Friday, April 2, 2010
I'm sorry that it has been ages since I last posted on my blog. It seems that when I do get internet access, facebook seems to be easier to post pictures and updates but I decided to update on here for a bit. What amazes me is that I will be heading back to America in a little over 7 months. The time has flown and I have been pretty busy these last few months. Heres a little update on the goings on in Waragni, Togo.
Mondays: I still do babyweighing (CPC) and really enjoy it. The mothers are so sweet and its great to see a baby I saw at 3 days old, grow up over the course of time to a healthy little one year old. I have worked on a organizational system for the health cards and so far it has worked really well and the rest of the health staff has been keeping up with it.
Tuesdays: At the beginning of the year, PLAN Togo came to my village and set up a Jardin des Enfants (kindergarden) at one of the local elementrary schools. I started working there on Tuesday to help with curciculum building and basic numbers and letters. To say the least, its intense..there are about 55 kids between the ages of 1-5yo. Its fun but the organization needs a lot of work.
Wednesdays: The past year, Wednesday afternoons was taken up with two elementary school girls soccer practices. This past month I have started working with an adult literacy class that was started by the Social Affairs office in a village close to me. Its been really inspiring and I really love participating in this class. There are 23 women and 7 men in the class, all who have very little or no schooling. I love when some of the women are so excited about one of the activities that they call me over and beam a large smile.
Thursdays: In the morning I have a mothers club that I work with on income generating activities and other projects. These women are really awesome and we put on a big sketch for international womens day on forced marriage. They rock!
Im also working on a large project in my region called "Take your daughters to work". More info will follow on the process of the project and funding will be needed, so please keep your eyes out for an email.
I miss you all and am looking forward to seeing everyone in November!
Joc
Mondays: I still do babyweighing (CPC) and really enjoy it. The mothers are so sweet and its great to see a baby I saw at 3 days old, grow up over the course of time to a healthy little one year old. I have worked on a organizational system for the health cards and so far it has worked really well and the rest of the health staff has been keeping up with it.
Tuesdays: At the beginning of the year, PLAN Togo came to my village and set up a Jardin des Enfants (kindergarden) at one of the local elementrary schools. I started working there on Tuesday to help with curciculum building and basic numbers and letters. To say the least, its intense..there are about 55 kids between the ages of 1-5yo. Its fun but the organization needs a lot of work.
Wednesdays: The past year, Wednesday afternoons was taken up with two elementary school girls soccer practices. This past month I have started working with an adult literacy class that was started by the Social Affairs office in a village close to me. Its been really inspiring and I really love participating in this class. There are 23 women and 7 men in the class, all who have very little or no schooling. I love when some of the women are so excited about one of the activities that they call me over and beam a large smile.
Thursdays: In the morning I have a mothers club that I work with on income generating activities and other projects. These women are really awesome and we put on a big sketch for international womens day on forced marriage. They rock!
Im also working on a large project in my region called "Take your daughters to work". More info will follow on the process of the project and funding will be needed, so please keep your eyes out for an email.
I miss you all and am looking forward to seeing everyone in November!
Joc
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I have had an amazing time in Australia and am really sad to leave! Its going to be an interesting and I am guessing, difficult transition back to Togo and back to my village. I do really miss my kids and am looking forward to upcoming projects in my village...but having a taste of development will make it a little more challenging!
Since I have taken so many pictures, I have posted them on facebook. Here is the link to view the pictures (you dont have to sign up if your not on facebook!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038998&id=59802577&l=0f34d1cb2c
Since I have taken so many pictures, I have posted them on facebook. Here is the link to view the pictures (you dont have to sign up if your not on facebook!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038998&id=59802577&l=0f34d1cb2c
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Isn't it amazing that a year can fly by so fast? I arrived in Togo a year ago, scared out of my mind, wondering what the hell I was doing here and excited at the same time to have a new adventure! Here I am now, living in a tiny three room house, surrounded by children and speaking French and Kabye. Its crazy how surreal life can be and how blessed I am to have this opportunity to grow as a person and to share part of my life with new friends.
This past week brought me back to Lome to welcome a new group of girls education volunteers to country. I was chosen as a volunteer trainer for this week to help introduce them to Togo and help them adjust to living in Africa. Its been a pretty draining experience but its great to feel like the "experienced" one and be throwing out advice like candy. I am heading up to the training site tomorrow with the group and leave Saturday for a few days of R&R. Next Wednesday I head to Ghana for my flight to AUSTRALIA!! I am ecstatic! I am looking forward to spending 14 days with my dear friend Daniella, in the land down under! I will have Internet and skype during that time as well, so communication will be great then. Pictures will also be posted!
