support girls empowerment in Benin!

Dear Friends and Family,
As I’m sure you’re all aware, I’ve been living in Benin for over ayear serving with the Peace Corps. This next year I will bevolunteering with a camp called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World).The camp started in Romania in the early 90’s and spread to Benin in2000. Since then, it’s been held every year in various parts of thecountry.To put it bluntly, Benin is a very male dominated society whereunfortunately, women are not granted many of the same opportunities.Antiquated cultural norms and traditional beliefs still permeate thecountry, especially in the remote villages where many volunteers work. Girls often quit school at a young age to help take care of theirmultiple younger siblings at home. Many of them become marketvendors, are forced into marriages, or even worse, become prostitutes. In extreme cases, those that do manage to stay in school but do nothave the proper marks can advance by sleeping with their professors.Polygamy, although outlawed in Benin, still occurs and the numerouswives, unfortunately, must tolerate their husband’s actions as theylack the power or the education to do anything about it. On thegrassroots level, many are still illiterate and do not even knowFrench, their national language.

In my own experiences, I have begun a girl's club at the middle/highschool in my village, discussing topics similar to what we cover atCamp GLOW. The males outnumber the females by about three to one, andas the levels progress, the disparity increases. When I selected agirl from this school last year the director told me he was in fullsupport of any seminars or support I had for his girls because out ofthe 200 girls who attend, 14 of them were carrying children and onlyfour of those pregnancies being with other students. After elementaryschool, in order to attend school, there is a fee that variesdepending on location and size. With multiple children in thefamily, it’s often only the boys that get to continue with theirstudies, leaving the girls behind with just the bare minimumeducation.

As you can see, there is a great need in this country to educate womenand young girls about the importance of staying in school. That’swhat Camp GLOW strives to do. It’s a week long girl's empowermentcamp where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary tobecome better students and more powerful leaders in their communities. Throughout the week, various topics are discussed including financialplanning, sexual health, computer and internet literacy, goal-setting,HIV/AIDS awareness, study and leaderships skills, and malariaprevention techniques. The girls also participate in arts and crafts,sports and games, and take excursions to national governmentinstitutions and museums. All sessions are held by respectedsuccessful Beninese women who serve as excellent role models for thegirls.

The budget for this year’s camp runs close to $6000, so I ask yoursupport in please providing as little or as much as you can. Even adollar in Benin will go a long way. The camp is not set to startuntil June, but the sooner we have the money, the quicker we can startplanning, organizing, and finalizing all the details.

Please consider donating here, you can utilize the link belowhttps://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.donatenowand search for projects in Benin. The grant was just recently sent toPeace Corps Headquarters in Washington D.C. for final approval, andshould be online within the next week or two. Please continue tocheck periodically if you do not see anything.

The project is calledCamp GLOW – Porto Novo. Also, if this is a motivator, as weapproach the end of the year the donation is tax deductable.Thank you for your continued support and warm wishes. I hope all iswell back home, and continue to check my web posts atwww.laura2benin.blogspot.com for updates.

A Little More Clarity

Last weekend was halloween, we had a party at one of the girl's house who lives in Cotonou. I dressed up as a gypsy and my friend Glenna was a marche mama. She carried a bucket of cookies around on her head an sold them and wore alot of different colored pagnes or fabrics. The next night I stayed around and we made really awesome chili. It was more veggies than other but it tasted amazing and I had a Jiffy cornbread mix so we had awesome cornbread.

This week the radio project got approved by my APCD and the director and they sent it to USAID for their approval. Because of the exchange rate the amount of money I am asking for is more. Please pray with me that it gets processed quickly because I need the money by thanksgiving. It is kind of crucial. This weekend we had a 3 meetings this weekend and we went to the opening of an american bar restaurant that had amazing fish and steak fillets. I am looking forward to going back and spending time with my beninese friends at post these last few weeks before my vacation.

I also had a visit from my APCD (who is the person I report to in peace corps). It was a very encouraging visit, and I kept him occupied all day. First we visited my supervisor with the artisans and discussed what I have been doing these past few months and talked about the issues with the payment of my rent. Afterwards I brought him to the NGO that I volunteer with and showed him the work that I trained the accountant and the pharmacy inventory manager to do. It is pretty basic, but no written records were kept before and now they keep written records and the accountant records the revenue and expenses of each day in excel. I played the radio spots for him too while I was filling out forms. He told me that those we were talking with had continued to say I was "useful and helpful to their organization" and that he was also impressed with what I was doing.

