The First Year in Review

I am a little late to follow the Blog trend, but I visited my friend Sarah's Blog and I realized what I am missing out on by not having one of these...so we start with a brief recap of the last year.

I arrived at my site in the beginning of December 2003 as a Municipal Development Volunteer. My community, Mavrovi Anovi, (more frequently referred to as Mavrovo) was a resort town with a ski center and a ton of weekend houses. It was a hot spot when Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia and even in the early years of independence. The recent years of ethnic conflict have had a negative impact on the economy though, and tourism, the only industry has come to an almost screeching halt.

I was initially sent there to improve the way the office administration functions, to help implement development projects and assist the municipality with applying for new projects but things did not work according to plan. I don't want to go into detail because there is a lot to write and everyone's time would be better spent reading the good stuff.

In the spring of 2004 I began working with a regional sheepbreeder's association. The association began as part of a development project implemented by Land O'Lakes, and I started out helping with organizational development. Throughout the spring and summer my activities within the municipality diminished and I found myself spending more and more time with the Sheep breeder's association. I applied for an official site change and one was granted in Mid-September.

I am now the association Development Volunteer with the Regional Sheep Breeder's association of Western Macedonia and things are pretty good. I will be moving to my new site soon and will talk of all the changes in store...