work and play

Just starting my second month at post and I finally had a meeting, two in one day, in fact.  The first one was in Gazad and the second in Moudawa.  They went really well and made me really excited about the next two years.

 I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning to be ready to be there at 6:30, when the meeting in Gazad was scheduled.  I biked over to my counterpart’s house and was about 15 minutes late, and my counterpart said, “oh, you’re already here?”  At almost 7 we walked over to the school and waited for someone to come unlock the door.  We got started at about 7:45.  I gave an introduction about who I am and what the Peace Corps was and what I was hoping to do.  I asked what they wanted me to do.  They seemed surprised by that, and then I realized why.  They started listing things like build a new school, build a storage building for millet, bring electricity, and a new well.  So that gave me the opportunity to say what I couldn’t do.  I told them I didn’t have money to give, but that I wanted to work with them and figure it out together.  I said that development is slow, and if we try to just do things quickly, they won’t last; so, we have to be patient.  After that, they applauded and I just stood there with a stupid grin, not really believing where I was and what I was doing. 

 The meeting in Moudawa was almost identical, same introduction, almost same list of needs.  But they also asked if I would be able to teach English maybe one class a week, and applauded when I said I would try to find time.  That was something I had already thought about doing.  At the end of both meetings, we set dates to have meetings with the men and women separately in each village once a month.  It’s really nice to feel like I have actually started doing something.  Tuesday, I started my pepiniere, tree nursery.  Gidiki, Atikta, Therese, and Loomlay helped me mix dirt, fill polypots, and water them.  This morning, my counterpart and I planted leucaena leucocephala and will plant some fruit trees and maybe neems when we get the seeds.  So there, I am working.

 It looks like my book reading rate is going to slow down, which is a little sad…

Yesterday was Youth Day, and so there was a big thing in Mouda all day.  In the morning, all the area schools marched in a kind of parade around the soccer field.  They had performances and sang.  In the afternoon was the younger girls soccer game between Moudawa and Mouda.  I cheered loud, but we still got beat by penalty shots at the end.  After a donkey race and an egg race, the high school boys played a soccer game between Mouda and a town I can’t pronouce that starts with an S.  Mouda won and afterwards was the awards ceremony.  I happened to be sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time and so I was chosen to hand out one of the prizes.  I got to give the 2nd place prize in the school performances to my own Moudawa.  At the end of a more thrilling day than usual, I hopped on a moto to go home.  But we had a flat tire and so I walked back with several of the neighbor kids.  They were hopped up on sugar cane and beignets, so it was a pretty entertaining evening.

That’s all for now.  Hope everyone is doing well!  Love you all!