content.

Update… it’s the 15^th of march and I am inching my way closer to being done here in Moldova. In a way that’s scary, and in another way entirely its really exciting.

My life for better or worse hasn’t changed all that much. I guess I have fallen into a routine where I have accepted my experience this far and have come to realize it is not going to be that much different here on out. I came with some hopes, and plans, and reality slapped me in the face.

That has been a bitter pill to swallow. So after wallowing in self pity, taking my frustrations out on the world for a little bit there, I am coming to grips with it all. I am content in where I am. I am content on where I am going, and I have a plan for the future that is concrete enough that I can look forward to it.

My day to day is still the same. I do not have as big as smile or as upbeat an attitude as I did when I first was going to work but that will come back as I continue to realize where I am. My role here at my work has been anything but clear. I don’t know what I can get out of my workplace and don’t know what I can put into it that will make any type of lasting difference.

I have done several seminars in a village 7 hours south of where I live on business basics with regards to starting a business. I gave 3 seminars from what it takes to be an entrepreneur to how to write a business plan followed by a seminar on marketing.

It was fun and stressful putting together those presentations. Building my subject matter from a variety of sources and throwing them into a power point slide and then giving the seminars. This is all in Romanian of course. I felt stupid up there the first time because it was really hard for me to feel comfortable up there teaching 18 or so local villagers in my un correct Romanian but I made it interactive enough so I was the pressure was not entirely on my to carry the show.

All in all doing those seminars gave me a solid month of work to do. I would prepare the seminar the whole week then Saturday I would give the presentation. This went on 3 weeks straight and I was happy when they were all over.

Apart from those seminars I have been continued developing a business plan for this couple who are wanting to expand their pasta factory from their house into a larger building upping their capacity to keep up with demand. I have been having a fun time building up a pro forma, estimating our costs and possible revenue numbers. It is what I did in college and something I really enjoy doing.

With a little encouragement we have performed a little market study by handing out some surveys to the local population to get their thoughts on our product and hosted a taste testing session where locals could try our product against 2 of our closest competitors. The idea of being an unbiased survey didn’t really click in as we had the founders of this company doing the taste test as well and filling out the questionnaire. I just kindly asked them to put their names on the paper so I could exclude their opinions on the matter.

I hope to have this plan completed by the end of this month. We have a few places to send the plan to with the hopes of them assisting with the startup costs. We are having the business contribute a percentage of its profit to this NGO to keep it sustainable and by doing so we hope to get some percentage of a grant element to be included with the credit we are going to take out.

Finally what I have been keeping myself busy with is still the Calendula Oil company. My partners I am working with are really getting excited about this idea and some new developments have come about. We have received more interested letters from this company asking for more information from us and responding to our questions. If all goes well we might even open up a processing plant to process Calendula (marigold flowers) into oil. This opportunity needs to be analyzed some more, and we hope to have a few members of this company in Holland come down to Moldova for a face to face meeting.

So I have been having things to do. But my days have been filled with ups and downs never the less. I guess the biggest strain is still going to work and living in the town that I do. I really have been a loss in what I can do here. I look forward to next month so I can begin working in the fields again with my partner. We are going to be working in his plumb orchard and at his lake as well. He decided to invest in some land next to a lake that he has rented the rights to and with that land he is going to be raising fish… (growing fish? I dunno). I am not completely versed on how this will all work but we are going to dig about a hectare of land up next to the lake making a pond for this.

I had a man come into the office this last week and really make me angry. I held my tongue but it really got to me. He is the leader of this organization Agro Inform. It is basically the same organization as the one that I work at (an agro extension office) . He comes in and the first thing he does is say,

hey kyle your language seems to not be that good.

I say ok…

then he says have you written any grants?

I respond with no.

he pushes me more, why not? I remember this volunteer that was here 3 years ago that wrote 3 grants in his first year, why don’t’ you do that, don’t you want to help people?

I tell him I didn’t come here to write grants, and secondly I am working on some business plans involving credit.

He pushes me again about well if its free money why don’t’ I just get that, how im stupid for going after credit when I can have free money.,

I explained its not free money, you have to have a project and you have to be serving some type of purpose and I have not been presented with an opportunity that I feel fits those criteria for a grant.

He just kinda has this smirk on his face and says well whatever, if I don’t want to do anything that’s my decision.

I wanted to hit him in the face and scream at him! This is exactly what I hate about this whole situation here. This grant hunger from everybody here. Moldova gets so much free money for bull crap projects that require no sustainability and its poisoning the people. They all just want handouts and they are not willing to put in the effort. ( I realize I just made a strong statement, I recall ALL from that statement because there are plenty of examples that prove the opposite, it is just the vast majority who work in NGO settings are guilty of this).

