back in Benin

well, i'm back from the vacation of a lifetime. we started with the annual all-volunteer conference in Cotonou where most volunteers in Benin gathered for presentations on current projects and otehr information that would make our jobs a bit easier. then the fun started...i took off for a 10 day vacation with two other girls, Tara and DeLude. We went from Cotonou over to Togo, continued up to Burkina Faso where we hooked up with 4 Ghana volunteers. All 7 of us made the trip up to Mali, just over the border in Dogon Country. All traveling was done over land with public transport. Specifically bush taxis and buses. The buses were great, we could reserve tickets and it was guaranteed to leave at least around the time stated versus bush taxi which only leave when they're full and by full i mean 15 people in a 9 place station wagon. Since it's the hot season we were drenched the whole time but it was a dry heat which was a nice change from the humidity of Cotonou. Highlights were:
1) the drive up through Togo, green and beautiful
2) the artisans center in Burkina. it was huge and very reasonably priced.
3) Dogon Country in Mali. our guide omar was incredible, he only works with Peace Corps volunteers and the like. this is an ancient strip of village that have been around since the 13th century. amazing and beautiful landscape, both desert and mountains.

In other news, Camp GLOW for girls that I posted about last time has been fully funded! It only took two weeks! Please don't think that we don't need any more support over here though. I am still gung-ho about this library project, more to come on that. Hope everyone is great and had a wonderful Easter!

first signs of accomplishment!

well folks, it's been awhile. i apologize but cyber cafes just don't like blogger. it takes forever or doesn't work at all. also, i want to apologize for the smut some cyber villain posted, mama miller cleaned it up and saved my rep! three cheers for moms! so, hrere's what's been going down. i've started working on a website for my NGO, a seattle based company called www.interconnection.org works with developing ngos in developing countries, it's FREE!!!! well, almost. i highly recommend just checking this site out, what a great idea! the link i'm pasting below is SUPER IMPORTANT! we are having the third annual Camp GLOW (girls leading our world) this summer in Parakou. This is a week-long camp for 53 girls brought in from rural villages and we're partnered with 3 Beninese Ngos who work in gender development. The way this works is we write a proposal and Peace Corps puts it on the site. People donate funds through this site then we don't have to deal with the banks (saving numerous headaches). Please tell any and all people you know, this is a great cause! We will be covering subjects like sanitation, environmental issues, women's rights, why it's important to stay in school, family planning and many other subjects along the lines of empowerment. any questions, please email me remille5@yahoo.com I'm in Cotonou for the annual all-vol conference then off on a 10 day vacation to Togo, Burkina Faso, and Mali. Pics will come when the connection picks up in Parakou. Hope you're all great and PLEASE check out this link!

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.projdetail&projdesc=680-142