need your help!!

i have blogged briefly about my work in vanuatu with youth soccer. i have found it extremely rewarding and more importantly, i've found it extremely effective in terms of connecting and positively influencing the youth of ambrym.

all the positivity aside, our soccer program faces many challenges. we lack many things (coaching, refs, equipment), but one of our biggest challenges is that we don't have a playing field. our practice space is small...barely enough for 7v7 matches so we are constantly commuting to play. in july, we walked 2 hours each way for a tournament. it was a week long tournament and most of the girls made the walk back home every day because they had housework that they couldn't ignore.

we had the idea to build our own field so that next july we could host the tournament. the field would also give us a better practice space. we've included bleachers, wells, and storage space in the plan so that this field can live on and continue to host events for the community in the future.
through peace corps, we applied for a partnership grant and i'm proud to announce that it has been approved! this is how it works: the community contributes local materials (labor, sand, coral, water, timber) and i locate the donors for the rest of the materials (cement, copper roofing, iron, etc). the community will end up contributing 44% of the total project cost and the rest will be funded by my family and friends. many people have been asking how they can contribute to my work in vanuatu and this is how.

if you are interested in donating, please visit:

www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=461-041

instructions to donate are on the page.

thank you in advance for your support. not only on this project but throughout the past two years. i appreciate all of the packages, letters, and kind thoughts. it's been great to be home for the past month but i truly am looking forward to getting back to vanuatu and completing what i started. i look forward to connecting with you all at this time again next year. i hope i have many more successes to share!

favorite volcano photos

below: benbow from the ground

below: at the top with beck (australian volunteer)

below: amazing landscape

below: frolicking on the rim

below: about as close as you can get

below: benbow

below: lava!

below: marum

below: volcano on ambae island

below: the volcano on tanna island

soccer

below: scrimmaging

below: making bracelets

below: team building

below: making team flags

below: trying to explain the basics

below: heading to pentecost

below: afternoon game in the village

below: never too young to start

below: playing on pentecost

below: tournament opening ceremony

below: west ambrym women's soccer

below: second place!
below: team warmup

end of 2010 update

i have a LOT to report since more than a year has passed since my last post.

first and foremost, i've decided to extend my contract with the peace corps for one more year to wrap up a few projects. it was a hard decision but learned that i am the last volunteer that will be coming to my site and i knew that i wouldn't feel comfortable leaving everything half finished. so, i made a case for myself and was granted a one year extension. i know some people think i'm crazy but two years flew by and i have a feeling that this next year will be gone in the blink of an eye...

so what has kept me so happy since my last post and what will keep me "busy" for the next year?

school: i continue to work with the rural training center (RTC) in the village. in 2010 we were awarded a grant to build our first permanent classroom! progress is slow but we hope to complete construction in february of 2011. in 2011 we'll be sending our carpentry and home care teachers to the provincial capital for training. (we've been trying to do this for 2 years so this is huge!) next year, we also hope to add a sports cirriculum which should draw more students to the school.

volcanoes: i've become OBSESSED with the volcanoes on ambrym. i've been to see them 15 times now. it's such an amazing place and i find myself in a state of perpetual grin at the volcano. i'm humbled by mother nature and so grateful for the chance to have such a close up view of the earth's core. it sounds cheesy and it is but i just don't know how else to describe what a wonderful place it is. i'll post some of my favorite photos so that you too can be in awe.

i've become so passionate about the volcano, that it seemed like a natural step to begin working with the tourism association on the island. in 2011 we're looking to upgrade the volcano camp, map all of the volcano routes, and put together some updated marketing materials. in 2010 i did some training for the volcano tour guides (thanks largely to the help of beck, australian volunteer and fellow volcano enthusiast) but this seems to be an ongoing need so we hope to provide continued training in 2011.

soccer: some of you may know that i've been playing a bit of soccer with the girls on the island. in 2009 we held the first women's tournament on the island and had 7 teams participate! it was the start of something beautiful and we've played about 4 tournaments since. in october we traveled to pentecost (an island just north of ambrym) for a week long soccer camp with some other volunteers and their teams. it was such a great experience for the girls...for some it was the first time that they'd ever left the island! at our first practice, the girls were too shy to run a warm-up lap around the field because they thought someone would see them. now they are willing to travel to another island, take the field, and compete in front of complete strangers. it's so amazing. i'm so proud to be a part of that and i hope there is much more soccer to be played in 2011.