Return

I got back to Burkina from Benin and Togo about a week ago and have been busy since my return. Benin was awesome! I will be describing it in the following entries.

I returned to village after having a series of meetings in Ouaga. There was a networking dinner, my Community Health and AIDS Task force meeting, an all-committee meeting and lastly a meeting with the new response volunteers.

The networking dinner was really great. I was lucky to hear the stories behind two successful women in international development and rack their brains for advice and insights. The dinner seemed to reaffirm that I am on the right track based on the responses I received.

The CHAT meeting went well. We welcomed the new members, reviewed the AIDS Day project, talked about Coaching for Hope, advertised the Malaria/HIV trainings that are coming up and discussed our plans for Malaria Month in April. Sounds busy, right?

The AIDS Day projects seemed to have gone very well in the communities where it is complete. We received the last grant last week, so we'll be starting the last leg of the project this week. We are planning at least two partnerships with the UK-based NGO Coaching for Hope which integrates HIV education with soccer drills to create a 8 day camp. We train facilitators and volunteers how to do the camp and they recreate it in village. In conjunction with our new emphasis on the "High Five" (those activities that are required of every volunteer in Burkina) we have began the planning of a training that will reinforce the abilities to address malaria and HIV in communities. Our Malaria packet is finally drafted and available on pcburkina.org. We are encouraging volunteers to participate.

It is only 2 months before my Close of Service Conference which means only 6 months until my pinning ceremony. Scary! I am still waiting on information before I make a decision about what my next step will be. It will be very exciting, though! Keep your fingers crossed.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Airtel Burkina Faso.