United States Peace Corps in MauritaniaCorps de Ia Paix Américain en Mauritanie

Description of Peace Corps Service

Name: Diego Duque

Program: English Education (AA 171)

Dates of Service: 18 June 2008— 10 August 2009

Summary

After successfully completing a highly competitive application process, Mr. Duque was invited toserve as an English Education Volunteer in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Located on theedge of the Saharan desert in Northwest Africa, Mauritania bridges Arab influenced North Africawith the Sub-Saharan cultures of the South. The country has a population of approximately 3million people of Arab and Sub-Saharan black African cultures united by Islamic traditions. Mr.Duque accepted the invitation and successfully served in Mauritania from June 21, 2008 to August14, 2009.

Pre-Service Training

Mr. Duque arrived in Mauritania on June 21, 2008 to begin an intensive ten-week community-based training program to prepare him for service. Training took place in Rosso, a large town 2hours south of the capital, Nouakchott, where he lived with a local host family. The programincluded sector specific training, language, cross-culture, personal health and safety, and PeaceCorps administrative policies.

• Technical Training (133 hours): Mr. Duque received 133 hours of education specifictraining. 35 hours of technical training sessions focused on teaching English as a foreignlanguage in Mauritania, classroom management, learner diversity, multi-level and multilingual classes, student motivation strategies, and teaching methodology. In addition, Mr.Duque learned about the education system in Mauritania, the Ministry of Education, and thenational syllabus. 98 hours of training were dedicated to an intensive two week modelschool, during which Mr. Duque demonstrated his ability to plan lessons and teach Englishas a Foreign Language in a Mauritanian classroom. Technical training prepared Mr. Duquewith the skills necessary for the intensive working conditions found in Mauritania.

BR 222 - Nouakchott, Rêpublique Islamique de Mauritan eTél.: (222)5251781 -5251683-5252448 ~ k,~≤lj~ — flYFax: (222)5251929 At tY ô!ô — ¶A ‘fl •Yo ~A V~ flYWebsite www.peacecorps.gove-mail : peacecorps@ mr.peacecorps gov ii’ i 0Y0 V V V

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Language Training (155 hours): Mr. Duque completed 155 hours of training inHassaniya, the local Arabic dialect spoken by the majority of the Mauritanian population.Language lessons were conducted in French and Hassaniya. Mr. Duque completed thistraining while living with a host family in a Hassaniya speaking community. At the end oftraining Mr. Duque received an Intermediate-Middle level of Hassaniya as tested by acertified Hassaniya instructor.

• Crass-Culture Training (32 hours): Mr. Duque completed 32 hours of Cross-Culturaltraining which introduced him to the customs, traditions, religious practices, and socialnorms of Mauritania. Cross-Cultural training included information on Mauritanian history,government, and Islam. Furthermore, these sessions introduced some of the issues andchallenges facing Mauritania including slavery, poverty, and race relations.

• Health, Safety, and General Administration (29 hours): Health & Safety sessions taughtMr. Duque how to deal with a variety health and safety issues in a challenging and isolatedenvironment. Sessions included first-aid, water treatment, HIV/AIDS awareness andemergency action procedures.

Permanent Site Placement

On August 28, 2008, upon successful completion of the rigorous pre-service training set forth bythe United States Peace Corps, Mr Duque was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer. Hewas posted to a High School in the village of Gnimlane, a small Moor village in the Tagant regionof Mauritania. Located in the interior of the country, the Tagant region is one of the most remoteand isolated regions in Mauritania. Mr. Duque was the first Peace Corps volunteer posted to workin Gnimlane. His Primary focus was providing an English education to students in 2 different gradelevels. During his time at site, Mr. Duque successfully created and implemented a professionalwork environment. In his daily professional life he managed time, used sound judgment, andexercised flexibility and patience to effectively perform his job. Furthermore, Mr Duque completelyintegrated into the local community by promoting cultural exchange and speaking the locallanguage, Arabic Hassaniya and French, in all his daily interactions.

Responsibilities and Accomplishments

Primary Assignment:

Teaching English as a Foreign Language: As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Mr. Duque wasassigned to teach in a small Moor village at the local high school. Mr. Duque was responsible tothe National Ministry of Education, the Regional Director of Education and the High Schoolprincipal. He taught senior and junior year of High School English. Class size ranged from 20 to50 students. Mr. Duque designed lessons according to the national curriculum and taught usinginnovative pedagogical methods. Additionally, Mr Duque used the Community Content BasedInstruction (CCBI) approach, in which locally relevant topics are incorporated into lessons.Throughout his work, Mr. Duque encountered and overcame challenges involved in teaching inMauritania, such as limited instructional resources, multi-level classes, unruly students, and largeclass size.

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BAC Preparation Courses: The Baccalaureate (BAC) is a college entrance exam that is taken byall students their final year of High School. Mr. Duque provided classes designed to preparestudents for the English portion of the BAC exam. The courses were held at the local youth centerfor 2 hours per week and were available to all juniors and seniors. As a result, 18 studentsimproved their BAC English scores.

