BUILDing great things in Georgia

In case I haven't told you, it is REALLY hot here in Poti- and most of Georgia. This is provided me with an instant conversation starter with almost any Georgian I meet. I just walk up to someone and say- it's hot or it's very hot, and we have now have something to bond over. Warning, talking about the weather is not the best way to start a very engaging conversation.

Due to the rising mercury (does any one use mercury thermometers any more), I decided to get a haircut. I have already had two experiences with the haircut process in Georgia so my confidence is growing; however, this would be my first haircut in Poti and I wanted to start out on the right foot. I looked up some vocab and casually asked my brother for advice on where one might seeks a person with scissors and some experience. He just pointed out the window and down at the neighbor's place. I was worried that might be the case. Who knows if I will like their service and if I decided to never go back I would still have to see them on my street and they would know when I got my haircut elsewhere. This was a big commitment, potential for 2 years. I went for it!

Long story short- not bad. First pass with the clippers and I knew this would be a really short cut. I was a little concerned as the hair kept falling off. In the end my only complaint was that she switched my hair part from right to left and I don't know how I feel about it. Anyways, she wasn't to bad! She was pretty meticulous about it and I'm not bald. If you are ever feeling adventurous I would suggest getting your haircut in a foreign country, the ending will always be a surprise.

Small aside on my Poti wanderings: this week I found the central library branch (last week was just the children's library), I am now friends with all the librarians and the director. I can't tell you how many times they asked if I was single and mentioned various single women they knew- feels like home... Also I now have my eye on what might be a chess school. Chess is big in Georgia and HUGE in Poti, an few world chess champions come from here and they just had a competition. I hope to explore it a little more this week.

Part of the Martvili monestary

Most of this week was actually spent away from Poti. First, Alex's host family invited me to join them on a trip to Martvili (where several others PCVs live) I jumped at the chance to visit more parts of Georgia.We headed up Tuesday around noon, stopping at the Martvili monastery and a few other sites before reaching our final destination of the Martvili canyon. Everything there was gorgeous. It was some of the clearest and most turquoise water I have ever seen. I left my phone behind for most of our explorations for fear of getting it wet (rightly so since I fell in twice). There aren't many words to describe that place so I'll just leave this here...

The view from above

Swiped from Google, but accurate!

After a long day out in the canyons I came home to meet my former clustermate Jimmy in Poti. He had traveled from his site in the East to travel with me to BUILD camp the following day. Having so many visitors in Poti has started to help me hone my tour guide skills, I will be set for whenever visitors decide to stop in (hint, hint). 

Our first 2 campers!

The rest of my week was spent in the small town of Ureki, working with some fellow PCVs to run the first BUILD (Boys United In Leadership Development) Camp. The idea was created earlier in the year when the G14s were at a training together.  A group of 5 G14 PCVs (volunteers who arrived in Georgia in 2014) have been working on this camp for months and in July opened up applications for 4 G15 volunteers to join them for the first camp and then work with them to grow the camp afterwards. The purpose of the camp is to promote leadership (community involvement, volunteerism, goal setting, etc.) and break gender stereotypes( healthy living, resisting peer pressure, smoking/alcohol information, and health and development), there is quite a void in Georgia when it comes to training young men in these areas. Peace Corps Georgia has been doing great things with girls in similar camps, but this was really the first wide effort for boys in Georgia to also learn some of these valuable skills.

The whole group, campers and staff

Small group session on Leadership (including a section on female leaders

We arrived on Wednesday to meet with the Georgian counselors, review plans, and set up camp. Participants began to arrive on Thursday, and camp activities lasted until about noon on Sunday. It was a great success! We had 20 youth participate and they were lead by 4 Georgian counselors who understood the vision of the camp and provided great examples and role models for the boys (they also spoke English and acted as translators for us Americans).  

Who knew the YMCA was in Georgia? Also Georgians are bad at doing the YMCA

Morning exercises

Time as camp was mainly spent doing a variety of activities- there were daily exercises, meals, 9 small/large group training sessions, team building & critical thinking games, athletics, a trip to the beach, and of course a bonfire. It was amazing to see the boys really engage themselves in the sessions many of which challenged the messages they receive from their communities etc. The camp also had the boys design projects for them to implement in their communities, their counselors are going to follow up with them at various points over the following months to help ensure that the messages and trainings are taking root. I'm excited to hear about their progress. 

Team building/problem solving

Final night bonfire

It was definitely a little exhausting but a very rewarding experience overall. I'm looking forward to working with the other volunteers to smooth out a few kinks and then start to get ready for our next camp. We are hoping to expand the number of youth we can admit and really extend our reach which will take a lot of planning, fundraising, and grant writing. (I'll apologize now, but you will likely see some facebook posts next spring asking for donations to our camp, just a heads up.) I can't wait to see what the 4 of us G15s are going to be able to create for next summer's BUILD camp. 

The end to a successful camp

G15 group, and next year's organizers