This year IST was held in Rui Vaz instead of Tarrafal. Rui Vaz is technically part of Sao Domingos where I had my training but up higher in the mountains which meant it was probably the coldest place I’ve been in Cape Verde. It was really nice to be cold but at the same time I should have been better prepared. All of us were walking around in long sleeve shirts and wrapped up in blankets all day to try to defrost. I’m sure we were quite a site.
I don’t remember if I’ve written about it or not but one of the things we have in Peace Corps are committees. In Cape Verde we have a peer support network, Volunteer Action Commity, Diversity Committee, Youth Development Committee, IT committee, and WID/GAD (Women in Development/Gender and Development)/HIV/AIDS committee. I serve as a point person on the WID/GAD/HIV/AIDS committee and was at IST to conduct the meeting, select new representatives from the first years, and give an update from our previous meeting during PST. I also helped give a session on Challenges in the workplace and strategies to overcome them along with my APCD and another volunteer, Courtney. Anyways, the meeting went really well and we now have a representative from the northern islands who we were lacking.
I got back from IST on Thursday the 20th just in time for the holidays. I went on a baking spree and made lemon cookies, oatmeal date bars, chocolate chip bars, devils food cookies, and orange biscotti to give away as gifts. I spent Sunday in Morro visiting Bert and Miriama and helping him figure out his printer. I still don’t know what is wrong with it but it wouldn’t print a particular document. Miriama made an excellent Gambian dish for dinner and it made me more excited about my upcoming trip.
Monday was designated as Vila day. I wanted to give my friends in Vila their Christmas presents and spend some time with them since I keep getting called out as ingratu for not coming to Vila that much. The truth is, I go to Vila but I don’t stay very long so I don’t really get to spend much time with my friends, just with the local mini-mercados and places to run errands. I went and visited my friend Sandy who works at the Casa da Juventude and her son who just turned one. He is so cute and now walking around and knows a few words. If you ask him how old he is, he’ll hold up one finger. He is quite a curious little kid, grabbing everything he can get his hands on and wandering around the house up and down the stairs. After seeing Sandy I head over to Jeronimo’s house, my counterpart, and received a yelling from his wife for not bringing my parents over when they were here. I would have liked to bring them to everyone’s house but we just didn’t have the time and were constantly on the move. I apologized profusely and made known that our lack of visit was due to our lack of time. They enjoyed their presents (a 2008 calendar and cookies) and I played UNO with the kids until we sat down for lunch. It was really nice spending time with Jeron and his family and I realize for the rest of my service I’m going to make spending more time with people a priority.
Christmas eve I had dinner with Jacinta and her family around 9 pm and then headed out to the dance around midnight. It was a lot of fun and I felt included in the holiday. Even though I don’t celebrate Christmas it was so nice to be included. What a big change from last year when we sat around the house and no one really invited us to participate in anything. Christmas Day I slept in after getting home around 5 am and went back to Jacinta’s for lunch. After lunch it was back to sleep for me and I was too tired to make it to night 4 of dancing.
Since Christmas I’ve been planning out my work schedule/ things I want to accomplish before I leave Cape Verde and have begun applying for post- Peace Corps opportunities. I’m applying to be a leader for the program that took me to Africa for my first time as well as grad school. Before I leave Maio, I would like to accomplish the following:
- a workshop for women and craftsmen on business and marketing skills
- carry out the sessions with the micro-credit group to teach associations about savings and credit
- continue the Nhos Brinka program for children and train 10 teenagers to lead the program
- implement a camp over spring break for high school kids focusing on leadership, teamwork, self- esteem, and preventing teen pregnancy
- learn more about hydroponics and pass on the information for future development in Maio
- Hold another successful women’s day event with the Associacao das Mulheres de Calheta
- Work with established youth groups to participate in Scenarios of Africa and create HIV/AIDS awareness activities for their zones
Have a great new year and I wish everyone health and happiness in 2008!
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