20-July: You down with CYD?

We succeed here because we want to. In this situation, we are not graded, but there is information to know. The material is presented, yet how we perform on evaluations depends entirely upon our drive to meet our own potential. For those who aren't satisfied with just 'meeting' expectations, this is an opportunity to push ourselves. Once at site and out of training, we won't have a structured schedule given to us: it is ours to create.
What is CYD? As an acronym, it stands for Community and Youth Development, and it is my sector in the Peace Corps. Yet, just as we entered this program confused about what the sector does, the more we learn about it, the more we understand that there is no definition. The other two Peace Corps sectors in Mongolia – TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and Health – have much more concrete job definitions, but with any project on any day, the CYD crew might be asked to teach English, give a training on dental health or sexual safety, or be anything the volunteer or community dreams up. Our work might include building the capacity of a vocational school social worker (a relatively new field here) or educating the community on special needs awareness. The undefined job description can be daunting in its vague existence, but we are also free to create our roles, which, in a developing country, can be a great situation in which to find ourselves. All sectors are able to create side projects, clubs, and what-have-you in addition to their primary roles.
Our brief stay in Mongolia has reminded each of us that, again and again, plans oft go awry. Some friends have coined the term Margaashed (Margaash means 'tomorrow') to reference plans that we understood to be happening one day, but always turn out to be some later day, if ever. Throughout training, our instructors have stressed that we need to be ready to adapt because everything will most likely run askew of expectations and surprise you. For my first community project, a classmate and I met with the director of the local Child and Family Development Center and arranged to teach four three-hour adult English classes. Our understanding was that the center had fifteen adults in mind and their English level would be between minimal and non-existent. We prepared our lesson with some ability to adapt, should our students known more than we expected. We had our first lesson and, presumably due to the monsoon-like weather outside, the only person in the classroom besides us was our interpreter. Forty-five minutes into the class period, our first – and only one of the night as it turned out – student showed up between downpours. He greeted us in English and we asked him what he wanted to learn. He responded that he wanted to work on the 'Future Perfect Continuous' tense. I looked at my co-teacher, who had the same 'I have no idea' look on his face that I had on mine. We aren't trained as English teachers! I called a TEFL friend, who referred me to someone else...who didn't know either. I called the Peace Corps volunteer who tutored this student last year; he had some guesses as to the tense. Finally, I remembered a trainee who was a linguistics expert. After a little research, he gave me enough to work off for our lesson. We didn't need hours to work on that tense alone, so we followed with English conversation just for practice. The three of us listened to the stories of our lives and discussed the student's future plans. In one session, the two of us had to employ lesson planning, TEFL, and CYD, in addition to patience, adaptation, and our network. I wouldn't say that our adult English class was a success, but we made something work!
I continue to remember the words of Daniel Burnham that I found in Zealandia:
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood. Make big plans.”