Life in village is continuing on as usual, with the exception of the arrival of hot season. Temperatures are rising above 100 degrees these days really starting to notice the lack of electricity!The positve side of hot season is an abundance of mangos and papayas. Many afternoons are now spent sitting in the shade devouring sweet fruit.
I'm in the midst of planning my first major project. I'm working in collabortion with World Vision, Population Services International, the Mayor's office, and Peace Corps to create an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. I secured 'Small Project Assisstance' funding from USAID last month. The dates are set for April 1-3. Myself along with 5-7 other Peace Corps Volunteers will join a team from PSI and local health educators to travel to 4 villages giving information about HIV/AIDS and offering voluntary testing. There are a number of people here who still don't believe HIV/AIDS exists. My village is especially vulnerable to HIV because of it's locaton along a main road. There are a ton of truckers passing through, and prostitutes as well. With all the misinformation out there, I believe this sort of project is very important.
I began planning this project by first holding weekly meetings at the Mayor's office to confirm community interest in the event and select the villages. I also accompanied a few community members to visit each village chief and selected others to ensure they both had interest and agreed to be a part of the event. I am now working out all the last minute details and am looking forward to beginning the event in just over a week.
Not much else new except for a new woman is now living in my host family compound. She is my host mom's brother's second wife. She was sent to help out with all the cooking. I'm still in love with Salifu and La, my toddler host siblings. Think I might bring them home to America...kidding! Well maybe.
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