GAD Meeting Minutes – 25/09/09

Gender and Development, Peace Corps Paraguay 

President – Melissa Salomon

Secretary – Chris Diaz (absent, substitute – Nathan Antonio)

Treasurer – Pooja Virani (absent)

 

Old Business

 GAD in Site

- Two meetings prior, the selected activity was an essay contest for Dia del Padre. Gustavo Gimenez, the SSC, read and judged the essays. Winners: 1^st place – Diana Isabel, 2^nd place – Adalberto Pena Barrios, 3^rd place – Mariana de los Angeles Baiboza Vera. The winners may go ahead and purchase their prizes, and GAD will reimburse them via their volunteer.

- The previous meeting, the committee decided to make the GAD in Site activity Mensajes de la Cultura. David Schmitz and Melissa Salomon did the activity with members of their community. Overall it was successful, but they noted that the younger Paraguayans they were working with tended to voice more liberal attitudes about sex and gender roles than was expected. They recommend to others who do the activity that they explain that the opinions that they express should reflect society at large or “the way your parents/grandparents think” rather than participants’ personal opinions. As both David and Melissa work in urban sites, results might be different in the countryside.

- This meeting’s GAD in Site activity is Mitos sobre la Violencia Domestica. See the attached for a facilitation guide to the activity.

 

PATF

The PATF program is a partnership between Peace Corps Paraguay, La Secretaria de la Mujer de la Presidencia de la Republica, and La Union de Profesionales y Empresarios Juveniles which benefits aproximately 50 young Paraguayans with scholarships for high school, vocational school, trade school and university in addition to training in self-esteem, personal finance, leadership, gender empowerment and networking among other topics. This year, as was the case last year, 10% of the scholarships will be allotted to males, while the remainder will go to benefit of females.

- The second workshop for this year’s recipients will be October 16^th. Those interested in helping with the planning of the event may contact Chris Diaz. Chris Diaz, Rosana Chavez, Giselle Pasamonte and Laara Manler are already slated to help.

- For 2010, David Schmitz has offered to sign the PCPP for the scholarship funds. Three applications will be accepted per volunteer. There may be an electronic submission option. Further detail will be forthcoming as the new year approaches.

 

GAD Camp

For 2 years running, the GAD committee has organized and sponsored a youth camp with the NGO Prevencion Alto Parana (PREALPA) of Ciudad del Este, at Itaipu binational’s biological refuge of Tati Jupi. This year’s planning committee consists of Hannah Kaufman, Chris Diaz, Nathan Antonio, and Pooja Virani.

-It is worth noting that all of the planning committee’s members are senior volunteers, meaning that there will be no experienced volunteers to lead the planning effort next year. If you are a junior volunteer (1 year to 9 months or less into your service) please contact the planning committee to get involved. Your collaboration is not only appreciated, it is essential.

- Last year’s camp saw an increase of participants from 35 to 40 and this year they are aiming for 45. There may have been an increase in the amount of SPA funds available for training activities. More will be known when SPA funds are actually made available again to volunteers.

- This year’s theme will be Voluntariado y Aprendizaje al Servir. If you have any recommendations for specific topics, contact Chris Diaz or Hannah Kaufman.

- There is a rumor that Itaipu no longer offers bus transportation for camp groups from the terminal of Ciudad del Este to Tati Jupi. Inquiries in Asuncion and CDE returned no confirmation of the rumor, nor positive denial. Nathan Antonio is pursuing the matter. Inability to obtain free bus service to Tati Jupi would make the camp prohibitively expensive.

- Those present at the meeting were asked to check out local camping areas and report back to the planning committee about facilities, availability, and cost. Joseluis highlighted possible options in Aregua.

 

GAD Manual

-The GAD manual is currently in formatting and editing.

- Two chapters are still missing to round off the manual: self-esteem and human rights. Joseluis and Rebecca Grimm volunteered to write the chapters. Completed materials should be sent to Melissa Salomon.

 

Jopara

- Jopara will be redesigning the diversity training session in the coming months. Possible changes include new activites, spacing out training dates, and the possible inclusion of a “movie night” to involve host families.

- A diversity film collection is being compiled by the sub-committee. For a list of possible films to be included contact Laara Manler. Also, please contact if you have any films to recommend or add to the collection.

 

New Business

 

Auction

GAD conducts an auction of donated items at the Thanksgiving festivities near Encarnacion.

- The idea of auctioning off skills (like painting, massages, copy editing, etc.) was ventured and received well.

- A request for item or skill donations will be sent out in subsequent bi-weekly newsletters.

