Networking with "Non Natives" in Developing Countries

December 14, 2014

So its been a about a month since we have been in site and we just recently came back from being in Managua for our PreConnect Sesson as well as the 2014 NicaTESOL Conference.  I must say it was truly refreshing seeing the other Volunteers this week and hearing about the different experiences in their sites.It was quite the recharge. Going back to site, I was able to catch a ride back with a group of Volunteers from Northwestern University thanks to one of the awesome Fabretto coorninators who frequently coordinates trips to San Jose de Cusmapa for Missionaries. Padre Fabretto is a Non profit organization in my small community  named after a Catholic Minister that built and implemented several reading, English learning, forestry and business preparation initiatives for the community.

I actually met Sarah (or let’s just say her name is Sarah for privacy purposes) through my host sister who was interested in going to a University in the city of Managua and asked us if we could both meet up to exchange a few matriculation papers for her. This simple connection turned into an hour long conversation and led to us having quite a bit in common. Keeping in touch with her and “following up” allowed me to catch a 6 hour ride back to my site…traveling in style (wink wink). 

             OR                  

Why am I mentioning this? Well, being a Peace Corps Volunteer (or any other type of Volunteer for that matter) one has to learn how to build their home away from home in order to not feel like a complete recluse in your host country. Since I have been in country, I have met several “non natives” from Germany, England, the United States, Jamaica, and France etc. The interesting part about meeting other people is that we all have similar goals in promoting sustainability in Nicaragua which is the second poorest country in the world, even if it’s with a non-profit organization (most)  or for themselves (many).

Here’s a few tips to help build your networking skills with “non natives” in country…

                                                              Show interest…

Typically people in developing countries who are working or volunteering for long periods of time demonstrate that this is probably NOT their first rodeo. They’ve. Duunit. Before. These free birds are open minded and have seen everything under the sun while traveling to other countries including their own. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and start conversations because to tell the truth, they are probably not all THAT busy in the first place. If you are truly interested in networking with other people, there has to be a objective or purpose for pursuing this type of connect(ion). This way, you know what types of questions you need to ask. Specificity is key.

Don’t be afraid of “NO”

This is probably one of the main reasons why people don’t actually network; they are afraid of the word “NO.” When asking “Sarah” for a 6 hour ride back to my site I was expecting two possible answers “Yea Sure!” or “No, sorry we won’t have enough space.” Fortunately, I was able to bum a ride!(Im broke in the Peace Corps, that’s enough motivation right?) “NO” is all about perspective, so don’t let it discourage you from continuing to ask people for help because it can hinder you from awesome opportunities. People usually have a reason as to why they won’t do something for you and most of the time, it has absolutely nothing to do with them. It’s important to understand that the decisions people make not only affect them but the people around them as well.

Everyone has a story

So, traveling the 6 hours with a few Northwestern University students (all Seniors) to my site allowed me to get to know them and pitch the idea of being a Peace Corps Volunteer  because I was sure they had their lives together (NOT, lol). I invited one of the coordinators to one of my student’s graduation dinners and found out that she is very well connected. We were able to receive a generous donation for our up and coming Christmas Project! Apparently the president of the NGO in my community is the son of the Vice President of BP. I say no more!

Build your Confidence

Building your confidence has everything to do with knowing who you are as a person which can be as simple as knowing what you like and don’t like. How do you know if you know who you are? Hmm, that’s a good question because I’m still soul searching! To take a gander, it’s probably best to ask yourself if you are able to make simple decisions. Paper or plastic? Ice Cream or Cookies?  Jamaica or Costa Rica? Pick one! (No, really) There are enough gray areas in life so why make it more complicated than what it is? Thinking more logically as opposed to with emotion will often help with making decisions but understand that you’re human and God gave us emotions for a reason. Besides, people can see through non genuineness so try to find a balance.

