Extension

So I decided that I want to complete another year of service in Benin. There are a few positions that I am interested in here. So I'm going to put in my applications and see what happens. I believe that if I want to have a career in the foreign service, staying overseas for a extended period of time would be beneficial. I hope to better my French speaking skills, increase my work load a little more, and gain more health work experience at the NGO level to increase my chances to get into graduate school. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is my first choice and anything that will increase my chances of getting into the program would be a help. I also am looking into Tufts, and The University of Maryland. We'll see what happens. I know I probably upset many people from home, but this is best for me. I enjoy the work that I'm doing so I might as well continue doing the things that I love. As far as I know, nothing has been promised to me at home so I might as well do what I can for myself here.

Updates....

I was a trainer for the In Service Training last month for the 1st year volunteers. It was really nice getting a chance to see all of the volunteers from health, environment, and small business enterprise. I missed them a lot. We got to catch up on what's happening in our villages and I needed the time to hang out with them. It was refreshing.

I have been studying for the Foreign Service Officer Exam which will be on Feb. 28th. A week earlier than I was expected. I'm extremely nervous because many people don't pass. But I'll still give it a shot. You never know. It is a test on EVERYTHING! Math, economics, world history, U.S. History, computer technology, communications, cultural sensitivity, American Government, U.S. Society and Culture, world politics, geography, and grammar. Damn right? The worst part about it is that we dont have the resources here to study like we could in the states. Tips to do well on this test include reading the New York Times for six months straight.....and where will I find this newspaper here? Watch the news daily....what TV? So just wish me luck....I need it. If I fail it, I won't be too devastated. Apparently 10-40 percent pass....I know, I know. I don't sound very confident. Who would be when everybody, including the Embassy keeps reminding you about the stats?

I was a presenter at the 1st snnual stakeholder's meeting. The meeting showcased Peace Corps and the work we are doing in Benin. It went very well. The US Ambassador of Benin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was there. So it was pretty high profile. I was very happy to be one selected to give a presentation. My workparter also got a chance to present the benefits of having a volunteer which worked out well in my favor. Good thing I do work in village. I plan on going to the Gender and Development dinner next month. The dinner is really good and I look forward to eating vegetarian lasagne. I ate the steak last year and ended up regretting it. The steak was good but not as good as the lasagne. So I decided to change my order this year.

I got some packages! I recieved an AWESOME package from my friend Kaitlin. She sent me EVERYTHING. Or at least close to it. Granola bars, beef jerky, nutrigrain bars, mac and cheese (Kraft AND Velvetta), ear plugs, Ebony and Essence magazines, a notebook, GOOD pens, gum, peanut butter and cheese crakers, and INDULGENCE trail mix. OMG!!! I think I gained five pounds alone off this package. I couldn't stop eating all of the delicious goodness! I still have some trailmix, granola bars, and my Velvetta left over. I plan to hold onto that as long as I can. The kids LOVED the magazines. They rip out the pages and put them on their walls in their homes. It's so strange to walk around in the bush, enter a mud hut and run into a picture of Beyonce on the wall. I find it to be a very interesting site to see. That's all for now.

Another XMAS in Benin....*sigh*

Greetings to all friends, family, and anyone who has found interest in my blogs. Happy Holidays to everyone in the states and in other parts of the world. I hope you are enjoying the cold weather in the states because I really miss it. I would kill to eat some snow....I've been doing it every year since I was a kid. It's a habit that I just can't break. But since I've been here, I don't have a choice other than deal without it. I miss home. A lot. Last Christmas, I gave candy to all the children in my village. NOTHING was happening there for the holidays. People were just working and chilling like a normal day. I didn't even get a bonne fete (good holiday/party)? I don't think I have ever been that depressed. I went to my house and just cried pretty much all day. Not to mention I didn't get any phone calls. Not one. Sooooooo, you know I was feeling pretty down. Maybe I will get lucky tomorrow and someone will think about me. Okay. Enough with the guilt trip and sob stories. Things are going awesome nonetheless for me. I have started studying for the Graduate Record Exam and for the Foreign Service Exam that I will be taking in March. I have decided that I want to get into the Foreign Service as an actual career doing public diplomacy, be a consular at an embassy, or do international public health. Right now I am thinking about schools to apply to when I get back. I'm looking at Johns Hopkins or the University of Maryland at the moment. However things can change before I get back. The Foreign Service Exam is INSANE. A majority of people who take the exam fail it multiple times before they pass it......so we'll see what happens. I will be willing to take it more than once if I have to so I'm not fully discouraged. The questions in the study book are absolutely obsurd!!! Do YOU know what model plane hit the twin towers during 9/11??? That was a random question. I know it was a plane. And I know it happened in New York City. Soooo, I got the question wrong. I have been encouraged by my work partners to take the exam. So I'll give it a go. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!

