A project that has been in the works for well over a year has finally gotten off the ground and become a reality. These moments, as a Peace Corps volunteer come rarely, and must be fully appreciated. I have had the great good fortune of having two projects take off recently. Today, I will talk about a project that was conceptualized by a previous volunteer, but got lost in the shuffle, and earlier this year I almost gave up on it entirely. But somehow, in the past couple of weeks the project has completely turned around and is now in the process of being fully deployed.
The project, whose credit belongs to Curt Adams (now a returned PCV), brings computers to each of the mayors offices (who don't currently have a computer) in the entire district of Nisporeni, Moldova. It's a fantastic project, and was very thoughtfully developed from acquisition of hardware to training of all the beneficiary offices. The main objective of the project is to equip all mayors offices in the Nisporeni region with a working computer (applying only to the offices who do not currently have a computer in their office). By default this would raise the lowest common denominator in technology, and by further training the offices on how to use the equipment, would increase accountability and transparency in the local government for the entire region. I was very happy to take-on the project when Curt left Moldova. He had already put-in a lot of work on the grant proposal, and I wanted to see his idea through to the end. In the final days before the grant submission I decided to check-in with our computer suppliers, only to learn that their computers are only intended for distribution in Africa. Learning this critical information created a great challenge for the project. How could we buy ten computers, have them shipped to Moldova, and teach seminars on a budget of $5000? It just wasn't going to happen. The money could be used to purchase maybe half of the needed equipment, new and in-country, but that would disregard the purpose of the project, to get the entire district on the same technological level. I decided that this wasn't a 'take what you can get' situation. And, to the disappointment of my in-country partner I chose to not submit the grant. It wasn't because I didn't like the idea, I knew the grant would have been rejected if it was clear the goals and objectives of the entire grant would be unfulfilled. I began to lose hope that this project, like so many others before it, would end up in the pile of 'almost but not quite' projects.
I decided that instead of completely throwing the idea out I would reach out to local businesses, embassies, and large offices. Somebody must get rid of old computers, and maybe, just maybe, they could be recycled and donated to our project. After a couple months of hearing nothing I began to move on and found other projects to occupy my time. But finally, a couple of weeks ago I got a message from one the embassies in the capital, they were getting rid of computers and were looking for someone to take them, and quickly. DIBS! So, overnight I had ten computers and this project was going to happen.
Now that I had the computers, I needed to figure out how I was going to make this project work. I decided that I wanted to try my hardest to do this project without using any grant money, which complicated things slightly, but meant that I needed to be resourceful. The computers would be donated without hard drives. How could I get hard drives? This, I decided, would be the responsibility of the beneficiary mayors office. Each office would be responsible for donating the funds for their computers new hard drive. This would financially bind each office to their computer, also ensuring care for the product. The next challenge was finding someone who would be willing to install all of the hard drives *for free* and make sure they operate correctly. Who could do this? Oh right, I am in a country full of fellow peace corps volunteers, I put good money on assuming someone in the group knew how to install hard drives and operating systems. My assumption was correct, and I am happy to report this Sunday I will be sitting around the peace corps office 'over seeing' the installation of hard drives and paying my happy helpers in lots of delicious pizza. The next challenge was transport, moving the computers from the capital of Moldova out to Nisporeni. My partner in this project, NGO EuroInform, is headed by a great woman Inga Savin. Inga has a brother who owns a car in the capital and has agreed to drive the computers from the capital out to Nisporeni at no cost, what a great guy! Now, after the computers have been delivered to each of the offices we need to put on trainings to ensure that the offices know how to use their new technology. This was where I worried I would run into problems. Who would be willing to come out to Nisporeni and put on two four-hour trainings for the staff of the beneficiary offices? This, I still have not fully figured out. But, another volunteer has promised to put on the trainings if no other group is identified, and this would take care of the rest of the needs of the project.
Today, as I write this we have mayors coming in to the office to sign contracts outlining the offices responsibilities of the project. These responsibilities include, the financial contribution, written assurance of attendance at the trainings, the procurement of internet, and maintenance of both monthly internet and computer repair costs. Also, the stipulation that at no point may the computer be moved from the mayors office, and that the computer now belongs to the office and this is independent of the political party holding office.
Of course these contracts always come with a barrage of questions and I have done my best to answer them. 'Are the computers new?' 'No, the computers are five years old.' 'Do they have flat screen monitors?' 'I don't know I haven't seen them yet.' 'Well, I don't want it if it's old.' 'Well, like I said, they are five years old, they should be relatively modern.' 'Can I keep it at my house? That is where I do most of my work.' 'No, it must be kept at the office and be used for official work only.' 'I do official work at my house.' 'Well, you can continue to do official work at your house, but when you want to use the computer you will need to go to the office.' ....You get the idea.
