Lights Out! Living with Inconsistent Electricity

Are you afraid of the dark? This is a serious question you need to answer for yourself if you are considering joining the Peace Corps. The answer is simple: you will find yourself sitting in the dark. For instance, this very moment, I’m currently sitting in the dark at my office. Granted, some countries do not use electricity widely like Georgia. We have electricity in most places but are also not immune to power outages. Although they are not a daily occurrence, they happen from time to time.
Power is Out
Sitting at my desk with no electricity at work
Thankfully, I’m using my laptop at work today instead of my desktop. Therefore, I’m taking advantage of the battery juice that I have left. The power went out around noon today and I do expect it to come back within 30 minutes or so. Typically, the power outages are in 1-hour increments at best. I’m grateful that they do not derail my day, they simply postpone my activities. Unfortunately, the room I do sit in at the office gets dark. We have wooden shutters for the windows and we use them in the winter. I never asked why, but my assumption is for heat conservation.
I do have to admit that power is much more stable in the city than it is in the villages. During PST, each time it was rainy and/or windy, there was an overwhelming possibility that the power would go out. Believe me, Georgia has a lot of rain in all four seasons. My PST host family did not do much to prepare for such events. They simply lit up one candle and called it a day. A skinny, measly candle at that. I’m not talking about Yankee Candles here. They didn’t fuss or come up with contingencies.
Justin and I have heard in advance about these scenarios, so we prepped for it. We bought a solar panel light and two headlamps from Amazon. They came in handy nearly on a daily basis during training. When our host family discovered our big solar light, they were ecstatic. The solar light solved the problem of a dark dinner. We ate comfortably during those nights around the dining room table.  Our headlamps came in handy every night when we walked to the outhouse or did homework.
Solar Panel Light
Top: The light part our massive flashlight Back: the solar panel for recharging
One day a few weeks into training, the power went out around 6 or 7 p.m. Because it was April or May, it was already dark outside. Justin and I had our dinner and finished our homework. With no internet and no electricity, I was so bored. My entertainment solution: going to bed early. No joke, I literally went to bed before 8 p.m. that night because I had nothing else to do. I wasn’t even sleepy. Thankfully, I was able to sleep through the entire night and was extremely well rested the next morning.
Here is another anecdote, Justin and I come home and it was super windy with heavy rain. I had a feeling that the power was going out, so I pulled out the headlamps. Justin was even better. He looks at me and said, “The power will go out in 3…2…1.” Sure enough, the second he put his index finger down, the power went out like magic. He was able to hone his super power skills to the millisecond. If the power went out in California, we would fret and probably demand a partial refund from our power supplier. In reality, I don’t know what I would do because it never happened. But when it happens in Georgia, we remain calm because more than half the time, it is out of our control.
Headlamp
One of our wonderful headlamps!
Since I’ve come to site, the power only went out a couple of times at night. The lights flicker, but that is probably the most of it. My friends who live in villages are not as lucky as Justin and I. I believe, one volunteer did not have power for a couple of days during a heavy snow storm. It is possible that my site doesn’t have as many of these problems because the weather is milder in my neck of the woods. The other reason could be is because I live in a city with better infrastructure. I’m just grateful that I no longer have to go to the outhouse in the dark anymore.

