Thanks for the SPA

Thanks are due to certain nameless folks (Hal, Dave, David, Mom &
Dad, Z&K, Anna Banana, and JRC) for their Holiday packages and
letters). It's nice to come into the office after a long stint at
site and see lots of mail... but what a pain in the arse getting it
back to my village. For Pete's sake, stop sending the encyclopedias
and bowling balls!

The reason I was in the capital these last 36 hours was for a meeting
of the Small Project Assistance (SPA) Committee. Most if not all PC
posts have a SPA Committee, which is a relatively easy way for PCVs
to receive up to $3,000 to fund a community development project at
his/her site. Communities must contribute up to 25% of the grant in
a combination of cash and in-kind donations, and the project must be
sustainable. The committee that approves, rejects, or suggests
changes to projects is comprised of 4 PCVs and 3 staff members.

This meeting was my first, and at it we reviewed two projects. The
first was to purchase additional plates and utensils for a school of
800 students. Currently the schools has 250 place settings which are
quickly washed between lunch periods. However, there is not enough
time to properly disinfect everything, which among other reasons has
led to an unusually high incidence of Hepatitis A in the school.
[Fully disinfecting requires a 30-minute soak in a chlorine mixture,
or a 30-second exposure to a certain Adam G's sense of humor -
ZING!] With these new place settings and health education classes
about washing hands, those Hep A cases should diminish. I thought it
was a very good project proposal, and after the committee tweaked a
few things, it was funded.

The second proposal involved remodeling an old, dark, cold library.
New books will be purchased, new lighting and a better-insulated
window installed, old radiators from a burned down building reclaimed
and placed in the library, and two unnecessary and drafty doors
sealed up. A request for a computer to more efficiently keep track
of loaned books was only partially funded, the committee ultimately
deciding that a cost-benefit ratio favored continued use of the "card
in the back of the book" system. Again, I thought is was a good
project and well-presented by the PCV and his/her counterpart.

[The whole "his/her" thing is my attempt to walk the fine line of
sharing information with folks back home about the good work PCVs are
doing and how PC helps them do it without sharing too much about the
Committee's deliberations or the specifics of the application {like
bribe offers that I would never ;) ever ;) ;) under any
circumstances ;) ;) ;) accept}. Hopefully I'm doing a good job,
though suggestions are welcome.]

The rest of my trip to the big city was busy. I ate my two lunches
and dinner at my favorite restaurant, Aleppo. It's so good! Bought
some peanut butter, a Teflon frying pan, a plastic spatula for use
with said frying pan, some really good knives, sponges, and an oven
mit (so I don't need to worry about lighting the draping parts of the
large towel I currently use to handle hot things over my gas stove on
fire). And of course, I thoroughly enjoyed two hot showers with
running water.