The Beginning Ends And The End Begins

I just returned from a week of traveling, first to Baku for our Mid Service Conference and afterwards to Ganja (about 6 hours west of Baku) for the final Teacher Training.  Whereas last January I savored and extended every moment away from site and, this time around I was more than ready to turn my footsteps towards the city I've called home for the past 13 months.  Its been a long and anxious and awesome 13 months and this conference gave the entire AZ8 volunteer community a time to stop, pause, and reflect.

Basically MSC had two main goals: reflecting back and looking forward, the intro year is over and the final year begins.  It was pretty powerful to hear what volunteers had accomplished in this past year, not specifically because it was so large or influential (not to say it wasn't), but because it was 60 variations of the same story I am in the middle of acting out as well.  Simply seeing the developed confidence in each one of us was affecting, whereas in PST we had questions about every possible obstacle that might be presented to us, this conference saw a group of individuals far more confident and assured in their ability to handle whatever Azerbaijan might throw at us.

We also shifted our thoughts to the future.  In this conference, the fact our service will draw to a close begins to look inevitable rather than impossible and we shift out thoughts to how we can ensure something of us is left behind.  One of my managers at Apple, as I was preparing to leave as smoothly as possible, pressed me to think what the legacy is that I would be leaving, how people would remember me after I had left.  I think of those conversations a lot right now.

Currently the bulk of my effort goes to training teachers in more effective methods, and a project involving delivering training sessions around the country finished this past week.  It succeeded in delivering content to teachers but it always required an American to be involved and run it; it wasn't sustainable.  Kelly (another volunteer and my partner in this project) and I will soon begin our second project, one that we hope will contribute to our legacy.

We're hoping this will change this next year.  Beginning in March we will hold workshops around the country on how to deliver a Teacher Training on Interactive Methods, a Training of Trainers workshop, which will cover certain methods, lesson design, and presentation skills. Even better, the Azerbaijani English Teachers Association (AzETA) is partnering with us to deliver these workshops.  The goal is that, come November, we will have created a network of Americans and Azerbaijani teachers around the country capable of delivering teacher trainings in their own community, thus extending the reach and encouraging greater participation and empowerment among host country nationals.  I wouldn't expect this project, after one year, to be completely sustainable, but it is a step in the right direction and I would leave Azerbaijan feeling proud of having helped shift focus to a strategy of teacher training more friendly to Azeri involvement.

In my first year I was fumbling around looking for a purpose to be working towards.  Now in my second year I'll be racing to achieve my goals before I must leave.  Just like these past 16 months, there will be ups and downs, but this year, I know where I'm going.

How to Design a Workshop on Sustainable Project Design

This past week the AZ8s had our Mid Service Conference (MSC), marking our halfway point in our Peace Corps Service. Overall it was quite good: worthwhile reflection, great info from our new Country Director, even some relevant health sessions. Unfortunately there were some weak spots in the conference, and they happened to be centered around the topic of sustainability.

At this point in our service, sustainability is one of the foremost items on our minds. Its a buzzword that's been tossed out a lot amongst staff and volunteers but it truly is a goal in our service, to start something considered useful enough that Azeris will want to continue it upon our departure. I'll be the first to admit, there's a bit of selfish motivation held within; we all want to feel we are leaving some sort of legacy to our time spent here, but that doesn't make the end result any less worthwhile. And as we enter into our second year and learn our close of service dates our thoughts shift more and more to ways our work might continue beyond our own brief service. So, as a group, we were all excited to hear ideas on sustainable project design.

But there were too many problems with the workshops on sustainability for them to be effective. In these sessions, the word 'sustainability' was ill-defined and often used interchangeably with the word 'success'. Recommendations for a 'sustainable' project usually just amounted to recommendations for a 'successful' project. And the scope of what was meant by 'sustainable' was constantly changing-one moment it focus on projects and the next moment it would be expanded to the extent that simply being friends with someone was considered 'sustainable'.

I was disappointed with this and left wanting for better information on sustainable project development. After these workshops I was thinking a lot about how it could have been improved and in what ways it could have been more beneficial. From this, I've identified three things to adhere to when planning a workshop on sustainable project design.

1) Provide a range of vocabulary and visual metaphors for the learner to utilize.
In a workshop on sustainable projects begin with a discussion on the differences (and similarities) between 'sustainable' and 'successful'. Spend time discussing different expectations to have when thinking about a project's sustainability, and be specific about what this workshop will be referring to when discussing sustainability and sustainable projects.
Additionally, provide a variety of metaphors for participants to think of sustainability in terms of. This will help showcase the different ways to interpret sustainability and allow participants to determine the metaphor that works best for them. Sustainability is not just 'teach a man to fish' but can also be thought of as a waterwheel or letting a field lie fallow. There are many ways to interpret sustainability and they should be introduced in a workshop on this topic. Doing these two things will provide tools to the participants for future discussion and critical thinking.