Computer Literacy Classes: Mr. Duque taught general computer literacy to students, teachers,and other community members. Lessons were taught in Hassaniya and French and were held 3—4 times per week. In addition to computer basics Mr. Duque covered the basic uses of MicrosoftWord, Excel, and Power Point. Over 40 students and 10 teachers benefited from these courses.

Regional Teacher Association: Mr. Duque facilitated the creation of a regional teacherassociation, and drafted an action plan defining the association’s goals. The Tagant association ofeducation, culture, and HIV/AIDS awareness was responsible for a variety of youth developmentand health projects including: honor roll ceremonies, the construction of a library, parent-teacherconferences, HIV/AIDS conferences, and cultural events. Mr. Duque helped the association’spresident to register the association with the state, qualifying it for government and NGOassistance.

School Honor Awards Ceremony I International Day of the African Child: Mr. Duque, incollaboration with the Tagant teachers association, and World Vision, organized an end of theschool year honor awards ceremony to recognize students of superior academic performance andin celebration of international day of the African child. The ceremony was a tremendous success.The entire village population, community leaders, and top government officials, including theregional governor, attended the ceremony. The ceremony brought the school and the communitytogether and demonstrated to students the high value the community places on education. Mr.Duque played a crucial part in the coordination of this ceremony. He acquired funds from WorldVision to help with a portion of the costs as well as designed the Honor roll certificates which weredistributed all over the Tagant region.

Secondary Proiects:

Agricultural Cooperatives: Recognizing the need for increased vegetable consumption andincome generating activities, Mr. Duque initiated the creation of seven agricultural cooperativesconsisting of 187 people. Mr. Duque, working in conjunction with community leaders, acquired aparcel of arable land with a well for each cooperative. Since most cooperative members wereunfamiliar with agriculture, Mr. Duque introduced key concepts of cultivating in a desertenvironment during 14 different technical sessions. Topics included: soil aeration, manure use,compost pits, natural pesticides, and proper watering techniques.

• With the long term sustainability of the project in mind, Mr. Duque drafted a legally bindingcontract allowing cooperatives to cultivate, free of charge, for no less than 20 years.Contracts were signed and approved by the highest regional government officials.

• In June of 2009, Mr. Duque completed a Peace Corps Partnership Application requestingthe funds for the construction of an irrigation system for each cooperative. Unfortunately,the Peace Corps Mauritania program was indefinitely suspended before the project wasimplemented.

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Cooperatives significantly increased the presence of vegetables in the market andvegetable consumption in Gnimlane and surrounding areas. Additionally, cooperativescreated income generating opportunities for the poorest families in the village.

Tree planting: Mr. Duque worked with Agro-forestry volunteer Michael Kelley on a large treeplanting project. World Vision supplied Gnimlane cooperatives with more than 150 Moringa trees.Mr Duque and Mr. Kelley coordinated the planting of all 150 trees and offered technical sessionson how to care for them.

HIV/AIDS conferences: Mr. Duque and the Tagant teacher’s association organized fourHIV/AIDS conferences during which teachers taught community members about the preventivemeasures, the importance of getting tested, and general HIV/AIDS information. More than 120people attended these conferences.

World Vision Milk Goats Projects: World Vision has a program in which milk goats are given tochildren that come from a poor family. Mr. Duque conducted a poverty assessment survey inHassaniya for World Vision Tagant in the village of Gnimlane. The survey was used by WorldVision to determine what children were eligible for milk goats and can be used in the future forprojects concerning the poorest families in Gnimlane.

Cultural Exchange Projects: To fulfill Peace Corps’ third goal of, Thelping promote a betterunderstanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,” Mr. Duque created a PowerPointpresentation on the subject of Mauritania and his Peace Corps service. He presented it to morethan 30 people at the local Old Saybrook, CT public library and to more than 70 students at theNew London Dual Arts Academy Middle School in New London, CT.

Language Proficiency

Throughout the course of his service, Mr. Duque discussed important cultural, economic, andsocial issues. He promoted an understanding and acceptance of people with different religiousviews, social norms, and backgrounds. Mr Duque worked hard to overcome stereotypes whileworking in a very conservative environment. The ability to communicate effectively in Hassaniyawas essential to the professional and personal success of Mr Duque’s Peace Corps Service. Atthe end of his service, Mr. Duque achieved an Advanced-High level in French and anAdvanced-High level in Hassaniya, as tested by a certified instructor and according to thePC/LPI standards.

Suspension of Peace Corps Program in Mauritania

Based on potential security risks, Peace Corps suspended operations in Mauritania in August of2009, at which time all Volunteers were withdrawn from the country.

Non-Competitive Eligibility for Federal Employment

Pursuant to section 5(f) of the Peace Corps Act U.S.C. 2504(f) of April 10, 1963 as amended, any formervolunteer employed by the United States Government following her/her Peace Corps Volunteer service iscredited for purposes of retirement, seniority, reduction in force, leave and other privileges based on length

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of government service. That service shall not be credited toward completion of the probationary or trial period

of any service required for career appointment.

