so work....
i had a meeting with my groupment that went really well. we are getting more organized. march 2 i have a meeting with a second group of women to discuss doing savings and loans. i am excited about the second group because it is a group of women who come to this catholic run orphanage/center for helping the poor. they may not be able to save as consistently as the other group or give as much money, but it is cool because i am helping to form the group instead of working with an existing group.
training of trainers. i am teaching people how to teach others accounting and marketing. so not teaching yet technically, i am creating a guide so they know step by step of what to say/ what to put on the tableau. once i finish the guide they are ready to go.
i just got a pack of letters from a school i am corresponding with from back home. the students i am tutoring here are going to write letters in response to the students back home and then i will mail them off. i think they are excited about this and i hope they will be too.
i am leaving tomorrow for the fete de ghani in nikki. we are going to publicize different tourism locations in benin. i am helping my friend to create posters and i printed alot of brochures for him. it is a big cultural event that lots of people attend and they put it on the television.
i had a couple dreams recently. one was that we had to evacuate the country and i read the message wrong and didnt bring anything to cotonou. the other was that was home with swing dancing friends... josh and mike. mike picked me up and dipped me pretty low. all that to say i miss home but i also like it here. there are alot of things that suprised my expectations such as the rudeness of men, and the yovo calling (foreigner), but everyone asking for me to give them things i am wearing or holding... but i love the respect and partnerships i have made with some people, i love learning languages, and i love the kids. Children especially but also women work very hard. This is not something against men in america but men her definitely dont work at home alot. there are some but they are few and far between.
Monday, February 22, 2010
to my friends (and family...included in friends)
i love all u guys. i love hearing from all of you, letters, packages. thank yous....
1. jackie i got your letter and i love the longness, i didnt finish yet but when i do i will write u back, that doubles for brad only jackie's letter triples yours.
2. my deacon family. i love the package you guys sent and thanks mrs vanmeter for the monthly letters
3. mom--everything... packages, phone calls, love, letters
4. larry and sandy, christina and ryan, Grandma and grandpa....
5. younguns and church peeps for all your prayers
how i live, my daily routine:
get up, talk say hello to the neighbors, hug my little neighbor sister, pull a bucket of water (i take bucket showers), sometimes wash clothes (by hand, same bucket, getting more water from well). make breakfast or eat bwee... it is corn flour with sugar boiled... it is actually very good.
Going to work, work varies but right now i bike across town to explain accounting to people and use their computer to type documents.
Otherwise take a zemi (motorcycle taxi) to visit with groupments and give formations on savings and loan groups.
Come home for repo (12-3). Eat, read, take tiny nap.
Take 2nd shower. It is hot now and i can take 2 or 3 showers in a day to rinse off... sexy i know.
sometimes i will talk with artisans in village.
Preparing dinner. I cook by candle light. The electricity doesnt always work; and there isnt a light in my kitchen. Main foods: rice, noodles, yams...mostly rice... tomatoes, onions, peppers; fish. Problems with cooking: i don't have a fridge so everything has to be eaten within that meal or the next one.
Then i will visit with my neighbor friend or his sister. In answer to someone's church question from before... i was going to the baptist church for awhile but then i started going to the chuch around the corner from my house with some of my friends. it is in local language, but someone usually tries to translate for me. It is suprising how often they talk about bad spirits and praying against voodoon. I am also potentially teaching a song that i translated from english into french to the choir. i am trying to learn some songs in fon.
Killing coackroaches. This is a nightly ritual. I go to the bathroom in one of three holes in the grounds... latrines. i put gasoline in the latrine and they left. they are starting to come back but i know the secret now.
sleep. crawling into my mosquito net covered bed, sometimes reading a book, or the Bible, saying my prayers and going to bed.
so there are alot of other things i do for work... visiting my homologue, talking with different businesses, typing a manuel for this training program i am creating, talking with people and making connections that turn into something more for work. all in all this is me, more to come.
1. jackie i got your letter and i love the longness, i didnt finish yet but when i do i will write u back, that doubles for brad only jackie's letter triples yours.
2. my deacon family. i love the package you guys sent and thanks mrs vanmeter for the monthly letters
3. mom--everything... packages, phone calls, love, letters
4. larry and sandy, christina and ryan, Grandma and grandpa....
5. younguns and church peeps for all your prayers
how i live, my daily routine:
get up, talk say hello to the neighbors, hug my little neighbor sister, pull a bucket of water (i take bucket showers), sometimes wash clothes (by hand, same bucket, getting more water from well). make breakfast or eat bwee... it is corn flour with sugar boiled... it is actually very good.
Going to work, work varies but right now i bike across town to explain accounting to people and use their computer to type documents.
Otherwise take a zemi (motorcycle taxi) to visit with groupments and give formations on savings and loan groups.
Come home for repo (12-3). Eat, read, take tiny nap.
Take 2nd shower. It is hot now and i can take 2 or 3 showers in a day to rinse off... sexy i know.
sometimes i will talk with artisans in village.
Preparing dinner. I cook by candle light. The electricity doesnt always work; and there isnt a light in my kitchen. Main foods: rice, noodles, yams...mostly rice... tomatoes, onions, peppers; fish. Problems with cooking: i don't have a fridge so everything has to be eaten within that meal or the next one.
Then i will visit with my neighbor friend or his sister. In answer to someone's church question from before... i was going to the baptist church for awhile but then i started going to the chuch around the corner from my house with some of my friends. it is in local language, but someone usually tries to translate for me. It is suprising how often they talk about bad spirits and praying against voodoon. I am also potentially teaching a song that i translated from english into french to the choir. i am trying to learn some songs in fon.
Killing coackroaches. This is a nightly ritual. I go to the bathroom in one of three holes in the grounds... latrines. i put gasoline in the latrine and they left. they are starting to come back but i know the secret now.
sleep. crawling into my mosquito net covered bed, sometimes reading a book, or the Bible, saying my prayers and going to bed.
so there are alot of other things i do for work... visiting my homologue, talking with different businesses, typing a manuel for this training program i am creating, talking with people and making connections that turn into something more for work. all in all this is me, more to come.
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