruzan from Armenia, cutting (with thread or floss) pieces of mamaliga (like polenta).  The house wine and compot (sweet boiled fruit juice) were also not forgotten!

Tree planting day!  The four of us were one strong team.  We couldn't do it without each other!

They mayor of Causeni with participants from Turkey on their cultural evening.

Lots of fun dancing to Azerbaijani music!

I had worked hard up until the start of the event to mobilize volunteers in Causeni, but honestly it didn't go over as well as planned.  I realize that I have taken for granted all the opportunities I had growing up to volunteer, to understand the concept of giving back, and to become a leader who is more than just a conductor.  The leadership styles I have seen in this country are more inclined to be top-down, meaning there's one leader who directs the work and tells his/her followers what to do. Alternatively, I like to see a democratic style with a leader being the one to be a cheerful, upstanding team member, a great communicator and listener, and a humble servant.  This doesn't happen overnight, and even for a great leader, it's a constant battle to live up to these standards.  The week was a tough reminder for me that I come from a different cultural upbringing and that I do have high/alternative expectations that may be hard to meet.  I still look forward to working with the youth here to share these ideas and build them into the leaders and volunteers I know they can be.

So now, I'm feeling lucky. I get to go on vacation in Athens and Vienna, starting tomorrow! We have two short overnight layovers in Vienna (one on the way there and one on the way back), and then five days in Athens.  Although what brings us to Athens is for a marathon, I will be in the cheering section this time due to my injury back in the summer.  Now I just need to find the next great idea for where to race in Europe...  who's got it and who will join me?!

Bringing the Lean Start-Up Methodology to Moldova

Last week from start to finish was pretty crazy but productive.  I'm staying busy and having a lot of fun (plus a little stress), preparing for some really great events to come this fall and getting Moldovans involved along the way!

I spent last week  in Chisinau for two trainings and a conference.  I presented to the PCVs who just began their service on different opportunities to educate youth in Moldova about business.  Tuesday and Wednesday, I assisted my fellow PCV, Matt, in a training on the Lean Canvas Model and Lean Start-up methodologies.  On Tuesday, we trained Year 1 PCVs in the Small Enterprise Development (SED) Program.  On Wednesday, we trained both the leaders of Junior Achievement Moldova and of the IATA Program from Winrock International.  Talk about three days of getting work done!  I think and hope they were a very productive three days.

During the Lean Canvas training, they did exactly what students will do during Innovation Weekend.  They were tasked to create a lean canvas that addressed a problem in rural Moldova and added value to consumers.

Speaking of the Lean Start-Up methodology, why are we putting such an emphasis on this, you might ask?  This up and coming new concept is changing the way that entrepreneurs of any size approach starting a business.  We see many practical applications even here in small town Moldova!  

"It's a methodology called the "lean start-up," and it favors experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over traditional "big design up front" development."   -Steve Blank

Please continue reading the article here from the Harvard Business Review for a succinct explanation of the idea, versus the conventional business plan idea.  My personal observation tells me that many businesses fail in Moldova (as they do everywhere), because they did not find the root cause of the problem their business is trying to solve for customers and thus did not add value to the customer (who pays for something of little worth?).  Business owner forgot or ignored communicating with their customers in the first place, and in turn invested way too much money to build a business that was doomed for failure.

The Lean Start-up methodology is something we see as offering a clear picture of how to create a model of business that can work, even in Moldova.  How do we plan to impress these ideas on those who will soon be the next generation of entrepeneurs in Moldova?  I've mentioned this before, but I will mention it again (because it's too important and exciting not to!).  GLOW/TOBE, in collaboration with Junior Achievement Moldova, is organizing an Innovation Weekend on November 23-24 which will be the highlight event for Global Entrepeneurship Week Moldova.

We're still in need of financial support, and I'm charging you, faithful reader, to help garner funding in the next 25 days! Please utilize the donation page (link to donate on the right).  I am open to your suggestions as well, as to what information I could provide that may help make you better informed about my work here or specifically Innovation Weekend.

