December 7

**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