A day in the life of a Georgia Peace Corps IOD volunteer

Many of you have asked me what my normal day is like at the Koda Community Education Center,  so I am happy to comply. Everyday is different of course, but here is a summary of how we work and what my day is like.

Our office opens at 10am.  I know, what a luxury it is.  I remember it was just last year that I and those of us in Mountain Time Zone started work at 6am each day at IBM.  It is so nice not to set an alarm and rush off to work.  I cook, clean, wash, go get some water from the middle well, get caught up on personal and business email, try to do some yoga or Pilates, then at 10am walk 100 yards to the office.  I'm usually tired by the time I get to start my work day!  Today I was invited for coffee downstairs before work.  Our building has 3 entrance staircases, 5 stories, and 3 units on each landing, so I have 15 'close neighbors'  more than half have invited me in for coffee or dinner. I keep saying how great everyone, is, but it is worth repeating.

A little background on Koda CEC:

 CEC's mission is to provide ongoing educational opportunities, which include the development of competencies and skills, to aid in personal and career goals; encouraging a lifelong quest for knowledge.

The center facilitates the integration of internally displaced persons in local communities. Every year up to 2000 persons benefit from participation in a wide range of vocational and personal development programs which increase their employability and improve quality of life.

 Youth development programs, Adults non-formal education and Civic engagement are a priority of the KODA CEC team.  KODA CEC management team has experience in development, project planning and implementation on both a local and international level. The CEC was opened and continues to be supported in part by DVV International, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association. As a leading professional organisation in youth and adult non-formal education, the Institute has supported lifelong learning in developing and transitioning countries for more than 45 years now.  

The CEC also facilitates an Elder Council, which is composed of 10 elected members, one from each of the 10 IDP buildings, who gather to discuss and take action on issues that affect the IDP settlement.  It has been successful in getting apartment water issues addressed with a more frequent availability of water to 4 times/day.  They are addressing a gas billing issue now.

Some days we just work on projects - computer work - and today was no exception.  We are submitting a grant proposal for 2 irrigation wells in the settlement from a federation of women Councils, called ACWW.  This is just one of thousands of big and small great organizations are out there that support what a wide range of issues and needs around the world. This organization, headquartered in UK supports many small organizations, like the "Organization to Support Women of the Village" here in Georgia.  And here are our office manager, Nunu, a great, hard worker and always has a smile on her face,  and one of our greatest volunteers and good friend, Ilia.

Here is our director, Madona, in a meeting with residents, discussing some gender issues in Georgia,  Madona was a business owner and also an elected official back in S. Ossetia, is well respected in the settlement and with the local governments.  South Ossetia is where the war happened in 2008 and they were expelled.  Our current projects include education for retraining for new livelihoods since they were mostly farmers in their old villages, and lifelong learning, business consulting / proposals that Madona supports,  the Elder Council, a Youth leadership Club, English clubs and classes and our social enterprise, Art-Koda. (art-koda.com)

Culinary class - sharing traditions 

Children's development class



Computer classes twice/week, with Jemo, another great volunteer, 

Art-Koda women

The women and men of Art-Koda  are making traditional Georgian handicrafts and also teaching these techniques with others in the settlement.  Our new web catalog is www.artkoda.com.  Due to shipping difficulties and lack of automation we only ship in Georgia now, and have to make other arrangements for other countries.  USA and Germany have also purchased our product!  Thanks for your support!



This woman taught teaching techniques to local teachers.  She was fabulous, funded by the US Embassy, and .... a former Peace Corps volunteer in China.... very cool  lady.  And the women loved her. They wouldn't even stop for a coffee break!

Our Youth Club had a cleanup in the settlement.  And I love this kid. He is in 10th grade, and wants to study science.  This is rare, from my experience.  Everyone here wants to be a lawyer or do international relations.  San Diego State University is opening a satellite here in Tbilisi and I want to make sure he is looking at it.  He rides about 40 minutes each weekend with his sister to come to Koda to be exposed to more opportunity.  Good for him... good for his parents!



Photography club

Our office has no lunch - the snack is to have coffee and cake/sweets almost every day about 2pm.  I try to be good. Sometimes I come home for lunch, and sometimes pack a cheese and tomato sandwich.   People not at work eat about 2pm,  and sometimes when I am not working, I get invited to nice dinners - lobio (black beans, sort of like mexican, with spices, like a soup) great bread, always tomatoes and cucumbers with spices, green beans with herbs,  lots of other good things. I do have to work on getting protein... daily...



Feldenkrais Method exercises

The office closes at 6, or later if we are working on something  Tonight some were printing on cups and t-shirts in Art-Koda so they worked very late.

In the evening, sometimes I go check on my tomato plants. A kind neighbor gave me a little piece of her garden for my 7 plants and basil. Much of their basil is purple here, so my green plants are somewhat unique and a fun present to take to people who invite me to coffee.

Many families have supper at around 8 or 9 pm - too late for me.  I come home, have a light dinner, salad, and some protein if I can find it. This day I got a knock on my door about 9pm.  A few girls about 12 years old had an invitation in English for me - all written up, about a little performance they are putting on in the field next door on Thursday at 4pm.  Of course I will attend.