This is to certify in accordance with Executive Order 11103 of April 10, 1963 that Mr. Duque served

successfully as a Peace Corps Volunteer. His service ended on August 10th 2009. He is therefore eligible tobe appointed as a career-conditional employee in the competitive civil service on a non-competitive basis.This benefit under the Executive Order extends for a period of one year after the termination of Volunteerservice, except that the employing agency may extend the period for up to three years for a former Volunteerwho enters military service, pursues studies at a recognized institution of higher learning, or engages in other

activities that, in the view of the appointing agency, warrant extension of that period.

August 14th 2009

Obie Eugene SHAWCountry Director

PEACE CORPSLanguage Proficiency Interview Report Form

TO BE COMPLETED BY THE VOLUNTEER (USE ENGLISH & ARABIC NUMBERS)1. Enter your last name and first name, using one square for each letter. Indicate your sex, birthdate and social security number.

LAST NAME Please Print M FIRST NAMECUJ • ••~~~ENflG~

SEX F/M DATE OF BIRTH ID# SSN-last 4 di~.itslIE 1161E4 4 6~MM DD Year

Sector: ENGLISH EDUCATION

2. Enter the name of the country in which you are to be tested. Enter the abbreviation for theappropriate region (Africa AF, InterAmerica and the Pacific lAP, Europe, Mediterranean andAsiaEMA).

rnnr I E~ in3. Point in Training or Service (Check one for your current status in service)

End of Pre-service training (PST) j_End of service (COS)(hours /weeks______

_____Other (ext. tour of duty, etc.) Explain:

TO BE COMPLETED BY THE TESTER

Lan uae Code* PC-LPI Ratin,** Tester Code

ian ns~rsrn ian/ a

SIDI MOHAMED MILAN jcp~ September 7, 2009Tester Name (Please Print) Sign:ture Date

* LANGUAGE French Hassaniya- Pulaar Soninke WolofCODES: (047) Arabic (423) (333) (132) (158)

ttLPI RATINGS:Novice Low NOVL Intermediate High INTHNovice Mid NOVM Advanced Low ADVLNovice High NOVH Advanced Mid ADVMIntermediate Low INTL Advanced High ADVHIntermediate Mid INTM Superior SUPR

Complete all information requested above. Please note that, for each Volunteer, a separate form and Certificatemust be completed for each language in which a Language Proficiency Interview is given. If two differenttesters test the same Volunteer, each tester must complete a separate form indicating his or her code number andthe rating assigned. The Certificate should remain at Post and the completed form should be sent to:

Peace Corps Language Testing ProgramAttn: Training Staff Development Unit

Peace Corps/CEN/Training .)?1111 201h Street, NW

Washington, DC 20526

PEA CE CORPSLanguage Proficiency Interview Report Form

TO BE COMPLETED BY THE VOLUNTEER (USE ENGLISH & ARABIC NUMBERS)I. Enter your last name and first name, using one square for each letter. Indicate your sex, birthdate and social security number.

LAST NAME Please Print M FIRST NAMEI E~ fl

SEX F/M DATE OF BIRTH ID# SSN-last 4 di:itsii 4 rn~

MM DD Year

Sector: ENGLISH EDUCATION

2. Enter the name of the country in which you are to be tested. Enter the abbreviation for theappropriate region (Africa AF, lnterAmerica and the Pacific lAP, Europe, Mediterranean andAs ia= EM A )

•.f U R II A N —— ——3. Point in Training or Service (Check one for your current status in service)

End of Pre-service training (PST) jEnd of service (COS)(hours /weeks______

Other (ext. tour of duty, etc.) Explain:_____________________

TO BE COMPLETED BY THE TESTER

Lan ua’e Code* PC-LPI Ratintt Tester Code~2 3 ran 9 a9SIDI MOHAMED MILAN fl~jf~ September 7, 2009Tester Name (Please Print) . igna ure Date

* LANGUAGE French Hassaniya- Pulaar Soninke WolofCODES: (047) Arabic (423) (333) (132) (158)

ttLPI RATINGS:Novice Low NOVL Intermediate High INTHNovice Mid NOVM Advanced Low ADVLNovice High NOVH Advanced Mid ADVMIntermediate Low INTL Advanced High ADVHIntermediate Mid INTM Superior SUPR

Complete all information requested above. Please note that, for each Volunteer, a separate form and Certificatemust be completed for each language in which a Language Proficiency Interview is given. If two differenttesters test the same Volunteer, each tester must complete a separate form indicating his or her code number andthe rating assigned. The Certificate should remain at Post and the completed form should be sent to:

Peace Corps Language Testing ProgramAttn: Training Staff Development Unit

Peace Corps/CEN/Traininglb111120 Street,NW

Washington, DC 20526

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