2) Make sure you stay focused on your topic.
Remember, the topic is 'sustainable project design'. This point may seem obvious, but with a slippery buzzword it's pretty easy to find one's self off topic. To ensure workshop participants are as focused as you are, continue to spell out how what is being discussed relates your topic. Challenge participants to make the connection between what they have said and in what specific way it relates to project sustainability.
Similar to this, check to make sure what you include in your agenda is truly focused on the topic. Rather than focusing on measurements of success, discuss features of a project that encourage sustainability. More than something to be measured, sustainability of projects is something to prepare for.

3) Focus on techniques and practices that encourage sustainable thought amongst counterparts.
Often we need to work with host country national counterparts to ensure project sustainability, these are the people we are priming to continue the project once we've left. When discussing project sustainability what are the techniques that can be employed to encourage it?
Discussing ideas and strategies for train the trainer programs, leader selection, and openness about the temporary nature of one's service here are all ways to prepare for a project's sustainability. Introducing, or even teaching, these methods are ways to help volunteers design sustainable projects.

Volunteers want to design sustainable projects and want to feel as if they are leaving some sort of legacy of their service behind. Similarly they want to attend workshops on sustainable project design, but, they want it to be relevant to their work. Otherwise, instead of feeling empowered, participants will feel frustrated and stilted.

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Klan-A-Plan - Valideynler

Last week Klan-A-Plan dropped a new track dedicated to their parents.  It intros with a middle eastern sounding sitar plucking over a mid tempo beat and some scary experimentations with auto-tuning and falsetto.  However, this turns out to be a bit of a head fake and after a minute and a half they launch into some pretty enjoyable verses to create a pretty appealing song.

Klan-A-Plan - Valideynler (which means: parents) via: RapRock.Az

 Klan-A-Plan - Valideynler by joshehr

Previously Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Hüseyn Dǝrya

And The Lesson Is 'Boring'

For those of you who have been somewhat keeping up with these emails you'll know that these past couple months (...years?) has been pretty busy.  Talking with friends stateside, it sounds like it was equally true in Americastan; I'd be willing to take the safe bet that, around the world, months which include major holidays tend to be busier than the rest.  Its a familiar phenomenon to feel the need for a break after the rubble is cleaned up from the holiday cheer bomb which exploded all over your previously normal and sane life.

I'll be the first to admit I bring it upon myself.  I like being busy and I'm really good at filling up my hours, days, and months with projects and activities (though I will also admit that walking takes up at least an hour of my day...better get used to this no-car lifestyle).  I like visiting friends and I like getting out and about in my community.  I like meeting with colleagues working towards larger projects than the day to day minutia of a 5th form English lesson.  But I also recognize that keeping up a state of constant work and 'productivity' is exhausting.  My body has been telling me this over the past few weeks, threatening me with illness and forcing itself to bed at 7:30.

And I finally listened.  This past weekend I did nothing; it was a national day of mourning on the 20th of January and I made it my business to have no business on Friday and Saturday.  It was magnificent-I read and listened to music.  I washed my bedsheets and cleared my email inbox.  I bought a new toothbrush and ignored grocery shopping.  For the first time in a very long, I had enough time of not doing anything to actually become bored and it was so nice.  Wandering aimlessly from my living room to the kitchen back to the living room again never felt so good.

There's a lesson for me in here.  I know that we all need to take some time off for ourselves to recharge, but I generally seek out people to recharge which means making plans.  What was so nice about this weekend was that it was unscheduled.  Its already on my calendar in early March to figure out when my next 'unscheduled' weekend will be.  I'm always going to be busy, so I'm going to assume in about 3 months I'm going to want, and need, another weekend of that fleeting flavor of boredom.

Next week we have our Mid Service Training.  I'm going to see some people I haven't seen since we were inaugurated as volunteers.  It will be a week of looking back and projecting forward, dental checkups and language exams.  And then I'll head to to the regions for our final teacher training under this current grant.  It will be a busy week of traveling and trainings, but after this weekend savoring the subtle joy of boredom I think I'm more ready than I've felt in a while.

Photos from the Hüseyn Dǝrya Concert

Surf on over to my Flickr to see the best shots from the Hüseyn Dǝrya Concert with MC Kamal this past weekend.

Dad...I mean Dǝrya...rapping about building character

MC Kamal being like 'screw you Dad, I just want to party!'

