Hi
everyone! Long story short, I left my laptop in the States when I was back in
May, my flash drive and three of the laptops at the cyber were stolen in
September, my dad came to visit me in December and brought my laptop back, and
now I’m back in action as far as blogging goes.
September
was busy! We had classes at the cyber with the one laptop that was not stolen.
Four students finished the class, and they did a great job! They worked hard on
their projects, and in the end, I think everyone was satisfied with how it
went. I worked with the health clinic and the two health workers, Basile and
Odile, on a small malaria project. We went to 21 households and talked with
them about the importance of using mosquito nets and other ways to prevent and
treat malaria. We took a picture of each family holding their mosquito net and
made a photo board. We hung the board at the health clinic with some of the
information we talked about at the home visits. We also started work on the
granary! By the end of the month, the walls were up and the roof was on.
In October I did follow-ups for Camp
Eco-Action in Farende, Pagouda, and Broukou, we started our girls club (my
favorite thing eveeeerrrrr), I poisoned every mouse within a half mile radius
of my house, our new country director, Lauren, visited my site, we finished up cementing
the floor of the granary, the organization ICAT came to facilitate our grain
storage training with 25 community members, and we restarted the environmental
club in Farende.
In
November the teachers went on strike and the students had a couple weeks off of
school as a result, Austin left for America, Alicia came over and we did a
short training on malaria with the whole community after church one Sunday, I went
to Mango with the Shanks to go swimming, and I wrapped the month up with a trip
to Benin with Julie and Riordan. Benin was a lot of fun. We went to Grand Popo
and laid on the beach for a couple of days. In Cotonou we celebrated Thanksgiving
at the ambassador’s house before making our way up to Natitangou for another
round of Thanksgiving food. In Nati we also saw waterfalls and spent a lot of
time at the Peace Corps house using the wifi.
DECEMBER.
Dad flew in on the seventh and was welcomed to my village in almost the same
way I was when I first came. They had a guinea fowl ready to sacrifice, a
feast, and a small dance party. I worked with and ONG and the director of the
social center in Farende to do a short presentation on abstinence and the
importance of contraceptives at the school. The girls club wrote and practiced
a sketch for the presentation, and they did such a great job! I was really
proud of them. I kept Dad busy while he was here: we got water from the well,
did laundry (three times I think!), went to the market in Ketao, went to the
environmental club in Farende, climbed the mountain to visit Papa’s family, had
tea with Eli and Simone, visited Kara, went to the market in Farende, went to
girls club in Kuwde, stayed with the Shanks, and even made it to a funeral. I
am so glad he came to visit, and my village was maybe even gladder. His last
night here we stayed in a fancy hotel in Lome. It was about seventy dollars per
night for air-conditioning, hot water, a mini rerigerator, and wifi. Worth it. After
he left, I came back to village for a couple days before spending Christmas
with the Shanks. It was so nice of them to invite me! It felt like being at
home. I love them so much!