World AIDS Day in my village on December 1st was a smashing success. Lots of volunteers came up to participate in the program. Male and female condoms were given out as well as HIV/AIDS awarness magazines and World AIDS Day t-shirts. They learned a lot and enjoyed the event. Also 200 people got free HIV testing in village that day. Also the US Ambassador was really impressed with my village and how organized things were. So things are looking good on this end. Apparently, the embassy here was so happy about it, they invited a girl from the states who works at the US state department to my post also. She came with the US embassy consulate. They were really impressed with my work in village and the consulate gave me the rundown on working for the foreign service. He was soooo helpful. I really want to do it. I really think the foreign service is my destiny. We'll see.

Yesterday, I treated myself to a holiday dinner and a silver ring. I made garlic pepper steak cooked in red wine with melted goat cheese on top. Served with a side of spinach and baked pototes. I had a split bottle of bordeaux wine from France and a big juicy mango for dessert. It was absolutely amazing. To top it off, the mother of a volunteer who I was very close to sent me a Christmas package!!! I got italian pasta sauces, scented candles (which I was always secretly envious of Steffi for getting often in her packages), cosmopolitan and trash mags (which i LOVE), tons of crystal lights and other cool stuff. That was soooooo nice of her. I needed the love. That's pretty much my update for now. Happy holidays everyone!!!!

Work, Work and more Work : )

Things are going great. Busy but great. Just finished the 12 day PD hearth Nutritional Recuperation program in a nearby village and it went fantastic! The children are looking better than when they first came to the program. During the program different porridges were made each day and the women were very motivated. Most of them made it to every class. They made various porridges with crushed dry fish, soybeans, moringa, eggs, bananas, tomatoes, onions and peanuts. They were all mixed with sugar and oils to add calories and taste. They all came out tasting pretty good and sweet. They also were given information on various topics on malnutrition and child feeding practices such as handwashing, diarrhea, vaccinations, and the food groups. Here are few pics of the program.

This is an added image to the health mural.

Learning about the food groups.

Adding moringa to the porridges. You know I love moringa!

Bonne appetit!

A mother placing an energy food in it's proper food group.

Explaining the recipes and the importance of adequate nutritional content.

The head nurse taking the roll call of the women and their children in the program. Taken at the end of the program to ensure they stay through the whole session.

The pavilion is pretty much finished. I just have to put a sealer on the paint now to make it last. We already use the pavilion to give health formations during our womens' group meetings and other events at the health center. It pretty much is a collection of health topics such as the food groups, malaria prevention, vaccinations, handwashing, sanitation and water borne illnesses including diarrhea. I left out HIV/AIDS prevention for two reasons, I didn't have the authority to promote condom usage and safe sex in the mural. Most of the funding of the heatlh center is through a catholic monestary in a nearby town. No sense in mentioning HIV/AIDS if I can't talk about prevention. So instead, I have health education sessions on the subject in the village without the monetary support of the church. I was a little disappointed at first but we have to be flexible when we are talking about health. Since I am a rural community health volunteer, the information will always be readily available if the people themselves are looking for it. People in my village have been buying the condoms at the health center so that is encouraging. Here are some updated pics on the pavilion. Hope you can understand it. No words are added yet we hope the meaning is captured in the images.

World AIDS Day is coming up on December 1st and I am planning a big event on awareness. It will be a complete and comprehensive day on HIV/AIDS education that will include films, a presentation from a person living with HIV/AIDS, a discussion on HIV/AIDS stigmas myths and facts, condom demonstrations, songs, HIV/AIDS testing and counseling for people with positive results, and a question and answer dialouge. Soooooo, it will be a big day. And guess who will be in my village during the event?? The US Ambassator of Benin!!! WOW RIGHT!!?? I will be sure to put up pics later on. So right now, I'm in Cotonou working on a grant to fund my event. I'll be heading back tomorrow because I have to bring back mosquito nets for my village. They came up with the money upfront to purchase them and I'm soooo encouraged about that. They are taking charge of their health and are not depending on someone to give them something for free. The sad part is there are no mosquito nets in the region for people to buy at subsidized prices. At least not his time of year. So I feel fortunate to know of an organization where I can purchase them to bring back to my village. I can't buy enough for the whole village at the same time but this is my third trip so far with purchasing them.

