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 3rd 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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!