- Committee members are asked to solicit donations from their friends and especially out-going PCVs. Marin Palmer was ventured as a contact for G-25.

- Contact Melissa Salomon for more details.

 

Congreso de Lideres 2009

Joseluis, in conjunction with the Supervision of Aregua are planning a two day conference on leadership, gender, and diversity issues to involve students and teachers from the district of Aregua Oct 23/24.

- Joseluis requests that six volunteers come to facilitate sessions at the camp. Volunteers are welcome to bring community contacts. The session topics are: Learship, Diversity, Gender Roles in the Family, Natural Resource Management, Healthy Living, and a Summary session. Volunteers interested in participating should contact Joseluis through email at xlide@yahoo.com or cellphone number0982600111

GAD Minutes: July 31st, 2009

NEXT MEETING: Friday, September 25th @15:00; Upstairs Conference Room in PCO

PATF:
Due to transitions in the Secretaria de la Mujer, a representative has not yet been assigned to PATF but the committee will begin meeting in September to update the scholarship information and application for the following year. Giselle Pasamonte and Laara Manler expressed interest in forming part of the committee. David S. is willing to put his name on the Peace Corps Partnership Proposal Program. Those interested in becoming a part of this year’s PATF Committee should contact Christopher Diaz (G-26) 0971.160.651

GAD IN OUR SITES:
Thanks to all those who participated in last month’s Father’s Day Essay Contest Activity.
Ultimately it was decided that 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes would be saldo worth 5, 10, and 15 mil. The next activity is “Mensajes de Cultura” (see attachment) and basically involves you assigning a certain behavior or action to a specific gender or both. For example in what category would you place “short hair”: men / women / both. Please direct any questions to David Schmitz (G-26/UYD) 0971.936.188

GAD CAMP:
The meeting that was set for 29th of August at 15:00 at the terminal in Colonel Oviedo has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 30th at 15:00 in the PCO. Last year 18 PCVs and 41 youth participated in the camp held at the Refugio Biologico Tati Yupi, en Alto Parana. Those interested in becoming involved in planning the camp should contact Hannah Kaufman (G-26/RHS) 0982.986218

GAD GABBER:
Copies of the GAD Gabber were placed in each Volunteer’s mailbox. If you find interesting publications (ex. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?_r=4&hp=&pagewanted=all ) or are interested in contributing to the next GAD Gabber please e-mail gadparaguay@gmail.com

T-SHIRTS:
T-shirts are now available in the PCO in the Coordinators Office at 25.000 G. Thank you David Schmitz.

JOPARA:
Formulated a Mission Statement; Jopara seeks to develop and promote understanding and diversity in all of its various manifestations amongst the members of Peace Corps and amongst the communities in which we serve. If there are any Volunteers who have photos or personal items collected from their travels to other countries please contact Nathan Antonio (G-26/UYD)

GAD MANUEL:
Still lacking Self-Esteem/Rights Chapters. The Boys Manuel project has been discontinued and any information regarding working with male youth will be incorporated into the GAD Manuel. Those interested in contributing to the manual should contact Melissa Salamon (G-26/UYD) 0971.295.420

OFFICERS: Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns;
President: Melissa Salamon (G-26/UYD) 0971.295.420
Secretary: Christopher Diaz (G-26/UYD) 0971.160.651
Treasurer: Pooja Virani (G-27/RED) 0971.901.399

GAD Minutes: May 29th, 2009

NEXT MEETING: Friday, July the 31st at 3:00pm; Upstairs Conference Room-PCO

GAD-in-our-SITES: Sunday June 21st is Father’s Day. GAD Committee voted unanimously to use 30.000G of its funds to purchase small prizes to increase participation for GAD-in-our-Sites activities. Age ranges have been divided by primer y segundo ciclo, tercer ciclo, and primer de la media hasta arriba.

PATF: Mirian Núñez from Union de Profesionales y Empresarios Jovenes (UPEJ) and Rosana Chávez (PCVC) from PeaceCorps met the 21.05.09 to introduce PATF to Patricia Serafín from Plan-Paraguay. Tuesday, June 16, from 14:00-17:00, PATF will be meeting in the PeaceCorps Office to write up a preliminary budget regarding all cost associated with the project to be submitted to Plan-Paraguay. Additionally, PATF will be meeting to compile Scholarship and Higher Education information. Those interested are more than welcome to attend.

