Volunteer Posts
A Life Experience with the Rural Reconstruction Foundation in Bangladesh
August 13, 2018
Winrock International invited me to volunteer in Bangladesh as part of the Farmer-to-Farmer Program funded by USAID. In Bangladesh, the Farmer-to-Farmer program engages skilled American volunteers to provide training and technical assistance to support youth entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector and to strengthen agricultural education and training institutions. My assignment was to visit local beef […]
July Volunteer of the Month
July 31, 2018
Julie Albrecht was nominated by the Senegal Farmer to Farmer team because of her dedication to knowledge sharing and ability to adapt to local conditions. During her training, she was able to put the participants at ease and engage them with hands-on training. In addition, Julie also demonstrates great creativity in using local equipment and ingredients to come up with […]
A Guinean Experience
July 18, 2018
In May of 2018, I was very fortunate to be selected by Winrock International to lead a GIS and GPS workshop in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. Below are excerpts from my journal I kept during the two weeks I was in-country: I flew into hot and steamy Conakry, the capital of Guinea, […]
A New Perspective on Pesticide Education
July 18, 2018
At the request of Samaru College of Agriculture, Nigeria Jolene spent 17 days in Zaria Kaduna State assisting the college developing training and training materials for integrated pest management and pesticide safety. She also helped them develop a curriculum for a certification class that the host will offer its students. My second Winrock assignment to […]
An Animal Breeder’s Dream
July 12, 2018
Recently, I conducted a Farmer-to-Farmer assignment on Improved Goat Rearing for Youth Entrepreneurship Development with Satkhira Unnayan Sangstha (SUS) in the Tala upazila, Satkhira district of Bangladesh (22.76006 N, 89.25346 E). This assignment was my first trip to Bangladesh. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well positioned the Bangladeshi goat industry is. In my […]
Building Something Valuable
July 4, 2018
Happy Fourth of July! This day, more than any other day, reminds me how Winrock’s volunteer programs embody many of the things that make the United States such a great country. Volunteers from all 50 states – representing diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and academic and work experiences – contribute ingenuity, persistence, generosity, and hard work to […]
June Volunteer of the Month
July 2, 2018
Jolene was nominated by the Nigeria Farmer to Farmer team because she demonstrated a commitment to the success of her assignments and never tired of the frenzied hours of hard work – developing training materials, training the host in necessary skills and capabilities. Country Director, Mike Bassey, said “Outside of Jolene’s scope of work, she […]
Happy Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day!!
June 27, 2018
Happy Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day!! Today is a celebration of MSMEs, who act as major drivers of employment growth and poverty alleviation worldwide! Winrock International’s Farmer-to-Farmer program partners with MSME hosts like Senegal’s National Agency of the House of Tools (ANAMO), who are helping youth engage in agriculture business as entrepreneurs. To strengthen […]
Winrock’s 2017 Volunteer Spirit Award
April 27, 2018
Throughout 2017 and over the course of three separate trips, Monica Norley provided extraordinary assistance to the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program in Senegal. Our F2F staff is continually impressed with her great patience, understanding, and humility. In January 2017, Monica began working with the women of the Coalition of Women Against Illegal Immigration (COFLEC), located in […]
The Greatest Value for a Winrock Volunteer
April 18, 2018
Preparing for a Farmer-to-Farmer assignment, my third in Mali and twelfth overall, created a sense of excitement and anticipation. Bara Kassambara, Winrock Country Director for Mali, is a F2F professional who makes every aspect of an assignment go smoothly for volunteers. Over time, Bara and I have become very good friends, beginning with my first […]