                                                                 “Follow up”

When following up with people that you just met, it doesn’t mean that you have to send them a loooonnngg voice message about how amazingly great they were. To be honest, they may not have frequent service all of the time in a developing country. Hence, emailing and text messaging come in handy. A simple “I hope this message finds you well. I am just following up with you so that we can exchange information and keep in touch!” should be enough. Sometimes adding more information can come off as pushy and fake, so, try to get an idea for the personality of person you are contacting.  Following up may seem completely awkward at first but if you want to reach a goal that you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done before!

Hope this helps!

-Signed DiscoveringFire

"Sail Out"

  Septiembre 14, 2014

Today flowed.The last few days of training has been a smooth sail as I got closer to my training site mates as well as well the TEFLeros before swearing in ceremony. Despite being sick for three days from eating a burrito after our nocturnal rendezvous, I am much better and can proudly say that now we are officially Peace Corp Volunteers AND I am officially a member of the Gutierrez family! The day before I left my training site,  my host aunt tells me “Ahora voz sos Kimberly Gutierez!” (Now you are Kimberly Guitierez). Apparently my host mother did not want to have a despidida for me or a “going away” party because she says she ¨knows I’m going to come back.¨ She’s correct. I will indeed be traveling back to Masaya to see my training family for the end of the year celebration to spend time with them for a few days or five.

As I was about to travel to by site in Madriz, I didn’t feel as much anxiety that I thought I had been building up over the past few days.   I thought I would worry myself over trying to catch the earliest bus for my 6 hour magical rollercoaster ride to the highest point above sea level in Nicaragua. I ended up getting a ride to the capital by my host uncle, my taxi driver was 30 minutes early and pretty preppy to be taking me to the bus station at 6:15a.m, had time to watch my bags get on the bus, had a few minutes to get to know the coborador on the Expresso bus (person who collects money and assists the driver). After a four hour ride I met my host sisters at the first stop in Somoto who generously helped me with my bags, and met the bus driver (Chumpuyun---don’t ask why, that’s his  nick name) to get a seat for the two hour seat clutching ride to the higher mountainside. When we arrived, I was welcomed by the cool mountain fresh air that whipped around my neck and warm hugs by my host family. 

Toward the evening I was able to relax a bit after putting my things away. My host sister called me outside so that I could meet her teenage friends which were full of energy and of course…jokes. After breaking the ice, they seemed to have let their guard down with me enough to ask for my help on a Christmas project they had been preparing to have for the impoverished children that lived on the outskirts of the 26 communities that resided around Cusmapa (my town)…some as far as 4 hours away. These four teens (Los Divinos Niños de Jesus) want to create an annual Christmas project that will teach children of the community about the story of Jesus Christ, involve them in various outdoor activities, feed them lunch for free,   provide care packages and distribute gently used toys as their Christmas presents. These students completely blew my mind with their creative ideas, they just needed a little push with organization and implementation which is where I am, fortunately, able to help. Stay tuned.

-Signed Newbie

¨Don't eat the Pudding¨

30 de Octubre de 2014

¨Try to look at your experience here like a Mandala, Chapman, work hard, to make something as beautiful and meaningful as you can. And when your done, pack it all in and know that it was all temporary. You have to remember that------ its all temporary. I’m telling you, surviving here is all about perspective….dont eat the pudding.”

-Jones (Orange is the New Black)

 So, it is week 11 and this week we had our last Spanish interviews for the end of training. For the past few weeks I had been feeling as though my Spanish was improving tremendously and currently I do still feel as though my Spanish is bomb. One of the most important things while learning a language is having the confidence to speak, which is one of the things that I teach my students in Nicaragua. The more you are afraid to speak the target language, the less one is able to improve the language and will possibly miss out on an opportunity to effectively communicate. Thank God that I have broken out of this fear since studying abroad in Ecuador 2012.

