Biking through the bush!

**written on July 22^nd**

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well. Things are good if a little weird here. As I have probably mentioned, it’s a weird time of year, since everyone is in the fields growing corn and cotton during the rainy season, and school is out, adding to the ghost-town feel you sometimes get.

Still, there are things to stay busy with. Plans are underway for an information/planning session with the latrine project. I am trying to plan ahead a little for work with students once the school year does start. I am trying to think now about any materials that will be helpful. I am working on developing plans on the solar light project. My post mate Camille and I have also gotten in some work related exercise!

As I mentioned before, a group of Kandi volunteers is hoping to do a malaria awareness bike tour at some point. Camille and I are both getting more excited about the Malaria Awareness aspect, but were a little apprehensive about the biking. We decided to do a test 20-kilometer ride, since that would probably be one of the longest stretches on the tour. We practiced doing a 10k ride and picked a date to set out. It rained the night before, so we were anxious that the roads would be too muddy, but we decided it was worth trying. I am happy to say that we were able to do the 20k ride without any major problems. We had to get of our bikes a handful of times because of mud, but made it through without a problem. I think we did a good job of taking turns leading, stopping for short breaks, and most of all just keeping on going. It really was very pretty to go by the cornfields and small villages. The trip was definitely an experience.

 When we finished the ride we got to say hi to the surveyant, or vice-principal of the secondary school in Founougo, and he was very friendly and gracious. He even fed us, which was especially generous since, as we came to find out, he was observing Ramadan and wasn’t eating during the day! Oops. Still, I think he was very happy to see us and was a wonderful host. I hope I get to drop by and say hi again sometime soon.

I have made a friend here named Vincent who worked closely with another Peace Corps volunteer back in 2008. He was trying to get some money together to work is own corn field and he solicited my help to get in touch with his friend. There was some confusion, and wrong types of IDs and failed trips to Banikoara, but at the end of the day (and the week) the returned volunteer was indeed able to help Vincent out, and I was able to mediate the exchange. I hope the cornfield is a big success!

I am trying to settle into the idea of being the only volunteer in Founougo for a little while, since Camille is taking a very much-deserved vacation, and getting to see some family. I can’t wait to hear her stories!

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading, hope you are all staying cool in the summer heat.

With love,

Lauren

Waterfalls and Project Supplies

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are all recovering from a successful 4^th of July. I know there were some good times had, with the Mawe/Carney Luau, and a race in Dedham! We made a pretty strong showing here in Northern Benin. Josh and Bij did an excellent job seasoning and roasting a pig, and we complimented that with potato salad, deviled eggs, lentil burgers, chili, baked chips, apple pie and key lime pie. It is fun to try to make American food here, and some ingredients were a challenge. I would say we all rose to the occasion, had a good party, and everyone ate well.

After the Fourth of July, Camille and I continued our travels over to Natitangou, on the North West Side of Benin for the second Gender and Development fundraising date that I won back in March. (Another volunteer, Will organized the ‘date’ and we won it in an auction and the money goes to the gender ad development program). Natitangou is the last major area of Benin that I hadn’t visited yet. I have to say, it’s really beautiful. Calmer and less crowded than the south, but less dry than the North East, and (thanks to the National Park) not phased by foreigners. The falls themselves were wonderful. We got to swim and the water was the perfect refreshing cool temperature, and you could float on your back gazing at circle of tropical trees, high rocks, and cascading falls around you. It was wonderful. Thanks to the tourist population there was also an African arts gift shop, and I took advantage of that. In village I usually feel shy about buying souvenirs, but out of my element I felt free to do a little shopping. I bought some jewelry, and a medium sized carved elephant that I had seen before we climbed up to the falls for our swim. I was sad to leave Natitangou, and I hope I et to visit there again!

After the Falls Camille continued on, but I spent another night in Kandi so that I could buy materials for the latrine project. The funding has indeed arrived, and we are in the process of stocking up materials before construction begins. It was exciting to buy such large quantities of sheet metal, PVC piping, iron rebar, and gravel. I definitely have never carried so much money on me in Benin. Baron, my work counterpart, met me in Kandi and helped negotiate prices (read as: negotiated the prices). We got a free ride back to Founougo with our big dump truck full of gravel with other materials tied on top. All the stuff was then dumped at my house. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on it in the months to come. The PVC pipes and Sheet metal have required some re-arranging in my house. Fortunately the gravel and rebar are staying outside. It’s so exciting to have tangible construction materials in hand. It’s like a real project, haha.

Those are the updates for the moment. I’ve been traveling a lot, so I am hoping to spend some time at post for a while now. We will see how it all pans out.

As always, thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren

Girls Camp!

Hello everyone,

Last week was a big week here in northern Benin. Eight other volunteers and I successfully ran a 5 day girls camp for secondary school students in the Alibori, our state. Our camp coordinator had o leave Benin two weeks before the camp for medical reasons, so we were all nervous about how things were going to go. I’m happy to say there were no train wrecks, no sessions that came grinding to a halt, no fights between volunteers or campers. We did have one camper who spiked a high fever on the second day of camp. We all agreed that the fact that she cried and asked not to be sent home was, if unfortunate, a sign that the girls were enjoying the camp!

I got to lead the craft session. Even though they weren’t the most important things the girls learned (I have to hand it to volunteers who led sessions on everything from study skills, to AIDS, to harassment) I think the craft sessions were some of the most well received. It’s always nice to get a break from listening and make something. We made friendship bracelets, origami, and recycled plastic bag purses. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Reagan, taught one of the origami hats we made to me. I took a moment to appreciate the strangeness that an American school teacher taught her second graders a Japanese craft and one of those students grew up to teach that to Beninese teenage girls. Funny world isn’t it?

All in all, the girls were very attentive and seemed very happy throughout the camp.

After the camp we got to do a test run for possible future Malaria bike tour. The idea is that we would bike to nearby towns and villages going house to house to point out mosquito breading sites, help put up existing mosquito nets, and generally gather information. Travel logistics and a midafternoon thunderstorm made for a little bit of a headache, but my group was able to visit 6 different concessions, or housing compounds. Personally, I found the work to be very practical and exciting. We got to set up one mosquito net for a woman who had one, and I really felt good about the idea that, without giving any gifts or money, we were helping encourage someone to protect themselves against malaria. It makes me look forward to the bike tour, whenever that comes to pass.

Those are the big updates for now. I hope you all have a good fourth. I am thinking especially of the Pittsburgh Mawes, and hoping you all have an excellent luau. You all are in my thoughts.

Thanks for reading, all.

With love,

Lauren