It’s All about the Budget

These past few weeks, I have spent a lot of hours staring at an Excel sheet.  But this is a good thing- when I was still pondering a major during my time in college, I eventually chose to double major with economics because I missed numbers and math so much.  I am simultaneously helping to manage three budgets across different programs, and I feel lucky to gain some substantial experience in grant writing.

First, as I mentioned in a previous post, I am currently preparing for a project with AIESEC Prilep, my organization, called Leadership Inspirational Seminar.  The goal of this seminar is to help students from this area connect with employers (through a career fair on April 2) and to learn some soft skills and tactics to improve their pre-professional skills (through a seminar hosted on April 3-4).  However, in order to make this seminar possible, our organization needed money.  And that is where the Small Projects Assistance grant came in.

Better known as a SPA grant, these grants are provided by USAID and are only available to Peace Corps volunteers.  The maximum amount granted for a certain project is $4,000, but community contribution must comprise of at least 25% of the total budget.  Additionally, these grants are focused on skills transfers, so the projects must contain some type of training (thus, purchasing supplies for an office or fixing a road or buying a gaggle of geese are not the best uses of SPA funds).

My organization and I put together our application for the SPA grant in December and submitted it before the new year.  The main goal of the project is to reduce the youth unemployment rate, which is very high in Macedonia (official statistics puts the unemployment rate at 28%, and it is much higher for the youth).  A high graduation rate from tertiary education and lack of opportunities is driving many young Macedonians to leave the country, sapping Macedonia of talent. 

I expected the application for the SPA grant to be especially grueling.  One of my former sitemates was a champion for SPA before she COSed, and she would recount stories of how she sent the drafts back to her assigned PCVs many times before they were allowed to submit them for review.  Of course, there is a very limited amount of funds provided for SPA each year, so competition for the funds among PCVs can be very fierce.  I braced myself for the ordeal I would go through to secure funding for LIS.

Overall, my expectations of the SPA process were a bit heightened.  The process turned out to be much easier than I thought.  My champion only asked me to edit my Needs Assessment and Application a few times, and our proposal for funds was granted within the first round.  The PC staff that heads the committee for SPA even commended after the funds were allocated what a great project she thought LIS was (though I cannot take any credit for that, it was the brainchild of my counterparts). 

There are a few reasons why this process was much easier than I thought.  First (as I just mentioned), the idea for the project was developed by the AIESEC members, and the project is largely being managed by them.  Second, I had a great champion who worked with grant writing in the past, so her advice undoubtedly enhanced our application.  Additionally, the amount we requested was under $1000, and our community contribution neared 50% of the project.  Finally, our project is pure skills transfer and sustainable for years to come, which are two essential elements for recipients of SPA funds.  Implementation of the project is now under way, and we will see in less than two weeks if the project is a success or not.

In addition to the SPA grant for LIS, I have also been putting together an application for a US Embassy grant for our YMLP and the GLOW summer camps.  Working together with GLOW’s finance coordinator, we have been shooting Excel spreadsheets back and forth of budgets for both camps, taking into account lodging, food, transportation, materials, personnel, etc.  Even though the majority of the funds will be provided through corporate sponsorship from local companies, additional funds were needed from the grant to plug what we could not gather from sponsors. 

Devising a budget and writing the narrative for it seemed a daunting task, especially since the narrative for the grant that support YMLP three years ago was 38 pages long.  However, the US Embassy revised its application process, limiting the characters for each section.  Thus, putting together the application mostly entailed hashing together descriptions for both camps, and fine-tuning them to devise a readable narrative regarding the benefits of these camps.  Just recently, many of the YMLP representatives met over Skype to comb through the grant and narrative line per line, and our fingers are crossed for approval of funds.  Even though different versions of Excel spreadsheets were flying around, never once was working with this budget stressful for me.  In fact, I enjoyed the challenge greatly.

The last budget that I worked with is a bit more of a mess, but nonetheless helped me to solidify my confidence with working with budgets and fundraising.  The other secondary project with which I work is the Macedonian Model UN.  Even though I am technically the Communications Chair, the grant application that was originally submitted to the US Embassy to support the next year of the program had been turned down.  Thus, about a month ago we were scrambling to find a creative solution to fund this year’s conference.  One idea was using Peace Corps’ other grant opportunity, a PCPP grant (pretty much a crowd sourcing grant).  However, having PC two grants open simultaneously is not allowed, so that meant that we were required to pursue a more mainstream crowd sourcing option.

