January's here!

Hi Everyone!

Happy New Year! I hope the new years finds you happy and in good help, with ambitions for the year to come. It’s still weird to me that this is my second January in Benin. It’s great to get a take 2, and great to be on the second, and final lap!

As many of you may know, I got to visit home for two weeks for Christmas and New Years. It was truly wonderful. I can’t thank enough the people who made the trip as great as it was. To those of you who I didn’t get in touch with and probably should have, I am very sorry. It’s amazing how difficult it can be to pick up the phone when you feel like you only have a short time at home. I hope to catch up with many more of you (with more than a 5 or 10 minute call!) after I close service.

Now to life in Benin, since that’s what this blog is really about. The process of re-adjusting to Benin went absolutely as smoothly as it could have. Of course I miss my family and friends, and it can be hard to accept another couple of months of life without temperature regulated showers, but thankfully, I had good work to come back to.

There was cement waiting to be transported to my post in Founougo upon my arrival. On literally my first full day back in village, I was able to go with a truck driver to bring the cement to Founougo, to store in my house. We have recived a little more than 2/3rds of the cement needed at this point. Ever since the cement arrived at my house, committee members and project beneficiaries have been showing up to get the cement packets to their final homes. Giving the materials away has been my favorite part of the project so far (and don’t worry, I make everyone sign for them!)

Besides the latrine project I have also been trying to get a school garden started at the secondary school, building off of work last semester with the environment club. That has actually been a big headache. When I got back to Founougo, the school administration had already required every student to bring wood and stalks for the fence, and there was a plot of land the size of a professional soccer field for the garden! After we argued about the size of the garden, we also argued about whether working the garden could be a punishment for late or rowdy students; then we argued about the water source (something I had been very concerned about in the beginning, and they said wasn’t a problem). All in all, I know it’s important to have a good plan up front, and not just charge in hoping it will all work out. I am looking into finding another (small) patch of land, close to the seasonal river, where I can work with environment club members. Hopefully that will come through. I don’t like to give a strong ‘no’, especially to ideas coming from the community, but this doesn’t seem like the kind of project where we can just ‘see if we can make it work’.

The neighbor-kids are doing really well, and seem to have had a good Christmas/New Years break. One of the older kids really helped me sweep the dust out of my house right when I got in. I really appreciated that. First, because the house was incredibly dusty (it is the dry season, and I left the windows open for my cat, Jack); second because I couldn’t mope and feel homesick and lonely with someone physically there helping me get re-situated. What a blessing.

Little Baké has had a cold, and I have been trying to teach her to cough into her elbow. She mostly gets it. She had a much harder time grasping the concept of not sharing food when you are sick. It’s tough when we really don’t have a language in common. Still, we both try.

Sharing food reminds me I am bravely trying a new one month regime of no-or-minimal carbs and no beer. I know everyone is made up a little differently, eats a little differently, exercises a little differently, but for as health conscious as I try to be, I have continued to gain weight throughout my peace corps service, and that has been really frustrating to me. No carbs is very challenging in village, and I have had to get a small portion of couscous or yams a few times. I don’t worry about that too much, it’s probably good to have at least a few carbs still in the diet, and it’s very good to re-set my system. I notice that I do get full much faster. My three staples have been beans, eggs, and sometimes meat, with carrots, onions, and tomatoes playing a major role to. So far I’ve been able to make a lot of meals without a carb base, and I feel full and energetic.

Anyway, back to the kids for a final story to close out this post. For Christmas my Mom very generously bought them all tamagachis, and this week I was finally able to give them out. I thought the fits sized digital pets would be great for them since they don’t run out of batteries quickly, and require minimal language skills. Plus the kids LOVE digital games (just like in America!). The kids really like them, and each of them remembered to say thank you without being asked. They foung the mini games in no time, and think it’s so funny when the tamagachi sleeps or goes to the bathroom. I made a point to tell the to share and be good with each other, and they were very receptive. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s a little above Baké’s comprehension. She just doesn’t seem to understand what to do. I think the other kids are helping her get it slowly. Each time I see one of the tamagachis, the experience points have gone up exponentially!

That’s about it for today. Thanks always for reading, and I hope to be in touch again soon!

Love,

Lauren