Project Design Workshops

Two days ago was a small win for me. Celebrate the small wins, they say. But what they don’t say, is sometimes how long you have to wait to get those glimmering moments. My Youth2Georgia counterpart got hired in September, about 2 months after I got to site. I took him to my Peace Corps’ Project Design and Management Workshop with me for a week shortly after that. It is now February and we are now finally working on our first major project together. Sure, we have had meetings, discussions, and mini-trainings, but we are now actually working towards something bigger. Ironically enough, our first project is….a Project Design Workshop.
Our Peace Corps training was in September and it was one business week long. Each IOD volunteer brought along one counterpart to the training in Sairme. I was lucky and I was able to bring both my World Vision counterpart and my Youth2Georgia counterpart. Typically Peace Corps hires translators for these events because a lot of counterparts speak limited English. My World Vision counterpart speaks English fluently, so she acted as a translator for my Youth2Georgia counterpart. She was also needed because my Y2G counterpart was so new to the organization and wouldn’t be able to provide much insight into the past or future projects.
At the training, we learned aspects of successful community projects, how to set proper goals and objectives, and how to write grants. Peace Corps equipped us with a lot of tools and resources to make us successful. They shared all the training materials with us via soft and hard copies as well. I couldn’t be any more grateful that they did that. I’m currently leveraging some of those materials for our own workshop. We are also leveraging other resources that Peace Corps provides. It is great to not create everything from scratch.
Peace Corps Training
The Sairme Resort where we had our Project Design and Management (PDM) Training
Instead of training that takes days, our training will only be a few hours long. Most Peace Corps Volunteers work with youth, and I’m not an exception. The training will be for high school students and it will most likely be their first introduction to project design. We are currently researching what to put in our 5-hour curriculum while making it fun and impactful. I want the students to walk away understanding the most basic concepts, such as what are project cycle; goals and objectives; and budget and evaluation. We are hoping that some of them will actually implement their project ideas.
So two days ago, I sat down with my counterpart for no joke 3.5 hours discussing the curriculum. What I like about being a Peace Corps Volunteer is that there are endless teaching opportunities (for me and them). As he was making various suggestions, it gave me an opportunity to exercise my coaching, mentoring, and/or consulting skills. It awarded him an opportunity to take advantage of my professional experience as well.
For example, he suggested that we input the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis in the curriculum. I asked him why he would want to teach a bunch of 14-15-year-olds that analysis. He highlighted that with every project, there are risks and the SWOT analysis explores risk. As correct as it may be, I suggested that we do not include SWOT analysis. I told him that when I learned it in college, it can be a complex theory and it is typically used for organizations and not for community-based projects. I also did not want to overwhelm the teenagers with too many theories. However, I did say we should explore how to include risks in the project design training framework.
Discussions with counterparts often include a lot of back-and-forth discussions. First, coming from two different cultures and educational backgrounds offer a diversity of thought. Second, since we neither speak the other’s language fluently, it creates a lot of room for miscommunication. Essentially, my counterpart explained his thoughts to me multiple times in broken English and I did the same with broken Georgian. Google Translate was also used heavily (thank god for the internet). Work does get done. Relationships are built. But, it can be slow and now I understand why patience is a virtue.
My small win this week is one of the reasons why Peace Corps’ service is not less than 2 years. I’ve been in-country for nearly a year and I’m finally working with my youth NGO counterpart on something big. It takes a while to gain trust and respect. It also takes a while to find your place in the organization. Most importantly, it takes a while to understand the community in which you serve. Therefore, imagine the mistakes I would have made if I tried to rush things. I would have no idea that the teenagers wouldn’t understand SWOT. I would have taken that suggestion and implemented it. Most likely, we would be met with blank and confused faces. However, because I’ve done a few trainings by now, I know that I should start with the over-arching concepts and focus on that instead.
Phew
I love it when I can avoid mini disasters! Phew!
Either way, the trainings take place next month. Wish us luck that everything will go smoothly. In the meantime, I am going to celebrate the fact that my counterpart and I have our first long and productive conversation. I’m going to hope that our hard work will pay off next month in our first major collaborative project.

