Birthday and Halloween
This year, for my birthday, I decided that I wanted to go all out and have birthday week. It commenced after our annual Health/EE summit, where we shared best practices and our experiences with different projects. After our summit, we went to the beach! A small group of great friends decided that they would come along for the magical journey. We spent some time in Mbour, where we relaxed by the ocean and took a brief vacation from our lives. Then we went liquor tasting at Liquor de Warang, which makes delicious liquors from cashew apples, passion fruit, mint, and various other ingredients. After that we traveled to Tamba for my actual birthday and Halloween. I made a deal with the owner of a hotel to let us use their pool for free and I may have used the "It's my Birthday!" card in order to secure that deal. It was so much fun. A lot of people came in a day early for Halloween and it turned out to be a spectacular birthday. In addition, two lovely ladies, Katie & Sharon, decorated my hotel room with balloons and streamers- LOVE!
The next day was Halloween extravaganza. Kelly and I decided months ago that we were going to be troll dolls, complete with sky high colored hair and jeweled belly buttons. It was a fantastic time and everyone came with creative costumes, including Lady Gaga, the Black Swan, and Warblers (from Glee). After that, it was back to Kolda!
Kolda grows...
In November, we welcomed ten new members to the Kolda family. That brings the number of volunteers in our region to 38! We took them shopping for their new homes and we cooked up delicious meals to celebrate their addition. I participated in three installs (where we leave them at their new homes) and reminisced fondly upon the the time when I was dropped off in my village, 18 months prior.
Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving, we had a feast, but then again, what is Thanksgiving, but lots of food and good company... In addition to cooking up a storm, Cara and I decided that we wanted everyone to write warm fuzzies aka things that they were thankful for on cards and we read them out loud in the evening,. It was a fun addition to the day's festivities and I'm very thankful that everyone indulged us and participated in our activity. Post dinner, the atmosphere in the house was a sight to see. There were a fair amount of people suffering from food comas, asleep in our living room, and a group of people ready to continue the party.
Eye Clinic
At the beginning of December, I traveled to the far off location, Bakel, to participate in another eye clinic. It was such a rewarding experience last year, that I was eager to help out again. Like last year, I had the job of pre-op prep. Since I did it last year, the doctors didn't have to spend extra time training a new person in this position and it was just as fun. I was exhausted each and every day, but the 150+ cataract surgeries that were performed more than made up for it. It was interesting to work in a different hospital and to see how the parties reacted. At this eye clinic, we had to call in police to help control the crowds that had assembled and at some points, the clinic resembled a zoo. It was ridiculous and we had old women lie to us in order to cut the line and more than one person attempt to bribe me. At times i felt like a terrible person for not being able to help everyone and having to turn people away, but in the end, we were only able to do so much in two weeks. It made me laugh and made me cry, but having a grandma saying she can see me for the first time makes me want to do this again and again.
Cereamine
My new pet project. What more can I say about it? Well, I whole blog post worth, so I will talk about my work with this nutritious flour used as a weaning food more in a following post. Here's a sneak peek. Cereamine is made up of five ingredients that are found easily in most villages throughout Senegal. A mixture of beans, corn, rice, millet, and peanuts, this roasted flour is a delicious alternative to other weaning products... Intrigued? Read more in an upcoming post!
Christmas
I spent Christmas in Kolda again and it was fantastic! We all had stockings that were filled with goodies and we made a million cookies, delicious food, and soul warming beverages (like mulled wine). So fun and filled with so much love!
WAIST 2.0
COS Conference
I've been in country for over two years now. Close of Service (COS) conference happened right after WAIST and we discussed various issues that might arise when we return to America. We worked on our resumes and discussed everything we needed to complete before we received our R in RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). It was strange to have my entire stage reunited again. It was an emotional time because it is possibly the last time that some of us would see each other in country. I am so lucky to have served with such a great group of people and am so happy that Peace Corps brought us together.
Mali
Amazing vacation with amazing people. Entry to come...
Garden
My women's garden is finally done and the women have begun planting in it! I wish that it was completed earlier so I could have nutrition causeries in conjunction with the garden. Oh well, hopefully my replacement will want to take over this project. I need to take pictures, but once I do, I will post them.
Hygiene Week
In conjunction with my health post, we had hygiene and malaria refresher trainings, where we emphasized the importance of proper hygiene. There has been a recent increase in the incidence of diarrhea in my village and surrounding community, so it was timely to have this talk. In addition this year, the number of malaria cases spiked dramatically in comparison to last year, so we reminded people about the importance of mosquito net usage.
I know that some of these were really brief, but I'm getting tired of listing my activities. More posts to come in the next two days- Inshallah!
Peace & Work
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