So I sit in my office for a little more then leave pissed off at life and my situation here. I was ready to never go back to work again. I plan on going back tomorrow of course, to sit at my desk and work on my business plans, helping with some computer problems that come up throughout the day while I keep myself busy. CONTENT! BE CONTENT WITH THAT!.... so I struggle.

Turkey Vaca

Left top: Spice Market Top Right: Modern Art Museum BL: Hagia Sofia BR: Turkish women making our food

TL: Phil and i at the blue mosque, TR: A street in istanbul
BL: Hagia Sofia, BR: Topekii Palace

TL: Heroplis TR: Efesus BL: Pammukale with phil, R: Efesus BR: Virgin Mary's House

TL: Heropolis me being awesome, TR: Me in a fashion show (jacket over $1500) BL: Hanging out with japenese friends in Anatolia, B: Man making pot in Selcuk, BR: Camel being scary in Anatolia

Turkey

So I took a vacation this winter. I went to Turkey and I was there for 12 days. I went with some other volunteers and overall had a good time. The biggest downside to the trip was the weather. Nearly everyday we were there it rained. It was cold and gloomy but we still made the best of it and saw what we wanted to see.

The trip started with 6 days in Istanbul the final night there ended with New Years. The celebration in Turkey was supposed to be really huge but given the circumstances with the Gaza strip the Turkish government canceled the celebrations in the center square. They had already removed all the trashcans on the street for fear someone would put a bomb in them.

After Istanbul Phil and I took a trip to the middle of turkey in the area of Anatolia to see some caves and rock formations. From there we went to the more western region passing through a place called Pammukale and Heriopolis. There we saw some natural hot springs that was formed in these salt rocks making for a spectacular site. Not only that but Heriopolis had ancient Roman ruins so we were able to just walk freely through this massive field that used to be a city.

Our last stop was this place called Selchuk (I spelled it how it sounds) where we saw the famous Efisus which is another ancient Roman city. There we also did some tours seeing the acclaimed Virgin Mary’s house where she fled with Jon the Baptist after Jesus was killed. After seeing such a site what better place to go then to a fashion show and participate.

All in all the trip was fun, I just wish the weather would have cooperated with us a little more. In Anatolia the temperature was around -12 degrees Celsius and all I had was a fleece and a hoody. And the rain was barely kept off with $2 umbrellas that I had to keep buying because they would break at the slightest wind gust.

Its February 1st. My time here is going by rather quickly. I am more in a reflection mood then anything else here. I have a few projects that have the possibility of going somewhere or nowhere at all. Lots of potential but in all actuality none of them could pan out and that Is just how things go.

I miss America. I miss my family and my friends. That’s all.

winter.

its come again. winter. i just got back from vacation in turkey. i was there for around 13 days or so. it was a long time but it was fun to get away and see a new country. i will post follow up pictures a little later. i will begin to update this again soon. sorry grandmas...

Aspiration Statement before i became negative.

ASPIRATION STATEMENT
Kyle Stremme
Moldova
September 9th, 2007


A: The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill, during your Peace Corps service.

After reviewing the VAD I feel that I will be able to use my experience at the Enterprise Center that I am currently working at to help local entrepreneurs raise funding they need to get started. I understand the financial markets will be different but the fundamental strategy of taking an idea from the concept stage to a commercial stage is a critical attribute that I possess.

I really would just like to hopefully help anyone commercialize an idea so that they can provide for their family and learn along in the process. I hope to take on side projects which involve taking an idea and do cost and revenue projections to see weather the idea has any validity.

B: Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

I think the biggest key to success in working with host country partners is open mindedness. I will be a participant in their activities, learning their culture and their way of things before jumping into a leadership role. I am very much a student to their lives as they will be to what I will be teaching them.

C: Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

Open mindedness is a large part of adaptation. I am going into this with little to no expectations of it being easy or hard. Without expectations it is hard to be disappointed or disgruntled. I will exercise respect for everyone I meet and I will attempt to show compassion and dedication in every activity I take on. I will gain their respect through exhaustive language studies and hard work outside of my normal job.

D: The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

I hope to learn ways of raising capital in their country. From my studies I understand it is hard to obtain capital. I hope to learn why the agricultural market is so risk averse, and how to overcome this obstacle.

E: How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

I joined this program to learn compassion for others. I believe this is a skill that has to be taught and experienced and is not an innate aspect to the human race. I hope the experiences I gain through this will give me the confidence to be successful in my future endeavors and enforce putting other first in everything I do in the future.

photo update. click the photos to make them bigger.

winter is knocking

11.24.08
Thought 1.

Today I was just sitting out on my balcony getting some fresh crisp winter air in my lungs. The first time I did this today I realized im not unhappy here. It is a good feeling to have. I am happy here. I do feel a little unproductive but im content. I have been for a while now I guess. I drafted a plan of action to get myself better aligned and prepared to take on this next year, hitting the ground running. I call it my Peace Plan for the Winter. I feel pretty good about it. I did a little goal setting exercise to improve myself and then how im going to go about making any sort of impact here as a peace corps volunteer.

