By request from one of our regular readers, I thought I’d share a bit about the projects that I’m working on in Macedonia. I generally try to keep work and blogging separate, but I’ll make sure not to share any state secrets.
There are two projects that I worked on while in Macedonia, both are implemented by the Academy for Educational Development and funded by USAID and brought to you by the American people.
The main purpose for my most recent trip was to start up the Primary Education Project. It is a five year project with $16M in funding and another $4M in cost share (added value we bring to the project by getting other organizations and companies to contribute to the project.) The first objective of the project are to provide training to all primary school teachers, particularly in math & science. The second will actually take more of the money, as we are renovating all primary schools in Macedonia to be compliant with Green Building Standards. Given that Macedonia experiences cold winters and hot summers, that means our renovations will pay off for years into the future with lower energy costs for heating and cooling. While on my trip I was working to get the office up and running and hire staff to implement this great project.
The second project I was working on is called the dot-ORG Macedonia Connects project. This project is in the final year and has been success at making Macedonia the first wireless country in the world. We worked with the local government to break up local monopolies & create competitiveness in the market. Now all citizens in Macedonia can set up a wireless account for about $15 a month. This was done by building off of a huge ‘computer dump’ by the Chinese, and then connecting 460 schools across the country to create a wireless web of connectivity.
A digression from our usual finance topics, but now you know a bit more of what your tax dollars are working for overseas.
Enjoy!
Miel
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