Annual General Meeting

of

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida, Inc.

Click Here for the Book Review, Other Short Stories and Memoirs

 by Leita Kaldi

Organic fertilizer workshop (with the local environmental agency) where we made bocashi. 

My name is Hannah and I am a currently serving as an environmental conservation volunteer in Panamá. The community I am serving in is composed of five smaller townships nestled into the hills of Herrera. This area of Herrera is one of the poorest districts of Panamá and I am writing to seek help in the form of either donations or spreading the word.

Our community is working on a solar panel project which would bring light, safety, and security to 16 families across 5 communities. These simple 3-4 light systems would bring clean, efficient, and safe electricity into homes. With rainy season approaching quickly, we are running out of time. I am sure I do not need to tell you all just how important lights are, especially in remote areas. Not only would these solar panels provide families with the ability to cook, clean, read and converse after dark, they also will enable them to charge cell phones which serve as the only reliable way to communicate with people outside of the community. This is very important especially during the winter when entering/leaving the community is made difficult by the flooded 'roads'. 

Our community has been working tirelessly to raise funds for their project. Without the adequate funds, they will be unable to receive the panels before the rain comes.

To donate, please click on the following link to the Peace Corps Partnership Program donation page.

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/donate/project/solar-panels-bringing-light-to-rural-panama/

Here are a couple of photos from this years Habitat for Humanity BLITZ build of ten houses in South Miami.

Pictured are Tim O’Brien, Korea, Mark Reilly, Honduras, and Daryl Wall, Ecuador.  We worked on House Ten being built in two weeks for Holly; our job was installing Insulation in the entire house.  We worked hard and got a nice T-shirt, hopefully next year we can increase the RPCVSF turnout to more then 3 volunteers.

On Saturday, January 28th, RPCVSF, the Kiwanis Club of Biscayne Bay and the Everglades National Park hosted 80 children from three homeless shelters. We missed one bus load of kids this year because their shelter did not have the funding for a bus and insurance. Hosting were 70 RPCVs and PC Invitees, 10 adult chaperons, 4 Park Rangers, and 2 Law Enforcement Rangers. We provided each child with a lunch and a goodie bag.

 Click Here for More Event Photos: 18th Annual Everglades Photos

Question: Could one of these be a crocodile?

January 14th, 2017

Travel is looking into future Botswana/Zimbabwe safaris.

Contact travel@rpcvsf.org if you would like to help organize a group visit to your country of service.

This is Martha Wagley and you donated to my community's PCPP solar grant. I live in the Thaba Tseka District of Lesotho in a small village in the mountains, about 8 hours from the capital, Maseru. I'm a native of Washington State and have been in Lesotho since 2014.

I wanted to say thank you so much for donating to my school's solar power project and give you a brief report of how the project proceeded.

We started the Mokotjana Solar Panel Project in April 2016 to improve academic achievement at our school. In September, the staff developed a plan to implement new teaching practices with the help of the solar power. They identified academic areas in which paper resources could significantly improve student learning, and have budgeted for the purchase of more paper and ink - made possible by the money saved through not using a generator. They also pledged to provide paper testing four times a year, instead of just providing students with blackboard testing. We implemented the paper testing methods for the final exams this November and we are hopeful that these academic improvements will help students achieve passing scores on the national exit exams in the coming years.

As Lesotho is a landlocked country, we bought the solar system in South Africa to save money. It only took us a week to install the system and we now have a fully functioning printer, and light for security purposes and night classes. We finished installing the system on November 18th.The teachers have already begun to use the system to improve academic achievement and are excited to implement the rest of their plan during the next school year, beginning in January 2017.

We are very thankful for your donation. Without you the project would not have been possible. I have attached a couple photos of the installation (one of the wiring to the classrooms from the staff room and one of the installation of the solar panels on the roof) and the students writing the paper exams.

Thank you,
Martha Wagley