I don't always feel like I am accomplishing alot because of the amount of downtime in my life, but when someone tells me that my work makes a difference it gives me that little push of confidence that I need to have joy in my days. Before I was content, but now I also feel confident and excited about what the future holds. As I look towards the future I am realizing that one dream job would be working with refugees, counseling them about their experiences. I would like to do this in Chicago, possibly with Heartland Alliance which is a large organization that focuses on this in Chicago and other countries. It would be pretty awesome to study abroad for a few months in another countries and do field work with refugees. I would like to be based in the states for a long time but if I got married and eventually got offered a job overseas I could see for a short term (maybe 10 years from now). Short term goal after peace corps: hang out with friends and family of course, get a full time job in Chicago, volunteer with Heartland Alliance in Chicago by translating or helping refugees integrate into american culture. tentative other goals, take gre, apply to grad schools in chicago: university of chicago, depaul, loyola... I might start out part time and if I get the research assistant position for the division than I would go full time. Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Project Update and skin diseases

So, as America quickly approaches so does my project. I need to get together with the students to practice the skits but the money has not been finalised yet. It will be just bureaucratic paperwork has been standing in the way. I have been looking into starting a girls health club at a school and participating in a sponsorship program that helps to pay the school fees of a girl at the school. I have to form a committee and select a girl and supervise her doing some sort of community service during the year. This can include having her help in the health club that we may be starting so I may kill two birds with one stone.

Other news. I have some kind of exema skin disease that is spreading and may be in my clothes. Its depigmentation on my arms and other places. Prescription: buy and iron and boil my shower sponges or rags and any other cotton stuff and wear sunscreen. They will give me some meds and a soap too, but the pharmacy didnt have it yet. So, its like I have leprosy except no one shuns me like in Bible times. At least no more ecoli! Yay. Toodles.

I heart CIPRO

So I am in Cotonou currently suffering another sickness: bacterial infection. (cipro is an antibiotic). I had a fever and chills and multiple diahrrea instances starting monday at 2am until Tuesday morning, so i called the doctor and she told me to come down. she said i had multiple white blood cells in my poop sample. well as dicaprio would say TIA (this is africa).

anyways sorry for the graphic display of my sicknesses to those who are not interested in that kind of thing. life has been a little slow lately but will be picking up very quickly very soon. i am organizing a radio project for AIDS and we have to practice and record the sketches within the next month. i also have to put together some questions for the doctor to respond to on the radio. i am also busy trying to finalise the grant so i can get money to fund the project. there are only two things left to do and hopefully she will pass it on to be approved. during the month of november i dont think it will be as busy because the radio shows will be running but i think i will devote myself to listening at the times that they should be playing just to know that they are running. please pray for us that the kids have fun and are motivated to do a good job and that everything runs smoothly. then on world aids day (dec 1) we will be hosting a day of screenings, educational sessions and using speakers in a neighboring village. in short i am glad i got being sick out of the way now so i can try not to be sick these next couple months before i come home during december.

i went to two funerals in the past month. on for the vice president of my artisans group and another for a member of one of the groupements that i work with. my vice president was in a motorcycle accident and since most people dont wear helments here broke his clavicle and hit his head so hard he had a stroke. he was doing better for a while but he must have had another stroke or something. the woman in my groupement had breast cancer and since they dont have alot of the technology that we do in the states, and since she did not have alot of money to pay for treatments even if they did have access to it.

other than that life has been pretty simple. trying to conserve money for possible vacations or after service trips. cooking different recipies in the cookbook. a new volunteer arrived recently in my neighboring village and i have enjoyed getting to know her. she inspires me to want to learn more local language. i have loved listening to the sermon tapes recently from back home. although the tidbits of news are months old, i can still find out what was happening. well a little over two months until u see this smiling face again. i miss you all dearly.

Akon in Benin!

So, last night I went to Akon in concert. It said it started at four but like most Beninese events it didn't actually start until about 6pm. When it did start it was a bunch of different Beninese acts which were decent enough but it was kind of disappointing that they were about a football field away. The concert was held in the stadium for the soccer matches and we were at one end of the football field and the stage was at the other end. There was no one actually on the soccer field either. This was good for the performance of African dances that happened later but it was hard to see. It was still really awesome. When Akon finally came out (1am lame) we were allowed out onto the field. Needless to say I haven't slept much but I will probably take a nap. Overall the experience was pretty awesome. The african dances and performances were awesome and really well practiced.

Blog End of August

Thanks for all of you who continue to read my blog. I apologize for not writing for awhile. Earlier this month, my Grandpa Bretveld on my mom's side passed away. It has been especially hard being so far away. I love both of my Grandparents so much, and I will miss my Grandpa always. I have felt very supported from Peace Corps friends and administration, and from letters and phone calls from family and friends back home. Please pray for my Grandpa as she is currently living in a physical therapy center. About a week before my Grandpa passed away she fell down the stairs and broke her pelvis. The pain is a lot better and she is doing better with the physical therapy but there is a long way to go before she can go back home. The nurses who were looking after her and my Granpa are so sweet and they told us they are looking forward to taking care of her back at home. Please continue to pray for myself as well, that I don't get too lonely and that God continues to teach me in the hard times. I deeply miss all of you, but I will be visiting in a little over 3 months!

