Update

Wow...the month of March just flew by! I spent my days meeting with people to discuss future projects, travelling in country and having some work done at my house. So I actually feel like I have started working (woo-hoo!). These are the projects that I am working on right now:            

• bringing computers to Dahra (on hold at the moment due to the fact that several people are involved);
• trying to figure out a Waste Management solution for Dahran(almost impossible as the Mayor's office wants to "work" with me but are unwilling to produce any sort of financing);
• starting a garden with a women's group;
• teaching English to a small group of gentlemen;
• creating a "green" space at the local middle school;
•  starting a tree nursury at my house
• planning a Girls' Leadership camp for individuals selected by our Michelle Sylvester scholarship (will explain more in a later post)
• painting a mural at a local elementary school

I am also still reading and researching for my Capstone project as well...

Some notable events from the month of March until now:

• Our Country Director came out to visit, so I was able to tag along and see some other volunteer sites :). It was really neat to see what other volunteers are up to in my region. We all talk a lot, but to be able to see first-hand is pretty cool and gives me hope for my future work.

• I had to go to Dakar twice. It turns out that I have been clenching my teeth in my sleep which has in turn caused some issues with my jaw. I now have a mouthguard to wear at night which seems to be helping. I go back to the orthodontist in May for a follow-up visit.
• During my second trip to Dakar, we celebrated our PCVL April's birthday. We had a nice picnic, followed by cocktails and ice cream cake while watching the sunset over the ocean -- Awesome!

 

• All of the volunteers in my region headed out to Barkedji (Ann-Marie's site) to help out with a field day event and AIDS awareness discussion. Overall, a wonderfull event. The kids really seemed to enjoy it and actually participated in the AIDS discussion which was surprising. The next day, Justin and I helped Ann-Marie start a mural of the world map which will be amazing and huge when finished.

• We all gathered again in Linguere to celebrate Ann-Marie's birthday. We had pizza, cake, cocktails and camel rides! We had a slight issue with the gentleman who rented us the camel concerning payment, but the police were in our favor so everything turned out alright and Ann-Marie still considered her birthday a success!

• On a sadder note, my kitten, Punx, passed away. My friend, who is a veteranerian, is pretty sure that she had one of the feline diseases, so once she became ill, as small as she was, there wasn't much we could do to save her.
• On a positive note, I have two new kittens! Their names are Timone and Pumba and I saved them from the streets of Linguere. They are all black and brothers. I would post pictures, however, my camera died. I am now waiting on a new one from the States that Justin's dad is nice enough to bring over.

Well, that's about it for now...Thanks for reading!