I hope all is well in America or wherever you all! I miss and love you all!
This past week brought me back to Lome to welcome a new group of girls education volunteers to country. I was chosen as a volunteer trainer for this week to help introduce them to Togo and help them adjust to living in Africa. Its been a pretty draining experience but its great to feel like the "experienced" one and be throwing out advice like candy. I am heading up to the training site tomorrow with the group and leave Saturday for a few days of R&R. Next Wednesday I head to Ghana for my flight to AUSTRALIA!! I am ecstatic! I am looking forward to spending 14 days with my dear friend Daniella, in the land down under! I will have Internet and skype during that time as well, so communication will be great then. Pictures will also be posted!
I hope all is well in America or wherever you all! I miss and love you all!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Yep, sometime during my birthday the other day, I cut myself and i am now down in Lome with a pretty nasty infection on my finger. It hurts..a lot! I should be better tomorrow with antibiotics and some pain killers.
I had a really nice birthday though and thank you all who were able to call!! The Friday before my bday, I had just finished working at a camp for HIV/AIDS orphans (Camp Espoir) and then went up to my friends village with 4 of my friends. We played cards and had a few beers b/c we were all exhausted from a week running around with the kids. We made pizza in a dutch oven and Grant shared his mint double stuffed Oreos (which I would LOOOVEE here!). I left to go back to my village on Saturday after a really nice walk around my friends village. From there my finger got worse and I was told I needed to come down here. AC and good food for 48 hours...a nice post bday treat...minus gross finger!!
Otherwise things are good. My large project of rebuilding the middle school has been stopped due to the fact that the government has come in and has started rebuilding it themselves. Its great that the kids will get a new school for the start of the new semester but it sort of put a damper on the thoughts of a 2 year long project for me. There are other opportunities in my village for other projects so I am not concerned. Things have been busy this "summer" with training and a week of Camp Espoir, welcoming the new group of volunteers to country, saying goodbye to volunteers who are leaving and getting ready for a big fete in village where they wrestle and eat dog! I am passing on all mentioned but will enjoy watching!
Its pretty amazing that time has flown by so fast and in September I will be hitting my year mark. CRAZY!! I miss you all!!
I had a really nice birthday though and thank you all who were able to call!! The Friday before my bday, I had just finished working at a camp for HIV/AIDS orphans (Camp Espoir) and then went up to my friends village with 4 of my friends. We played cards and had a few beers b/c we were all exhausted from a week running around with the kids. We made pizza in a dutch oven and Grant shared his mint double stuffed Oreos (which I would LOOOVEE here!). I left to go back to my village on Saturday after a really nice walk around my friends village. From there my finger got worse and I was told I needed to come down here. AC and good food for 48 hours...a nice post bday treat...minus gross finger!!
Otherwise things are good. My large project of rebuilding the middle school has been stopped due to the fact that the government has come in and has started rebuilding it themselves. Its great that the kids will get a new school for the start of the new semester but it sort of put a damper on the thoughts of a 2 year long project for me. There are other opportunities in my village for other projects so I am not concerned. Things have been busy this "summer" with training and a week of Camp Espoir, welcoming the new group of volunteers to country, saying goodbye to volunteers who are leaving and getting ready for a big fete in village where they wrestle and eat dog! I am passing on all mentioned but will enjoy watching!
Its pretty amazing that time has flown by so fast and in September I will be hitting my year mark. CRAZY!! I miss you all!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
I dont suggest it to anyone! It was a long trip but worth it to finalize my trip to Australia and help my friend Meg return to the US. Makes me very sad :( All is good otherwise!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Hi friends and loved ones!
I am in Lome for a couple days for a meeting and to get a required flu shot that I nicely declined 6 months ago. The US gov decided that we now HAVE to have the flu shot b/c of the swine flu. Dude! There are a million pigs in my village...no swine flu here! HAHA!
Things are going well in village and I seem to be pretty busy most weekends with Peace Corps events and then soon Camp Espoir ("Hope" in french) . The camp is a week of fun for children effected or infected with HIV/AIDS. I also have a big project in the works by rebuilding the middle school in my village. More info to come later....
People have been asking what I do in village so here is a little rundown on my weekly activities!
Mondays: I help with baby weighing at my local tiny three room hospital. I organize the health cards and then recently have given "sensibilizations" to the women on nutrition and taking care of their babies. I have become a health volunteer!! My counterpart, a midwife, works with the women on keeping their babies at the right weight and can really set them straight if she sees that the kids are losing weight.