GAD CAMP: Volunteers should have received group photos in their mailbox for each youth participant who attended. If you are interested in a personal copy you will need to speak with David Schmitz (G-26/UYD) 0971.936.188. Although GAD Camp is several months away those interested in becoming part of the planning committee should contact Hanna Kaufman (G-26/RHS) 0982.986.218. An important note is that camp spaces are limited and priority is provided to Volunteers whom regularly attend GAD meetings.

GAD GABBER: We would like to complete the GAD Gabber by 15.06.09. Submissions regarding gender related activities or information should be sent to Melissa Salamon (G-26/UYD) at melissalsalamon@yahoo.com or sassysalamon@yahoo.com

T-SHIRTS: GAD Committee voted unanimously to spend their remaining funds of 400.000 G to purchase and print shirts. Those available to help sell T-shirts during the 4th of July should contact Pooja Virani (G27/RED) 0971.901.399 o 0981.488.800 ##19.

JOPARA SUB-COMMITTEE: Held meeting at 17:00 in the Coordinators Offices. Discussed vision and objectives desired for the group. Projects include international film exchange, creating new diversity oriented activities, and formulating a mission statement. Those interested in learning more should contact Nathan Antonio (G-26/UYD) 0971.901.889

GAD MANUEL: Please forward any information or resources to Nathan Antonio

BOYS MANUEL: Rosana Chavez (PCVC) is compiling resources and materials in the PC office and is translating guidebooks “Challenges” and “You Can Choose”. If you are interested in helping out with the translating material please speak with her.

OFFICERS: Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns;
President: Melissa Salamon (G-26/UYD) 0971.295.420
Secretary: Christopher Diaz (G-26/UYD) 0971.160.651
Treasurer: Pooja Virani (G-27/RED) 0971.901.399

Officer SWAP Update:

Hi there GAD followers, it is now almost fall here in Paraguay and that means there are many changes to be seen around Peace Corps Paraguay. School has started again, PCVs are back to hard at work and the GAD committee is changing up its leadership. Since his is my last email to you all, I will take this opportunity to say what a great year we had and to encourage you all in your work with gad and generally as PCV, it was an honor to work with you this last year.

Check out all the changes….

GAD at a Glance:

NEW 2009-2010 GAD Officers:
President: Melissa Salamon (0971) 295-420
Secretary: Chris Diaz (0971) 160-651
Treasure: pooja Virani (0981) 488-800 or (0971) 901-399
*Please feel free to contact them at any time if you have questions, suggestions or ideas!

NEXT MEETING: Friday, May 30th at 3:00pm; Upstairs Conference Room-PCO

GAD-in-our-SITES: REPEAT Gender Swap or “Sí fuera Hombre/Mujer” activity from Como Planer mi Vida, the stereotypes section.

PATF: Seeking new committee members…. Due to COS, the committee is currently looking for people interested in being more involved with out scholarship and technical program. Because of the quantity of extra meetings and the short notice for dates and time changes, it is advisable that members have better access to and from sites. Contact Chris Diaz if you are interested.

GAD Camp: This year’s youth leadership camp was huge success! We will be re-forming the sub-committee for next year starting soon. For now all that is left is the evaluations and summaries for SPA.

SHIRTS: We are still selling two fabulous T-shirt, come on by the Coordinator’s Office and get one before they sell out!

See you around the office,

Gariety "Gabi"
OUTGOING GAD Secretary


This meeting minutes ¤ January 30, 2009

Intros & Icebreaker: We got right to work with a full agenda, a quick intro around the table was all we had time for, but we welcome new comers just the same.

Gad-Camp Evaluations:
Ø Slide show: we watched the fabulous promotional slide show, made by David Schmitz. It features some 99 photos taken throughout the camp. It was made to help us solicit donations next year as well as thank donors and to share the experience with more people. THANKS DAVID-your hard work really paid off!
Ø Youth Evaluations (written and participatory):
o Food was lowest score(growing boys need more to eat)…more donations are needed in the future
o Identidad Personal and the Panel de Discriminacion were the favorite s plus the rotations in teams (Trabajo en Equipo) evening activity.
o Tired at times…very full schedule (hard to avoid with limited time) and the boys requested shower curtains
o Smiley face were pretty much the same across the board
Ø PCV Evaluations:
o Local was great and involvement of Paraguayans was better
o MC’s, 2 youth participants from last year who were invited as peer facilitators, were a huge plus (couldn’t have done it without them)
o Notable increase in free time was appreciated, but still not enough (unpack)-still need to smooth out schedule bumps
§ Streamline the chores for PCVs and youth participants
o Rural vs. Urban mix was good, as well as gender ratios were about right

PATF:
Ø Briefly we generally explained the program for the new members
Ø 1st Taller went well: the next taller will be held sometime in September or October....wait for further notice.
Ø Discussion of type of scholarships offered: suggested by member we revise the number and ratio of colegio vs. university vs. vocational – member was concerned that vocational and colegio programs can probably be funded by working a bit or in other ways, and may not actually be worth the time; the need is in university scholarships because with out them the applicant most likely can not study.
Ø In response and out of general need, we decided to try to compile information on all the different scholarships offered to try to compensate for the limit of our scholarships and have it available to all volunteers.
o Chris Diaz volunteered to take charge of this project.

