Latrine Sites!

Hello everyone,

We are coming to the end of my first week back in Founougo after vacation and in service training, and it has been a rollercoaster. I got a little time to unpack, re-settle in my cat Jack (he’s doing very well), and organize my house and thoughts from in service training.

Wednesday and Thursday things kicked into high gear and several latrine committee members and I visited sites for the latrine project! We confirmed there was a good spot for a latrine at 20 households, half the total for the project. Thanks to a suggestion from Josh, a volunteer who is doing a latrine project in Goumori, I took pictures of a person from each household at the location where there latrine will be. I hope and expect to be able to share some pictures with you the next time I am at a workstation. It was very tiring work, out in the sun, totaling to about 4 hours each day. I was lucky I had people with me who spoke multiple languages and did most of the talking. Besides the pesky details of writing down contact information, measuring distances from wells, and making sure the translators didn’t forget things, I apparently performed the role of ‘looking official’.

There were one or two households that were far enough away that you would want to take a moto, but I didn’t have my helmet. I told my counterpart Baron, and Ibrahim, our translating Committee Secretary, that they should go and check it out without me. Ibrahim said, “If we say it’s not a good site for a latrine, people will argue with us, but if you say it’s not a good site people will accept it, they will be content.” It’s good to know I was helpful!

Still I think my counterpart Baron was actually more helpful when it came to towing hard line. He would be the one that would notice first if a household already had a latrine. He was the one who would stick it to Ibrahim and say, “So we’ve seen houses in the nice part of Founougo B, what about in the center of town where houses are closer together and things really are dirty?” I really appreciated the insight (though there is some town politics to wade through).

I’ve also been spending some time writing up a grant for rabbit hutch construction. We will see how that goes. Talking with other volunteers at IST made me realize again how much projects can be on different scales for different communities. Working with a group leader who is illiterate and doesn’t speak much French cuts down your options for traveling for technical exchanges. Still rabbit raising seems like a good goal, so I am trying to reinvent my perception of the project, and trying to do my part to see it go through.

With the above tasks, some Bariba review, and a little bit of planning for summer camps, I have been pretty busy. That’s been really good though, because there definitely is a little bit of homesickness after having gotten to spend some good time with my family and friends. It’s really hard being away from you all. Usually unpacking my bags and finding homes for any new foods or things from home is exciting, but to my surprise, this time I just kept thinking, “but I’d rather be with the people that gave me these things, than be finding a place to put them.” God is good in that work is picking up and I can think of those people at their latrine sites and remember that I have work to do here.

All that being said, the visit to America has given me a major shot in the arm in terms of health and hygiene. Thanks to some Easter-basket soaps and enhanced heat-rash combatants my skin has never been so good in village (Thanks guys!). Timing has been pretty ideal too, because it has started to rain every few days (bringing cooler weather and easily collectible water) and mango season is finally here, so fruit is in abundance. All in all I am happy to say that village life is getting a significant boost right now.

Those are the updates for right now. Next week holds some in-country birthdays, and May Day. I hope you all are enjoying some good spring weather, while I am enjoying some occasional cooler weather!

Thanks for reading, with love,

Lauren

Boston Marathon and In Service Training

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a week it’s been. It’s inconceivable that only a week ago I was visiting in America. The incidents in Boston were very sad, and in many ways hard to hear about. I am so grateful to know that my friends and family are safe, (and that I was able to be in touch with them during this time!) and very grateful to the Boston police officers and other officials that handled the situation so well. Being away from home during this time was stressful. I am not sure what else to say. I am glad that we can now deal with the aftermath. I am proud to be from Boston.

In Service training was certainly affected by the news coming in from Boston. We all tried to share information. It was kind of crazy how quickly people were able to get in touch with each other to share news.

The training itself was good. There was a lot technical information on animal raising, latrines, Malaria, hygiene, etc. that I was very excited about. It’s great to catch up with other volunteers and visit with them a bit. It has been the good adjustment I hoped for getting back into Benin. I was nervous about how it would be, jumping back into life here. However, when I got my moto helmet back on and jumped on my first zem, I had a moment of, “yeah, alright. I’m back. Let’s do this.” Though I will say it was a day or so before I traded the sneakers for sandals, accepting the dusty feet that are a part of life here.

Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, I will get to finally get back into my house in Founougo and see my cat. I am excited to get back there, to see little Jack (who is doing well!) to unpack my stuff, and settle down a little.

As always, thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren  

Vacation in America

**Written on April 14th**

Hello Everyone!

For the last two weeks, I have been visiting my family in America. I am so grateful to everyone who made the trip so wonderful. To any and all of you that I didn’t get a chance to talk to during my visit, I am very sorry. Time really does fly.

In the first couple days I had a lot of fun adjusting to the food, amenities, cold weather of life in New England. I’m happy to say, there weren’t any parts that were very traumatic.

Seeing my family and friends was absolutely the best thing about the trip. I will never forget seeing my family at the airport, and it was so goodto get to catch up and hang out with a lot of my friends.

For your entertainment and for posterity I will try list some of the highlights. I got to take a 10 hour layover in Paris and see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame de Paris. At the arrival gate I was met by my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Granddad, Aunt Julie, Meg and her apartmentmate, Lauren Greene. Kev joined us later at the house. The first week we had an incredible amount of home made food including pancakes, Easter dinner, and home made chocolate cake. I got to go to two of Kev’s baseball games and in the second he scored the first two runs for his team! I got to have a party with my friends and show them some of my pictures. After Easter festivities died down my family got to take a hike at blue hills together. I got to hang out with Jason, and benefit from his ability to drive. I visited Kev’s University, and looked into the possibility of grad school there. I visited Meg’s apartment and got to go out in Boston with her. I went to the MFA. I visited Gordon with Jasmine, and saw a dress rehearsal of waiting for Godot. I got a hair cut and a massage and other pampering (so appreciated). And of course, I stuffed my bag with stuff to take back to Africa.

And then when it seemed like the trip had reached a close, My flight was over booked and I got bumped to a flight two days later! I had time for a few more delicious meals, some good hanging out, and even a dip in the hot tub.

I know I have missed some things, and I apologize for that, but I hope you get the idea. This trip pretty much couldn’t have been any better. I know we had a lot of fun planning it out in advance. Now I just hope that it revitalizes me and gives me happy memories to cherish during the next leg of work. I know there will be some transition time (just like there was coming back to visit home), but I hope the homesickness doesn’t hit to hard. It’s true there is a lot to miss!

Still, I am so grateful to all of you who have given me such constant support, and so grateful to all of you who read the blog. Thanks for being a part of this.

Talk to you soon and thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren