7 July 2007 Saturday, Kpalime again
I found out my post on Thursday! It’s in Agou Avedse! I’ll be working with an NGO named CADO. It’s actually really close to the training site village. I just met and am sitting next to the volunteer I will be replacing in 6 weeks. Yowzer. So, this week has been a pretty big week. Besides discovering where I will be for the next 24 months, we did our first “causerie” on Friday. I was really nervous because we had to discuss a health issue such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, nutrition, hygiene, etc in front of a large group in FRENCH. We didn’t really discuss any specific topic. We just told the parents that we are starting a health club for the kids and will discuss any topic they want us to discuss. They chose HIV, hygiene (washing hands, washing vegetables properly and covering food to avoid flies, etc), how to wash clothes? and sports. Tomorrow, we meet with the kids for the first time so we can figure out what our health club will be all about. We are going on a field trip on Thursday the 12th up to the northern region of Kara to see a traditional healer, a dispensaire (clinic) and other volunteers in that region. Okay, but more about my post. Here is what I know:
It’s in a small village of about 3000. The volunteer says the village is very welcoming and also very used to “yovo’s” which is, in my opinion, a derogatory term for white people.
There are a lot of Belgians because the NGO is organized by Belgians, hence why the village is used to "yovo's".
It sounds like I will be translating for them a lot (French and Ewe apparently). Ewe is the local language spoken here and I only know 4 words so far.
There is a baker in my training site, which is close to my post site, who is interested in working with a volunteer because she wants to enrich some of her cookies or bread for healthier treats. I am super excited about this because I was hoping I would be able to do some baking up in here. And her goods are good.
There is an orphanage and a dispensary that I will be working with. I am super pumped about the orphanage.
My house is apparently nice and there is a bucket flush toilet inside the house! This means no latrine (no 50 foot hole with critters crawling up my...).
When I find out more, I will post more. But, in the meantime, Mission Learn French and Ewe has begun. I hope everyone is doing well. Oh, could anyone do some research on Heaven’s Gate, the religion, because my host mother told me her brother is a preacher for them and I was curious to know if this was the same group as the Heaven’s Gate in the states where everyone committed suicide and wanted to climb aboard a comet. Just e-mail me. Oh by the way, I don’t check myspace at all, so please do not post anything on there. It takes too long for me to log in. I may not be able to post next week because of the field trip we will be on, so tootles until the next post. Hugs and kisses to all you sons of bitches!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
30 June 2007 Saturday in Kpalime
30 June 2007 Saturday in Kpalime
So I just went to another internet cafι that took 20 minutes just to enter into my e-mail account. I got so frustrated waiting that I decided to try another internet cafι. This one seems to be a bit faster. I keep meaning to pre-write my blogs, but somehow the days are going by faster and I’m staying busy learning French and all the technical information we need to do our projects for our posts. I had French class yesterday for 4 hours and then I spoke with my family for another 2. We sit in lectures pretty much every day. I think next week we might have more activities outside of the classroom. I’m tired, hot, stinky and not very pretty right now. I had a good time last night, though. Some volunteers came into our town and hung out at the local bar, where I also happen to live, and we sang Cher, N’Sync, Mariah Carey (I had a duet) and Paula Abdul all night long until my host mother told me she needed to go to bed because she was still feeling sick. She says she has had a fever and has had what sounds like some muscle aches. We automatically think she has malaria, but it could be something else. However, no one here seems to take much precaution to prevent malaria (like mosquito nets, DEET or screens). It also seems that most people have had malaria at least once. We found out where our 14 posts will be, but no decisions have been made yet where we will be posted. Most of the posts sound pretty remote. It’s pretty exciting. I had my first dress made yesterday. I think they wanted me to have bigger hips than I do, so I had to have her fix it twice to finally fit my apparent small booty (all these years I thought it was quite large…basis of comparison, eh?). Anyhoo, I am homesick, but I know that it will pass (until I get it again next week), and I also know that this experience is something I have dreamed about for many years. Yesterday, in French class, we were asked if we were afraid of spiders, insects and frogs. I replied in French that I had no fear of spiders (d’araignee) or insects (d’insecte) or frogs (I couldn’t think of the word for frog in French, so I said froglement, which is not the word for frog in French or any other language). I laughed so hard, I peed just a little. Everyone in my group has a really great sense of humor and we have all bonded very fast. It feels so good to be able to vent my daily frustrations with people that are going through it at the same time. It makes me a little scared, though, for when I am at post and very isolated. Oh well, I just recently found out I have balls of steel, so I’m sure I’ll be fine, right? Kisses and hugs to all my bitches! More posts coming up!
So I just went to another internet cafι that took 20 minutes just to enter into my e-mail account. I got so frustrated waiting that I decided to try another internet cafι. This one seems to be a bit faster. I keep meaning to pre-write my blogs, but somehow the days are going by faster and I’m staying busy learning French and all the technical information we need to do our projects for our posts. I had French class yesterday for 4 hours and then I spoke with my family for another 2. We sit in lectures pretty much every day. I think next week we might have more activities outside of the classroom. I’m tired, hot, stinky and not very pretty right now. I had a good time last night, though. Some volunteers came into our town and hung out at the local bar, where I also happen to live, and we sang Cher, N’Sync, Mariah Carey (I had a duet) and Paula Abdul all night long until my host mother told me she needed to go to bed because she was still feeling sick. She says she has had a fever and has had what sounds like some muscle aches. We automatically think she has malaria, but it could be something else. However, no one here seems to take much precaution to prevent malaria (like mosquito nets, DEET or screens). It also seems that most people have had malaria at least once. We found out where our 14 posts will be, but no decisions have been made yet where we will be posted. Most of the posts sound pretty remote. It’s pretty exciting. I had my first dress made yesterday. I think they wanted me to have bigger hips than I do, so I had to have her fix it twice to finally fit my apparent small booty (all these years I thought it was quite large…basis of comparison, eh?). Anyhoo, I am homesick, but I know that it will pass (until I get it again next week), and I also know that this experience is something I have dreamed about for many years. Yesterday, in French class, we were asked if we were afraid of spiders, insects and frogs. I replied in French that I had no fear of spiders (d’araignee) or insects (d’insecte) or frogs (I couldn’t think of the word for frog in French, so I said froglement, which is not the word for frog in French or any other language). I laughed so hard, I peed just a little. Everyone in my group has a really great sense of humor and we have all bonded very fast. It feels so good to be able to vent my daily frustrations with people that are going through it at the same time. It makes me a little scared, though, for when I am at post and very isolated. Oh well, I just recently found out I have balls of steel, so I’m sure I’ll be fine, right? Kisses and hugs to all my bitches! More posts coming up!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
