PML- The artful execution

I am happy to report that the act of getting everyone to PML ended up being the hardest part. And gracias a dios, because if things had continued as they did in The Build Up, it´s likely I´d have collapsed mid-way through the seminar from exhaustion.

The basic gist: The PML workshop has been met with enormous success on the international Peace Corps level. It introuces partcipiants to the idea of proactive leadership and the steps needed to be an effective leader on the individual, group, community and insitutional levels. Its ideas are simple, but are presented in a way that makes them uniquely accessible to community leaders who are uneducated and untrained.

We touched on many themes during the course of two days, and each topic was followed by practice or activities on the part of the participants. We PCVs provided the comic relief in the form of over-the-top skits and ice-breakers that helped reinforce topics, or just infuse the process with a little more FUN.

Highlights:

Time and Money Management: In this session, partcipants practiced using an agenda to manage time and worked with personal budgets to help them think more critically about how to save and spend their money. For poor farmers, who see most of their yearly income in the course of a few months of cocoa seasion, this session was invaluable. Many identified it as the most useful.

How to facilitate group interaction: This focuses on how groups fall into dysfunction, and how to prevent it through conflict resolution. Our water committee is ineffective primarily because of ¨people issues,¨ ie gossip, lack of responsibility, lack of group vision, etc. We offered strategies to solve problems and they practiced in small groups using a tool called POCA to work through issues on the personal and group levels.

The evening after this session ended, the aqueduct president William came by my house to see if I had any 2¨PVC tube to repair a damaged tube. I didn´t. He left, but in a couple of hours, came back with excitement and resolve stretching his mouth into a grin. He found some tube running to a house that had its water cut years ago. He would use that tube to repair the damage.

¨I solved the problem!¨ Willy is 18, but his emotions are always splattered all over his face as if we were six. He was excited to show me what he learned from the days session, about being proactive and going the extra mile to actually solve your problem. His pride and eagerness for praise were endearing to say the least.

Bucket-Filling: So we all have a bucket...This session is basically about positive reinforcement and encouraging people through sincere compliments. Your bucket is full when you feel appreciated and valued, and empty when you feel the opposite. Kind of touchy-feely, but who doesn´t want a full bucket? PCVs love this activity, and it´s amazing/hilarious to do it with Ngobes, who are completely unaccustomed to the idea of positive feedback. So after Cat and I did a demonstration, with actual ladels and buckets of water, we gave everyone an envelope, markers, tape, and Post-Its. They wrote their own names on the envelopes, and wrote anonymous bucket-fillers to their group-members, Cat, and me. They were clearly tickled and I plan to find more ways to sneak bucket-filling into whatever community activities I have.

Are you wondering my people think of me? Here is the most forcefu bucket-fillerl, written without puncuation, in stanza-like form: Cati, pretty, white skin, blue eyes, I love you Cati.

Well that´s nice.

Agency Interaction: Here we went over the how-tos of working with agencies, mostly having to do with phone etiquette and how to prepare for meetings. We did role plays for each participant, having to make an appointment by phone call, how to arrive at the office, be friendly with the secretary and act professional in the meeting with the agency rep. Some of them got quite into it, donning costumes and fake names. Others were overcome by nervousness and giggles and could hardly keep it together.

The takeaway: I had pre-emptively apologized to Gary, Peggy and Cat for what I aassumed would be a gross lack of participation and interest on my community´s part. No one was enthusiastic about going, I felt they didn´t really understand why I invited them, and were less-than-pleased about donating two full days to one of Cati´s causes, which they referred to as a ¨meeting¨despite my insistent use of the word ¨workshop.¨

I am thrilled to my core to say that I was completley wrong on all accounts. They exceeded my expectations in every way. They listened, and really listened, participated actively, had fun, and learned a lot. We received hugely uplifting feedback, and they asked me to do some similar charlas in the school because they´ve never a training so well-prepared and useful, they said.

My month of preparation, stress, and moments of literal physical pain were worth it. So many times I question my value to them, what impact I can possibly have, and if perhaps I made a mis-step embarking on one of the most naive journeys one can take on this side of sanity. But just as many times, I´ve learned what it is to actually feel your heart swell for people. To be so surprised and delighted that all you can do is grin and admit you were wrong. This definitely fell into the latter category. I view the concepts taught in PML as a useful stepping stone and reference port for all future work with the committees, and I am grateful it went off without a hitch. Maybe now they´ll even be a little more eager for the next ¨meeting.¨One can dream.