Back to Benin!

Ok so I am officially back in Bénin and already working like crazy. The trip back took 48 hours, but it was more bearable. First of all because I wasn’t sick, then I stayed in a hotel overnight in Ghana before taking the bush taxi back to Benin. Everything I brought made it back safely, even the chocolates! My family in village and all my village friends loved the gifts I brought. The kids are going crazy with the water guns, ha good choice mom! Our Country Director announced her resignation about 45 minutes after I arrived in the office, which really jolted me back to life to say the least. Then the next day I was given the reins to a new position Southern PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader).

“What the heck is that? Freaking Peace Corps acronyms”…words of my mother while I was home chatting about something, haha. Anyway so yes there are 4 PCVLs in Benin that manage the workstations where volunteers can go to work, sleep, eat, take a break, etc. Also we provide support for the volunteers in our respective regions. The Southern PCVL position is brand new and I am pretty much the first one, before it was a test run for 5 months. So I am now responsible for all the PCVs in the south of Benin. I do day to day things like: make sure the volunteer space is maintained, i.e. there are clean sheets, toilet paper. Then I am also supposed to help with site development (new places for volunteers) and do post visits to all the volunteers in my region to make sure they are doing okay. I am a liaison between the PC-Benin staff and the PCVs. The best part about it is that I get to stay in my village-Zinvié part time! When I applied I said the only way I would do it was if I could stay at post, which is very important to me. So yes I will be in the capital more often, skype dates anyone? You can talk to me for free! And I am going to be very busy this year between my PCVL and PCV duties. I am excited and looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge.

Right now I am talking to my boss about family planning outreach ideas; I was given a great idea while at home and would like to try it out. We are doing trainings on malaria and aquatabs (pills that clean water so it is safe for drinking) and trying to distribute mosquito nets. I am working on the budget and net profit and loss for the ONG which is super tedious when everything is done by hand, but it’s extremely helpful to my boss and for the future success of my ONG. I am writing a handbook for Southern Volunteers and getting ready for the next group to come in. Next week I am teaching 4, 2 hour computer classes for the girls at Camp Glo. Camp Glo is funded by GAD (gender and development); we have fundraising events every year (date auction, silent auction, etc) to fund it and it is run by a PCV and their partner organization. There are Camp Glos to empower young girls throughout the country where they do things such as games, speakers, field trips, and a variety of lessons, i.e. anatomy and puberty, computers. It should be really fun! I am going to work on my lesson plans right now, yep that’s right I am not going to just wing it, a little hard to do in French unfortunately.

Have a Happy 4^th of July! There’s a beans and beer weekend in Parakou, it’s a chilli cook-off basically, but since I don’t eat meat…I’m not going to make it…enjoy the fireworks for me. More pictures from home because well I love you guys and miss you already, thanks for everything!

Vacation!

You never realize how much you need a vacation until you are actually on vacation. I have had such a great time visiting with family and friends. I was sick the first week I was here, but I am feeling much better now thank goodness. My brother and I went skydiving and it was insane. He is ready for his next jump, me on the other hand, I think I'll stick around on the ground for a while. It was very very fun and exhilarating, but to be honest I barely made it out of the plane then I was nauseous when we got closer to the ground. The view of the beach was breathtaking and we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was nice to be able to do that with him.

My dad came into town for a few days as well as one of my best friends from Boston. I have been cooking a lot and well dancing too much! The wedding festivities were so much fun and I was happy that I could be there. The actual wedding ceremony and reception were gorgeous and the bride looked spectacular as she always does. I might still be recovering from the many days and nights filled with debauchery. I leave on Sunday and there's still lots left to do, but I feel almost ready to get back and start work again.