GAD Manuel:
Ø Generally we are frustrated about the slow progress of the manual…the committee, as of the meeting, had only received a small percentage of the chapters they needed. Therefore we went back around and REDISTRIBUTED the chapters amongst those present. The new DEADLINE for your chapters is April 30th, 2009. PLEASE JUST DO IT AND GET IT TURNED IN. If you can’t remember ask Marin.
o send entries to gadparaguay@gmail.com

Boy's Manual:
Ø Rosana was not present so we skipped ahead due to long meeting schedule and lack of information….if you have questions contact Rosana or Lauren

Kuat/GADGabber:
Ø The minutes will be submitted to the Kuat, as always, but feel free to submit any other articles related to gender issues you want to, all are welcome.
Ø The next GADGabber will be headed up and edited by Melissa Salamon (THANKS) and will hopefully include articles about PATF, camp and other fun stuff written by all of you: please send submissions to the GAD email as well (see above)
Gad-in-our-SITES:

Ø Activity REPEAT: Gender Swap or “Sí fuera Hombre/Mujer” activity from Como Planer mi Vida, the stereotypes section.

Sec&Tres Reports:
Ø Secretary:
o Kuat submission, checking the email regularly and keeping the blog up to date. Updating email list and trying to pair up email addresses with names of past members….please revise your info if it has changed or if help if you can identify the others on the list.
Ø Treasurer:
o There is currently 461,500.000gs in the GAD fund, and t-shirts are finally making a profit!
o Camp photos still need to be bought and paid for: Gariety will make the donor list and get it to Nathan and David will print them (with a receipt)

Jopara Sub-Committee:
Ø Postponed until next meeting: Nathan is still collecting Data from the incoming and current G’s

Elections:
Ø Description of Positions—given by outgoing officers
Ø Nominations
o President: Melissa
o Secretary: Chris, Pooja
o Treasurer: Pooja, David, Jose Luis

NEW 2009-2010 GAD Officers:
President: Melissa Salamon (0971) 295-420
Secretary: Chris Diaz (0971) 160-651
Treasure: pooja Virani (0981) 488-800 or (0971) 901-399

A GAD-full Summer Update

January 30, 2009

Hi all loyal GAD members,

Sorry this minute’s update has been a long time coming, I had a lot on my plate with camp and just got the time to sit down and write them up. This is my last update as your GAD secretary, which means…GAD ELECTIONS ARE NEXT MEETING! If you are interested in running or want more information about one of the positions email us, or just give us a call. It has been a pleasure keeping you all updated on the happenings of our great and guapo group. We have had a busy summer, as usual between camps and the scholarship program, so read on for all the details.

GAD at a Glance/New Information:

NEXT MEETING: Friday, March 27th at 3:00pm; Upstairs Conference Room-PCO
*NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS for GAD OFFICERS

GAD-in-our-SITES: New Activity: Gender Swap or “Sí fuera Hombre/Mujer” activity from Como Planer mi Vida, the stereotypes section.

PATF: We RAISESED the $10,000, thank you for all your support. We awarded 50 scholarships this year! The selection process took considerably more time than expected due to the higher volume of applications, we apologize. The winners have already all been contacted, the 1st taller has already taken place and they have received their first allotment.

GAD Manuel: PLEASE EMAIL YOUR CHAPTERS TO THE GAD EMAIL ADDRESS ASAP

GAD Camp: Feb 12-15th and the Refugio Biológico Tati Jupi, Alto Parana with the NGO PreAlpa. 39 youth participants, 2 youth facilitators, 18 PCVs, from 7 different departments: we were at capacity! It went really well.

The OUTGOING '08-'09 Officers are:
President: Lara Gamble 0971-101-734
Secretary: Gariety Pruitt 0971-308-352
Treasurer: Marin Palmer 0982-986-214
*Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions, suggestions or ideas!

