The first is that the day finally came for my sitemate Tom's big environmental project. Last Saturday, town citizens, students, PCVs, our TLG friend, and even our Country Director gathered in the town center to celebrate Earth day and bring awareness to one of Georgia's issues: littering.
I was really proud of Tom, as he had worked with some of my students to plan out activities and, though it wasn't the best turnout the town has ever seen for a public event, around 40 kids showed up to paint a mural, plant trees, and pick up trash in specific areas in town.
Even more than the activities of the day, Tom has worked hard to create a 50-day project focused on reusable bags in stores around town. Basically, he has set up a program that discourages customers from taking the small plastic bags which usually end up in trees, the river, or lining the ground. He offered to pay stores who wanted to participate a small sum in exchange for giving receipts to patrons who refuse a plastic bag for their purchased items. These receipts are worth 10 tetri a piece (like a dime), and customers can earn up to 5 lari total by the end of the 50-day program.
It hasn't been easy working to collaborate the whole thing, but I do think that awareness has been raised about the issue and my counterpart at school says that a lot of people are talking about it at least. While they may not be running out to hold clean-up days, maybe they'll think next time about throwing trash directly on the ground.
In other news, I was recently in Tbilisi for a Safety and Security meeting where we discussed PST (Pre-Service Training) for the G11s, who will be here in less than 2 weeks! I think we have a good program, and we also filmed a video to help describe some issues they may face during service. In addition to giving my acting chops some work, I think it will be a fun and useful way to understand staying safe in certain situations.
So, as I've heard is the case from past volunteers, the last few months tend to go by quickly, especially because it seems like there's a lot of things going on. I'm attempting to organize a school spelling bee by grade, and hopefully a regional one as well, in order to help the kids focus a little more as the school year winds down (and keep my sanity in check as they lose that focus).
Of course, my last 2 big projects will be starting and finishing the renovation of my English classroom, and the Girls Leading Our World camp.
As far as my English room is concerned, I STILL NEED MONEY, YOU GUYS! I know times are hard, and the economy is terrible. But perhaps you have a rich uncle who is looking for a tax write-off, or a school group dying to give some money from a volunteer fundraising project to a school across the world? Maybe you are still working out that New Year's resolution to eat healthier, and instead of buying the Taco Bell meal, you should donate the money to my project! It will keep you slim AND you're helping people, yeah! Whatever the case may be, I still need around $1000 for everything to happen, and time is getting shorter and shorter to do that. So PLEASE consider donating at this link:
So, as you can see, there are some fun things coming up on the horizon. In the meantime, I'm getting really excited about moving to New York, starting classes, and living the (poor, but) good life. I have already been informed that some people will be visiting. I can tell this is going to be a popular place to move, and I am excited to be a tour guide!
Ok, I have work to do the rest of the day, so until the next update, ciao and good day, sirs and madams!
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