Paranoid Android

Kristy and I have been trying to use the interweb for a couple weeks now and with the consistant inconsistancies that has been troublesome. We have been well, working to get our Water Charity projects done, you should donate :) here for mine and here for Kristy's. Things are going well I have some new pictures of my project if you want to see what your giving to.

We mentioned a matathon march that we were going to go on with the new PCV's but due to some budget stuff that didn't happen. It was a bummer and the people who did go got lost, such is life.

The holidays came and went and I am glad they are behind us, this year was much harder than the last and we thought of everyone and love you all.

We have run away from a monster called the Konkoran (they beg for money) a few times, they pop up on holidays and are usually surrounded by hoards of people and drumming.

I hope that we can time interweb cafe being open a bit better in the future, take it easy.

Good King Wenceslas

This just in...

My water project was funded by Water Charity! Water Charity pays for the projects up front and hopes that people will be kind enough to pay them back so that they can continue to help all over the world.

I know it's the holiday season and times are tough, if you can give please do.

My project can be found at http://appropriateprojects.com/node/78 but here is what it's about.

Essau Senior Secondary School is a secondary school where students continue their education in hopes of being able to go on to professional jobs and/or higher education at either the college or a university. Students from 5 nearby villages come to attend classes.

Water is available at the high school from only a single tap at the front of the school. It is in poor condition, leaking constantly and wasting water. There is no running water in the restrooms, located at the back of the school.



The leaking tap leaves standing water, allowing mosquitoes to breed, creating conditions conducive to the spread of malaria.

There is also a small community just outside of the school that gets its water from the high school tap.

This project will create a piping system throughout the school. It will bring water to the administrator's house and to the toilets for the staff, boys, and girls. It will also provide water for the science labs.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Great news! Kristy was approved for another project from our friends at Water Charity She has been given a small chunk of money to help the school now to get the work done now now. Water Charity asks that we let our friends and family and random blog readers know about this act of kindness and hopes that you can help reimburse them. If you have a bit to help that would help others in the future (possibly me) be able to work with Water Charity too. Give if you can, a couple bucks goes a long way on this side of the pond, think about the kids.

Of Angles and Angles

This just in, pictures. Pictures from Mali and some from the Essau Schools that Kristy and I work at, I may have to work on captions but it took a long time to upload and I am done on the computing machine for the time being.

Grace Of God Go I

This Thanksgiving I find myself humbled again because of the things that I am thankful for.

This year I am especially thankful for being able to get away from the trials and tribulations of Peace Corps life, if it is even only for just a few days or a half hour at the cyber cafe.

My wife as always holds the key to my heart and sanity (she loses the latter key all the time) and I am thankful for her.

I am thankful for my family at home who keep me going throughout this adventure that I set on a year and a half ago.

I am thankful for the friends that I have who keep America held together with hard work and determination.

I am thankful America, it is a place that everyone I meet wants to go to, even when I left it behind.

I am thankful for the work that I do and the people who begrudgingly support me in my attempts to develop Essau Senior Secondary School.

Next Year

This is going to be hard to believe but we have a LOT of vacation days to burn. We are in Bamako, Mali right now. Bamako is strangely familiar and very foreign at the same time. It's a sub-Saharan Francophone nation and we have never been here so we aren't quite sure how everything works. The country is beautiful and the people are friendly. With the exception of a bit of misunderstandings we are coasting along quite nicely. The museum here was really nice and we were able to see the opening of a new art exhibit. The artists were all there and they were getting interviewed and it was actually really neat. If all goes well we are going to spend a bit under 2 weeks here and will be home in time for Turkey day.

Whatever Gets You Through The Night

This is going to be my last opportunity to use the internet for a bit (maybe), so you get an update on life stuff.

Family

We have a large family now, there is a grandmother, a couple older brothers, a younger brother (post high school), a sister in law, twin our age sisters, and a younger sister(starting high school). There are two young boys (one of the twins kids), a school age girl, and twin baby girls (the other twins kids), and a quiet boy (sister in law's kid).

Our family is really nice, super helpful, and fun to be with. There is a 6:30 till noon screaming habit the babies have, but malnutrition and Africa temperatures will do that.

I am sad to report that Gambians in our part of the country don't sleep outside, so no more under the stars slumber for us. It is something that I will miss until we are able to have the means to do it in Merica.

Work

High School: Lot's to do there, I have been struggling to get the internet connection back up for a while, it should be working when I return. There are an endless stream of computer things that everyone thinks I know because I am white (white people are born knowing such things). The PTA is back in action after 5 years, and together we are gonna put up a fence for the agro science classes. Going to the National Library to see if I can train get a few people trained, so they can train all the rest.

Nursery School: Creating codes of conduct, syllabus, helping train the absolutely untrained teachers, and helping them write grants for school improvements. Maybe some live fencing.

Primary school: Computer lab, it's in shambles right now and needs to be put in working order. Kristy is trying to find funding to ship some books from our old library in Perrysburg to the school, but the bill is like $300 so we are going to have to be creative, (like causally mentioning it on a blog, send me an email if you know someone to help) there are some traditional avenues that we are going to look into.

Village Development Committee: Haven't heard from them, yet... we are expecting to find some work with them too.