Over the past few weeks I have recognized a theme of questions asked about my future service in the Peace Corps. One of the most common questions is, what will you be doing in Ukraine? Well, after answering this question time and time again I figured it would make sense to put it in writing for my friends and family.

Community Development Volunteers work primarily at non-governmental and charitable organizations (NGOs) but also at local municipalities, libraries, museums in partnership with local government bodies, businesses, and educational institutions. They promote social and economic development at the grass-root level. Volunteers’ goals are to increase the capacity of individual community members and service providers, to assist local institutions in achieving organizational sustainability, and to foster cross-sector cooperation between NGOs, government entities and private enterprises.

The Project’s overarching goal is to help establish new and strengthen existing cooperation between community members and groups, to enable them to more effectively assess, plan and implement community, social and economic development.

CD Volunteers have three goals:

• Goal 1: Individuals and service providers, through formal and informal meetings, consultations and trainings, will increase their knowledge and skills needed to enable them to improve the quality of their lives.
• Goal 2: Local organizations will increase their capacity to sustain their operations and take a leading role in local community development processes.
• Goal 3: Community members will increase their participation in determining, designing and implementing projects that address their community needs and opportunities for development.