Nov 17th

**I wrote this on November 17^th**

Hi everyone,

It looks like I am going to uploading a lot of posts at once. Sorry to dump so much info at one time! These stretches where I go three weeks without Internet get a little long, and let’s not even talk about the lack of movies! However, Katirna, the volunteer in Banikoara has very graciously opened her home to all of us electricity-lacking volunteers in the area. So I have been able to charge my laptop to do some work, write this entry, and with any luck maybe even watch some TV stored on the computer!

This past Sunday was ‘Sunday School-Sunday’ at Church. We had a Bible quiz for the Adult Sunday School Class. I was really excited to get to answer some of the questions. People were sort of surprised to hear me speak up. Don’t worry though, I didn’t blow every one else out of the water. Some of the vocabulary is still very new for me. It was still a lot of fun, and it was great to get to share in Bible-knowledge with my neighbors a little. I also am getting better and better at recognizing the regulars at church, and I’m even starting to catch some of their names.

That ‘community bonding moment’ seemed to add a ton of momentum to my week. While there was still some rest time, compared to weeks past I felt like I was in a whirlwind of meetings and interviews and lucky random encounters on the street. There is a real interest in latrine building in Founougo, so I have been trying to interview current latrine owners to find out what works here. It’s been interesting for a lot of reasons, but especially since (as I have come to realize) there are so few latrines here! They seem to only be in the concessions of the most well-off citizens. Even Delegate B, who is sort of like a Selectman, and Gnon Tori don’t have them! I want to do good research, and I know there will be many challenges, but recognizing a need like that makes me really excited to get some work done.

In other work related news, I had my first meeting with the high school environmental club this week. There is a teacher at the high school, named Messouna (May-SOO-nah) who has been very motivated to get started. So far we have been combining his enthusiasm and momentum to get things done, with my organization and technical resources. It’s working pretty well, but it’s a delicate balance, especially where we don’t know each other that well yet. There is the additional challenge that the students (who are still honing their French skills) have a pretty hard time understanding my accent. I was warned about this, but I was still surprised when I addressed the club, giving a pretty basic introduction of myself, and Messouna jumped in right after me to ‘translate’ what I said into something more clear! That’s a little hard on a person ego, but it does balance out a little bit with the celebrity status you get as a foreigner. Messouna was also very intentional about explaining to the club how I was still learning French, and how if they went to America they would probably be even more lost and confused. Thanks Messouna!

This week I also took the opportunity to show my homologue, Baron, a copy of the Dedham Times, that my Dad sent me. When I read the issue, I thought a lot about what I would do if I were a Peace Corps Volunteer working in Dedham (there are so many organizations to get to know!). I also thought about how proud I was of the various different initiatives to make Dedham better, and how proud I was to recognize many names in the paper. (I made a point to show Baron a picture of Colleen Downing, a friend of the family, playing high school field hockey). That pride lead me thinking back to Founougo, and imagining a day when all the citizens will be able to read, and when they might also have a ‘hazardous waste pick-up day’ and other positive community initiatives like that. Baron was very interested and entertained. I also showed him the Police Log, and he was appropriately awed by the fight against illegal drugs, and appropriately amused by the person who called the police about ‘multiple bee stings’ and ‘loud party at neighbors’. It was so fun to get to share that with him.

Well, we’ve got one week until Thanksgiving, and I hope you are all are looking forward to the holiday. I’m finding myself with a lot to be thankful for, and you, reading this blog, are high up on that list! One thing is for sure, distance makes you realize how awesome the people involved in your life are, and how important they all are to you. So, whether you read the blog studiously, or just flip through occasionally, thank you so much for being interested, and I would venture to say, thank you for being a part of my life. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be the same without you.  

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope to be in touch soon.

With love,

Lauren