Tuesdays: I do laundry which can take some time since its all by hand!
Wednesdays: Girls EPP football practice (elementary school soccer) I just started this team a few weeks ago and the girls are amazing! I am going to be starting 2 other teams at the other EPPs so we will have some great girls football in village!
Thursdays: Red Cross Mothers club meeting which is a great group of women who have a savings group and I do activities with them that help them generate money for their families.
Those are the regular activities but things pop up and have some projects on the horizon....
Congrats to Kar and Aar on their soon to be new addition...a baby! To think that so many little ones will be giant when I get back home!
I have plans of going to Australia in October and am super excited about seeing another new place! I think of you all often and miss seeing everyones kind faces!!
I am in Lome for a couple days for a meeting and to get a required flu shot that I nicely declined 6 months ago. The US gov decided that we now HAVE to have the flu shot b/c of the swine flu. Dude! There are a million pigs in my village...no swine flu here! HAHA!
Things are going well in village and I seem to be pretty busy most weekends with Peace Corps events and then soon Camp Espoir ("Hope" in french) . The camp is a week of fun for children effected or infected with HIV/AIDS. I also have a big project in the works by rebuilding the middle school in my village. More info to come later....
People have been asking what I do in village so here is a little rundown on my weekly activities!
Mondays: I help with baby weighing at my local tiny three room hospital. I organize the health cards and then recently have given "sensibilizations" to the women on nutrition and taking care of their babies. I have become a health volunteer!! My counterpart, a midwife, works with the women on keeping their babies at the right weight and can really set them straight if she sees that the kids are losing weight.
Tuesdays: I do laundry which can take some time since its all by hand!
Wednesdays: Girls EPP football practice (elementary school soccer) I just started this team a few weeks ago and the girls are amazing! I am going to be starting 2 other teams at the other EPPs so we will have some great girls football in village!
Thursdays: Red Cross Mothers club meeting which is a great group of women who have a savings group and I do activities with them that help them generate money for their families.
Those are the regular activities but things pop up and have some projects on the horizon....
Congrats to Kar and Aar on their soon to be new addition...a baby! To think that so many little ones will be giant when I get back home!
I have plans of going to Australia in October and am super excited about seeing another new place! I think of you all often and miss seeing everyones kind faces!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thanks so much to everyone for sending me packages over the last 7 months! I'm sorry if I haven't gotten to everyone to say "Thank you" but communication is sort of tricky here. Please know that EVERYTHING is greatly appreciated! (even the toilet paper from Katie!!) I decided to update my package list of things I would like or dream about! :
Twislers
Protein (canned chicken, shrimp, ect...no tuna please, I can get that here)
Bandannas
Seeds for my garden..veggies or flowers (please check to see about the heat tolerance)
A wall calender for 2009
MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat): you can find them at outdoor stores
DVD's (comedys, romance ect...)
New books (Thank you ahead of time for Twilight book 3 and 4, Stacy!!)
Magazines (Us Weekly, Time, People, Oprah ect..) Lis and Bev thanks so much for your magazines!!
Photos of home (Jenny and Kar...all the pics are on my wall!)
French children's books
** I would also really like Barack Obama's book "Dreams of my Father" in FRENCH. I would like to give it as a gift to my counterpart here in country.**
http://www.amazon.com/Reves-Mon-Pere-Dreams-Father/dp/0320079414
Drink mixes
T-shirts from places back home....and WHEN UNC wins the championship...I would love a t-shirt!!
Thanks again for the cards, gifts and kind words. Its really means so much to me when I get mail!!
Twislers
Protein (canned chicken, shrimp, ect...no tuna please, I can get that here)
Bandannas
Seeds for my garden..veggies or flowers (please check to see about the heat tolerance)
A wall calender for 2009
MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat): you can find them at outdoor stores
DVD's (comedys, romance ect...)
New books (Thank you ahead of time for Twilight book 3 and 4, Stacy!!)
Magazines (Us Weekly, Time, People, Oprah ect..) Lis and Bev thanks so much for your magazines!!
Photos of home (Jenny and Kar...all the pics are on my wall!)
French children's books
** I would also really like Barack Obama's book "Dreams of my Father" in FRENCH. I would like to give it as a gift to my counterpart here in country.**
http://www.amazon.com/Reves-Mon-Pere-Dreams-Father/dp/0320079414
Drink mixes
T-shirts from places back home....and WHEN UNC wins the championship...I would love a t-shirt!!
Thanks again for the cards, gifts and kind words. Its really means so much to me when I get mail!!