Training with the Junior Achievement Moldova and IATA Winrock program staff, plus a few volunteers from each organization.

One activity focused on building each other up as teams.

Pitching a business idea, creatively.

The week wrapped up with a conference to bring together all of those non-educator PCVs to share, reflect, and move forward with ideas and projects we want to pursue or implement in the next year.  I mostly was excited about discussing youth development particularly in correlation with business education and also supporting young, ambitious agriculturalists in Moldova.  

The icing on the cake was the creation of this sweet video for Sudden Cardiac Awareness Month.  My roommate has this topic close to her heart, as her brother has a miraculous story related to his heart.

Throughout Moldova, people celebrated the "new wine" created from the fall grape harvest.  I enjoyed my time at the Chisinau WineFest with a number of my PC friends and even some of their parents who came to visit!  My favorite winery, Et Cetera, won the Best Winemaker Award for this year!!  Twas a great finish to a week of productivity.  

Now if you could just please help me fundraise for Innovation Weekend!

At Wine School at WineFest.  You can tell that fall has arrived, as I sport two scarves!

Gratitude

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter every day epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. -Sarah Ban Breathnach

So I've started reading this book called 1000 Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp.  I won't lie- I often have an automatic turn-off to fluffy titles like this but a friend recommended it and I'm glad I made the instantaneous decision to buy it for my Kindle.  What has followed is a daily introspection of... the little things.  That maketh me to bubble up inside.  Joy.  I revel in the findings I have had lately about the many little things that so often go unlooked or that I take for granted. 

Each photo and caption tells at least a small story of a gift I've been given recently.

Homemade, fanastic dinners at a place we can call home. You can learn more about my roomemate and I's cooking adventures at Sfecla&Spice, our food blog!  Lindsey is way better at finding the time to write than me...

Seizing the opportunities to explore hobbies.  Lindsey and I plus our friend Quinn decided to have a Moldovan wine tasting for Dummies. Feteasca Neagra from Et Cetera won (shocker!), and Quinn and I tied for the best taste testers.  I guess we'll have to have a competition again soon to decide the real winner. (Note: the Gura bottle, the only real way to tote house wine, in the middle is full of Quinn's host family's house wine.)

Motivated, sharp, talented partners in youth development like Elena.

Productive, exciting business educational tools such as the business model canvas or the lean canvas.  (See this video.)

This Moldovan friend with whom I can giggle, tell stories, make memories, dream, and be honest. And also the funny moments we always seem to have, meeting strangers (like those Romanian rockstars in the background).

An oven that can create amazingly delcious products such as this banana bread/cake that I got to share with my colleagues at ACSA.  I'm good to marry once again.

Technology!  Thank you Google Hangout for making meetings possible in the comfort of one's home and especially when we're hours apart from one another!  Here, we're meeting to discuss Diamond Challenge Moldova.  Check it out.

A run on the dirt road next to this creek (pronounced "crick").

Open skies, sunsets, and solitude.  Give this country girl some more of that. I left the power lines positioned as such in this photo, because yes, we've got power.  That's also an amazingly useful thing.  

Making new friends in Causeni through celebrating World Heart Day!  Stay healthy, and keep that heart healthy!

One-of-a-kind notes from home received while wearing my cowboy boots that have tramped  the earth- through the fields at home in Nebraska, through the swanky rooms of the White House, and now through Moldova.  I'm totally a second year volunteer...  Give me a crazy look at my somewhat conspicous cowboy boots, and I just don't care.  I hope those Moldovan women proudly walking on ginormous heels on rutty roads feel the same way.  Proud and just don't care what people think. I think my boots are way more comfortable though...

 Winemaking at the host family's house.  I got lucky and made a visit to my old host fam in Cricova the very day they decided to make their house wine. I swiftly put myself to work!

Being nicknamed "America". That's what our city's mayor at the head of the table usually calls me these days, and I'm quite okay with it!  But talk about reinforcing the expectation that I must responsibly represent the people, cultures, values, and traditions of the United States of America!  Here, Svetlana and I met with the newly formed "Working Group" to discuss the Youth Exchange "Be Active" that we are organizing.  40 participants from eight different countries will gather for a fine time of being active socially, civically, physically, and so on in our town!

So I'm grateful.  I've begun my list of 1,000 Gifts of Gratitude in Moldova.  I figure with ~300 days left here, I should certainly be able to tackle it by the close of service.  I hope to be that much more grateful, joyful, and thus happy. 

Visitors, Travels, and a New Home!

August was a month that brought many good things: my parents, vacation, and a new place to call home!

My parents spent almost a week here in Moldova and received quite the tour and cultural exchange  They met my host families, many of my Moldovan friends and colleagues, and some Peace Corps friends and staff.  We also took a tour of an organic farm in the north and a 50-year experimentation plot of farmland associated with the university in Balti.  We also visited my favorite winery, Et Cetera, and a village as well.

After their stop in Moldova, all three of us adventured to 3 different cities/countries in 5 days: 24 hours in Riga, Latvia; 24 hours in London, England; and 3 days in Ireland.  It's hard to sum up in a few sentences what all we did and how it went.  Overall, I was so happy to be on tour with my parents.  Each city/country had its own story; each cab driver, waiter, or local his/her own ideas and disposition (mostly all positive); each city its own rhythm; each meal its own measure of delight; and each conversation its own enjoyment, lesson or memory.  I value seeing this type of diversity in my life- different people, cultures, languages, music, cuisine, etc.  The only thing that I think can remain the same that I won't ever tire of is a joy-filled heart and a positive attitude. My parents were champions of both the diversity and the good heart and attitude.

I came back to Moldova, feeling tired but ultimately so refreshed.  I'm naturally feeling positive (wasn't always the case this summer!) and feeling that Moldova is exactly where I'm supposed to be for the next year.  Also, in the last week, we moved into our new, nice apartment.  It feels like home, and we hope that we don't ever have to move again until we depart this country!

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks:

Out in the village having tea time.  This organic farm is owned by a friend of mine from Holland, and here you see the farm manager's wife, Rita, (also a Dutch family) and her little sun peaking out from behind her.  All other employees of the farm are Moldovans from the village where they reside.

Here we are with my host brother in his cold room for mushroom production.

Riga, Latvia!  I was a bit smitten by this city and its quiet, cute old town.  This was taken from the top of the tallest cathedral in the center.

London!  It rained the day we were there, but we saw a show, Jersey Boys, the night before which was stellar.

Starbucks in London.  After a year without it, it was dee-licious.  Just the Pike's Peak Blend...  simple and delicious.  The decision made by Starbucks in the last year that I disagree with is that they took away their whole milk/cream to put in your black coffee!  Come on...  Those who want to be healthy will be healthy.  I am one of those, but I still chose the creamy whole milk!

Ireland! Old castles are all over the place. (Sorry, I have forgotten the name of this one.)

Centuries ago, the natives cleared the land of rocks and built fences like this.  Can you imagine that manual work?  It left the country with some beautiful super green pastures, though!

Cliffs of Moher and some pretty flowers in the front... which are actually thistles.  My dad concluded that all of Europe that we visited is infiltrated with this weed , the (Canadian) "thistle", said condescendingly and under one's breath.  My dad despises them on his farm, because they're invasive, pokey, and if left unchecked, will proliferate in your field!  But I say out of unwanted and proliferous plants, you can find beauty even still!

A few days after I returned from my vacation, international guests from 7 different countries came to our little town to prepare for a Youth Exchange here, beginning in late October!  I facilitated this very short 2-day meeting. 

One of the participants, Victorya, I met last March in Armenia at the training course in which I participated.