But, for now I must go. Two mayors just arrived and I need to explain the set of contracts that are being filled out and agreed upon. Lots of good things happening in Nisporeni. These are the days I know why I am a peace corps volunteer. These are the moments I live for in Moldova.
Peace to you on this December day!
The project, whose credit belongs to Curt Adams (now a returned PCV), brings computers to each of the mayors offices (who don't currently have a computer) in the entire district of Nisporeni, Moldova. It's a fantastic project, and was very thoughtfully developed from acquisition of hardware to training of all the beneficiary offices. The main objective of the project is to equip all mayors offices in the Nisporeni region with a working computer (applying only to the offices who do not currently have a computer in their office). By default this would raise the lowest common denominator in technology, and by further training the offices on how to use the equipment, would increase accountability and transparency in the local government for the entire region. I was very happy to take-on the project when Curt left Moldova. He had already put-in a lot of work on the grant proposal, and I wanted to see his idea through to the end. In the final days before the grant submission I decided to check-in with our computer suppliers, only to learn that their computers are only intended for distribution in Africa. Learning this critical information created a great challenge for the project. How could we buy ten computers, have them shipped to Moldova, and teach seminars on a budget of $5000? It just wasn't going to happen. The money could be used to purchase maybe half of the needed equipment, new and in-country, but that would disregard the purpose of the project, to get the entire district on the same technological level. I decided that this wasn't a 'take what you can get' situation. And, to the disappointment of my in-country partner I chose to not submit the grant. It wasn't because I didn't like the idea, I knew the grant would have been rejected if it was clear the goals and objectives of the entire grant would be unfulfilled. I began to lose hope that this project, like so many others before it, would end up in the pile of 'almost but not quite' projects.
I decided that instead of completely throwing the idea out I would reach out to local businesses, embassies, and large offices. Somebody must get rid of old computers, and maybe, just maybe, they could be recycled and donated to our project. After a couple months of hearing nothing I began to move on and found other projects to occupy my time. But finally, a couple of weeks ago I got a message from one the embassies in the capital, they were getting rid of computers and were looking for someone to take them, and quickly. DIBS! So, overnight I had ten computers and this project was going to happen.
Now that I had the computers, I needed to figure out how I was going to make this project work. I decided that I wanted to try my hardest to do this project without using any grant money, which complicated things slightly, but meant that I needed to be resourceful. The computers would be donated without hard drives. How could I get hard drives? This, I decided, would be the responsibility of the beneficiary mayors office. Each office would be responsible for donating the funds for their computers new hard drive. This would financially bind each office to their computer, also ensuring care for the product. The next challenge was finding someone who would be willing to install all of the hard drives *for free* and make sure they operate correctly. Who could do this? Oh right, I am in a country full of fellow peace corps volunteers, I put good money on assuming someone in the group knew how to install hard drives and operating systems. My assumption was correct, and I am happy to report this Sunday I will be sitting around the peace corps office 'over seeing' the installation of hard drives and paying my happy helpers in lots of delicious pizza. The next challenge was transport, moving the computers from the capital of Moldova out to Nisporeni. My partner in this project, NGO EuroInform, is headed by a great woman Inga Savin. Inga has a brother who owns a car in the capital and has agreed to drive the computers from the capital out to Nisporeni at no cost, what a great guy! Now, after the computers have been delivered to each of the offices we need to put on trainings to ensure that the offices know how to use their new technology. This was where I worried I would run into problems. Who would be willing to come out to Nisporeni and put on two four-hour trainings for the staff of the beneficiary offices? This, I still have not fully figured out. But, another volunteer has promised to put on the trainings if no other group is identified, and this would take care of the rest of the needs of the project.
Today, as I write this we have mayors coming in to the office to sign contracts outlining the offices responsibilities of the project. These responsibilities include, the financial contribution, written assurance of attendance at the trainings, the procurement of internet, and maintenance of both monthly internet and computer repair costs. Also, the stipulation that at no point may the computer be moved from the mayors office, and that the computer now belongs to the office and this is independent of the political party holding office.
Of course these contracts always come with a barrage of questions and I have done my best to answer them. 'Are the computers new?' 'No, the computers are five years old.' 'Do they have flat screen monitors?' 'I don't know I haven't seen them yet.' 'Well, I don't want it if it's old.' 'Well, like I said, they are five years old, they should be relatively modern.' 'Can I keep it at my house? That is where I do most of my work.' 'No, it must be kept at the office and be used for official work only.' 'I do official work at my house.' 'Well, you can continue to do official work at your house, but when you want to use the computer you will need to go to the office.' ....You get the idea.
But, for now I must go. Two mayors just arrived and I need to explain the set of contracts that are being filled out and agreed upon. Lots of good things happening in Nisporeni. These are the days I know why I am a peace corps volunteer. These are the moments I live for in Moldova.
Peace to you on this December day!
Brittany, good for you! You seem to have really thought out all the angles. Persistence is key!
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