Evenings are a luxury for me.  I have time to do research on the Internet, read, sometimes watch a show or movie through the internet, discover new music, and finally, I can FaceTime with family and friends.  This is so special and I just was able to get wifi set up.

I sleep early for Georgians - I DON'T LOOK AT THE CLOCK, I just turn off the light when I'm tired.  I know this sounds so simple, but in the States I NEVER did this. And I NEVER set an alarm for the morning. I just get up when I wake up - What a concept!  With the patent laws in the US so flexible now, maybe I can patent this :-).  ( sorry all my patent friends)

Zila Nebisa!  Good night.  Thank you all for your notes and comments.  I love to hear from you. I know I am learning a lot and hopefully helping a little.  But I still sure miss my life back home: friends and family.  God bless!


Here I am trying to learn the Georgian dances with the folk group!

American Days in Georgia

The US Embassy in Georgia kicked off a week long celebration of American friendship and PR in June.  Smart, since July is hotter than heck.  The Koda Community Education Center Youth Club wanted to attend, so I accompanied Anano, our Youth Club Director, in taking the high schoolers to Tbilisi to see the booths, any free food, and an American concert.  They highlighted the projects that USAID was supporting, the US Embassy, and many joint projects with the Georgian government.

My picture of the little girl - top middle, taking corn off the cobs for winter feed

The Embassy had a photo exhibit on the outside of their tent. My picture was chosen - too bad I assigned away all rights. :-)  Here's the story of my little girl cleaning the corn off the cobs. 

Anano with our US Ambassador

Our Youth group

Tika Trevishvili, my Peace Corps Organizational Development program manager, at the Peace Corps booth, a great woman!

Look who is hanging out with Nate Stanford, base guitarist for dangerflow, who held a concert in the evening. My first rock concert of the 21st century, I think...

Davit-Gareja...nature and entrepreneurship in the Georgian desert

Georgian desert in the spring

Davit-Gareja is a desert region in the SE corner of Georgia, on a mountain ridge that becomes a natural border with Azerbaijani. I had an special opportunity to ride out there with friends and a Polish couple touring the area. The ride through the springtime desert was lovely, full of poppies and other wild flowers, sheep and cattle and a variety of eagles. 

Interesting to note that this is a very early example of environmental damage.  The area was forested during the Bronze age but iron smelting eventually led to deforestation in the 1st millennium BC, resulting in climate change and desertification.  

 1500 year old monastery

  Syrian St. David established a community of monks in the 6th century and built a monastery in caves cut out of sandstone rocks. The naturally worn steps in the rocks reminds us of its age.  The Udabno monastery was about a 2 hour hike up the sandstone cliffs and is located at the edge of the natural border of Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is important for its frescoes from 9th up to 14th centuries. The area and frescoes were pretty well preserved, considering that the Soviets used this area for artillery practice during their occupation, due to the similarities between this desert area and Afghanistan.  The Azeri guards were friendly and spoke English and told us we were on the "buffer zone" but could hike up to see the chapel and frescoes.  Then further down, the Georgian guards were stationed and told us this is Georgian land. 

There were a a handful of tourists; surprising for such a remote place.  A fellow from Holland showed me a snake eagle - a first for me.  And their guide pointed out some interesting details of the frescoes, such as the fact that heaven is always drawn on the east side of the cave, hell on the west side. (Philosophical analysis welcome).

Also, I found it interesting to learn that these caves were made, not only found.  They used a small opening in the sandstone, and expanded it by heating the rock with fire, then pouring water on it to split it. 

Entrepreneurship in Georgia

 Here is a coffee cart in the parking lot.  

 It's good to see entrepreneurship alive and well in Georgia, but in this case it was all imported.  First, at the monastery we were happily surprised to see a coffee bar parked near the entrance.  In speaking with the Georgian manager, we were told it was really owned by a couple Ukranians, but he was running it for a while.  It was a treat to have it in this really remote area of the country.  


Next,  our Polish guests told us of the Oasis Cafe,  a little restaurant in the middle of NOWHERE, run by 2 Poles.  They had been there for about 3 years and had a lovely place, catering just for tourists. And in the middle of the desert, it really was an oasis.  The cold drinks, food, and clean western bathrooms were just was we needed after that hike.  Good for them!

And here are our new Polish friends, standing in front of the only public place in the area.  

The Little Ones in Georgia

International Children's Day is coming up and we at the Koda Community Education Center are planning a festival of games, music, and performances. While planning we visited the local kindergarten to invite their participation, I was struck by how clean and orderly it was, and quiet!   It is nice to compare the school systems in other countries. 

Kindergarten goes from 9:30-5:30. They are free throughout Georgia, and funded by the government. They have a two hour nap time! We could have been in the US except for the sadsoli otaki. (the bedroom)!  Now I could go for this! 

Both kindergartens attended the Children's Festival and many, many children from the settlement.   We had a few characters in costume ( about $100 - a LOT for here, but the kids really love it ), chalk drawings, games, singing performances from young and old. We even had a flash dance... a very successful day!