Getting ready TO GO

And to think I used to brag to people about how great I was about updating my blog! I’m only one month away from finishing my service! Since last posting, here’s a quick rundown: Safari in Benin: AWESOME! Saw lots of birds, antelope, buffalo, elephants, and even hyenas! Close of Service Conference: Made it to the end, so Peace Corps got us a nice hotel for a couple of nights and we talked about readjusting back to life in America, how to find jobs, etc. It was nice, but the best part was getting to hang out with all the awesome people from my training class. We came in as 28 and we’re leaving as 25. A pretty great success rate for PC Togo. Couch surfing: Hosted a girl in my village for 3 weeks who was a volunteer in Madagascar. We had fun drinking tchouk and palm wine, hanging out with village friends, and learning French. While she was here, I did a Men As Partners (MAP) training with 20 men from Pagala and all the awesome volunteers in my cluster. It was amazing to see the men’s attitudes change after only 3 days! They shared that they felt more ready to communicate with their wives, help around the house, and help raise their children. Highly successful project and a great way to end my service and my couch surfer’s visit! Regional MAP Training: In addition to the Pagala MAP, I did another MAP conference in Sokodé for husbands of the women from the Women’s Conference in March. The men weren’t quite as awesome as the women. They were pretty “villageois” and didn’t really like what we were telling them about treating women fairly. But overall, I think they really enjoyed the conference and got a lot out of it. Petit à petit. Camp Joie: A camp for handicapped children in Togo funded by you, friends and family from home. My boyfriend’s the national coordinator (and co-founder!). We had a training of trainers, and camp starts this week. Today in fact. But I’m stuck in Lomé with malaria. Malaria: Well, I got it. I lost 5 pounds in a week. I’ve been in the PC Medical Unit for 5 days, and can finally go home tomorrow. Malaria is miserable. To all PCVs reading this – just take your prophylaxis! Random ending note: Drivers in Togo put such weird bumper stickers on their cars. Example – Golden Child. It’s a little white baby in a diaper crawling, and under it, it says Golden Child. Why? Example 2 – STOP. Don’t Kiss Me. What does that even mean?