Peace Plan Winter 2008

There is two categories for my plan this winter. The first is actions that will better myself as a individual to make better use of free time. The second addresses my work for the Peace Corps.

Self Improvement Plan
Total time put towards self improvement 1,515 minutes or 25.25 hours a week

Music (45 minutes a day, 225 minutes a week)
· Practice playing the guitar no less then 30 minutes a day on week days
· Practice or have fun playing the harmonica 15 minutes a day on week days
Body (90 minutes a day 3 days a week, 270 minutes a week)
· Go to the gym 3 times a week
· Stretching for 30 minutes a day
· Hydrate
Mind (Totaling 15 hours)
· Listen to the economist audio edition every week to keep up on world end economic events. (easily accomplished during long bus rides to and from Chisinau) 7 hours
· Language Development
o Study with Rosetta Stone Language program Russian
§ 3 lessons a week or 5 hours in total.
o Go to my language tutor twice a week for 3 hours in total.
Miscellaneous ( 2 hour a week )
· Cooking proficiency 1 new dish a week
· Learn recipe 30 minutes
· Find ingredients 30 minutes
· Cooking of the dish Variable average 1 hour


Work Plan
(No less then 3 hours a days spent on any of the following ideas or a minimum 15 hours a week.)
Divided in 4 parts
Agriculture
· Develop a plan for promotion of soil testing before the use of chemical fertilizers, carrying out the promotion at agriculture supply stores to address the issues of over fertilization or improper fertilization. As a side advantage promote correct usage of fertilizers to receive maximum yields.
· Research the possibility of growing a type of Marigold as a type of cash crop to be sold to a Netherland Pharmaceutical company. Pilot test plot, and logistics work for what to do with the yields.

Community Organizational Development
· Youth Action Group
o Facilitating and Promotion of youth community development activities.
§ Student Disco (student initiated)
· Mayor’s office Website
o Design and instruct on how to develop site
· Networking NGO Site
o Project involving data basing Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and posting their needs so that international organizations, churches, or volunteers looking for places to lend their aid or resources can make an informed decision.

Business and Rural Development
· Working with the “COMMUNITAS” Association in the south of Moldova through their chairman of this organization to spread information on the steps needed to take in planning a business plan and finding financial resources to implement the plan.

Peace Corps
· Volunteer brainstorming sessions
o Organize interested volunteers for monthly brainstorming sessions, get volunteers working together and sharing experiences. Idea sharing and group think sessions will give volunteers feeling ineffective an environment where they can gain ideas they can use to become effective or strengthen current project ideas.


Thought 2.

So after finishing my list I went out to the balcony again just to kind of reflect on my goals. Its cold outside. Cold enough to freeze some puddles from a rain we got a few days back forming some nice little ice sheets. The little kids coming home from school begin to play on them running and sliding across them. I notice they are playing a little violently as they push and shove each other out of the way to get their turn to run and slide. More kids show up and they begin shoving harder and yelling at one another in Russian. I am far enough away not to catch any words but I can see they aren’t being all that kind. These kids are ages ranging from id say 7 until maybe 10. They are not just shoving but punching, with clinched fists aiming for the face. Soon enough all hell breaks loose. Kids begin choosing sides and they shoving matches and punching matches ensue. From here kids begin to grab clumps of dirty frozen leaves and throwing them at one another. Then one kids goes over breaks a smaller patch of ice, grabs this shard and throws it at another. After this escalation both sides being doing the same picking up anything from sticks to pieces of fragmented asphalt to chunks of ice and dirt. Throwing and fighting go on right out in my apartment complex courtyard area. Its violent. I thought about going down to stop them but its not my job, I don’t think I could even begin to solve this problem.

It saddened me. What can I do to alleviate this? The Answer is nothing. All I can do is observe and report. What are the causes of this problem? Is it the lack of work in this country or poor standard of living? Is this causing domestic violence at home teaching this kids to be this way? Is it the lack of supervision of these children? Is it just in human nature to be violent and mean to one another?

I am doing fine

This is from left to right, darren, phil and me. they come up to my sight to hang out and see my awesome pad.

This is what we in the family call "west chicago". thats for you dad. i even did the whole west chicago voice when my and my roomate were cooking it. so whenever we fry random things on the skillet he asks if we are going to be making some west chicago.

Thats my roomate on the far right. to his left is his friend, and then two other volunteers david in the plad and andrew at 12 o'clock. just enjoying a nice dinner at our aparment

look at the joy west chicago brings to his face!

