C PROGRESS IN MEETING PLANNED OUTCOMES OF WORKPLAN

38 SUCCESS_LWA to assist in funding a few of these volunteers. EcoCostas is a model for other SUCCESS-partners in advertising, recruiting and using volunteers. An ecotourism volunteer not a Volunteers for Prosperity candidate prepared a report on possibilities for ecotourism in the project area. She is in the field and has not yet completed the report, but is investigating the possibility of developing a Mompiche, Portete and Bolivar community tourism corridor, elaborating on a plan that had been written by local community and government groups with a Peace Corps volunteer. She has suggested that the main opportunity is building the capacity of the local women’s conchera group in logistics of cooking for groups of tourists as an income generating activity Two new Peace Corps Volunteers were also placed in the Program area with two more placed nearby in the Pedernales area. The volunteer in Bolivar attended the Small Business training recently conducted by SUCCESS in Mompiche. The two volunteers based close to Pedernales are working on conservation projects. Planning began with a Masters student from the University of Hawaii at Manoa for a preliminary assessment of the jaguar population in the Ecological Reserve Mache Chindul, which is important because the jaguar is the top predator in the Mache-Chindul ecosystem and currently there is no information on this population. Gathering this information would be the first step to developing a conservation initiative for the area. This will involve training local university students and residents of local communities in jaguar ecology and conservation as well as on techniques to monitor populations. Giving Portal CRC completed its participation in the beta-testing of the VfP Giving Portal system. A SUCCESS volunteer story was highlighted in this test version and CRC has been asked to participate in the live version of this program in the upcoming months. If successful, this system will provide an opportunity for individuals, groups, organizations to contribute funds that will help subsidize the costs of supporting volunteers to the SUCCESS Program. Tasks still pending, completed during, or added as of June 30, 2006 Task and Milestones Date Due Status CommentsChallenges Constraints Task F.1: Volunteers Initiate limited partnerships with two or three international volunteer organizations established March 2005 Completedon-going as new opportunities arise Collaboration with Partners of the Americas began in March 2006. Conduct in-country and CRC volunteer needs assessments April 2005 CompletedOn-going Ongoing. All completed assignments have been assessed. Recruit and screen volunteers June 2005 CompletedOn-going Volunteer scheduled for Nicaragua in September 2006. Orient and assign volunteers July 2005 CompletedOn-going Evaluate and make recommendations for Year 1 volunteer program September 2005 Delayed Rescheduled to 2007. Engage CRC, WIOMSA, EcoCostas and UCA in the volunteer program by identifying detailed volunteer job descriptions for posting on the CRC website October 2005 CompletedOn-going Receive new volunteer descriptions from SUCCESS partners for posting on CRC web site and other web sites. 39 for Year 3 Conduct an external evaluation of the international volunteer program with recommendations for program improvements November 2005 Re-scheduled to 2007 Postponement based on recommendations of Director of URI Volunteer Center.