Hey all

Not much to report.  Lots of snow, as you might have seen in the news.  The buses weren't running on Monday so I've had a pretty relaxing week.  Reading the Hunger Games books and writing lesson plans.  Also found out that my Close of Service (COS) date will be July 18th, meaning that I have 159 days left in Moldova before I head home.

Any who, during my service I haven't done much fundraising/grant writing.  Not the biggest fan of grants in the first place, but the two my partner and I planned on doing the principal of my school got funding for from the mayor's office.  Which is kind of cool in of itself.  It means that the administration and teachers at my school know what they need, are able to advocate for themselves to get the funds, and have the projects completed quickly.  Yay!

However, a fellow health volunteer (and social worker <3 ) needs some help with fundraising for her students.  Here's her statement:


Cristy Hickson
 Hi, noroc, привет!

I hope everyone is doing well! I have some very exciting news to report! My team, The Beetles, took first place at the National Odyssey of the Mind Competition! Woohoo! We are all very excited! My students have spent the last few months staying after school every day writing their script, creating costumes and props, and rehearsing. Many nights staying at the school past 8pm! Since we placed first at the National Competition, we now have the opportunity to go to St.Petersburg, Russia for the international competition, EuroFest!!! As excited as I am to go to Russia with my students, my stomach is full of butterflies! We have to figure out how we are going to pay for the trip. Yesterday I received an email stating that every student must pay $450 to attend EuroFest. Yikes! This would be a lot of money to fundraise and gather in the U.S., but it is especially challenging here in Moldova where most families live below the poverty level and struggle meeting their basic needs. Our goal is to raise $3,600 to pay for transportation costs, food, and lodging for both my students and myself. My students have worked incredibly hard and I want to illustrate to them that hard work really does pay off. They are going to continue working hard during the next few weeks preparing fundraisers throughout our community and searching for sponsors, however I think it will be nearly impossible to raise $3,600 because of the financial situation here in Moldova, so I am asking for your help! Would you be willing to donate a few dollars to help my students go to EuroFest? If yes, please check out this website: http://cristyhickson.chipin.com/odyssey-of-the-mind-eurofest. A few people have been unable to donate using this site, if that is the case you can also donate using PayPal (my account is under my email, hickson.crystal@gmail.com) or you can mail a check to my sister’s address (531 Compass Road, Baltimore, MD 21220) and she will deposit it in my checking account.




For students from Moldova to achieve something so great is wonderful.  And it is unfortunate that the poverty in this nation is keeping these kids from being able to follow through on this all the way to the end.  I encourage anyone with some extra cash to please help out these students.  Maybe skip that morning latte?  Eat at home tonight?  These students worked so hard and it would be sad for them not to be able to represent their country at this international event.