School started again and I have spoken to the teachers in a nearby town about having health talks in their classrooms. They are on board and i start my first one in this village on Wednesday. The topic will be on handwashing. They will learn the proper way to do it (with soap and or ash, and washing BOTH hands, not just the right hand that they eat with.) They will learn about microbes and worms and it's relation to improper handwashing and the lack of. They will demonstrate handwashing in the classroom and learn a song. I am very excited about it. The children really enjoy this lesson and I look forward to working with a new school.

Soooo, things are going great! Busy but great! Sorry I haven't been online lately to update my blog. Hope people are not discouraged by the absence and are still gaining from my online journal. I could still really use your encouragement and prayers. Keep in touch and thank you for all the support.

More pics and an update....

Training has gone really well. I really love the trainees so far. Peace Corp quote~"In an effort to increase the exposure of dedicated Volunteers in the field, and the work of the Peace Corps, the Press Office has developed a “Volunteer Matrix” of star volunteers from all over the world." Guess what. I was selected to be the spokesperson for the health sector in Peace Corps Benin! So I might be on the website and other places. Cool right?! My bestfriend is coming to see me in less than two weeks!! I am so excited. Jealous that she will be in Nigeria while I am not allowed. It's all good though. We'll figure a way to see each other since she's sooooo close. Like and hour and a half. So Nia (volunteer from the north) came to my village for a day and we took some VERY interesting pictures.

So one of my friends went through my trash and found this Peace Corps article. And he speaks minor French so he wanted to keep it to remember me and my role as a volunteer. Next to Tom Kat. Isn't that cute?!

Yes that is what you think it is. A friend wanted to sell it to me. This is NOT agouti, the bush rat that I usually eat. However, regular rat is pretty good too : ) Don't knock it till you try it.

Group picture with some friends. The boy closest to me with his leg up is my "boyfriend." He is such a sweetheart. When people ask me where is my boyfriend or husband and I need to have one, he's my backup. Everybody gets a kick outta that. But eventually, people stopped asking me. Surprisingly, his french is really good and he's been taking English lessons with me.

Yes it is what you think it is. Good thing they weren't used. This is what happens when people go through your trash. I have a latrine to put the others but I totally forgot to get rid of the broken ones I had. One woman's trash is another man's treasure. Should I tell him what they are??

Me and Nia. The pic was taken in my house. I use a sheet as a door to seperate my two rooms because it gets hot. People respect the barrier so it's all good.

Stage

Training is going very well. They are adjusting to the culture here very well. It's also great to be with my host family again in the same town. Hopefully we can go out tonight. Coming back to Benin has been a good experience. Spending six weeks in the states really had me missing my second home. I went back to my house and I found it termite infested. Lovely right. Good thing I brought back a huge can of Raid. It seems to work better. I was expecting a package to come so I could start a cultural exchange program but it has yet to come after over a month. I don't know what's up with that. There are 56 new trainees and I already feel like some of them will be my new best friends. Peace Corps volunteers I feel in my own opinion are the coolest people on the face of this earth. If any of their family are reading this they are being taken VERY care of. We have been waiting forever for them to show up and it has truly been a breath of freash air. It's great to actually be about to give advice now and talk people through their problems. When I was new I didnt know ANYTHING and it is great to see how much I have grown in a year. I will be 26 in about a week and I feel soooooo old. But I guess it is great to be celebrating another birthday in Benin. I will try to make the best of it. Dont really know what to say besides I miss Nat already while she is away for two weeks, my village is still awesome, and I couldnt be in a better place. I'll write again soon. Aizande (later)

