Two Weeks Down, One to Go

Today is Oren's Birthday, in case you did not know. But we are going to celebrate it on July 4th as he is currently in Baltimore with Grandma Jean and we are here in Akron, PA doing our 3rd week of training. This week was not particularly different than last week. Our sessions in training focused on conflict management. We also heard about priorities in International Programs for MCC. Peace education and capacity building within our local partnerships is a priority. There are also dedicated resources for AIDS, Water, Food Security, and Peace, Education. We also had a chance to look at a review of the last 5 years of the program we are inheriting in Rwanda / Burundi, with some work in Eastern Congo.

Over the weekend we went and saw Oren in Baltimore. He was having a great time because Grandma Jean has an EXCELLENT train set. He is looking forward to a Polar Express Birthday.

I should mention that on the way back to training on Sunday, we met Sarah Carlson and her partner Steve at the Brandywine Museum in Brandywine PA to see the Wyeth exhibit. (www.brandywinemuseum.org/) It was very cool There were 3 generations of Wyeth painting. N.C Wyeth, who did the illustrations fro Treasure Island, and Kidnapped, Andrew Wyeth, who you might know for his amazing paintings, and James Wyeth, his son. While we were there, Andrew Wyeth's granddaughter gave us a tour. It was very interesting to hear about the paintings from her point of view. Here is a picture of one of his paintings for you to admire.