Sunday, February 24, 2013

9 Months Left, But Who's Counting?

You just cant make this stuff up. The journey from Christmas at home to everyday life in village.

Speaking english in NY's JFK, French in Paris' CDG, and then Moore in Ouaga's CDG all within 24hrs really impressed upon me the importance of thinking/being global. Taking a 10hr bus ride to village over dirt roads and through military check points impressed upon me the importance of patience and good bribes. Biking miles from the bus station to my village, with all my baggage, made me wish I had stayed in America. Being chased/greeted by a horde of half-naked children as I biked into my village reminded me why I was here. Finding a snake in my courtyard, scorpions in my house, and a dead lizard in my shower made me phone a friend. Running and hiding from baton wielding young male tribal initiates (les circumcises) makes me think twice about questioning village traditions. Vaccinating 300 small children against contagious maladies made me feel like I was making a difference. And finally being too exhausted to eat or move makes me appreciate the fb app on my new phone.

Life is good! And that was just my first week back at site after holidays in America Land.

I've now been back in the Faso for about 2 months since Christmas (16 months total) and have about 9 months remaining of my service. Time flies by, and I would be lying if I said that I was not even a little bit worried about finishing all of my projects. These next 9 months will fly by but I think it's about time to start thinking about next moves.

Options... In no order
1. Foreign service officer- I've registered for the test and am taking it in June. (management)

2. Grad school- Studying for the gre and looking at schools in Africa (univers of capetown, accredited year long masters programs for $5000).

3. Third year with Peace Corps?- Womp.

4. Working for an international NGO- Maybe, looking for possibilities now.

Things are getting pretty serious on that note, but more pressing/interesting are the projects I'm working on now in village.

1. Internship program for high school students. Students are performing HIV/aids, malaria, and hygiene demonstrations in village while gaining work experience at my CSPS (village hospital)

2. Tofu production. I won a small grant for women's groups in my village to help them take over the Tofu game/market.

3. Liquid soap fabrication. Exactly what it sounds like.

4. Shea butter products. Making and selling Shea butter products at my CSPS to raise money for the hospital.

5. Youth leadership and citizenship conference. Pulling together these two conference has been time demanding, but we finally got the grants written and the projects on track. Youth leaders will be trained on how to effectively evaluate and respond to the needs or their communities. This should take place in late May in two separate cities, totally 48 youth leaders. Again, we need your donations! Please help us out!

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-686-009

6. Handwashing stations. Building and maintaining handwashing stations at local elementary schools. (Dirty kids learning that soap and water make a magical combination)

Miscellaneous. Baby weighing and food distributions 4 times a week leaves me exhausted!

Despite what you may have heard, Peace Corps is not all fun. Just a bit. Volunteers came together about two weeks ago to play in the International School of Ouagadougou's annual softball tournament. Although we had a blast, it's also rather safe to say that hippie PC volunteers are not the most athletic of individuals. Although we did not win a single real game, we did however succeed in the development of the egos of several teams of 12 Y/Os.

Next weekend, about 9 volunteers will be coming out to chez moi for a one night and two day safari in the "world famous" park "w". (what, you never heard of it?) Lions, cheetahs, elephants, monkeys, zebras, and crocodiles are all on the menu...

Point of concern: guide tells us that the usual car is booked so he's getting a pick up truck and putting benches on the back for us. He assures us that elephants don't usually charge, lions mostly only come out at night, and the benches will keep us safe and comfortable.

Either way, life is getting pretty interesting. Pictures have been/ will be posted on facebook. Check it out!


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Peace Corps Burkina Faso
B.A. Psychology with GIS & Religion Minors
University of Maryland, College Park
Alpha Phi Omega