See you next year,

Gariety "Gabi" Pruitt (signing off)
GAD Secretary


This meeting ¤ January 30, 2009

Intros & Icebreaker: We reviewed the GAD Mission Statement for the new comers and announced that elections will take place next meeting. The current office holders gave a brief explanation of their positions:
President: all around responsible for making sure the various GAD projects are on track and coordination communication between the committee and the office. Also the president runs the meeting.
Secretary: in charge of all communications with in the committee such as the making sure the email and member lists are up to date as well as posts blog entries periodically. Also takes minutes at every meeting and organizes the Kuat entries for the GAD page.
Treasurer: keeps the books organized, is in charge of t-shirt sales and other fundraising ventures throughout the year.


PATF:

Ø We RAISESED the $10,000 we need to run the beca program, thank you all for your support and hard work this year.
o We had 85 donors this year. At the meeting we divided the list up and addressed the envelops for Lara to send out the thank you notes while we reviewed the details of the scholarship program for new comers and answered questions concerning the winners;

Ø 50 scholarships were awarded this year, 7 of which were University level. There was very stiff competition this year with over 250 applicants, 38 girls were tied for the 7 university winners’.

Ø The selection process took considerably more time than expected due to the higher volume of applications. We apologize to those waiting and if there are any winners who have specific troubles registering for classes please contact Lara directly.

Ø No date yet on the 1st Taller, it will most likely be held at the Ministerio de la Mujer here in Asuncion, approximately the 3rd week of Feb.

o The PATF committee members usually help with dinámicas for the taller but, as luck would have it all the members will be on vacation during the taller, so we asked for volunteers to help: Pooja, Marin and Hannah all offered their services.

Kuat/GADGabber:
Ø The minutes will be submitted to the Kuat, as always, the but feel free to submit any other articles related to gender issues you want to, all are welcome. The deadline is March 22nd.
Ø The GADGabber will be published in March/April but needs entries, so please send them to the GAD email address (or reply to this email)

Gad-in-our-SITES:
Ø New Activity: Gender Swap or “Sí fuera Hombre/Mujer” activity from Como Planer mi Vida, the stereotypes section.

Sec&Tres Reports:
Ø Secretary:
o Nothing new to report
Ø Fundraising/Treasurer:
o currently 9.500: we paid for the 40 shirts but have several left to sell. Also the accounting in the PCVC office had not been good so we are missing money from several shirt sales, but it is being worked out. Also we need to send out the email request for stuff to G23 for next year’s auction.
GAD Manuel:
Ø We formed the new Manual Committee to edit the new document: so far Marin, Melissa, Pooja and Michelle agreed to be editors.
Ø Chapter submissions were due at the meeting, but we had very few, so PLEASE EMAIL YOUR CHAPTERS TO THE GAD EMAIL ADDRESS ASAP
o They should be in Spanish and in electronic format (easiest to edit).
o Chapters: Gender vs Sex/general GAD resources(Lara); Cycle of Abuse/domestic violence/intersousal realtionships(Gariety); Self-esteem & Body Image (Lauren); Gender roles & Stereotypes(Melissa); Reproductive Health/Sex Ed (Gariety & Brain Cross); Sexualtiy (Mary); Healthy Relationships/flirting vs harrasment/dating (Jill M.); Rights (Chris); NGO guide w/contact info (Marin); Office resouce guide (Foust). DIVERSITY??

Boy's Manual:
Ø Tanslating: we are translating two books, titled “Challenges” and “You Can Choose” but we need help! Sign up for pages in the PCVC office.

Jopara Sub-Committee:
Ø It is hard to know if there is interest. Nathan is basically trying to re organize the committee but can’t do it alone. Idea is to give training Gs a survey of perceived diversity and then take real stats to show the differences in perception and reality; to be published in the Kuat. Also maybe we could develop a similar charla to be done in out sites, but we need to gather Paraguayan diversity statistics first.

Ø There will be a meeting advertised for the next NVAC weekend to plan further

Gad-Camp:
Ø To avoid boredom we broke for a few minutes and allowed non camp participating PCVs to exit the room, since we were going over last minute details before camp.
Ø Feb 12-15th and the Refugio Biológico Tati Jupi, Alto Parana with the NGO PreAlpa. Be at the terminal in Ciudad del Este before 5:00PM
o 40 youth, 18 PCVs, from 7 different departments: we are at capacity, though we expect a few last minute changes in the list. PCVs checked info for the certificates etc.
o OK on 60.000 Gs per participant and permission slips
o Please remember donations, yerba at terere equipos, cleaning and dishes supplies and all the other items on the packing list
o CHARLAS: 45 min each team in a rotation of the three temas: 5 small groups of three PCV teams: I NEED YOUR CHARLA FORMULARIOS ASAP