Representing America as a Person of Color

Never in my life I would have considered myself a Person of Color. I consider myself a minority all the time, but I never a Person of Color until Peace Corps. In fact, I thought I was going to blend-in easily here in Georgia. But, I was so wrong. I’m simply olive-skinned with brown hair and brown eyes. I won’t go into detail about my ethnic origins, but I am a minority. Apparently, I’m a minority that Georgians have no idea how to deal with. I’ve been learning that there isn’t a clear consensus among the Peace Corps volunteer community either. The non-white volunteers (that I’ve talked with) consider me a Person of Color; however, the white volunteers are shocked when I tell them my stories. It might be safe to say that I’m in that awkward middle…no man’s land. So let me tell you some of my stories from this week alone:
I was leaving Tbilisi back to my site yesterday. About two minutes into the cab ride from my hostel to the train station, the cab driver asks in Georgian, “where are you from?”
“I am American,” I answered, but I knew that the conversation was probably not going to stop there.
He pauses for a moment dissatisfied,”No, where are you from?”
“America. I am American.”
“So Mexico?”
“No.”
“Colombia?”
“No.”
“Ecuador?”
“No.”
And the game continues to solicit every other country in Latin America.
“But you do not look American.”
And yup, he just went there.
Throughout this entire conversation, I was calm because it wasn’t the first time. I remember telling one of my friends about this type of interaction months ago and she was surprised. Later, we were together around town and a Georgian asked us where we were from since we were speaking English. My friend responds and says, “America.” He then looks at me and says, “and you?” “We are both American.” He peppers me with further questions- but with me only. He took my friend at face value when she said American, but I was not granted that same privilege. Immediately after, we laughed since I had literally just told her that this happens all the time.
Other things include like taking pictures and/or videos. For example, a few days ago I was on the metro with a few other of my PCV friends. A lot of times, Georgians stare at us or become curious because we are foreigners. American tourists are not widely popular here in Georgia (in fact, I’ve yet to meet one). So when one of the Georgian men on the metro started staring at me, I thought it was because I was a foreigner. However, it became clear that it was because I was a Person of Color. I was with a few other PCVs, all of whom were white. None of them were stared at. Also, I was the only one who had their picture and video taken! We were all speaking English together, but I was the only one who was singled out.
These moments are what Volunteers of Color call, “Learning Opportunities.” This is where we get to be a representative of America in a raw and honest way. We get to show people that America is diverse. Simply being present shows Georgians that being American can mean foreign-born or natural-born, white or otherwise, or anything else. Another friend was joking that even if I accomplish nothing else, at least I have accomplished this. I am a walking lesson to show that anyone can “look” American.
On the other side of the coin, there are Georgians who have become my strongest advocates. For example, my host mother is the perfect example. Each time we have guests over and they only question my “American-ness,” but not my husband’s, my host mom is the first line of defense. I no longer even have to say a word to defend/explain myself. She will say that America has a lot of immigrants and dual nationalities. She will also use her daughter as an example. He eldest daughter immigrated to America years ago and therefore is equally Georgian and American. Therefore, if her daughter can be American, then so can I. I’m so blessed and lucky to have her as a host mother.
My counterpart is also incredibly proud of my ethnic diversity. She has actually studied a bit about it during her college days. Given the chance, Georgians ask very thoughtful questions about our diverse landscape. I’ve had great discussions at work about the U.S Consitution and about checks and balances. We have talked about how one of the things that America is wonderful is how different nationalities and backgrounds have come together to build a beautiful and proud nation.
But nothing is harder than answering questions about America’s political climate, especially as a minority. At lunch today, my coworkers asked me about Trump’s new immigration ban. But more specifically, they asked how it would affect me and my family. I was literally asked, “Do you think you are still allowed to be a citizen after all this?” “Is your family going to be deported if they know where you were born?” These are questions I thought I would never have to answer during my service. Actually, these are questions I never thought I would think about ever. Personal feelings aside, questions like this are difficult because we are not ordinary private American citizens. We are representatives of the American government; therefore, our actions and words carry a lot of weight. I simply responded with a quick history of the US Consitution and what a beautiful document it is. I talked about checks-and-balances that America’s president does not hold all the power. It was my long-winded way of saying that I don’t think their concerns would be a reality.
But this is the world that I live in. American politics are broadcasted on international news channels. People around the world read and hear about what is happening in the United States all the time. Our country truly does impact the rest of the world. So at least while I’m doing my best answering questions in a diplomatic way, my fellow Peace Corps volunteers regardless of ethnic origin, race, or religion are supportive of me through this journey.