October 16, 2008

First of all happy birthday dad. You’re a great man and I am happy to have you as a father. So just to clear some stuff up, no I am not dead. Sorry I kind of fell off the blog universe for a while but in all actuality I kept waiting cause there wasn’t really anything I wanted to say. I Am done with recapping my day to day and try to just put down thoughts as they come. To be honest they just were not coming. It was kind of the same old same old day in and out. Start the day, go to work, research some stuff for any kind of project that I could do with my organization and coming up empty.

Quick ideas I was bouncing around on involved dabbling into some cash cropping. This type of marry gold that is being purchased by a pharmaceutical company that uses the oil for different types of medicines. They offer to buy the oil at a set price so there is no risk about the price falling at the end of the harvest. It had some promise to it only it just ran out of steam. I had my partner all sold on it to a skeptical point but closer then I have sold him on anything else. Finally I convinced him enough to peak his interest to the point he asked me to do a forecasts on the profits that could be had. He also made it clear this would not be a seminar to that we would show others how to do this but would be a business for him. The project ran out steam once we hit our first obsticale that we need a plant that can process the seed from the mary golds and turn it into oil. We assumed we can use this plant in Balti to the south of us but we were unclear if we could use the same machine that would do this with sunflowers and make it work for our needs. It’s a Russian company and I can’t talk to them in Romanian. My partner just kind wussed out on calling them and we left it at that.

Also tried to push for combining three different crops on one plot of land. The first would be a walnut orchard. In between the walnut trees would be plumb trees along the same rows. And in between the rows would be the mary golds. In the plan it would allow a person to take out credit to pay for the different inputs. Because to take out credit requires you pay it back really quickly if not in one year be able to pay it back you need a quick returning investment. So you use the cash crop of mary golds and get your investment back and use that money to fund your orchard, where after 4 years you can begin recouping your investment. If that whole thing doesn’t make sense I am talking with my host brother about how he needs to cook these cookies in the oven and he keeps interrupting me. … [end thought]

10.24.08

Ok im back on board. Today is moving a long a good pace. Let me see where I last ended… uh huh. Ok so I was explaining some of the things im trying to do at my work without success. Ok well recently im really starting to pick up pace on this whole composting idea. I have been bouncing around with this for sometime and only receiving crap from my partners. I decided against including them. I have this book lasagna gardening by patricia lanza that my wonderful mom sent me that has some great tips on composting and then sheet composting. Sheet composting is just like using organic materials used in composting put layering them where you are going to have your garden. You start with we newspapers as the first layer then build up from there, using things like peat moss, yard clippings, leaves from trees (in the fall) and so forth. You alternate the layers and as long as you use a decent ratio with the high carbon (green things living or were living) and low carbon (dead things like fallen leaves, corn stalks…) your little compost pile decomposes by heating up then leaving you with wonderfully fertile soil.

On top of this wonderful “black gold” as it is referred to by some, it helps reduce landfills by up to 60% all organic materials were disposed of properly by composting. I hope to encourage its use by using high school students as the median. I started carrying around my book and having people ask me what it is. I tell them and then give them my pitch to hopefully get them excited and so far its working. I am going to start collecting materials this week. I have found news papers, and going to buy garbage bags so I can rake up all my ingredients for my compost pile from the park. I also found out where I can buy peat moss or hopefully can and will be going to there to check on the price. I will fotograph my experiment and document how I did it with the kids. Then wait for the garden to do its thing this winter and wait for the spring to have freshly decomposed fertilizer. We will compare the yield from this fertilized organic composting gardening with normal gardening and see if there is any difference. If there is we log results and show others how.

Also I have started finally volunteer groups at the highschools. Plenty of stress and adventures to be had just getting the attention of the kids, and putting up announcements and talking to classes all in Romanian to get them interested. Really difficult but im glad I did it! There is about 20 kids showing up from one school. We meet on Sundays at 2 and from another school we will see as in we have our first meeting tomorrow. But with this brings promise of doing good by empowering the youth to develop their own ideas and projects and them we will implement them. I learned a lot since my last group and I hope to have even more success with this one.

That’s really all I have going on. Im researching butterfly farming for my partner.. there is not even one here in moldova that we have found out about, and we would raise them like a cash crop to sell at weddings kinda like throwing rice you release them at weddings for good look or something. It would be interesting to say the least if it would take off.

I love living here in this apartment. My day to day life is much improved, im happier, independent and enjoy having a roommate who I can cook with and play games with during down times. I started doing sprints again to get back into shape. My partner dropped the news that he might be going to Moscow this spring for a few months to find some work and money because its just cutting it where we work now. He will also take a month vacation in November so my life will get a whole lot slower at work, if that is even possible.

I dunno what life has in store for me in the coming months, but as long as I have more good days then bad I call them a success. That will come with positive thinking, and a drive to really be content with my life as it is. I have a guitar now, I will begin picking that up as a hobby, and then starting in the next couple of weeks I will take harmonica lessons twice a month.