I apologize for the delayed response. We have been confirming through all the proper channels that it is okay for me to go through with this. Thank you for your email and the interest you have expressed in the Peace Corps Girls' Mentoring Centers (GMCs) operating in Mauritania. I have also contacted volunteers who work in our schools and with various clubs to see if there is any interest for work at a school or other centers. I can send you more information if you are interested in these other possibilities. I know your proposals are due soon. We were latecomers unfortunately and we're playing catch up! The reason we are promoting the GMCs is because there is a chance at longer range sustainability. We would prefer to spread the benefits of this program rather than saturate one village, but really this would be great for any community in Mauritania.
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There are three types of GMCs in existence in Mauritania; the majority serve high school age girls. In rural locations there is often no high school, so the GMC works with girls of middle school age. Last year, volunteers began to work in "young GMC" settings; these are targeted at elementary school age (more likely the ones you would be interested in working with). GMCs vary in size; the smallest serves 18 people, the largest 300 (not rural). On average, each center works with about 36 girls. In order to work with us, your team would probably need to split up to work with a minimum of two separate communities. Ideally the computers could be distributed to more centers than that to reach more girls.
1. If you have access to google earth you can look at the distribution of the centers with the file I sent you. I think it would be possible to utilize 2 or 3 center within one region to keep it from being too spread out (I'm thinking between Kaedi and Bogue especially). Mauritania is difficult in this respect. The country is one of the least developed in the world and as such most of the country is considered "rural" and most populations are fairly dispersed. Sending 100 laptops to one village over another, frankly seems completely unfair and would not be a good way to distribute such a great resource in a country as poor as this one. There are a lot of problems in entrusting such endeavors to local agencies (schools included) due to a high rate of bribes, selling materials, etc.
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). With these mentoring centers, it is really a fabulous way to get ideas "into" the country (test the waters to see how it's received). Once it's in the mix... the local community picks up on it and there is a lot of potential to expand, trying to get something for the local schools at a later date.
2. No electricity... good question! All GMCs have access to electricity (some only partially throughout the day) - we have a couple that have access with solar power. That being said, it's always to plan on as if power doesn't exist since black outs are pretty common especially during this period of time from June to August (end of hot season and entering the rainy season).
3. Local language... I would love to say that you could... we can probably send you materials that Peace Corps uses for training. We have an intense 10 week period in which we are fully submerged in the language. This is just enough to prepare us - once at site we still take awhile to fully develop it to a level at which it is conversational. We find it is best to use these "mentors" and translators to get our message across to the girls. They understand our language and can teach it in a way that really drives the message home.
4. Men are no problem. There simply has to be a woman present at all times, which our volunteers could provide. They are not allowed to be left alone with the girls. I would love to say that you could work with the boys as well. Boys at this age are typically busy doing work for the family and very much hard to control behavior wise. Now I believe since this is a unique project and it does serve the community during the summer months when school is not in session, we may be able to swing something where we include boys utilizing the local schools. All GMCs are operated in accordance and understanding with the local school system. In my opinion it would not be hard to be "flexible" and get boys involved. That will depend on the site and the volunteers working there. Potentially you would be working with a number of different volunteers who have different contacts throughout the community, which would allow expansion. I definitely think there are enough centers where multiple proposals could be accepted and easily adapted.
Peace Corps General Info
The Peace Corps traces its roots and mission to 1960, when then Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michiganto serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship. Since that time, more than 190,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in 139 host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.
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