Hip-Hop from the Land of Fire: Hüseyn Dǝrya Concert in Khachmaz

American celebs at the Azerbaijan rap show

Well it happened, I went to my first Azerbaijan Rap show.  I wasn't expecting this to be the first goal achieved in 2012 and I certainly wasn't it expecting to happen so easily, but last week I saw a poster on the door of the school I work at advertising Hüseyn Dǝrya, performing in Khachmaz this past Saturday.  Hüseyn Dǝrya is not my fave Azeri rapper, he's best known for his hit Keyf Elǝ (which is hilariously translated on youtube as 'Have a Fun') a song that sort of embodies easy, 'can't we all just have a good time' rap.  The video looks like it was made in the 80s at latest, but don't let that fool you-it came out in late 2000.  If anything, its a trip to watch what a rapper of somewhat commercial success in Azerbaijan considers 'having a good time' to be.  Here's a hint: its not what American rappers think.

But I wasn't going to be deterred at this type of cultural experience on the basis of talent!  I want to see any rap show I have opportunity to in this country and this was happening in my hometown.  So go I did, at 5pm, to the Heydar Aliyev Culture House to see Dǝrya.  The show was in a very nice auditorium and everyone sat in their selected seats and, for the most part, didn't get up.  I can't really tell much of what Azeri rappers are saying but Hüseyn Dǝrya was very PG; he was wearing grandmother approved clothes (sweater vest, button down shirt), frequently stopped to say how lucky we all are to be in Azerbaijan, and invited 3 young girls on stage to help him with a chorus to one of his songs.  These weren't girls in the sense of booty dancers, these were girls in the sense of 12 year olds who he swayed awkwardly with as they shyly sung.

Yes, Hüseyn Dǝrya confirmed my suspicion of (lack thereof) cultural relevance.  However, there were some real highlights to the show.  The light show for this concert was unreal and I can only think of a few concerts I've attended that surpassed this.  It was as if they prepared a lightshow for a 10,000 person festival but were then told they would be in a 250 person auditorium.  It was great and really fun.  Secondly, Dǝrya was performing with a young Khachmaz rapper named MC Kamal who basically showed him up every time he got on the mic.  Hüseyn may have realized this because he definitely started cutting MC Kamal off as the show went on.  MC Kamal has absolutely no publicity and no 'laurels' to rest on so he focused on speed and energy and he delivered a highly enjoyable mini-set.

Unfortunately, after a couple hours searching on the sites promoting this concert, youtube, and online in general I can't find any tracks of MC Kamal to post except for this early one, from 2010.  Furthermore, because soundcloud recognizes it as using an unauthorized sample it won't let me upload it.  Is this a new thing soundcloud? I've never encountered this before..

This Is How The Weeks Can Fly By..

I tend to turn off during vacations.  I barely return texts, hardly keep in touch with email, never ever check a voicemail.  Maybe you can call it a bad habit, but I think its an expression of desire to truly escape whatever binds me during all those other, non-vacation, days.  As 2011 turned to 2012 I had one of those vacations where I was able to escape Khachmaz for a bit and then come back to an ascetic retreat of early bedtimes and increasingly creative/desperate recipes saving me from leaving the house.  All celebrities need their alone time.

There is a double edge to your alone time and that is falling behind on your projects, job responsibilities, and social obligations.  Personally I think its worth it for a true vacation, but the week following is pretty busy and this one was no exception.  As Sunday night came I decided I needed to man up and face the harsh reality of what my upcoming (this past week) was going to be like.  If it was going to be a busy week it might as well be productive.

And it was busy.  Between school, delivering late 'Happy New Year' wishes, and various projects, most days I would arrive back home to cook myself dinner at 8 or later.  But, it was also incredibly productive.  I finally finished the budget details for a grant I've been working on for a couple months, began discussion about how we'll be running Summer Camp this year, and began meetings with a counterpart again about upcoming trainings in the Khachmaz region.  I was even able to get most of my meals taken care of through frequent guesting.  By the time Wednesday night came around, I was ready for the week to be over, but I stayed true and plowed ahead through the remaining work week.

I welcomed the weekend with open arms and gave myself an appropriate award on Saturday when I met up with two friends, Elsean and Movlan.  Both of them work in the Ministry (government) and they happen to be my only drinking buddies in Khachmaz.  Now, what I mean by drinking buddies is: I clear out 6 hours in my day because we are about to drink multiple bottles of horrible vodka.  But after 15 months, the horrible vodka isn't so bad anymore, and it definitely gets a lot better after the first bottle-and hey, this is how I do business with Elsean!  Afterwards I attended my first Azerbaijan Rap concert which is (and will be) a post in itself.  Goal number 6: accomplished.

Well, Sunday comes around and once again I'm staying indoors, though more for avoiding bright lights rather than people.