Getting back on my feet

First and foremost, I want to thank the countless people who have reached out to me over the past few months to offer love and support in my time of need. Your thoughts and words have really touched me. I honestly didn't realize how many people keep up with what is happening in my world. I know there are a lot of expectations for my work in Senegal, and I'm not sure if I always live up to them, but I am striving to fulfill my own aspirations to create an environment of mutual learning and growth.

This past month I have worked really hard to get back on my feet and to renew my energy for the projects that I have currently. It hasn't always been easy, and sometimes I have to take a moment to just let my emotions have some time. Right now I am working with 6 elementary schools in Kaffrine that are establishing gardens as a teaching tool for their students. I check up with each school every week to make sure their gardens are on track and to teach gardening techniques that they can then teach to their students. This month I also started to work with the local high school to set up a school garden and they have cleared a space, put up a fence, and are in the process of getting access to water from one of the buildings. I'm excited to see how that will turn out because the students are much older and only those who are interested in gardening will come to the classes we are setting up.

Kaffrine invitees for Girls Camp 2012

This week I interviewed girls from 3 different middle schools to choose the best girls (grades, motivation to continue their education, and willingness to learn new things from another culture) in 5ieme (approximately 8^th grade) for our annual girls camp.Volunteers from the regions of Kaolack, Fatick, and Kaffrine are putting it together in conjuction with Senegalese camp counselors for 40 girls for one week in August. I took part in it last year and it was an incredibly rewarding experience. This year I am the regional coordinator for the selection process and hopefully by this time next month I will know the names all all 14 girls from the region who will be attending. It is a great opportunity for the girls, many of whom have never left their region or seen the ocean, to go to a resort in the mangroves where we will have themed activities each day to teach the girls about their health, environment, identities, gender, and possible future careers. I will be teaching dance again and am currently on the lookout for some fun, yet easy to learn dance steps for the girls. Last year I taught two different types of dance but I think I'm just going to stick with one that they can easily remember and perform at our closing ceremony. If you love helping underprivileged girls, please take a moment to donate to make Girls Camp 2013 happen. The camp is made possibly purely through outside donations. And the best part is that you will receive a hand-written letter from one of the girls! 

Another project that I'm working on right now is to create a live fence of thorny trees for the garden spaces of two women's groups. We had the training last Saturday on how to fill tree sacks, seed them, take care of them, and then how to transplant them in a few months when the rains come. I had 2500 sacks for this so I gave each group 1250 and the next day women showed up to my garden and started sifting sand and manure, mixing it together, and then filling tree sacks. As of today, one group has already done 1000, and the other has done 650. So hopefully by Sunday they will all be done and we can seed them next week before I leave for a conference and then vacation.

Those are my current highlight projects, but I also have small activities that take up my time as well. I currently manage the Peace Corps office in Kaffrine and we just hosted the new trainees who are going to be place in Kaffrine next month. So now I am working on pre-ordering certain items for them so they don't have to worry about picking up everything they need for their new homes in the 2 days they will be given between arriving in the city and being taken to their new homes to be installed. I remember how overwhelming that time was for me, so hopefully getting these things will make the process a little less hectic. This weekend there is also a graffiti project being put together by an Italian non-profit (NGO) who work to get assistance for people with handicaps and their families. The graffiti art is one of the best tools they have found to teach students and communities about important topics like this. I have become good friends with the couple who run this NGO and I'm looking forward to helping out with this project.

So yes, I'm staying busy and working with as many people as possible who are interested in what I have to teach. I enjoy my time here and I know that when I leave it will be really difficult. I love the people I have met here and I continue to learn new things everyday. There are so many things here that I think I take for granted now, and things that don't even phase me that might have before. Like today, as I was locking up my garden one of the women took off her top and asked if she could leave it there so she would have some work clothes for tomorrow. Of course I had no problem with it and didn't even think twice about if she had something else to put on because then she proceeded to walk topless back to the trees where the other women were waiting. Apparently she did have another top and she put it on before we walked across town, but it wouldn't have surprised me if she had just tied her wrap skirt over her chest before making the trek home.

There is always a lot that I can share about my life and service here, and I know I don't ever say enough, but if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them. Also, if there is some topic here you want me to address, I would be more than happy to share my experiences and opinions relating to it.