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"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples" -Mother Teresa

 It's been longer than usual between posts--last week, we had a lot of rain and a lot of wind which meant that I didn't have any wi-fi (or water) at home.  I should clarify when I say "no water"--I didn't have water from the tap, but I do have a barrel of water to use when this happens.  It's not uncommon here for the water to be turned off when it is raining heavily because a lot of sediment enters the water system (the water looks like iced tea).  So homes will have a barrel or a pump-driven tank system to use when the water is turned off.  My home actually has both, but the pump is electric-powered, so unless the water is off for a pretty long time, the landlady doesn't come and turn it on. Actually I've been lucky and have never had to pay to use the pump because the longest I've had to use the barrel only is 4 days, which isn't bad at all.  Honestly, all of my backpacking experiences prepared me well for things like this!  Now that I've taken a little divergence into "life of a PCV", I'll get back to my intended focus for this post--making ripples!

I posted on FB this past week about the in-service training (IST) that I was engaged in.  It was a great week for a few reasons.  One, we got to stay in a hotel which felt so luxurious.  Not only did we get to soak up AC, but I also relished living in a space that I didn't have to share with bugs and where I didn't need to wear bug spray 24/7.  Side note: we have diseases like Dengue, Zika, and Chik here.  We're actually seeing an uptick in Dengue this year.  So we are advised to wear bug repellent all the time at home.  We also got to eat at the hotel for breakfast and lunch which meant that I ate more fruit in 5 days that I have eaten in the past 6 months (I am not being hyperbolic here).  Fun fact: living on a tropical island does not mean that you will be enjoying fresh fruits all the time.   In fact it's quite the opposite.  But again, I digress...

The really great part about IST was that I got to come back together with my St. Lucia cohort and our counterparts to learn about project development.  Admittedly, I have a fair bit of experience in project development already, but it was important to learn about it within in the Peace Corps framework and to work together with my counterpart to lay out a framework for the project we want to do at school.  Our big goal is a library refurbishment and to get the teachers and the students back in the library and using the space in an effective and engaging way.  One of the activities we want to use to get students back in there is our "Reader's Oasis" paired reading program.  We also hope that having students work together in this way will help improve relationships across grades and contribute to a better school environment.  We still have a lot to do to flesh out the rest of the program and I will also be writing a grant to fund our program.  But the week was productive and energizing.  

And now to the ripples.  I was first introduced to the idea of making ripples in college when we had the spectacular Paul Wesselman  as a speaker.  During training last week, I shared with the group the fact that as a teacher, I had to learn that we don't always get to see the outcome of our work.  A lot of the time, we are planting seeds or making ripples that go with our students after they leave our classrooms.  Being a PCV is very similar--most of us will not be able to see the bigger impact of our work.  Yes, hopefully by the time I leave, I will see our library refurbished.  Hopefully I'll get to see some students become better readers.  But I also hope that I'm creating ripples that will have impacts long after I leave.  That I'm helping to build something that belongs to my school and my community and giving students skills, self-confidence, and self-worth that will go with them throughout life.  So in sharing this with my PCV cohort, I had a bit of a full-circle moment.  I learned about ripples in college and that is also where my desire to serve in the Peace Corps was born.  Here I am, 3 decades later, serving in the Peace Corps and sharing something that I first learned in college.  Kinda amazing.  💓💓💓

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