Sanity Check

Hello my dear friends and family,

It is hard to believe I have now been in country for over 6 months! So much has happened, good and bad. I've started writing down the best and worst moments of each day to keep me sane, or keep me insane, we will see... Here are my entries from last week:

Date	Best of the Day	Worst of the Day
3/19	Seriously moved by the progress of the Women’s Garden	Cold dry millet for dinner every night is testing my gag reflex
3/20	New friend and roommate Ender the kitten	Only 10% success rate for latrine $ collection – can be difficult and awk culturally
3/21	Breathtaking hot red sunset against the silhouette of an enormous baobab Lying on mats with my entire fam under the glowing canopy of stars feels like a big sleepover every night	It is so hot that I can no longer enjoy the taste of food My little brother defaced the journal that Dillon gave me and I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to tell my parents because they might beat him
3/22	My boss Djitte visited my site, was impressed with my projects, and had relevant suggestions for improvement	Massive dust storms + 115 degree weather + no real showers for 70km = hard to imagine ever feeling clean again
3/23	Started working on a food security grant through Obama’s Feed the Future initiative and excited about the potential	The Imam’s wife died today and there is a heavy sadness about the village
3/24	Enjoyed Carl Sagan’s book The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God	I’m pretty sure this is the temperature of Hell
3/25	Mango season is here! And it is so sweet	Sleep struggles: night sweats in an inescapable sauna

Right now I am preparing for my region's Girl's Leadership Camp and I am so excited! 30 middle-school aged girls along with their fathers are coming from villages all over the region for this 4 day women's empowerment camp. We have a panel of working women from the region discussing having a career as a woman in Senegal, along with sessions on sexual health, the importance of education, and fathers working as champions for their daughters. I am in charge of arts & crafts and photo documentation, and will write a blog post on the event when it's complete!

In the Women's Garden

Tambacounda, the hottest place on earth.

Work Projects

Hey Ya'll! I'm back at the training center for a month of intensive trainings and workshops. I just finished 3 long days of Peer Support Counselor training. I am excited to be a resource for my friends and will be available 24/7 to talk on the phone about common Peace Corps issues like culture, environment, and relationship stress.

Tomorrow I will attend the Senegal Gender and Development (SeneGAD) conference. This program is the one I am most passionate about and excited to get involved with. We work on gender equality issues in Senegal and empowering women and girls to continue their education. It is a critical issue here in Senegal while gender inequality is widespread. Some of our programs include scholarships to help low-income girls continue past middle school, and Girls Camps and Men as Partners camps for fathers and daughters to open discussion on empowering sustainable change in gender perspectives.

Following SeneGAD we have our All-Volunteer conference with sessions on project successes and failures to be shared between the 250+ awesome volunteers here in Senegal. Next comes the West African International Softball Tournament (WAIST), where I will be playing on a team with my region against other Peace Corps Volunteers, embassy workers, teachers, and ex-pats from all around West Africa! Then I have two weeks of hands on Ag training, which will hopefully prepare me a little more for my projects. And finally my wonderful parents Scott and Kristin will be arriving! A very busy but productive month.

Me carrying water on my head for the first time! Heavy.

Some of you have been asking for more info on the projects that I am working on. So far, learning Mandinka has really been my biggest project, but after two months in village here are my projects and plans!:

Koupentoum Moringa Formation: In January we held a two-day long seminar for about 40 Senegalese in our area. We had discussions on the amazing health benefits of the tree Moringa Oleifera and went over how to package and sell the powder as well as connecting the farmers with a buyer. It was a big success and we hope to continue this training in other areas.

Moringa Training

Maleme Niani Malaria Day: Also in January we held a Malaria info and bug-net washing and repair tutorial in my village.

Adam on Malaria Day

USAID/Pepam Latrine Project: Partnering with USAID, the volunteer before me successfully built 30 millenium development goal approved sanitary latrines in my village. 75 families have signed up for the second round in Maleme Niani. I will work with USAID and the masons and families in my village and this project will probably continue for at least my first year.

Tamba Radio Show: I recorded a radio show on malaria (completely in Mandinka) with a couple other volunteers. I am excited to use this outlet to spread information and hope to participate in about one radio show per month.

Maleme Women's Garden: The previous volunteer in my village secured a hectare of space for a women's garden and got grant funding for a chain-link fence around it. I will work with my Eux-et-Foret (forest service) to clear the space for the women. We are discussing the women producing vegetables to sell to supplement their incomes and also working with fruit trees and Moringa intensive beds in the space.

Environmental After-School Club: I have been attending my village's environmental club and plan on helping the teacher Mr. C with demonstrations.

Observetoire EVDS: I will sit on the board of this USAID program aiming to keep at risk students in school as the assistante sociale.


It is starting to get hot again after the brief "cool" season. So much has happened in the last 4 months, and it is starting to get a little less daunting that I will be here for 23 more! I miss all of you wonderful people back home! Lots of Love, lolo