Hi Everyone!
I am very happy to tell you all that it has been a very
productive trip, even with a lot of hours on the road.
The day that I arrived I got to have a quickly rescheduled
meeting with my program manager. After scouting around for rabbit raising
association in the first three months at post, only at this meeting did I find
out that my program manager actually works with rabbit raising groups on the
weekends! So that was exciting to find out. We also got to talk a lot about the
latrine project and all that fun stuff.
After the meeting Zoe (the volunteer with whom I was
staying) and I tried to watch the inauguration on her supervisor’s TV.
Unfortunately after about 5 minutes the electricity went out. We went back to
her house and, along with another volunteer Michelle, downloaded a text version
of the speech and we read it to each other paragraph by paragraph. It was
really fun to share that experience together and feel like we were
participating in the inauguration. The picture of hope for a more just and
equal future that the president painted was definitely rejuvenating for me.
The next day I met with Zoe’s supervisor to learn about his
rabbit raising project. I didn’t really know what to expect and it turned out
that he prepared a whole training session complete with outline! We spent the
whole morning covering one topic and then another. The supervisor answered a
lot of my questions, and was able to give Benin-specific examples of food and
weather considerations. I am so grateful to have had the chance to meet with
him!
In the evening I visited my host family for the first time
since I moved to post, to celebrate Sena’s 10th birthday. It was
such a trip being back there. Things that I hadn’t realized that I had started
to forget came back to me, like the warm welcoming smell the house has, and the
way that the kids all flit in and out of the rooms speaking a combination of
quick French and Fon. I was really glad to see them all again, and I was really
struck by how nice their life in Porto Novo is, compared to life up north. I
tried to tell them how awesome it is that the kids speak French so well and
read and write so well. The opportunities they are going to have in the future
are exciting.
Now I am making my way back north, excited to tell my work
partners about what I have learned and very anxious to see my cat, Jack! It’s
been a good trip and I look forward to what it is going to bring for the
future.
As always, thanks for reading.
With love,
Lauren
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