In the begining of this month i had a semi-boss lady come to my site and visit me to check up on me, see how im doing etc. it actually went quite well and i thought id send you her feed back what she wrote on the visit. some things are a little off becuase i do so many things its normal to get confused and mash them together but here is a little update on my life here and projects:
PCV: Kasie Boehm Date: November 1, 2011
Site: San Isidro Staff: María José Mejía
Project: Community Health PCV Class: 104
People Interviewed: Kasie Boehm
Susana Loor 1st 2nd x 3rd 4th Visit
Work Review
Items to Discuss
Primary Assignment
What is going particularly well, both personally and professionally? What are you proud of? What are you doing to foster good working relationships? (Issues discussed: quarterly report feedback; successes; challenges; community contacts; future plans; satisfaction level; etc.) How’s progress with your CAT tool, what have been your findings/recommendations? If this is a 2nd year visit how did you apply PDM workshop in your community?
Kasie feels very well adapted to her community and finds her work in San Isidro to be very fulfilling. She is currently involved with several projects in town and mentioned that, even though she does not devote most of her time in a week to the Diabetes group, she considers it to be more of a primary assignment than any of her other projects because of the work it requires to attain behavior change and to ensure its sustainability. Kasie has found it really helpful to assign homework to the women in her group, so as to better guide the women and reinforce the healthy behaviors she hopes to sustain. Besides the health readings with holds regularly, she has introduced charlas on nutrition, particularly on colorful plates, measuring portions, eating more vegetables, and keeping hydrated. She thinks it would be a great idea to start this kind of talks with her aerobics group, and is looking into the possibility of doing so.
Kasie is deeply involved with the Consejo de Jóvenes of San Isidro, which is currently focusing on environment projects, such as making art from recyclables, teaching community members not to burn their trash and how to properly dispose of their trash, painting murals around town to reinforce proper waste management and practices to protect the environment. Kasie and Susana, from the Consejo de Jóvenes, work very closely and they have been able to find stores who are willing to donate plastic bags for their project. They are very excited about this initiative, especially because there seems to be demand for this kind of art and they think it would be a great opportunity to get some profits from it. The recycling project just started two weeks ago and they’re looking forward to see how everything moves forward.
With the Consejo de Jóvenes, Kasie recently worked on coordinating an open house in mid-October, where HIV testing was available, as well as condoms and information on the topic. Kasie was pleasantly surprised with the number of people who got tested, which Kasie expected to be very few, if any.
Kasie mentioned she has thought about requesting an extension, because she doesn’t want to leave until she sees a change in behavior that guarantees the sustainability of her work. She feels at home in San Isidro and will make a final decision with regards to extending her service when it is closer to her COS date.
Secondary/Other Activities
Kasie has a soccer school, once a week, and holds an aerobics class three times a week. Kasie is happy that none of the women in the group have gained weight, but she would like to start teaching nutrition to improve their wellbeing and perhaps see them lose weight.
Counterparts and Community Partners Comments
Is the PCV participating in local activities? Which ones: planning meetings, training activities, etc.? How often? What kinds of communication do you have with the PCV? Does s/he share weekly activity schedules with community contact? How do you provide guidance to the PCV, and let him or her know what activities you’d like her or him to take on? What impact is the PCV making? Skills transfer? What could the PCV do to be more effective? PCV adjustment and interaction? Language skills? How free is the assigned counterpart (or other staff) to participate in PCV activities? Areas for improvement: communication, technical areas, others? Please share a one month action plan
Kasie’s new counterpart, Susana, approached her to work with the Consejo de Jóvenes. They both agree that their work ethic is similar and that they enjoy working together; it doesn’t even feel like work to them. Susana had been working with the Fundación Granito de Arena, but just recently stopped working there due to disagreements with other people, also family members, in the executive board. She is now looking for another job, but will devote all her time to working with the Consejo de Jóvenes in moving forward with the recycling project. Susana is very happy to have Kasie in San Isidro and really values her support with the Consejo de Jóvenes. They mentioned having very good communication and being able to work things out whenever there was a problem.
Emotional, Social and Health Well Being
How are you integrating into the community? What activities do you do on your “off-time”?
Kasie has a lot of Ecuadorian friends and barely ever leaves her site. She enjoys hanging out with friends and going on a walk to rivers nearby.
Support and interaction with other PCVs:
Lisa in Chone, and Ronald and Crystall in Santo Domingo.
Programming Feedback
Do you have any comments or suggestions for your program?
- Would like to have more tools on how to motivate community members to promote and sustain behavior change, as well as simple ways to teach other people what is taught in training.
- Nutrition and exercise should be taught together, as complementing.
- More topic-specific vocab.
Training Feedback
How well did your PST or ISTs prepare you for your work? What worked well? What are some recommendations? What should be offered to prepare you for working in your site? Any suggestions or needs for upcoming training events?
- MSC was really good, got back to site charged with motivation. After that, she got involved with the HIV fair, the diabetes HW each month, the recycling project, etc. She also brought back worms from the Training Center to do compost and is looking into selling it.
- During training, it would have been cool to have more tech training on nutrition.
Peace Corps Ecuador: Volunteer Site Visit Safety Checklist
Please review the following checklist during each site visit. Any comments, problems or pending issues should be noted on this form along with dates that corrective actions should be completed.
Explain your level of confidence regarding your safety and security in your site. Have you had any incidents which have not been reported to Peace Corps. If so, will you please report the incident to the SSC? Are you aware of any recent crimes committed in the community? Do you know where the areas are to avoid (if any) in your community due to safety concerns? Do you know the police in your community? If you have safety concerns, what actions have been taken to address the situation?
Kasie feels very safe in San Isidro, although outsiders who come for the local fiestas make it unsafe.
__x___Volunteer residence meets housing criteria. Comments:
__x___Site Locator Form is complete and accurate including having site based emergency contacts. Comments: PCV closest to site, cellphone number, and counterpart name were updated.
__x___Volunteer has tested multiple means of communications with office. Comments:
__x___Volunteer has tested communications with departmental EAP rep. Comments:
__x___Volunteer has visited assembly point. Comments:
__x___Volunteer has developed personal safety plan. Comments:
__N/A___GPS Coordinates have been taken. Comments:
__x___ Meeting with police. (First visit and after any incidents) Comments:
Items in Box 2 must be verified during each site visit.
__x___Discussed any recent incidents that might affect Volunteer security in site. Comments:
__x___Discussed any transportation issues related to safety or communications. Comments:
__x___Discussed safety in terms of Volunteer lifestyle. Comments
Recommendations by PM/PTS and PCV
- Help facilitate Nutrition Education and Promotion session on upcoming FS/Nutrition workshop???
Follow-Up Items
Ask Bibi to follow up on Nutrition workshop info and details on session
PCV Signature: ____________________________
I have received verbal feedback on this site visit.
PC Staff Signature: ___________________________
CC: PM, PS, PCV, PCV File, PTO, CD,SSC
Dear PCV: These site visit notes are meant to monitor and track activity throughout your service. A copy is provided to you for your reference. Please attend to items requiring your attention, and please feel free to respond to this if you have any questions or comments.
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