Work Work Work

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I now know what people mean when they say that Peace Corps is a 24/7 job. And I'm not just talking about the fact that we constantly adapt to a faoreign language and culture; even the work itself never seems to stop! So I'll run down the projects that have been keeping me busy and making the time fly by (some of which I've mentioned before):

--I am finally starting up the gardening club at the local high school! The proviseur (or headmaster) has been extremely helpful: he chose the best and brightest 20 students, half female; he found some land near the water pump; and he is connecting me with a teacher to help run the club. Starting on Nov. 15 we will do a 3-day orientation to get the garden started, and I've enlisted the help of both my nearest PCV neighbor Gabriel (a gardening specialist) and the master gardener at the local private hospital to help with the training and start-up. Everyone is really excited, as they all grew up working in the fields, and as wew currently don't have access to several vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, beets, etc.) even on market day. So what does this have to do with business? Well, I hope that we can sell the produce to not only reinvest in the garden (build a fence, buy watering cans, etc.) but also divide among the members to pay for school and exam fees. There are a lot of expectations but I am optimistic (well, I have to be, after all). At the very least the kids will learn some gardening skills and I'll have a chance every week to drill some other things in their heads: safe sex, nutrition, hygiene, maybe even some English.

--AIDS Ride is starting on Sunday: we will bike about 30+ km per day to remote villages to do presentations about AIDS prevention. I can't wait to get started! I spent the last two weeks doing some rides around my village to train because our region is one of the most mountainous in Togo. At the end of the trek (on Friday) I'll be in riding distance of my host family in Adeta, so I'll pay them a visit and give them the pictures my very thoughful friend Norris printed for me.

--Also in the health domain (which I can't seem to link to business, but it is the responsibility of every PCV and a healthy worker is a productive worker), I am working with an small NGO to plan the celebration of World AIDS Day in my village on Dec. 1 - 2. We hope to start it off Friday evening with a parade through the village complete with skits and maybe dancing. Then Saturday, market day, will be a Football Gala, and between matches we will do skits, lectures from local doctors and healthworkers, and proper condom use demonstrations. We wrote a proposal together to solicit PSI for some funding (lesws than $300) and I hope it goews through.

--The basket/chair/table-making (weaving) training came to an end last week after 3 weeks of hard work. I think the club members learned a ton and they already sold a few of their finished products. On the same day as the last session and exposition (a week ago Friday) I threw my housewarming party, so we combined the fewstivities and the kids presented me with a beautiful table they'd made. My woven stool was also a success and I was glad to produce something! The party was a blast: we ate a 3-course meal of macaroni salad, Chinese friend rice, and fruit salad (yum!) all courtesy of the personal chef to the French director of the hospital. Three of my volunteer friends came as well as the hospital director himself, and of course 30+ of my Togolese neighbors and friends. My house was a mess the next day, perfect timing to start work on my ceilings so that I will no longer bake directly under a tin roof. It should be finished in the next two weeks.

So these projects, plus the traveling in my region, have and will continue to take up my time at least until December. And we are already beginning to plan Thanksgiving! (I've given up on Halloween, just too busy, and instead hoping to celebrate the end of Ramadan on Monday). It's nice to be busy, and I should be ready for a relaxing vacation by the time the holiday season rolls around.

So I've settled in my village, and now I can finally make a wish list for care packages (address, etc. are in the first entry to this blog):
--MEAT! I can't really get it/store it in my village except for nasty sardines. I wowuld love packs of tuna, turkey or beef jerkey, chicken, anything that can last without a frdge (I don't have electricity yet, but it might be coming).
--Quick meals like easy mac, ramen, and other pasta.
--Peanut butter! My friend Norris (again thoughtful and wonderful) sent me some and I can't believe how quickly I inhaled it.
--Trail Mix or anything with protien (hard to come by here).
--Canday of course! Why not?

Also onon-food stuff:
--Some lighters if they pass the Post Office; the matches here are terrible
--batteries always come in handy but right now I have plenty
--toiletries, the stuff here is either way too expensive or of terrible quality
--good old American fun (whatever that means to you)

And last but not least LOVE (in the form of post cards -- thanks Michelle I love you! -- letters, and your messages to this blog. This is just a suggested list, do not feel obligated by any means, and an email or message is usually free.

Before I go another quick caveat (shall we say tender moment between Steve and Africa?):

I wawnt to share with you all the diversity of this continent; it is incredible! We tend to think of Africa as "black" and ignore the fact that is arguable the most diverse continent in the world and the ancestral home to all human beings. I was reading a very interesting book and learned that a few thousand years ago Africa was home to 5 of the world's six "races) if you can categorize them so broadly: whites (in North Africa), blacks, Pygmies (in Central Africa), Khoisan (in Southern Africa) and Asians (on Madagascar). Also there are more than 1,500 languages spoken here, and upwards of 10 in my village alone, each with its own accompanying culture. And within the "black" race people are incredibly diverse in their appearances, styles, dress, etc. How many Muslims, nomadic cattle herders, and speakers of different languages do you encouter in the US (NYC and big cities excluded)? Just a thought that I remind myself of when I'm pissed off about something here: This is such a diverse land that I can't hold any grudges or generalize.

Thanks as always for listening. A l'instant!

Steve

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