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Like I said in my last post, the next few months are going to be quite busy.  My brain gets a little fuzzy when I try to think all at once about what this fall holds.  Lots of business education opportunities, which is exciting!!   

My Moldovan Summer as a PCV

July flew by faster than expected.  We began with GLOW/TOBE's Camp Empower with the help of the organization, Forul.  I had therapy daily at the hospital the following week, followed by the last few weeks of self-directed physical therapy.  We moved into a temporary apartment and just this week found an apartment for the long-term (with heating and hot water), which we will move into in September.  The last two weeks, I have made visits with ACSA (my rural development office placement) in the villages and spent one weekend in Causeni and one in Odessa.  I write this from a hot rutiera, as we wait to leave to go to Chisinau.  This weekend is a language training with Peace Corps, postponed from the winter. 

In the last couple of weeks, I have also started preparing for the next few months and realize that they will be busy.  A few of my projects include my rural development agency work, GLOW/TOBE's Innovation Camp (don't forget to donate here if able!!!), a GLOW girls' leadership academy of sorts in Causeni, an international youth exchange in our town, and a global entrepreneurial contest for youth using the lean canvas.    That's a lot of work for a lot of good causes!  I'm also looking forward to my parents' visit in two weeks and the trip we have planned following their stay in Moldova for a week.  Also, with much relief, my knee is healing!  I can at least move around pretty easily and look forward to running... or rather jogging slowly in the near future. 

And now, the month of July in pictures:

The Causeni team at Camp Empower in Chisinau.  The second day was devoted to planning an event in each team's community.  They planned an already implemented a "flash mob" as Moldovans say, asking local community members to stand up against domestic violence.  I'm proud of this team!

The whole group at Camp Empower consisted of 6 teams with 4 members.  Each team leader prepared a workshop in advance with a Peace Corps Volunteer, utilizing the training guide that GLOW/TOBE offers.  It walks them through how to assess the needs of the community/population to be reached; planning objectives and activities; organizing logistics and local fundraising strategies; practicing; and implementing the event.

This pretty much characterizes the uphill battle of especially my first two weeks of July.

This characterizes how awesome all of you are in America who decided to write me or send me a package for my birthday.  Little did you know that it was such a big pick-me-up!  I received so many letters.  My mom put an advertisement in the local newspaper, telling the readers to send me a message/note for my birthday.  Impressive!  I also had a nice, pretty spontaneous birthday party at my favorite wine bar.  

Kerry, on the right who lived just down the rode from Lindsey and me, just finished her two years of service. We miss her already!  

The beach in Odessa with my friend, Laura, and her salsa-dancing friends.  Even though from land-locked Nebraska, I absolutely love the sun, sea breeze, and water.  I could have spent a few more days here.

Nelu, a member of our Business Club, was on camera for a 30-second publicity video for the Novateca Library (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) that we have in our town.  The last month in our biz club, we have focused on the lean canvas model.

This is a small Ukrainian-settled village in our raion called Grigorievca.  

My colleagues and I at ACSA (or Service Agroinform) talked with farmers this week about the financial assistance recently made available for those who were affected by the 2012 drought.  After the presentation made in the mayor's hall, this elderly woman did not seem so encouraged that the assistance would reach her.  Although she spoke only in Russian, I believe her corn plot was too small or split into too many small parcels, a common problem it seemed. A person can apply if they had a minimum amount of land (1 hectare?) planted with corn in the same area and owned by that same person (details something to that effect anyway).

The project's name is "Support of Urgency for Moldovan Agriculture," even though the drought was last year.  Better late than never, I guess.  Thank you, government of Moldova and World Bank.

This is the Moldova I love.  The old Nistru River is what you see down in the valley.

On the road down toward the Nistru.

The village of Copanca

Orthodox church in Copanca.  Almost every village has a church of a similar design.

Small piata (market) in Copanca.  Cheese tasting.