Introduction
I think it’s been official for three weeks now, or at least I’ve felt varying degrees of official-ness -- as a country change was proposed, accepted, finalized with the purchase of a flight, and then mentally committed to as much as possible by referring to it in casual conversation.
Someone called me on it at the beginning of the summer -- I had gotten so into the routine explanation of FSD (why does it require such patience to get beyond the acronym?), that it had started to sound rehearsed:
The Foundation for Sustainable Development is an organization in San Francisco that facilitates internships for college students and grads with local NGOs in Latin America, India and Africa, where they design their own work plan and projects in support of community initiatives for sustainable development. I will be the Program Coordinator, serving as the liaison between the interns, their host organizations and FSD in San Francisco.
Originally it was Puno, Peru, later, most likely Ambato, Ecuador. And finally, in a twist that rocked the office, I got moved to Cochabamba, Bolivia and the former Ms. Argentina was dispatched to come with me as a co-program coordinator (the Cochabamba program is the biggest in South America). I had been doing research on Peru and Ecuador, but most everything but the drastically reduced time before departure has excited me about the change. Now I’m just trying to finish up my Peru/Ecuador projects so that I can move on to learning more about Bolivia. Unfortunately, right now I’m limited to keywords like “Evo Morales” and “coca” and “Aymara”, but I have a seductive pile of books awaiting me. Just to add a few more keywords before I’m thrown in relatively ignorant anyway.
The Bolivian Program Director I’ll be working with, Mauricio, seems just right. He has a reputation in the office for being one of the most innovative and proactive of the in-country directors. And he chided me for not getting in contact with him sooner and asking all the questions that were piling up in my mind. That’s what I like to hear.
Someone called me on it at the beginning of the summer -- I had gotten so into the routine explanation of FSD (why does it require such patience to get beyond the acronym?), that it had started to sound rehearsed:
The Foundation for Sustainable Development is an organization in San Francisco that facilitates internships for college students and grads with local NGOs in Latin America, India and Africa, where they design their own work plan and projects in support of community initiatives for sustainable development. I will be the Program Coordinator, serving as the liaison between the interns, their host organizations and FSD in San Francisco.
Originally it was Puno, Peru, later, most likely Ambato, Ecuador. And finally, in a twist that rocked the office, I got moved to Cochabamba, Bolivia and the former Ms. Argentina was dispatched to come with me as a co-program coordinator (the Cochabamba program is the biggest in South America). I had been doing research on Peru and Ecuador, but most everything but the drastically reduced time before departure has excited me about the change. Now I’m just trying to finish up my Peru/Ecuador projects so that I can move on to learning more about Bolivia. Unfortunately, right now I’m limited to keywords like “Evo Morales” and “coca” and “Aymara”, but I have a seductive pile of books awaiting me. Just to add a few more keywords before I’m thrown in relatively ignorant anyway.
The Bolivian Program Director I’ll be working with, Mauricio, seems just right. He has a reputation in the office for being one of the most innovative and proactive of the in-country directors. And he chided me for not getting in contact with him sooner and asking all the questions that were piling up in my mind. That’s what I like to hear.
posted by Kristin at 7:40 PM
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