"here's what great, you chose this life and sometimes it sucks but you keep going, because if it sucks you only have yourself to blame. so when it sucks you own it and when its great you own it "


Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Today

Today a teacher beat a kid real bad. I cried.

New Year

Okay, so I am about to turn 25 and with each New Year that passes I try to make some changes. This year I have made a vow to write more. This is one of the things I started but never followed through with, my laid back personality sometimes gets in my way. So from this point on I promise you one new Blog a week. So where to begin.....

My Mid service confrence happend, it came and it went. Everything I have accomplished in the past year has built up to this point. Going in I was not sure how I felt about it. I know I was close with the volunteers on my island, but having to try and find a way to reconnect with the volunteers that were serving on other islands was not something I was really sure I was ready for.

It turns out, linking back up with the other volunteers was the best part. I feel like we all had different experiences, but yet because of the hardships and the struggles we sometime face we all had a common bond, I felt like this showed through and brought us closer. I know I made some new friends and became closer with some older ones, hopefully I will get to travel in the spring and link back up with them on their islands.

So now that the conference is over, I feel sad that I didn't plan to stay longer and hangout with more people, however consider that a lesson learned. I will be ready when COS comes around.

Until Next Time...

Friday, May 4, 2007

The long one


Howdy,

My name is Matt Stellbauer, I am a Peace Corps volunteer living on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and this is my blog.

Now, you may be asking why I waited so long to start a blog? Well the short answer is I am lazy, and the long well... I had not felt like I had been having this experience long enough to make my writing meaningful, plus with all the emails I get asking about my experience I was starting to feel like Santa Clause.

So let me bring you up to speed. I have been in the Peace Corps for about 10 months now and and living in St. Vincent for 9, I serve for a total of 27 months. For the first month I was being trained to be a volunteer in St. Lucia where I was tested and evaluated, eventually being hand picked to serve on one of the 6 island nations that make up the Eastern Caribbean.

I was selected to serve on the island of St. Vincent and The Grenadines where my official title became that of a Community Development Volunteer, with the assigned task of promoting sustainable development in my village. Simply, I work free lance connecting with groups in my village and on the island that are involved in projects and task that I have an interest in. Ill tell you more about my village in the next post.

As a new volunteer, one of the first thing that happens is you are bombarded with villagers hot ideas on what they perceive your role to be. Looking back, it was both important and Necessary for me to try each and everyone in order to find the project that were meaningful to me. So far I have taken on the roles of :

a Pre-school teacher
a kindergarten teacher (Turns out, that they still cry just as much even though they are older)
a computer technician/ teacher
Aerobics instructor ( It didn’t take me long to figure out that this was not an interest)

These are just a few things I tried that didn’t work. As for my projects that I enjoy this list grows and shrinks on a daily basis. As of right now I feel like I have a good list.


Adult Leader for the Greggs 4H club

Why I enjoy this: Its effortless, the kids in my village do all the work, I just show up, they tell me what they want to do and we do it.

Consultant on a small business enterprise

Why I enjoy this: Why not, bringing a bakery and banana chip kitchen to our village will provide both revenue, jobs and will also feed my belly, its a win win situation.

Project Manger for The Caribbean Cares Program.

Why I enjoy this: I am heading up an International HIV/AIDS initiative, I am bringing attention to a part of the world that does not get any and if its successful I will have helped many people. It just makes me feel good.

Lackey for the Department of Youth Affairs office.

Why I enjoy this: I get to see the island and interact with the youth on all levels and even if all my project fail these guys still show me some love.


Well its getting late and I must go to bed, for tomorrow is Sunday and if I sleep through church, I will be reminded of how Lazy and typically American I am.

Until Next Time,

Matt