A Quick Update from Pre-Service Training (PST)

Hello all,

I hope this message finds you well i would really like to provide pictures soon, but my Internet access is still quite sporadic and getting pictures from my camera to my computer to the Internet is a task that is just a little too overwhelming for me right now. In the meantime, however, I did want you all to know that my life in Jordan is wonderful.

As a Pre-Service Volunteer (PSV) I spend 2 days a week at the Training Center at a university in Mafraq. I spend the other 5 days each week in a home stay with a Jordanian family in a village in between Mafraq and Syria. In fact, I can see Syria across the desert from my bedroom window.

The family I live with is incredibly warm, welcoming, and fun to be around. The food, also, is fabulous. For meals, we always separate by gender, sit on the floor, hide our feet, and eat only with our right hand (and usually without silverware), but I love it.

In the village, we have small-group Arabic language instruction 4 hours per day in addition to 3 hours of practicum with local English teachers in (gender segregated) schools. I don't have much yet to say about these as this schedule does not start until November 1st.

I know this message has been quite abbreviated, but I should have some more interesting and detailed stories to tell in the coming weeks.

Finally, I would like to assure you that I am very happy here in Jordan and to leave you with a couple links to related reading. This first link describes how Manna Project International - Ecuador continues to subscribe to an Assets-Based Community Development model, which is a framework that heavily guides my philosophy and actions in my work. This second link is an Economist article detailing some of the current political situation here in Jordan.

Philadelphia, PA

And So It Begins...

After spending the past couple months with family and friends in Oregon, including one disastrous Beaver loss to Sacramento State, one exciting Duck win over Arizona State, and lots of games of Settlers and Tick, I have now begun my journey to the Middle East. I spent today flying from PDX to PHX to PHL. Tomorrow I have Peace Corps Orientation here in Philadelphia. Wednesday night I have a red-eye flight to Frankfort followed by an 11 hour layover and a second red-eye flight Thursday night to Amman, arriving early Friday morning. Who knows how much Internet access I'll have upon my arrival in Jordan, or when I'll be able to post again, but once I get settled I'll do my best to give a brief update of my first few days of Peace Corps Orientation and Training.

Ban Ki-moon's Five Global Imperatives

On the occasion of the Earth's human population reaching 7 billion people (Earth only had a human population of 2.5 billion in 1945, the year the United Nations was founded), UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has outlined his Five Global Imperatives.  He defines them as "five generational opportunities to shape the world of tomorrow by the decisions we make today":

1. Sustainable Development
2. Prevention as a Framework for International Cooperation
3. Building a Safer and More Secure World
4. Supporting Countries in Transition
5. Working With and For Women and Young People

Reflecting on these Five Global Imperatives, I am struck by the amount of impact and change they may potentially bring about in the area of the world that I am about to enter.  I believe that the realization of these five will bring about more change in the Arab world than anywhere else on Earth.  The following are a few of my immediate (and likely still naive and ill-informed) thoughts in reverse order:

There is little doubt or debate that Arab women have fewer rights and opportunities than women in other parts of world, as highlighted by recent events in Saudia Arabia.  While there have always been Arabs speaking up for the rights of women under the argument that a nation can not fulfill its potential when 50% of its population is subjugated, the majority of Arabs (both male and female) would prefer to see the maintenance of the status quo rather than the progress described by Ban Ki-moon.

I'd also like to comment that a common misconception among Westerners (and some Arabs) is that this Arab subjugation of women is religiously based in the Qur'an, when it fact it appears that the Qur'an has very little to say on this issue and this tradition is actually a holdover from pre-Islamic times.

Again, there is little denying the fact that the Arab world currently has a surplus of countries in transition.  One can name countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, which have all been successfully "liberated" and are now in the process of rebuilding from the destruction brought about by the rebellion and creating a new government that hopes to better serve the people than the one which has been disposed.  One can also name countries like Syria and Yemen, where people are dying everyday as popular uprisings look to topple militarily-backed regimes.

When discussing countries in transition, one cannot forget the country of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and their ever flickering hopes for peace.  In Ban Ki-moon's statement he specifically addresses this very issue.  He states:

• We must be courageous in standing up for democracy, human rights, and peace...In the Middle East, we must break the stalemate.  Palestinians deserve a state.  Israel needs security.  Both want peace.

While many in the Arab world would deny that Israel wants peace, I for one appreciate Ban Ki-moon and the UN for specifically singling out the resolution of this decades-long conflict as a Global Imperative.

One often tried (though not necessarily true) method used throughout the Arab world and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that of mediation.  Ban Ki-moon ask us to "think what we could save by avoiding conflicts - by deploying mediation missions, for example, rather than troops".  Negotiation and mediation are a must for there ever to be hope for peace in the Middle East.  President Obama recently chided Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for seeking statehood through the UN Security Council, claiming their unilateral actions to be an affront to the peace process and to Israel.  Many Arabs, however, argue that the traditional method of "American-Israeli-dominated" negotiation and mediation have not resulted in peace and thus a new method must be attempted.  As Rami G. Khouri writes, with Abbas' bid for statehood at the UN the "Palestinians stopped acting like helpless victims of history and global politics and started acting like a self-interested party that has not only rights to demand, but also political agency and the capacity to act".

Finally, and firstly for the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon discusses sustainable development.  This is a topic that I have been passionate about ever since my first trip to Peru in 2003.  I truly believe that the undertaking of any development work which is not sustainable is at best a waste of energy and at worst a destruction to the community.  "Sustainable Development" is a term that I personally would like to see replace the term "Charity".  I do not believe that well-intentioned money alone can solve problems.  Outsider funds are not sustainable.  Rather, at best, they are merely a bandage.  In order for a community to grow and develop to its full potential the capacities and connections of the individuals, organizations, and institutions must be formed and strengthened in a culturally appropriate manner that corresponds to the desires of the members of the community.

West Coast Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs)

The following link provides my official announcement of selection as a Jordan Peace Corps Volunteer:

http://nextpcvs.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/csmith/

From that website you can also find announcements and bios of other recently arrived and incoming PCVs from throughout the West Coast.