Thus, in a short amount of time, I had to learn about Indiegogo, how an international organization can apply for funds through it, how it can establish a PayPal account, and what charges would be taken from the crowd-sourced funds.  I laid out this plan to the organization with which we work, and we were all but ready to start with the process of opening our crowdsourcing campaign.  Then… we hit radio silence.  And eventually we received word that the US Embassy asked the organization to submit a new, reduced grant budget and application.  So, we are back to square one, and we all hope that the funds will come through and all will end happily.

Working on three finance projects simultaneously has been quite an experience, and even though I am somewhat new to it, it was an experience that I was determined to have during my time in PC.  Working with grants, budgets, and fundraising has been much more fun than I originally thought, and I hope I will be able to work in a similar capacity in the future.

Things to be missed

As I the days tick away, and as about 8 months of service loom to my COS date, I have been trying to recognize all of the unique experience, habits, and elements of Macedonia.  Thus, I have created a new page on this blog that will make note of all of the things that I will miss when I return to the USA (and those that I do not).  I will contribute to the list over these next 8 months, so feel free to visit it periodically to get a sense of what makes Macedonia so great.

http://cquintosmacedonia.blogspot.com/p/things-i-will-miss-and-those-that-i.html

8-ми Март

Celebrated all over the world on March 8 is International Women’s Day.  Here in Macedonia, this holiday is known simply as 8-ми Март, or the 8th of March.  Similar to Mother’s Day in the US, this holiday celebrates the toil and progress of Macedonia’s women, mostly for the wives, mothers, and middle-aged or older women in society. 

In a way, this holiday reflects a bit of the commercialism similar to that of Mother’s Day.  Children and husbands purchase gifts (usually plants or flowers) for the important women in their lives.  Additionally, women usually congregate at a local restaurant or kafana with a day of drinking and eating, in other words celebrating without a care.

This year, I was back in Lozovo visiting my old host family, celebrating the birthday of my former host mother.  However, before I left for the weekend I purchased for my current host mother a flowered plant that I thought suited her well.  She seemed to have really enjoyed it, and I hope that my gift reflects how grateful I am to have her as a part of my life.

My host mother and my present for her for  8-ми Март

Simultaneously, Peace Corps and First Lady Michelle Obama launched a new campaign to improve the education of women across the globe through the efforts of Peace Corps volunteers.  This new program, called “Let Girls Learn,” seeks to bridge the education gap of women across the globe.  While the program focuses on only a handful of countries in which PCVs serve (Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda), the overall goal is to remedy the issue that “62 million girls across the globe are not in school, and in some countries, fewer than 10% of the teenage girl population do not finish secondary school.”  You can hear more about the program from Michelle Obama through the Youtube link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XlRlnDwQJU

The launch of this program may prompt a question for many people regarding Macedonia- what is it like to be a woman in this country?  Obviously, this is a deep question that I have not been able to scratch below the surface, for many reasons besides that I am a young male serving here.  However, according to my experience in Prilep and most Macedonian cities, feminist values and gender equality are not too bad in Macedonia.  There are many factors that contribute to and detract from women’s progress within this country.

As many can guess, Communism (or at least the Socialism under Tito) probably helped support women’s role within society.   Simone de Beauvoir quotes Marx in her book The Second Sex, “The direct, natural, and necessary relation of person to person is the relation of man to woman.”  A communist herself, I do not doubt that de Beauvoir agreed with the quote “Workers of the world unite!”, or in other words, that there is no difference between women and men proletariat.  As she quotes in The Second Sex, “Men and women must, among other things and beyond their natural differentiatons, unequivocally affirm their brotherhood.”  Thus, communism probably provided for Yugoslavia a rethinking (yet likely far short of a tabla rasa) for gender equality, among other things, which likely helped support the female role within society. 

However, centuries of societal forces are not erased from a few decades of communistic rule.  Customs and gender roles survive from the times of Turkish rule.  Macedonian women are usually expected to cook, clean, prepare coffee, and care for the home, even if they hold a full-time job.  Also, when women marry, they often move into the home of their husband, living above, below, or next to the husband’s father and mother.

Yet women in Macedonia attend university at a similar rate as men, and many hold high positions within businesses or society (the Minister for Interior in Macedonia is a woman).  In a way, Macedonia is very “European” in the sense that people do not doubt the abilities of a leader depending on whether that person is a man or a woman.