This evening I received a call from our director that I would be receiving extra Spanish Language training in my training site and I would not be able to go to my actual site because I have not reached the required language level. While on the phone with my director, it was almost as if a smirk crept across my cheek bones because this also meant that not only would I be receiving personalized Spanish class for an extra week, I would be spending time with a family of the 18 people that I have grown to love and appreciate during my training period. Above all,  I will say that my God works in mysterious ways and Him and I have always had an understanding when it comes to the number 11.  Many of my accomplishments, candidate number(s), days after an open-hearted prayer to God have revolved around or included the number 11. So, I definitely look at this as a confirmation to be here and will maintain obedient and let him work his favor on my life…

God always has something up his sleeves and that I will never doubt this because He is always preparing me for the next task as I surrender as His servant. It was also enlightening to see how much of an impact and a relashionship that I have built with my family. After I informed my Host mother that I was going to stay for an extra week, she squeezed me lifeless with happiness and told me she was elated that I was staying (in Spanish of course). Shortly after she asked me if I was leaving to go hang out because my friends had showed up right as I was about to eat dinner. I informed her that they had come to watch a tv show with me (Orange is the New Black) which is the first time in a long while that I had watched a t.v show in English.   Toward the end Jones put soo much into perspective about perspective. I knew that I came here to benefit the lives of others, not considering that helping others benefitted me the most. It is all about perspective. Rest in Him because work is still being done.

Signed   --ReceptiveSoul

Laugh at the Little Things in Life...No, Really!

The second week of training was almost a hard pill to swallow because I had officially come to the realization that I would be living under these conditions for the next two years (dunn, duuNNN, DUUNNNNN!!). Being broke was something that I had been used to during college, but not quite like this. This is a different level of poverty. We currently get an allowance of about $12 a week which is technically approximately about $C300 of Nica dollars which helps pay for transportation, and small odds and ends that we may need during the week since our family provides us with three meals per day.  By Wednesday afternoon, I was nearly choking in tears from being overwhelmed by the language barrier and culture shock. It can become quite frustrating when you are not able to pick up to phone and call your best friends, Fraternity/Sorority sisters/brothers, or church or family members to support you when you are basically being stripped from what you are used to doing or knowing and encouraged to adapt rather quickly to a different cultural perspective and language. Thank God I pledged a Sorority….several times on so many different levels!

Over this week however, I have built quite the “confianca” or trust with my training mates who are completely awesome by the way (Traci, Preston, Emily) and I wouldn’t change them or my training site (Catarina) for the world.  There were definitely several things that bothered me during my second week of training that I so graciously tried to ignore like the unidentified flying insects that randomly circle around my room only to be conquered by a surreptitious Geico who’d been chilling behind my curtain awaiting his next victory (named Jose by the way). 

Or the phrases that do not translate to English whatsoever but makes perfect sense in the Spanish language. Or the Piropos (Pee-Rhope-Poes), known as womanizers, that constantly undress women with their eyes and limit their vocabulary to short phrases of “Que Rico”, “Hola, Morena”, “Princessa”,”Hermosa” and occasionally a disgusting air kiss at the end.  Or itching myself to death from the side effects of our potent Malaria medication (which is truly helpful, yet has annoying side effects). Or finding out that real roosters can “alarm” you at ANY time of the night to inform you that they are indubitably awake. Or lastly, the infamous ice cold bucket showers that I have now created the name “Buckeeta” as the fun verb to use while referring to my bathing process. I have realized that this is my life and a darn good one at that because I am learning to laugh at smallest things in life and be content with what I don’t know how to say or do.Lesson of the week: Learn to laugh at the small things that life gives us…including yourself.

#thelittlethings....

First Week of Peace Corps (Aug 18th)

This week has begun with my arrival at Staging for the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C where I checked in the hotel and met up with a few "stagees"  that I have been conversing with for the past couple of weeks through Facebook(#Networking). Over the weeks leading up to our Staging date, we have all shared our commonalities, anxieties, packing frustrations, and  "must haves" while being away for twenty seven months. I was elated to finally put a personality to a name & face when I met up with Traci, Hanna, Jen, as well as Anita & Warren at Staging! Everyone was  nervous and unaware of what was about to take place as we anxiously stood in line to listen to the stern, yet knowledgeable voice of Emily, one of our Staging coordinators who thoroughly prepared us for our Safety and Security training  while in Nicaragua. I would say the #1 rule in the Peace Corps  is to expect the unexpected, especially in the first three months of training. If you are preparing for Staging for the Peace Corps, I suggest that you bring a packed lunch or stop and get food prior to your event begins because we did not have time to eat food prior to the event which was seven hours long with only a twenty minute break. 

