update

Its been a long time since I updated.

Everything is okay here. Having fun, trying to get stuff done. So lets see here…

Work Projects:

Thank GOD for the availability of grants. I would be lost as to how to do projects without ANY money. So, one grant me and Jeremiah wrote for a big school garden in a primary school is in progress. The purpose of it is to provide income for the school, who is rather poor. There is no electricity, not enough classrooms, and students who come to school hungry and without a pen and paper.

So at the same time, the hope is to pass along practical skills to kids. I am really pushing for using trash cans and other environmental education lessons. If you know of any good teaching tools for this sort of education, it is welcomed! Coloring pages, activities, etc. Getting the teachers to fully utilize the garden’s teaching potential is crazy hard. A lot of the teachers are motivated by money, sadly not as much for opening minds.

Jeremiah has done a lot of work there making the garden, etc. But they rely on him too much and we are trying to pass responsibility onto the teachers, but organization is proving to be difficult. Its never planned ahead. So, we are working on that and I am working on not being frustrated.

Then there’s a internet project going on in Geuoul, a town 15 kilometers south of Louga. I am/will be helping as much as possible there, too. There was a Peace Corps Volunteer who lived there around 1995 I believe. Anyways, she and I have been in contact for many months about this project and for the last 2 months she has been in Senegal so we have had some meetings, etc. She lives in Denver, is a retired attorney. She started an NGO (Non governmental organization) called Friends of Gueoul, which you can read more about here. http://friendsofgueoul.org/
They fund scholarships for young girls. The other day I went there for a meeting with a French Rotary who is partnering with the project, as well as the Senegalese committee members of the project. Great thing is there is not yet Internet in this town and this project is bringing it there with the hopes of having classes for the students there and providing a few jobs, too. People in America have donated computers and the rotary will as well. So, the other day, there was the annual scholarship distribution ceremony. It was really interesting. Small town (5,000), but still not a village. But there is a village feel, everyone knows each other and they all came out to watch the ceremony. It was great to see the girls, many dressed traditionally, have the spotlight on them. It was a big deal and a lot of fun to go to, and even be recognized a few times. Had some kids chanting my name but mostly chanting “Jerejef Jo Jo” which means thanks and Judy’s name there is JoJo. There were a lot of “jerejef Amerik, jerejef Amerik” chants.
So, we are waiting until all of the applications come in for the manager of the cyber (internet connecting place) to do interviews and find the right person for the job. That’s so crucial in the project. So, this project will unfold and I will help where I can. I can pose questions and forsee things through an American mindset but also understanding how things really work in Senegal. Its too bad transportation is so annoying in this country. Just to go there, a 10 minute ride in a regular car, I go to the garage in Louga (via horse and cart), where all of the cars are and get in a bush taxi, which is like a peugot bus with benches in the back and after the benches are full, a bench in the middle of the people. Its super crammed and there is no departure time-just whenever it fills. Sometimes its so tempting to pay for the extra places and just go, but I never will unless maybe I am sick.

I have worked on a few other projects with people in Louga for which I wrote proposals for through various funding sources provided to us through Peace Corps Senegal. One is for a big education/womens needs and rights awareness campaign tied in with AIDS trainings for 30 of the brightest middle schools girls in Louga. A Senegalese woman, a really great woman, will facilitate these formal trainings. The American Corner in Louga is one of the main partners in the project, so they have donated conference rooms for the 6 week training. Then, it will result in many spectacles, murals in schools, etc etc. Waiting to get the word on when and if the financing will come through. It takes a lot of planning and it it goes through will require much more.

Then there is the girls leadership camp. I am getting tired of typing so I will write another entry about that. Because it will require the good people from America to fund it, available online through the Peace Corps website. I will show ya that in a day or two when its online. Keeping girls in school is what we have to do. Empowering them helps ensure this.

So….other news—my brother is coming over in 3 weeks! I cant believe it! I am really excited, thinking of all the things I will show him. But at the same time I plan to do it organically, just a week in Senegal. Oh and we are going to the Gambia! Cant wait. Visit some PCV friends, travel with Jer, Adrien, and the bro.

Cool.

Last weekend was WAIST-W. African Intl Softball Tournament. It’s a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers from countries in W. Africa and other expats getting together for a bunch of ridiculous softball (many rules broken), partying, eating well, etc. It was a lot of fun, more than last year because I got to see a bunch of volunteers I never see because they are so far away.

Anyways, have a good week!