& the work unfolds.

So this week seems to be flying by... week 4 almost completed. Work has been moving at a steady pace as of late. I seem to have gotten all of the details finely tuned within all of my projects, so I am on the grind with those.

As you know, Monday was my interesting experience with the dog pack.. haha, once we actually got to work, however, it seemed to go by quickly. That's probably because I was only there for an hour. After the first small group session, Christina and I were invited to go to one of the staff members(whom we have never met) ceremony where she defended her dissertation for her master's degree. It was very interesting to see how they handle their 'graduation process' from their programs here; even how they defend their dissertations. Though the entire thing was in Bosnian and I hadn't a clue what was really going on, I sill was grateful for the experience. We also had one of the staff from the hospital, Sandra, translate some of what was being said and what the dissertation was on, and all of that jazz.

Tuesday, I seemed to have had a fire lit under my tush because I was getting a lot of stuff complete for my one project. Though it is still in the beginning stages, I feel like I was able to outline a lot of what I want to get accomplish. This project (the motivating high school kids to go to college) has been pretty interesting. I am developing workshops that will hopefully be utilized in the local high schools. These workshops are designed to allow these kids to feel more confident in what they are doing; i.e. how to write a good resume, knowing the ins and outs of the entrance requirements for the universities here, how to write a personal statement, how to conduct a good interview, etc. I'm really hoping that if I get thorough information that these just may really be used.. that would be cool. So that's what I am working on there.

As far as the other project goes (the one regarding returnees to the remote villages, and their volunteering to be the 'first-responders' within their communities etc), Christina and I traveled to Srebrenica yesterday to sit in on a re-certification training that is conducted for the volunteers who started the program back in 2004 and 2006. It's a long drive out there.. about a 2 hour drive.. but it was cool, because before we went to the training, we met up with one of the nurses who trains the volunteers. He used to be in the Yugoslav army and now works and trains the returnees. We were able to interview him and ask him some questions regarding his perspectives and experiences regarding his experiences. I was grateful to get to speak to him, just to get some knowledge first hand. Then we arrived at the local medical center that is in the village.. seriously.. I will post pics when I can, but if you saw this center.. you would be shocked. But, while we were at the center observing the trainings, we were able to interview one of the gentlemen who was receiving the training, and it was great to get his perspective. So when all was said and done, we had two sides to compare. Just to remind you, my objective for this program is to prove its sustainability within the community. So through these very informal interviews, Christina and I have decided to come up with more formal interview questions in order to do just that.. but that is going to have to hashed out within the coming weeks. We are going back to Srebrenica today to bear witness to another group of volunteers receiving their follow-up training. Most likely again, we will be interviewing a couple of them.

As far as the weekend goes, my plans to celebrate the 4th of July in a foreign country are as follows: Bree and I are heading down to Mostar, which is located in the southern region, and actually considered to be a part of Herzegovina. I am really pumped about this, because we are apparently taking a tour around the surrounding villages on Saturday and we are going to get to see waterfalls! I am really excited! I am also just excited to get out of Tuzla again. And it looks like there will be a couple of the girls from the program, so we will all be ringing in the 4th together & with a bang no less!!! I have gotten almost all of my pics up on facebook... so as soon as I do, I will be able to put them up on here. Sorry for the delay.

Cao!