On the other hand, life as a woman is very different in Albanian communities.  I have not been able to experience culture in an Albanian household first hand, but based on accounts from other PCVs, life is a bit more limiting for women.  While (muslim) Albanian women can drive, travel without a male relative, or are not required to wear the hijab in Macedonia, there are some restrictions at home.  Typically, they are not allowed to be home alone in the house with a male guest who is not a relative.  Also, when Albanian women marry, they also move into the home of their husband’s parents, but as a “nuse”, they are expected to bend to the will and command of her mother-in-law.

All over the world, the progress for gender equality requires patience.  I believe that society is progressing, albeit at a pace that is not fast enough.  For me, feminism is an important ideal that is worth fighting for.  I have many friends and family that prove what women can accomplish on their own.  More personally, although I had always searched for a male role model to take me under his wings professionally, I never had the opportunity to have such a mentor.  However, there are many women who had professionally supported me during my time in college and after graduation.  I would be nothing without their guidance and support.  In my opinion, the PCVs in my group who are making the most impact here are women (even though our group is pretty evenly split along genders).  Finally, our PC Director for Macedonia is amazing, reasonable, and beyond professional, and she currently embodies for me the ideal persona when it comes to working in international diplomacy.

Some people argue against having a “Day of Women” because women should be celebrated everyday.  I disagree with that.  Like de Beauvoir, I dream of a day when society “affirms their brotherhood”, and debilitating gender roles are wiped away.  Then there would be no need to celebrate men or women, because all would be equal within society.  However, until then, we may as well have a day that reminds the world of how far it has come for feminist values, and for how much farther it must go to reach equality.

Прочка

In New Orleans, it is known as Mardi Gras.  In Rio, Carnival.  In Chicago, many of us call if Paczki Day.  Celebrated all over the world is the end of “Ordinary Time” and the beginning of Lent, according to the Church Calendar.  In Macedonia, the beginning of Lent is preceded by Прочка (pronounced Prochka), and the point of the festival is to ask for forgiveness for one’s sins before Lent begins.  As most holidays in Macedonia, the holiday has lost most of its religious significance, but younger people continue to ask for forgiveness from all of those who are older than them (and they are presented with a little bit of money). 

Within Macedonia, there are two major festivals that celebrate the festival.  One is located in Prilep, the other is located in Strumica.  Many people visit these cities from around the world to dress up in costumes and parade around the towns.  While Prilep’s parade is popular among the locals, Strumica’s parade is recognized internationally as an official Carnival site.  People flock from around Europe to see different groups dressed in costume and perform in a parade in Strumica’s center.

Vistiing the Strumica Carnival was a perfect excuse to visit the city.  Strumica is located in the Southeast of Macedonia, very close to the border of Bulgaria.  Any time I would tell people about my travels through Macedonia, locals would insist that I visit Strumica.  Many claimed that it was the most beautiful city, and on top of that there are supposedly two women for every man living there (great chances for anybody interested in being matched with a добра македонка).  Overall, the city did not disappoint, as the charshija was very similar to that of Bitola’s, and the town sported a large, beautiful park.

Otherwise, visiting Strumica was a great opportunity to visit Grace, a fellow volunteer with which I rarely have the time to hang.  It was great to have a whole weekend to talk with a volunteer who is otherwise very busy and that I rarely see.  Our group was a small one, which made our adventures for the weekend more manageable and fun.  Once we all arrived into town, we enjoyed a humble dinner and put on masks to dance in the bars around the city.  All of the residents were decked out in their costumes for both nights, which made it seem like we were celebrating Halloween.

Saturday was the day of the parade, and the whole town was geared up through the afternoon.  House music was blasting from the speakers on the street, which made it seem that the whole town was a trendy coffee bar.  It was difficult not to groove our shoulders a bit as we strolled through the city.  We had a table reserved at one of the bars, so we did not have a great chance to stand and watch most of the parade.  However, Grace’s apartment faced the main street, so we had the luxury to watch the procession from the convenience of her balcony.

This was my first time that I ever attended a Carnival celebration, and I would not be sad if it were my last.  It was interesting to think that cultures spread across the New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro to Macedonia, could share a similar holiday like Прочка.  This holiday is proof that Macedonians sometimes agree, “Нека се стркалаат добрите времиња.”