I was fortunate enough to be selected to Peace Corps Ukraine’s Small Program Assistance (SPA) Committee. For most of us, this was the first committee we had sat on and had a lot to learn. We did not know what to expect. But, we knew that this process would help us in the long run and we needed to understand that the projects that are created through this process will have a direct impact on people in Ukraine. That is an important task to make sure it is the correct impact.

In our meeting we reviewed volunteer’s grants and made our comments to whether fellow Volunteers’ grant applications mirrored the USAID SPA guideline.  Through this process my ability to review and write grants has increase tremendously. Not only were my colleagues and I responsible for review the application. After over two months of coaching fellow Volunteers and 14 hours of reviewing over 20 applications, we all agreed that it was a lot of work, but our personal growth throughout this process was worth it.

*These are the thoughts and opinions of Richard J. Roman and do not reflect those of the Peace Corps or its affiliates.