Did Confucius ever submit a grant proposal?
Some accounts say he wrote the famous aphorism: Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
If he were living in today’s world, though, Confucius might have said: Give money to people and you help them for a short time. Teach them to write grants and they can keep going for years. (Or something like that.)
Grant writing has become an essential skill for public institutions and nonprofit organizations here in Moldova. 
With salaries and budgets that are tiny by American standards, they look to external sources for additional support, especially for projects. Potential funders range from USAID and other agencies affiliated with foreign governments to international NGOs, local embassies and others. Civic.md compiles many of their initiatives.
On Monday evening, our Ialoveni library learned its robotics team was among the winners in the latest round of a small grant competition for local youth that also provides valuable experience for the young reviewers. The Ialoveni team will receive 5,500 lei, or a bit more than $330, to buy the supplies it needs to continue participating in national robotics competitions and perhaps to also organize a small local competition.
My library partner, Lidia Rusu, in the white sweater below, has gained a lot of experience writing grants over the past several years. She’s also received training from Novateca on other forms of fund-raising and advocacy, doing so well that Novateca recruited her to train librarians elsewhere. I was impressed as she worked with several boys on our robotics team to prepare this latest proposal. We discussed it but they did almost all of the work themselves, including the budget and narrative sections. They also presented it effectively to the review committee you see here at Ialoveni’s Consiliul Raional, or county government.
The new grant isn’t a lot of money, but it’s enough to keep the library’s robotics program moving forward. Equally important, both Lidia and the boys honed their grant preparation skills and received positive feedback that will encourage them to pursue more grants in the future. Next time they may reel in some bigger fish.
That girl was my grandmother, Sarah.
We left Ialoveni early, crossing the Moldovan-Ukrainian border at Palanca since Peace Corps does not allow volunteers to travel through the disputed territory of Transnistria. We were lucky to arrive near Odessa’s 
We bought the cheapest seats, less than 40 cents apiece, so we could glimpse the theater for a few minutes. It was magnificent.
But then again, I’ve felt in good hands medically with Peace Corps Moldova since we arrived here. The chief medical officer, Dr. Iuliana, is a jewel: skillful, thorough, caring and endlessly dedicated to keeping volunteers heathy. She pays attention to everyone’s mental health as well as their physical condition, knowing how stressful Peace Corps service can sometimes be.
We get our medical care for free here, with no monthly premiums or other costs. During our pre-service training, the medical team ran workshops on everything from water purification to traffic safety. When we moved to our posts, they gave us water filters and well-stocked medical kits. They continue to fill prescriptions, address concerns and provide routine services in a clinic within the Peace Corps building. When necessary, they send volunteers to local specialists such as Dr. Drugalin or, occasionally, back home or elsewhere for treatment, coordinating with the Peace Corps medical office in Washington.
We were in good shape when we applied to become volunteers, although that didn’t stop the Washington medical office from putting us through the wringer before clearing us for service. We had to submit form after form, with documentation, over several months before we were finally approved. 
I understood why the medical office was so cautious, especially with two older applicants, but the process was exhausting.
I also discussed speech-making generally and the particular format of entrepreneurial pitches. I divided the students into groups to practice their presentations, as you can see in the photos here.
When I was running a university communications office before joining the Peace Corps, I used to tell scientists and professors the same thing, as in this 2014 
Indeed, Peace Corps itself touts the career 
All of this is consistent with the changes I’ve seen myself since I first served as a volunteer in Nepal in the late 1970s. My friends and I didn’t talk much about resumes, grad school applications and job prospects. America was the world’s dominant economic power then. Jobs were plentiful.
the latest exchange rates for the Moldovan leu relative to the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Russian ruble and other currencies. The dollar has now slipped well below 17, continuing a slow descent I’ve 
It’s no coincidence this sign is adjacent to one showing exchange rates. In fact, it’s key to understanding the deeper meaning of the photo. It’s like the MoneyGram sign across the street, which says “transfer de bani,” or money transfer, or the Western Union sign up the block.
"Not Exactly Retired" 