The world has revolved, and then revolved a little more. 

A momentous change has taken place in my Peace Corps life, and I’m at liberty to share.

Due to a combination of mellifluous elements, I will no longer be living in Butare.  Peace Corps has pulled me from my site. The last seven months of service are now the middle, rather than the final, chapter in a long novel of unwinding experiences.  For those of you who either aren’t here to witness the madness, or with whom I don’t engage in detailed and witty repartee on a regular basis, the reasoning behind this change comes from several angles.  The simplest explanation is this: my contribution to the safety/security statistics of our program has been appreciated as not my only possible outlet of programmatic expression (or more clearly, I’ve had too many security problems at site), and – perhaps especially a dynamic element – my role with the women’s cooperative and business became a source of concern.  The view that Peace Corps had of my job, and the view that my partner organization had, were very very different, and as it turns out, not compatible.  To sum it up briefly, as a PCV I cannot be the head of a program – this is not sustainable by Peace Corps definition.  And the tasks that I was specifically requested to do were, unfortunately, not compatible with Peace Corps’ vision of my role.

My feelings are very mixed.

The project that I was a part of was truly incredible, and regardless of the rest, I’m honored that I had at least a brief chance to be a part of it.  What I will miss most of all are the relationships I had with the women I worked with – no one is perfect, and we had our share of bumps in the road, but I was deeply inspired by those women, and I was very close with some of them.  It was very hard to say goodbye to them, and to the first half of my Peace Corps life.  All I can say now is that I wish them the absolute best, I will miss them, and it is time for me to walk down this new path that Peace Corps has laid before me.

And where will I be going? What’s the next step?

Let’s break it down.

I have been partnered with EDC, a US-based NGO that operates in a number of countries around the world in education, health, and economic development (as well as domestically in the US).  In Rwanda, EDC works on a USAID-partnered project called Akazi Kanoze, which means “work well done” in Kinyarwanda.  The focus of this project is to re-link disenfranchised youth (primarily those who have slipped through the cracks of the education system) into civil society through expanded opportunities to education and economic development.  EDC is just beginning the rural extension of this program, and I will be part of the team that “spearheads” this expansion.  I will be moving back to where it all began, to a village in Kamonyi where EDC has an Implementing Partner (in this case, a struggling vocational program for out-of-school youth). I’ll be working directly with the youth, as well as teachers, in a truly in-the-field, grassroots setting.

My feelings on this are many, but let it suffice to say that I am very grateful that I have been blessed with such a poignant second adventure.  It’s been a rough time, with a lot of emotional rollercoasters that have no seat restraints, and big big mental approach changes, but I have so much hope for the future.  

Let’s do this.

{epic theme song starts}