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Winrock International

Volunteer Post

Opening Eyes & Making Connections

mark-blevins-nig249-bees

Winrock staff loved hearing from Mark Bevins as he shared his thoughts on his recent Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment in Nigeria:

“Personally, this was a great experience for me. The cultural immersion that took place over the past two weeks has opened my eyes to the situations Nigerian beekeepers and the residents as a whole face on a daily basis. Spending time with students, staff and others has shed light on the circumstances they face with their families and how they overcome difficulties.

Professionally, I am now connected with colleagues across the Atlantic with similar responsibilities that I have in the US. We will work on joint publications in the near future related to our recent activities. This assignment also related closely to my job responsibilities, so it was an excellent exercise in condensing my career into 2 weeks with needs assessment, program planning, implementation and evaluation. This experience will make me a better Cooperative Extension agent when I return.”

[Great work, Mark. Thank you!]