Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas!!


Was nice to use Skype to chat with family for christmas. Missing the white christmas there makes me sad and long to see snow. It's been 2 years!!!!! What I wouldn't give to go snowboarding.

Also have been pestering people on facebook (in a nice way) to donate to my book project. Almost there, only $1000 left and 4 days to go! If you are still thinking about donating please do so sooner than later, would like to see that total down to 0 before the 1st.


Thanks to all of you who have already donated and I wish you the best of new years wishes!!

Also wanted to post some of my favorite pictures of the last couple days:



Sunday, December 21, 2008

Peace Corps Website ERROR

Earlier today the Peace Corps website told me that my project was fully funded. That was an error. There is still around $1600 left to be raised. But we've definately been making a dent in the total. Thanks for all the help thus far and lend me your thoughts, hopes, and prayers to get the rest of this money in. Thanks!!!!

FULLY FUNDED!!!

Wednessday the remaining balance on my project was $3689. Friday it had dropped to $1689. And now, Sunday, it has dropped to $0. We raised almost $4000 in a week. Thank you all for donating!

I want to especially thank my family; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for starting this ball rolling way back in the early fall. Thanks to the Snohomish Lions club. Thanks to friends who donated and facebook for facilitating that. Thanks to Om Musa for posting the project on his website about all things Nigerien. $4000 in a week is pretty impressive and I'm amazed to see that come in. I think a lot of that can be credited to the American sense of good will that manifests itself around christmas time. Wonder if Santa Claus donated anything....

So, my dad asked for some pictures of our place here in Paris. Here's the website I found it on originally, which has photos, floor plan, and map of the area.

Will have more pictures and stuff to say about Paris as soon as we actually get out some more.

Friday, December 19, 2008

a Return, a Conference, a Bike Ride, and an Exit


So I haven't been exactly on top of uploading this blog... surprise anybody? Didn't think so. BUT, it has been a very active last two months. Last time I wrote I was taking a little airline inflicted sabatical near the Charles De Gaule airport in Paris and now I find myself back in Paris to pass the Christmas vacation with Kelsey. Funny how life runs in little circles.


So what is it that has been keeping me busy these last two months? Well let me tell you:

First, I came back to finish the preparations and hold the student government conference I had been working on for almost a year. After writing the grant in February I finally, after many set backs, found funding through the American Cultural Center. Problem was they couldn't fund MY project, only a project put on by a local group, so I teamed up with my inspection in Gaya and used their name heavily. Made it an issue when I finally received the check for 3,000,000 CFA made out to the inspection so had to scrabble around to find out the correct way to get authority to cash it. That hurdle done, we prepared for the start of the conference.

Things were going fine until the second night as I was going to be I had a sudden feeling of dread thinking back to a conversation I had had with my 'supervisor' at the Peace Corps over the hotel rooms we would rent for participants. Somehow, two months after this conversation, I suddenly knew we had miscommunicated on hotel room prices. She meant 13000CFA a night PER PERSON and I meant PER ROOM.Straight away next morning I went to her to ask about it and sure enough, I had mis-budgeted the hotel rooms by HALF!!! Instead of the 800,000 I was to pay I had to find 1,600,000 with a budget already a third spent. Holy Sh!t, I thought, I'm gonna have to end up paying this myslef. Well, after a little skimming from budgeted areas here and there, cutting out a planned school visit, and asking the 10 volunteers to give up their transport re-imbursement we cut the gap to 3000CFA and I was glad to cover that amount just to have the disater behind me.

All and all the conference went well and other volunteers have since held their elections or are planning them. Their Nigerien counterparts are now excited and informed about student governments and I hope that this means that soon students in Niger will have a bigger role and voice in their own education.
As far as my own elections, they're scheduled for January. Incha Allah.

Second item that I had one the plate was the 2008 AIDS Bike Ride out in the far East of Niger. The bike ride is a yearly tradition organized and paid for by volunteers. We pick a region, usually along a 150km route, and then hope on bikes and ride from village to village informing people about AIDS, how it's caused, and how they can protect themselves. It's a good time as many of the villages are small and to have 30 white people roll up on bikes and start dancing around (we have a stereo mounted on a land cruiser to announce our presence and get the party started) creates quite a stir from the usual sleepy village life. It's also a different experience for me since we really get out into the bush, away from all creature comforts, even the limited ones you have in a place like Gaya. Bucket baths were not a daily occurence, but more like an every other day thing so we were pretty dirty, hot, and sweaty, but [most people] were having a good time.
Being out in Zinder toward the far end of Niger I was deep into Hausa Land and my Zarma was almost completely useless. Well at least I learned a little Hausa, but not enough to feel confident at all.
We hit something like 17 villages in five days and hopefully made an impression and taught some people about the dangers of AIDS in an area where men will usually go on 'exode' to find work in Nigeria or Benin, often consorting with a prostitute or two on pay day, before sending money back home. It's an important message to get out in a place where people are all too woefully un-aware and un-educated. It's a miracle Niger has been realitvely untouched by the AIDS crisis in Africa.

The only other 'work' thing I have been up to is starting to collect the money for the text book project I'm running. Which, by the way, I have a deadline for donations (imposed by a impatient Peace Corps headquarters). I have to have all my donations by January 1st. So PLEASE, this is the season of giving. I ask you all to donate 10 dollars to purchase a book for a student in Gaya as a way of spreading the good faith and will towards men to those who could really use it. Thank you to all the people who have already donated, we've raised $3000 so far, but the remains another $3000. Whatever I bring in will be used to buy books, even if the full goal is not met. And actually at the moment a strong dollar is helping me get closer to the total goal, but there remains a big gap. I'm gonna make an appeal on Facebook, but please pass the word on to your friends, families, wealthy employers, etc. Thanks!!


So now I'm back in Paris. Still 'working' by blogging about Niger and appealing for donations, but really, just enjoying being with my Kelsey and eating good food. Sure, I'm FREEZING though. It's a little colder than the 100 degree temperatures I left in Niger.

We rented an apartment in the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris, up a little north of Sacre Coeur. It's a nice place, just the right size for two people, on a quiet street, but close to pretty much anything you could want. We haven't gone to see the 'sights' yet, as we've both done the eiffel tower, the louvre and such, instead we've devoted the last couple days to exploring the neighborhood a little bit, cooking up good food (eggplant parmasan, yum) in the apartment's kitchen and getting to know each other again.

Still need to pick up a christmas tree though. Will post pictures of Paris in a later post, but wanted to let you all know the new Niger news now and will post a Paris photo piece later. For now, check out my bike ride album on Picasa and the other one on Facebook. Also there's a new album of camping photos on Picasa as well.





Remember my project as you think of your year-end donations and charity! Thanks!