My Game Plan

I spent last week working at a USAID sponsored camp that’s meant to jump start students' summer vacation-addled brains before the school year begins in October. The camps are a week long and offer middle school students refresher lessons in math, French, life-skills, singing (?) and a few other generally silly subjects. Two other health volunteers and I provided lessons on malaria, hand washing, oral-rehydration solution, home-made mosquito lotion making and sex-ed (FYI bananas aren't always the best choice for condom demonstrations). Although the ratio of time spent napping under a tree to time spent actually teaching was less than ideal, it was great practice (plus, free t-shirt!).

I’m back in Kolda for two days this week to do another USAID sponsored event, a “training of coaches,” that’s meant to teach skills for youth outreach. I’m hoping it will give me some ideas for working with the local school (assuming I understand any of the training, which is always a question) and potentially doing some life-skills sessions once classes restart in October.

After this it’s time to head back to village to start some “real” work. The game plan for the next few months is:

-repair community garden fence

-dig garden beds and plant the first round of seeds with the women’s group

-install a hand-crank pump in the garden well

-visit nearby (and supposedly awesome) community gardens for inspiration

-dig and plant my own backyard garden (including fun flower beds)

-improve 8 wells in Sare Sara and surrounding villages (a continuation of my anciene’s work)

-2011 health summit in Thies with all health volunteers the last week of October (and subsequent visit to the beach)

-Celebrate Halloween

-continue monthly baby weighings (and hopefully a few causeries)

-Action Plan meeting with Peace Corps officials and my entire village

-observe a 2^nd year volunteer’s nutritional porridge project (more inspiration)

-help with another volunteer’s enriched flour project

-Celebrate Thanksgiving

-Potential bike trip to work off my “turkey” indulgence

-Christmas! Family! London!

-Mama P comes to Senegal

-All volunteer conference and annual West African Invitational Softball Tournament

For those of you working 8-hour days in a cubicle I’m not sure if this seems like a lot or a little, but I’m excited and now that I’ve written it on the blog I can be held somewhat accountable. I’m sure that other things will come up, some will get dropped off and nothing will go according to plan but so be it.