Well, I'm glad to be back in Gambia and get this last year of service underway. I've been enjoying this first week back visiting some friends, attending some meetings and just kind of getting my bearings straight again and back in "Gambian" mode before I head up to Chargel later this week.
I can honestly say it's nice to be back in Gambia. Not only is the weather fantastic right now (in the mid 80s each day), but I really do enjoy the people and my way of life here, and it's exciting to think of how much I would like to get done during this down-hill slope of my service.
Throughout the rest of my service I will most likely be focusing on working with Chargel's women's groups, continuing to promote bee-keeping with men in my area and helping out (where possible) at the school. I'm also a part of a nation-wide program promoting schools to plant trees (fruit orchards and such) through "The Gambia All-Schools Tree Nursery Competition." It's a fun initiative that I'm happy to be a part of.
Of course other projects and ideas will come up along the way, but as I'm now looking to see what I can take from my first year of service to help it become sustainable through when I'm gone, it appears that focusing on these projects and ideas will be the best areas for me to promote through these last 9ish months.
Another fun project I've just picked up is connecting with a class back in the U.S. who is now a part of the "Coverdell World Wise Schools Program" (CWWSP)
Basically, this means I now have a class I am officially pen-pals with. I happen to be paired with a class of high school students from Illinois. Apparently the class had a special awareness program last fall to bring attention to the rest of the school's students about the on-going crisis in Darfur, Sudan. After their awareness-program they decided they wanted to connect with a Peace Corps volunteer serving in Africa in order to learn a bit more about the culture, lifestyle, hardship, etc... currently going on in Africa. And I'm very pleased to have this new school connection as a great outlet to help share the experiences and lessons I've learned during my time here in Gambia.
One of the main ways I can connect with the students and help them understand the way of life here for Gambians and myself is obviously through sharing questions and answers back-and-forth via email. Additionally, whenever possible, I will go ahead and post their questions and my answers on this blog, in addition to what I send them via email. It just seems appropriate that you might also be thinking of the same kind of questions. And it's a great way for me to keep this blog updated with new stuff, and not just continuous rundowns on what I'm up to from day-to-day.
I hope the winter weather is treating you well, and until next time, enjoy!
