i dont really know what to call this, so back in Thies

yep, in Thies again. I am excited to be here, though also kind of mixed feelings, but it is now the last week of training for the new stage. They swear in on Friday, officially bumping my Stage into our sophomore year...err 6mos. Actually, it's almost 8 months incountry...another 12 days or so.

As illustrated in my last entry, the maps at the school are basically done. i say basically becausse i want to do a little mor eoutlining with black marker on the world map and need to add the new region of senegal. however, i am considering them done. they were a lot of work and i am glad to move on to a new activiy (and the nurse is ready for me to finally repaint the sign outside the health post, which i have been delaying due to the maps). school started about 2 weeks ago, just a little over a week and a half after it was supposed to start. my village is still waiting for another teacher to come, but that may take months. hopefully not though. ive already started talkingand working with the teachers and am really excited for my apcd to come in november and meet with the teachers to better figure out what my work here can be with them and better explain the pc approach to lesson plans. actually, i have been very impressed with my school this past week. i started talking with the director about a school garden and thenext day he broughtme a huge Projet d'Ecole in which they detailed exactly what the problems of the school are (specifically low retention rates and poor math a science scores, among others). also included in theProjet was an action plan and budget for addressing the problems, through the creation of a school bookstore (to provide low cost school supplies to all students,a big issue here), improved teachertraining and qualifications, and a school garden (nutrition and practical application of MULTIPLE shool lesson, including math, science,vocab, health, etc). I basically translated and rewrote the garden part of the Projet into anapplication for a Peace Corps grant to help fund it. I spent the better part of lastweek handwriting, typing, and running around trying to find a computer andprinter with which to print it up on. My apcd turned it in for me, so now we just wait. The school andvillage is very excited about the prospect of having a garden at the school for teaching and the vegetables to be given to the students at the lunch canteen (which will also help them improve wih their school scores through improved nutrition). Think good thoughts!

Other village updates: 2 baptisms two weeks ago, only went to one, but gotsmoe Sereer dancing in, which was fun. Now everyone is in the fields, bringing in peanuts, processing millit and corn, and whoknowswhatelse. Friday was a bit of a dramatic day in the village however. A healthy baby was morning in the early morning (delivered in town,at the health post!) and the mom is a first time mom. i sat with her and some of the older villge women a bit, talking about breastfeeding and stuff (they were shocked that american women breastfeed...). however, the afternoon was when the drama happened. a 15 year old boy the next village over was climbing a tree (getting fruit or leaves for dinner), fell, cracked his head open, and died, just an hour or so after school let out for the morning. around the same time, in my village (but the adjacent one about half a km away from themainpart), a 5 year old girl died of malaria. i did not go to either funeral (i dont think anyone wanted me to go and visit the grieving like they did), but saw the village men carry asmall wrapped in fabric body past our backyard as iwas pulling water. what is extremely sad about both is that they were both so young and these things could have been prevented (malaria more sothan the fall, but still).

that evening, one of my youngger sisters stepped on a nail or smoe otherpiece of rusty metal. another sister brought aburning stick to her mom, who proceeded to hold it up to the injury as my sister moaned in pain, which is what alerted me to the entire incident. what followed was a bit of an argument between me, her mom and dad, andthe village relai who was siting there the whole time, not really saying anything. her mom said the wood "takes out the tetanus,"to which i had to disagree as the shot is the only thing that can really help after such an injury. it turned in to a passionate argument on my side and abit of a nervous joke for my brother (her dad), him talkingabout how the shot is exensive theywouldsee how she is in the morning andmaybe takeher,etc. ikept maintaining how my brother has money bc hehas 2 cell phones, lots of animals,and wants a 3rd wife (this comment got a hysterical risefrom my sisters/his 2 other wives). it was frustrating after the2 other deaths of the day, knowing that they had no intention to take her to the healthpost to get the shot unless she was dead or almost the following morning. iguess i will find out whathappened in aweek. grrr... another reason why my village needs a health hut, it will help get rid of the excuses no to go.

on a sidenote, the 90 yr old wasslightly redeemed inmy eyes after some teachers enlightened me about smoe of the really good and honorable things he has done in his past. he also has been a big supporter this week of me writing this school grant and one of the fewwho seemed to understand what i was doing. that, and pre-foot drama friday night,he also was lecturing/encouraging a younger bro of mine who wants to quit school because he didnt pass an entrance exam last year. he kept saying how he needs to go to school if he wants tobe important and help hisfamily, etc, even as the younger bro was saying he couldnt. idont know what the outcome of the lectuer wassince it went on for like 2 hours, but school starts at the middle school on monday, so hopefully he will bethere. dontworry, i still dont want tomarry the 90yr old man. nochance.

ok, time to get out of here and visit the Thies Dioufs again. thanks for reading this random post. and no, the maps were not free-handed--i had stencils.