This week our team had the opportunity to mold change makers. Peace Corps Ukraine’s Project Design and Management (PDM) training is the first time for new volunteers and their counterparts to come together in order to help form the volunteer’s role in the community and  develop project designs which will guide this relationship for the near future. Without a doubt, this has been the best PDM training Peace Corps Ukraine has hosted since I became a volunteer.

It is hard to believe that we are training group 51. The smell of my host family’s house is still in my mind from Pre-service training nearly two years past. It has been a long journey, but my fellow facilitators and I are happy to share our experience with the new group. The training schedule included: Participatory Analysis for Community Action, Cultural Integration, Teambuilding, PDM introduction, Goals and Objectives, Action Plan, Monitoring and Evaluation, Budgeting, and Grant Writing.

We had a great group of volunteers. It is because of them that this PDM training was a success. We were thankful for their active participation. We challenged them to transfer the skills they have learned throughout the week into action at their sites. We also challenged the volunteers to mold their skill sets around the needs of the community. When a Peace Corps Volunteer can learn to do that, we will achieve our full potential. We are here to help and serve.