Din Moldova cu Dragoste (From Moldova with Love)

Moldova: Mine to Give, Yours to Share. I'm Dave Bugayong, a Peace Corps Health Education Volunteer serving in the Republic of Moldova. Noroc! Disclaimer: The content of this website is mine alone and does not reflect the views of Peace Corps nor those of the US or the Moldovan Government.

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Homecoming

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It’s official. I am now a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV)

Joining the ranks of over 220,000 strong Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have chosen to serve the United States of America through peace and friendship. #diplomacyoverbullets

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Close of Service Ceremony: Bidding Moldova adieu

Ultimul Sunet or Last Bell is a Moldovan tradition in schools signaling the end of the academic year. It is therefore just apt to close my Peace Corps service as a volunteer in the Health sector in the Republic of Moldova by ringing the Close of Service (COS) bell. 

I rang the COS bell on my (last) birthday in Moldova

The best gift I received was the presence of people I had lived and I had worked with for the past 26 months. 

The Budești community:

One of my partner teachers, Aliona:

One of my partner teachers, Galina:

My school director, Sergiu:

Maricica, the director of Children and Youth Center in Budești:

With the mayor, Nina:

With one of my student leaders, Vlada:

You may watch the (edited) ceremony in action below:

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Birthday bash on my last day at site

While my birth date is on July 31st, my host family (I̶n̶ ̶c̶a̶h̶o̶o̶t̶s̶ in collaboration with my school administration, partner teachers, and village mayor) hosted my turning 34 at the school canteen.

Speeches, kind words, toasts, and well wishes were made. So did tears I strongly held back. 

Food was aplenty!

Oh, and gifts galore!

I am overjoyed to have spent almost 26 months with the following people:

(With the village mayor, Nina, on my left hand side and the director of the children and youth center, Maricica, pictured on my right hand side)

(one of my Health Education counterparts and Art teacher, Aliona, picture day on my right hand side, and her sister, Lilia, also an Art teacher on my left hand side)

(with Stefanida, the adjunct director of education whom I have shared an office with for 2 academic years, pictured left, and Galina, primary school teacher pictured right and one of my Health Education counterparts)

(with my Let Girls Learn counterpart and English/ Chemistry teacher, Elena, pictured right, and Natalia, my project design and management counterpart and biology teacher)

(with my friendly neighbor and French teacher, Stella)

(with my other neighbor and my host mother’s bff, Vasilița, pictured right, and Anna, my host mother’s sister pictured left who is a Nurse by profession and who lives right across Rose, a fellow Health Education volunteer)

(with Rose, a fellow volunteer with one year left of service pictured left and Ricardo, a Peace Corps trainee who will live with my host family in a couple of weeks after he swears in as a Peace Corps volunteer)

(with the Vataman family - Yura, Raluca, Natasha, (me) and Ana - who have become an extended family and where I spent countless of holidays and birthday parties)

(with my adopted son (just kidding), Sebastian, whose mother is the daughter of my host mother’s sister Anna and who shares the same name as my nephew in Wales)

And of course, the couple who made my living in Moldova for 2 years feel like home. 

And as I walk out of their house today, I looked back one last time as tears kept falling.

I will never forget.

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Last night at site. 

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Let Girls Learn project highlights

The former first lady Michelle Obama was instrumental in creating Let Girls Learn initiative in partnership with the Peace Corps. The iniative championed girls’ education and empowerment around the world and it is through the Let Girls Learn Peace Corps Partnership Program that we were able to improve the learning and sanitary conditions in the school where I taught Health Education for 2 years. Recently, we held a formal opening of these two projects. 

Let Girls Learn project #1: Girl Empowerment through Project Design and Management. Poor sanitation, lack of access to water, inferior water quality, and unhygienic behaviors are disastrous for infants and young children and are a major cause of mortality for children. This project not only improved the sanitary conditions (through the installation of sewage system) or improved access to water (through the installation of water pipe system with handwashing stations) in the school kitchen and canteen, respectively. It also offered hygiene education that encouraged the development of healthy behaviors, which significantly affect the health and wellbeing of children.

Let Girls Learn project #2: Creating equitable and SMART opportunities for girls and boys in STEM disciplines. This project was led by my Let Girls Learn counterpart and Chemistry teacher, Elena Rusu with the help of Biology teacher, Natalia Cîrja. One of the things that makes this project sustainable is that teachers underwent extensive SMART technology training which makes use of said technology to bridge the interest of students with concepts in Biology and in Chemistry. Not only does the SMART technology (including the anatomic and molecular models) accommodate students’ different learning styles. It also creates a more interactive and favorable learning milieu coupled by gender-equitable practices; improving the digital competencies of students as well as the teaching methodologies of service providers.

The Peace Corps magic happens when community members, along with the volunteer, come together, to find solutions to problems identified through intensive needs assessment. Oftentimes, project goals and objectives are constantly reevaluated to ensure that projects are sustainable, key stakeholders are engaged, and beneficiaries are equally involved. ”Technology can become outdated after 5 years or so but the capacity building and skills transferred will last a lifetime long after the volunteer is gone,” adds Peace Corps Moldova Country Director, Tracey H-S.  

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School grounds. July 28, 2017. 3 days before Close of Service Bell ringing. 5 days before official Close of Service date with a one-way ticket outbound flight at hand.

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Taken last week during Week 7 of M32 Pre-Service Training, right before providing feedback to Health Education trainees in their first micro-teaching in Romanian.

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Ribbon bow making. Another skill gained during my Peace Corps service. Expect the unexpected.

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There's three of me and still not enough to do vineyard work.

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Just your typical morning commute.

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This could be you next year. Apply now.

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"To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world." - Bob Wilson

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Cleaning my workspace before I close my service in Moldova. With this crown, who is to say I am having a bad heir day.

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Noapte buna, din Moldova (Good night, from Moldova)!

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While Peace Corps volunteers, as they say, plant trees whose shade they may not get to sit under, the fruit of my host mother's labor is definitely one thing I'll enjoy long before I close my service.

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Zeama Moldoveneasca (Moldovan chicken soup) is served all year long with home made noodles. Best eaten hot during Summer when the temperature is hovering around 40degC and while sweat is dripping down your forehead.