I'm Not Dead Yet

Sorry if its been awhile but I definately went through a two week stint where I wasn't online once. I do live in Senegal, after all. I can't be too connected. Things are going really well and I've been busy.

Had my consultation with Saër, the entrepeneur last Wednesday and it went well. He wants to submit a business plan to a local bank to finance a fruit and vegetable intermediary business to get financing and so my first meeting with him we just reformatted the business plan and I gave him a list of things to add to the business plan, such as a SWOT analysis and marketing study, and will check back up on him this week. Actually made the appointment for today, but am in Dakar at the moment, so will have to call and reschedule.

Other than that I have been spending most of my time at the youth library. We hit the halfway mark last week. 2500 books entered in the last two months. Have I really been working on this for two months? I hope to really focus on this work and get the next half done in by the end of July. It could be my birthday present to myself: the gift of a successfully completed project! We'll see how that goes.

Spent an entire day last week at the high school where they were putting on a Café Litéraire, or a coffee-shop forum on a piece of literature by a Senegalese author. The students made presentations about the piece, everyone got coffee (it was actually coffee Touba, which they make with tea and I think is vile) and doughnuts and there was a huge debate. It went really well and even the mayor showed up to participate. I think the students were all very pleased. I am supposed to speak with Mme. Diallo at the high school about working with her on her girls group there.

Had another meeting of my girls group on Friday where we played a game on saying no to sexual pressure and then talked about making good decisions using little scenarios that the girls had to make decisions for. This week will be my last meeting with them until the start of the next school year. After work on Friday I went to Popenguine for a party with some other Peace Corps volunteers on the beach. An excuse to bum around on the beach, get away from site and to get to know the new kids who have just sworn in as volunteers last month.

Monday morning had my first meeting with the womens groups to teach IT. We had a two hour lesson and I am going back on Friday. I will be in Thiès twice a week for the next who knows how long. Looking forward to it. They are very nice and super motivated to learn, which makes my job just a little bit easier.

And thats what I do for a living. In Dakar at the moment hanging out with one of my friends who is leaving for the states this weekend. I will miss her loads. Looking forward to getting back to site today, picking up some mangoes and getting back to work tomorrow. OK, Im looking forward to the mangoes more than my work, but still.