Back to Benin

I had an awesome time at home. But home also had way too much drama. But in a way, it was as if I never left. That's the ghetto for you. It is so strange to come back to where I once lived and find so many differences between Baltimore and my village. Where I live, there are drug addicts are on every other corner, you hear police and ambulance sirens as often as the birds, and you can never have a dollar without somebody trying to take it from you. HOWEVER, this does not describe all of Baltimore City. Just up the street everything is so much more peaceful. Although many will not like where I'm living, it was very exciting to be back in it. IDK why but it was. Maybe it was the action, or the idea that there is always something to do in Baltimore. I miss my friends already. I should've spent more time with my closest friends. I regret that but at the same time, I'm hoping they understand that Peace Corps in DC took a lot of my time I could've used to spend with them. When I was in DC, I wanted to do one thing, then all of a sudden something else pops up. As if I was on a Bmore addiction where I wanted to do everything. Now all that is over and it's time to get back to doing what I love most. Being in my village, getting back to work, and seeing my fellow volunteers in Benin. Can't wait to get back. I really can't. Don't you wish you loved a new place like that as much I do? It really is a great feeling.

Oh yeah, so when I got back from Benin, I found out that my weight dropped from 146 to 137 lbs. Everybody was talking about how thin I looked. I do not understand how that happened. Now I think I'm back to 146 lbs. It was ridiculous how much food I ate. I'm bringing back sunflower seeds, peanut chews, gummy hotdogs, and beef jerky for the kids. I also have a few baby clothes for my boss and some other stuff to give out. Hope everybody likes them. A toute a l'heure Amerique! (See you soon America!)

Moving along in Benin

Things are really picking up in village. I also have a slight addiction to Cotonou, the big city. I always have a great time there and I have really cool friends. One volunteer is being transfered to Botswana and she will be missed very much. I've been really sad about it. She is one of my best friends in the Peace Corps. I could tell her anything and she always understood me. *tear* But life goes on. She is very happy about her new placement and I sincerely wish her the best. I also lost all my pictures in my camera so I'm really pissed about that.

Now here's the good news

I have been selected to be a volunteer trainer for the next group coming in July! I'm really excited about it. I will be helping out with child nutrition training and will be taking volunteers to my village during their technical visit. I can't wait to meet them. Not too long ago, I was one of the new volunteers confused, frustrated, excited and curious at the same time. It's nice to be one giving out advice and counseling when they come in with many of the same questions we've once had. It's all a cycle. Before I know it, my service will be over and a new chapter in my life will have started. I'm really thinking about grad school. I was so sure before I joined Peace Corps, then I started changing my mind so I could go straight to work, and once again, I am thinking about it. I spoke with the country director today and she really gave me some good pointers about paths after Peace Corps. We'll see what happens. What I need to do is crack open that GRE study guide again. I'll be taking the exam in Accura, Ghana either at the end of the year or early next year. I always get my work done so don't worry about me.

I also have been selected as the Volunteer Advisory Committee representative for my region! VAC reps are responsible for getting the volunteers together in each region to discuss new ideas, problems, and changes in Peace Corps policy. VAC really gives volunteers a voice and I will be with 5 other VAC representatives dicussing with the country director and administration what fellow volunteers in my region need. So it's good to have an impact.

I completed the PD Hearth Nutrition Recuperation program in my village! It was the first one done in my village and it was a huge success! We had 45 children and 28 mothers participate. Out of the 45 children who were underweight and malnurished, 43 of them gained weight. There are four color phases in PD hearth which determines your weight based on age. If you are in the blue, you are overweight and green if you are a healthy weight. Yellow is slightly malnurished, and red is severe. Half of the children who were in the yellow moved to green, and all children in the red moved to yellow. And this was over the course of 12 days!! So work is going VERY well. We have added moringa powder as a nutritional supplement to their porridge and the kids can't taste a difference. Although there is a slight color change. We also have added other foods to the porridge such as soy, fish, eggs to help pick up the weight. Each day the porridge was made with a different key ingredient. I think for the next Hearth program I will show them how to make mango porridge. I think they'll like that one. Why porridge so much? Because it's an EASY, LOW COST, and FAMILIAR food to make in Benin and it's easy to add key ingredients such as moringa powder. I had some great pics of the program but they were lost. I'll take more at the next Hearth.

We are starting a moringa tree garden in the village. We will begin planting by the beginning of next month. If you didn't know what moringa is, I will explain this miracle plant.

It filters water
High in protein, vitamin C, vitamin A, Iron
Great for diabetes
Great for people with high blood pressure
It grows in parts of the world most affected by malnutrition
It grows in harsh weather environments
It grows VERY fast

So people are excited. Hopefully, in the next 5 years, they will be able to make revenue by growing the plant and selling the powder in the market. That's my update for now. A la prochaine (till next time).