some new tidbits...

Hello all!

I apologize for amount of time between posts. Things have been going well here, same old really. My most recent activities have been Camp UNITE (you'll see photos above), English tutoring, and the ever-present thesis proposal.

Camp UNITE:
So, for one week, I participated as a camp counselor at a camp for girl apprentices in Pagala as part of a larger 4 week-long Camp UNITE (1 week for girl students; 1 week for boy students; 1 week for girl apprentices; 1 week for boy apprentices) planned by PCVs and Togoloese organizers. Overall, the week was a success. Originally, I did not want to take part in the camp and was reluctant even after I agreed. However, the week was amazing; the girls were amazing; everything was amazing. The purpose of the camp is to bring together girls and boys from all over the country to be united in activities geared toward youth development. We did sessions on Self Confidence, Adolescence and Puberty, HIV/AIDS, Rape and Sexual Harassment, Child Trafficking, Gender Equity, Time Management, and others. Overall, it was an amazing experience to work closely with a group of extremely dynamic and intellegent Togolese female trainers as well as spending each day with the younger girl apprentices.

Unfortunately, we also had some civil unrest during the week in Pagala. At the beginning of the week, there was a Losso woman raped and murdered on her way back from working in the fields. Because there is a high number of Fulani (an ethnic group of mostly nomads who travel around the country with cattle; however, there are some who are stationary) in Pagala due to the villiage cheif who gave them permission to reside there. Typically, when there are problems, most people blame the Fulani, whether or not the crime was committed by them or can even be proven one way or the other. So, of course, the Losso people blamed the Fulani, driving all the Fulani men out of town as the women and children took refuge in a school. In a retaliation attempt, the Losso people killed a bunch of Fulani cattle, but the next morning found out that they weren't actually Fulani cattle but another ethnicities cattle. So, basically there were three different ethnicities fighting in the streets, they took the chief hostage (but he escaped), they set up blockades in the streets, the miliatary was called in, another man was killed...it was crazy. Of course, the events did not necessarily affect the camp, the rioting was uncomfortably close to the Camp site.

English Tutoring:

Recently, I have been working with a young man who is interested in going to a university in the States. He applied and was accepted to a university in St. Louis and just needed to pass an English Language Test (TOEFL: "Test Of English as a Foreign Language") as a final requirement. His exam was in June, and he came to me to begin English in May--giving us 1 month to work together!! Of course, I was skeptical. However, HE PASSED!!!!! I was so proud!! :-)

Thesis Proposal:

Ugh--frustration. So, this coming tuesday (the 13th) I was supposed to have my oral thesis proposal hearing in some sort of online Skype conference call situation. However, we decided last minute to postpone it. Which, was probably a good thing because it was somewhat of a nightmare trying to set up all the technical details...unfortunately, we decided to postpone rather than CANCEL it...haha Unfortunately, I had already made the trip down from Atakpame to Lome because I was sick and needed to stay in the Med Unit. I'm fine now, I just had a freak episode in the middle of the night were I thought my organs were exploding. They didn't, though; all is well now and I think we'll never know what it was...weird.

ALSO-- I have moved all the old photo albums to the bottom of the page where they will stay. As I add new photo albums, I will place them at the top and then move them down to the bottom as they get old, and I have new ones to share. By the way-- why is no one commenting on my photos?! C'mon peoples...I need some reinforcement here!