To Ottawa One Last Time

I just returned from Ottawa for my second and final pre-departure training. It was called Skills for Working in Development or SKWID for short (and yes, it's pronouced squid). This followed my Preparing for Change (PFC) course last May. Again, it was a valuable weekend full of eye opening topics, practical skills, good conversation and the usual pre-departure panic! A few people from my PFC course were there and so it was nice to see a few familiar faces. Matt is an audiologist from Albecerque and going to Guyana in August. Rob is a doctor from San Francisco and he left for Uganda the last day of the course. I got to room with some great people too! Angie is a journalist from Toronto going to Nigeria and Raffaella is a strategic planner (I think...but I don't know much about the business world) from Boston who is going to Kenya. Best of all, I had some time to visit Parliament Hill before my flight on Monday.

Overall, the course content was valuable. There was a large focus placed on group facilitation skills and getting group participation in workshops and meetings. So, sort of like teaching 9th grade students who could care less about social studies and getting them to a point where they are the ones informing me of what's happining in Ottawa! (Like the time one of my students came to school and told me about the Governor General eating seal heart in Nunavut before I knew it!). I did gain some good ideas - especially with regards to cross cultural facilitation and working with adults.

On the pin cushion front....I am getting two more vaccinations today. One is my final Hep shot and the other is - wait for it - rabies. It sort of makes me laugh but apparently quite a concern for volunteers abroad. I've also decided that I think I'll bite the bullet and get Malarone for my anti-malarials. It's way expensive (like a paycheque expensive) and CUSO-VSO won't cover the cost. They will give me the cost of Mefloquine which is cheaper (like a days work, cheaper) but my plan will cover a large majority of it. The basic difference is the Malarone has few side effects - unlike Mefloquine which can lead to hallucinations and anxiety. So....we'll see!