Currently, I am finishing up training with a group of artisans in accounting, marketing and personal finance. I taught a training session with the new volunteers on the work I do during their 2 months of training. I also hosted 3 of the new volunteers at my post. I showed them some of the things I cook at post and showed them my work around village. I also found out that a volunteer named Bridget will be placed near my post and 2 married couples will be placed an hour north of me. I am looking forward to cooking with them for a Thanksgiving celebration and to visiting Bridget often. It is crazy to think that Thanksgiving is kinda close. The time moves by quickly now.

I have been also writing a grant proposal through the Small Project Assistance program. A community health worker and I from a neighboring village are organizing a World AIDS Day event (Dec 1) as well as radio dramas and an interview with the Medicin Chef on the radio, all focused on AIDS prevention. I will be putting my business trainings on hold until after the New Year when I come back from vacation at home because there is a lot that will need to be done for that event.

We are in the middle of the rainy season. I planted zucchini but the chickens ate mot of the seeds. There are two plants that look sort of promising. I also made seed starters for tomato, basil and zucchini plants that will hopefully be ready to eat before I leave for vacation. I might donate the starter plants to the orphanage after I see how the moringa trees turn out that we planted soon. It is nice as well that the farm school down the road has lots of vegetables now: cabbage, lettuce, beets, and soon carrots and cucumbers. I never ate beets or cabbage alot before but I have tried a couple recipies from our cookbook and they turned out well.

My girls soccer club is on hold as well. I did not realize that all students go to village to work or to Cotonou to study and spend time with their extended families. We will possibly be trying to start again at the beginning of October when they start again with school.

Well I miss and love you all. May God bless you and keep you.

CAMP Glow and Hekame

I apologize if anyone was bothered by my last blog. I know sometimes some of the things I say are sort of on the downer side, but I just want to speak the truth. Everything I said is what actually happens here. It is very difficult for women and girls and I want people to be aware that Africa is not all love and beauty.

On the flipside a couple weeks ago I participated in a camp for girls called Camp GLOW (girls leading our world). There were speakers and volunteers who educated 49 girls on issues such as: AIDS, sexual harrassment, forced marriage, hygeine, good study skills, health and reproduction, healthy eating, as well as making crafts and playing soccer (which they don't usually get to play because they are doing housework or the boys will not include them in their games). We also did not let the girls do any "house work" such as sweeping, which the staff did, and washing dishes and cleaning up, which we did. I think it was good because it gave them more time to think and just interact and laugh with other girls.

Because of allergies I got a bad cold which has mostly cleared now after lots of sleep. I also took a girl to the hospital who had sickle cell anemia (not a bone disease like she told us). She told us that a medicinal healer performed "gregorie" or vodoun ceremonies on her and it has hurt more since then. Really it has probably gotten more painful and had nothing to do with the vodoun. Anyways, they gave her ibueprofin and some other drug at the hospital. I found out that in the states when the pain is really bad like it was for her they give morphine injections. All in all, I am glad I am covered by US healthcare and will be shipped out of country if anything serious were to happen to me. The hospitals here have rats and there are not enough beds for everyone. Also, the latrines are the most disgusting I have seen in Benin. Okay granted this was a public hospital, private healthcenters have to be in better shape because they rely on their clients for money, not the government.

I have also been working with a groupement in Hekame, training the nuns at the healthcenter to run a savings and loan club with their patients. Every two weeks they meet and give money to the caisse and eventually we will start giving loans. I am not going to go frequently to this place because they are not in my commune and it takes a long time to get to the village, but I am going to keep in touch and do check ups to see that things are functioning well.

Emotionally: Recently I have been getting a little homesick. People from the stage before us are looking forward to leaving and the next group of volunteers/trainees are arriving. I don't desire to leave but I look forward someday to being able to date again and hold meaningful conversations/pretty much just having a regular social life where I can hang out with friends and family. I think these feelings come in spurts here and there when I am alone and have time to think and pray for people back home. I have found things and people and opportunities that I love about Benin, but I have realized how American I really am. I also love community living, aka roommates/cooking meals together. This is my first experience living alone; I like the ability to have my space if I need a break from the culture but I miss people. I like to walk around alot here. Anyways. I like my coworkers, my work partners, i love my friends and the kids; I can't wait to get back to village to see my neighbors new baby. I let you see a little bit of my heart but i will try to not to complain much. I am happy and content here and I most of the time at peace. Okay love you all.