The 2009 M'Bout GMC delegation: me, Hapsatou, Keri, Nangui, Haya (our mentor), and John. Most of the conference activities took place here, the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Photo #25
The 2009 M'Bout GMC delegation: me, Hapsatou, Keri, Nangui, Haya (our mentor), and John. Most of the conference activities took place here, the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July, July!
So, I haven't done much work this summer, but a lot's been going on. Many volunteers' summer plans changed dramatically when we found out that we wouldn't be welcoming a new class of volunteers mid-June. Normally, Peace Corps Mauritania trains a new class of volunteers over the summer, second-year volunteers close their service at the end of the summer, and everyone helps out at training (first- and second-years). Unfortunately, our new class didn't receive visas from the Mauritanian government and since it's impossible to know when the government will begin issuing visas again, Pece Corps released those new trainees to other programs.
This is bad news for those of us who still have a year left. As it stands now, all second-year volunteers will leave the country by August 6 and since we didn't get newbies, our numbers are essentially cut in half.
All of this I knew before going to girls' conference in Nouakchott. Each year, Peace Corps organizes a conference for GMC girls and mentors to discuss issues pertaining to girls education in Mauritania. It's an honor for the girls, and for many of them, their first time to the capital. John and I were forced to leave M'Bout a day late due to rain (we had to wade across the seasonal river with three girls and a female mentor), but we made it for day 2 of the conference. With girls from around the country, we learned yoga, visited some working women at thier offices, painted, sewed, watched skits, visited the beach, and met girls from centeres around the country. The activities were really well-organized, and despite the stress that ever volunteer was feeling by the end, the girls had a great time. My host sister Nangui, who was one of the girls chosen to attend, couldn't stop talking about it when we got back to M'Bout last week.
During the conference, we did get another important email from Peace Corps concerning an offer of "interrupted service" (IS). Because of a recent murder in Nouakchott, Peace Corps was allowing any one in my class to essentially leave early with all the benefits of two years of service. This offer had a deadline of July 6. For a number of reasons, I decided not to take IS: my previous two-year commitment to Peace Corps service, our newly created mentoring center which would be unmenned if I left, my feeling of safety at site, and my love for my host family and friends. Yesterday, I found out that 21 volunteers did take IS, which means that by August, our program will shrink from 120 volunteers to about 50.
Fewer volunteers means a lot of empty mentoring centers, which brings me to my last bit of news. Since John and I will be the only girls education volunteers working at the same center, John has decided to move 120km south to Selibabi in order to take over their center. So, as far as I know, I'll be living and working in M'Bout next year without my "sitemate". John won't be far, but I'm going to miss him. There's a chance that a new volunteer would be assigned to my site, but I don't know when that will be.
(Sigh...) All in all, things aren't bad, just different than I thought they'd be. Now more than ever, I'm looking forward to my trip home in August to tahings over with my family and friends and come back refreshed and ready for my second year.
On a more positive note, we had a great Fourth of July gathering in Kaedi. Cooked and grilled some delicious food, hosted a talent/non-talent show (I did a circus / gymnastics-type act with two other girls), and dance to the song "Sandstorm" in a real sandstorm! I've been hanging out in Kaedi since then, but I'll head back to site in the next few days in order to spend time with my host family before my trip home. Don't be suprised if my hands and feet are henna-ed when I get back home -- my host family's been threatening me for quite some time now...
This is bad news for those of us who still have a year left. As it stands now, all second-year volunteers will leave the country by August 6 and since we didn't get newbies, our numbers are essentially cut in half.
All of this I knew before going to girls' conference in Nouakchott. Each year, Peace Corps organizes a conference for GMC girls and mentors to discuss issues pertaining to girls education in Mauritania. It's an honor for the girls, and for many of them, their first time to the capital. John and I were forced to leave M'Bout a day late due to rain (we had to wade across the seasonal river with three girls and a female mentor), but we made it for day 2 of the conference. With girls from around the country, we learned yoga, visited some working women at thier offices, painted, sewed, watched skits, visited the beach, and met girls from centeres around the country. The activities were really well-organized, and despite the stress that ever volunteer was feeling by the end, the girls had a great time. My host sister Nangui, who was one of the girls chosen to attend, couldn't stop talking about it when we got back to M'Bout last week.
During the conference, we did get another important email from Peace Corps concerning an offer of "interrupted service" (IS). Because of a recent murder in Nouakchott, Peace Corps was allowing any one in my class to essentially leave early with all the benefits of two years of service. This offer had a deadline of July 6. For a number of reasons, I decided not to take IS: my previous two-year commitment to Peace Corps service, our newly created mentoring center which would be unmenned if I left, my feeling of safety at site, and my love for my host family and friends. Yesterday, I found out that 21 volunteers did take IS, which means that by August, our program will shrink from 120 volunteers to about 50.
Fewer volunteers means a lot of empty mentoring centers, which brings me to my last bit of news. Since John and I will be the only girls education volunteers working at the same center, John has decided to move 120km south to Selibabi in order to take over their center. So, as far as I know, I'll be living and working in M'Bout next year without my "sitemate". John won't be far, but I'm going to miss him. There's a chance that a new volunteer would be assigned to my site, but I don't know when that will be.
(Sigh...) All in all, things aren't bad, just different than I thought they'd be. Now more than ever, I'm looking forward to my trip home in August to tahings over with my family and friends and come back refreshed and ready for my second year.
On a more positive note, we had a great Fourth of July gathering in Kaedi. Cooked and grilled some delicious food, hosted a talent/non-talent show (I did a circus / gymnastics-type act with two other girls), and dance to the song "Sandstorm" in a real sandstorm! I've been hanging out in Kaedi since then, but I'll head back to site in the next few days in order to spend time with my host family before my trip home. Don't be suprised if my hands and feet are henna-ed when I get back home -- my host family's been threatening me for quite some time now...
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