**Written December 7th**
Hello Everyone,
So, a lot has happened hasn’t it? I
think I have to start right out by saying how grateful I am that my Dad is on
the road to recovery after a surprise surgery on Thanksgiving Day. Of course it
was very hard to be away from home during that time. I am so thankful to my
Mom, Meg, and Kev for being so present, keeping me informed, and really
supporting Dad. It’s been a hard time, but coming out of it there is a lot to
be grateful for. And soon I will be visiting home for Christmas! I don’t think
that I could be any more excited.
To catch you up on things here in
Benin: volunteers got together a week before Thanksgiving in Kandi, for a
feast. There were a lot of us, and it seemed like everyone got to contribute
for a dish or two. I helped out with the two pumpkin pies, a chocolate cake and
a little with the apple pie. Josh fried a turkey and grilled another one. Bij
made a stuffing from scratch that was so good, I think I will miss it even when
back in America. Amber brought green beans from her garden. All in all, it was
an excellent meal and excellent company. We were determined to all eat
together, so we had to connect up about 5 tables and when we all sat down there
was barely enough silverware for everyone. I actually grabbed chopsticks and
only later realized I was eating American Thanksgiving dinner in Benin West
Africa with Asian utensils. The triple threat. It was an excellent time.
After Thanksgiving feast, Heidi was
able to travel back to post with me and see my house! She and I shared a
language class back in Training. It was so good to get the extra time with her,
and to have a guest visit Founougo. We are not exactly on the way to anywhere,
so it really meant a lot.
After that my Program Manager,
Salomon visited. It was great to see him and to talk about projects. Talking
with him is always encouraging.
The radio show charges on. The
radio station is getting a little busier, which is good for them, but we had a
few snafus in a row where the show wasn’t played, or wasn’t played at the right
time. Camille and I started putting our foot down a little bit, saying that
wasn’t ok. They were apologetic, and now I think we are back on course. Camille
and I have really enjoyed recording some Christmas episodes. We taught the song
and told the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and talked about
Christmas traditions in America. It’s been fun.
The Environment Club is also doing
well. After re-scheduling an absurd number of times, we did successfully make
some model mudstoves, and I am really trying to help at least one student learn
how to teach others to build them. We also learned about Moringa, a tree with a
lot of nutritional and soil enriching properties. Last week we learned about
natural insecticides that you can make here. Next week will be the last session
of the semester, so we are hoping to do a Jeopardy review game.
Latrines are being built 10 out of
40 have their bases completely cemented, which is the biggest part of the work.
Unfortunately, it’s surprisingly difficult to get cement, so further work is
more or less paused for the moment.
That’s all the news from here. I
hope you are all having a very merry December. As always, thanks for reading.
Love,
Lauren