After Staging, we didn't get much sleep because most of us stayed up trying to get to know each other after dinner and most of us were only able to catch some shut eye for two hours (if that!) to only get up and prepare for another day at two am in the morning. Que lucura! We arrived at the airport at 3am where we had a short layover, flew to Miami where we endured another layover and finally arrived in Managua, Nicaragua where we received our Vias for the country and were greeted by Peace Corps Volunteers and facilitators.

Shortly after, we crossed the street where we would be staying for the next few days, Hotel Mercedes (a really nice hotel that I recommend everyone stay in if you ever come to Nicaragua). Fort he next three days we talked, and talked, and talked, and ate of course, and talked some more about the rules and regulations of Peace Corps as well as the Safety and security here in Managua.  

After all of the talking, I was able to coordinate and host an intimate talent show and saw th

at my group was fun and diverse as I introduced everything from poetry (me) to harmónica and guitar playing, to Salsa and Meringue dance lessons, to singing about cookies. Fue interestante! The next morning we departed for our host families after three days of pre-service training where I was able to meet my 4 foot 7 host mother and my 15 other family members along with chickens, roosters, three dogs, and two cats (sometimes) and three dogs. Although I have a large family of 15, it was definitely what I requested because it gives me the opportunity to speak to the best of all worlds because my host familly’s age ranges from 5 years old to 77 years old. My host mother, Lucia, sells news paper in the city, while my host father, Justo, grows herbal medicine. We also have a small restaurant where locals come in on a daily basis to eat small meals for really low price. My room is actually pretty small and has a bed covered with my handy dandy mosquitero, a desk where I spread all of my Peace corps material, a small stool, and a rope near the wall to place my clothes. Its pretty comfortable and I am very happy to be here. There is no running wáter (I took my first bucket bath today), however there is electricity which is a good thing that way I can still do work on my computer and send it when I get to a cyber café!

My room!

First day in my new home!

When God closes one door....

June 19th 2014
It has felt like years since I have written in my blog. So many things have happened since my last semester of college. On March 10th I received my official Peace Corps invitation via email just DAYS after meeting the Director of Placement Nicholas Bassey, who is an awesome alumni of Morehouse College. (In my head, I’m sure he had something to do with speeding up the nomination process after my email thanking him for taking the time to come out to the exceptionally small, not to mention cozy Peace Corps event.

This is my email convo with Mr. Bassey: 
From: Kimberly Scott [mailto:kimberly.scott13@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 6:04 PM
To: Bassey, Nicholas
Subject: Peace Corps Nominee

"Greetings Mr. Bassey,

I hope this message finds you well. It was a pleasure meeting you during the Peace Corps Week Celebration at the Bank of America Leadership Building at Morehouse College. I am currently a graduating Senior at Clark Atlanta University with a major in Business Marketing and Minor in Spanish (with an education background).

Interacting with PCV Christian Perry was truly an added inspiration as I await embarking upon a life changing experience with the Peace Corps. I have been nominated to Nicaragua as a TEFOL instructor and hope to infuse youth development and health extension secondary projects if I am placed in this beautiful host country to serve (fingers crossed   ).  

I am communicating this email to show my appreciation for your time, enthusiasm, and most of all your willingness to give back to a community in which you were able to socially and academically grow. Through the Peace Corps, I aspire to do the same for the Atlanta University Center. Is it possible that I may maintain communication with you or ask if you can refer a RPCV for mentor to me? Thank you and I look forward to speaking with your shortly.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Scott
Candidate Number : XXXXXXXXX”

“Kimberly,

It was a pleasure meeting you as well. I always get excited about connecting AUC students to dynamic opportunities, so I’m glad that the event was meaningful for you. I would be glad to keep in touch with you as you embark upon your Peace Corps journey.

I’m sure that I can find an RPCV mentor for you. Erika (the recruiter who was one of our first speakers) is a Spelman alumna. Do you know her already?

Best,

Nicholas

________________________________________________
Nicholas M. Bassey,
Director of Placement
Peace Corps
1111 20th St. NW, Washington DC 20526
Voice: 202-692-1896
Fax: 202-692-1801
Email: nbassey@peacecorps.gov

(In short, Im sure he pulled a few strings…networking and reaching out is the best!)

Any who, I was having an okay semester but truthfully I was worried about my Business Finance class because EVERYONE was failing. I mean, this particular class has a 50 percentile passing rate so you can clearly imagine how the seniors in the class felt.  I think the highest that I have ever gotten on a test was a 56% and the lowest was a 9% LOL. I look back and laugh now, however, I definitely hustled to class 20 minutes early, sat in the first row, and actively participated in class every time, trying not to frantically throw myself on the floor due to my confusion and frustrations. Needless to say I passed with a “C” average and learned the valuable lesson that everything that you do counts toward your goal…just stay consistent, tenacious, and positive.

Graduation was a complete success and surprisingly it didn’t rain! Unfortunately for Spelman and Morehouse Colleges graduation commencement it poured all weekend…I couldnt imagine my hair from sitting under a poncho for four hours smh. I am soo glad I was able to spend time with my mom and mentor (Ms. BJ) as well as friends! It’s a shame I haven’t seen my mom since my Ecuador trip (two years!) but I guess God prepares us for our journey in every way because Nicaragua is right around the corner.

(C/O 2014 Commencement Brochure) 

  (My mother and I sharing a special moment)

 
(My mom and I.....Clark Atlanta University Mom!)

 (My Best Friend and me)

 
( A special someone)

        (My beautiful Sorors to my right!)


Speaking of Nica I recently turned in all of my paperwork for my medical clearance….Physical Exams: Weight, Height, Eye Exam, Pelvic & Genitalia Exam, Polio Shot, TB Shot, Chicken pox verification, Hepatitis B Surface Antigen ($72), Dental Exams and X Rays ($158…in counting) ----OKAY, ya see where Im going?? This stuff is expensive and thankfully I’m a healthy human being because I couldn’t imagine only being reimbursed $60 or $165 for a few trips to the doctor that cost over $500. Furthermore, I still need to post a few more things on my Medical Portal for GYN Exam, Dental Plan, and Hepatitis B surface Antigen which comes back hopefully no later than Monday…the same date as my GYN Exam… I know, I know TMI….but I’m sure Ill be sharing more excitingly disgusting things along the way and during my travels.
Ill let you guys know how my Medical Clearance goes….I should be cleared within the next week or so and then off to figuring out what to pack! Any suggestions are welcome! Love ya!

Nicaragua...My New Home

Greetings everyone! I am definitely excited about being a Peace Corps Volunteer especially since it has been a VERY long application process. On August 15, 2013, I applied to the Peace Corps knowing that deep down in my heart it was something that I wanted to do. That wasn't always the case however. I heard about the Peace Corps through my Study Abroad adviser on the campus of Clark Atlanta University since he was a RPCV (and I felt like he was just trying to recruit). It wasnt until I experienced the freedom (for lack of a better word) of being in another country that I began to consider such a opportunity.

For those of you lovely people who don't know, I studied abroad in Ecuador for 4 months and lived with a host family while going to class (Statistics, Microeconomics, International Marketing, and 2 Spanish Language Courses) and teaching English at a local primary school called Casa Cuna. I would never change this opportunity nor the awesome FRIENDS that I still keep in touch with from Canada, Australia, Belgium, and Mexico!  It has truly made me more of an amazing woman and I look forward to Teaching English to high school students in Nicaragua.

I will also post a timeline and a few videos that have kept me on the edge of my seat as I learn about the Nicaraguan culture and my primary assignment!!!
Check this one out!