Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!! I didn’t do much on the actual day, had dinner with my post mate, vegetable and tofu stirfry and a tomato and cucumber salad, it was quite delicious. But today 15 other volunteers and I are getting together and having a potluck style Thanksgiving lunch, which I am really excited about. Today I am also going to teach English at an ONG for refugees of other Sub-Saharan African countries, I’m a little nervous, but hey I would say I know English pretty well, haha!

The past month has really flown by. I had a good post visit with my APCD, but nothing really exceptional to report. I helped with two eye screenings one here in Zinvie and the other in Houegbo where a married couple is posted and a friend from my training class, Satin, is also nearby. Her village is gorgeous! I am taking anyone that comes to visit to see it, it was breathtaking. I think she is at one of the most rural posts in Benin. We tested over 300 children between the two screenings, so I would say it was a success. The next thing is working with an eye doctor in Cotonou and a really neat organization called Mercy Ships to get them a professional screening and glasses. Mercy Ships is basically a hospital on a boat that ports at developing countries for around 10-12 months and performs a variety of medical treatment from dental care to orthopedic surgery. They will be in Benin starting next March I think and I am planning on sending an email to see if I can volunteer for a week or so.

Last weekend there were a couple of days of voodoo festivals in my village. I went with my family to watch and it was amazing. The costumes were gorgeous and the music and dancing were spectacular, I had such a great time. I am sad because one of the big Muslim celebrations will be when I am in Porto Novo for my in-service training so I will miss it. 2 weeks of training—Dec. 7^th to Dec. 21^st—that’s a long time! On the plus side I get to see all the other Health and Environment volunteers, my host family, and stay in a hotel. We are staying at the Songhai Center which is a really interesting self-sustaining agricultural thing. I don’t know that much about it at this point, but I’m sure I will by the end of two weeks.

All my love and Happy Holidays! Go Tarheel Basketball and Football!!!

Obama Won!

What a fantastic week! A bunch of other volunteers as well as some of the people that work in the office and I watched the election results until 7AM. During Obama's speech there was a lot of clapping and tears of happiness. I am still in awe of the results and I am so proud of my home state-- my absentee ballot probably counted! The entire country of Benin and continent of Africa is celebrating with the US right now. It is amazing and exciting how much support Obama has throughout the world. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Is there really a rat in my room?!

I completed my community study that is due at the IST in December. It was this assignment to help us get to know our communities. We had to ask people a variety of questions about things like culture, work, education, and income. There were over 100 questions so it took quite a bit of time. It was a little more cumbersome for me because I live and work in two different villages so I had to get information for both. I made a powerpoint too which is pretty sweet! There are some cool features in the office ‘07 software that I hadn’t played with yet. Yes I had quite a bit of time on my hands as you can imagine, so I went a little overboard with it, but whatever. The IST is in Parakou from I think the 8^th or 9^th of December to about the 19^th. I am excited about it because all of the Health and Environment volunteers will be together. Those two groups were together for our training in Porto Novo so many of my good friends are either Health or Environment volunteers. I can’t wait to see everyone and hear how people are doing. The only downside is how far away Parakou is…it is in the Northern part of Benin so for me it will be a really long trip. I will take a big bus though, not a bush taxi. I can barely stand being in a bush taxi for the short journey to Cotonou, I am such a baby…haha! Anyway it will be nice to see a different part of Benin.

Village is great and so is work. I finally splurged on a fan, it was necessary. It’s in the 90s everyday, at least, and after I get off my bike I think I continue to sweat for almost an hour. My director and I had a nice talk last week about our goals; mine and hers. Thursday mornings we do immunizations and baby weighing. And at the beginning of next year I am going to begin doing 15 minute formations too. I already have 21 different health topics written up in French—again—lots of time when you stay home sick, haha! Then we are going to start working on a calendar to do larger formations in the surrounding villages, there are 11 total and that’s not including the ones on the water. The president of my clinic and a couple of the girls I work with live there so they really want me to go there too. Also I am going to keep researching and probably write a grant to start a Moringa project. Moringa is a plant that grows very easily here—for all of you wondering how I am going to grow something, lol!…it has great nutritional properties and is good for recuperation too. My director and I want to get that going and sell it as powder in the pharmacy. We also spoke about doing some cooking demonstrations. I’m sure I am leaving some things out, but that’s a lot. Oh I also want to talk to the director of the CEG (middle/high school equivalent) about teaching a computer class once a week. They have computers, but are not using them…just one of my ideas for a secondary project.

Things at my house and with my concession are going well. I have been running a bit and been back and forth sick, but nothing too serious. I made my neighbors banana bread and cornbread, good stuff! I have made the banana bread a bunch of times now, it’s delicious. There are more kids here now for school, 5 young ones—4-15 in age. They keep me company so I don’t have to buy a dog or cat, haha. Oh and they help me with pretty much everything, in exchange they get to play with my ipod and stuff. We play around all the time and help each other with the many languages we are all trying to learn; they are so much fun! They are also really good at killing all the animals I find in my house too, like spiders, lizards, the other night a rat, yes a rat! I freaked out, the whole family came out because I yelled so loud, then I ran out of the house and across the yard while they caught it and killed it. And I have been getting teased ever since…haha!

I am in Cotonou right now for a meeting to review my training group. I was chosen to represent health because I am so close to the bureau. I don’t mind I am happy to be here on Election Day…constant access to the internet! I bet it’s crazy in the US right now. Plus I received my first packages and some mail!!! Thanks mom! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween—I bought myself a bit of candy and explained the holiday, I’m not sure they got it, but oh well it’s the effort that counts anyway. I hope all is well and GO OBAMA!