Eco-Health Camp Kankossa

Earlier this month was Eco-Health Camp, an annual project that Peace Corps does for girls in Mauritania. Volunteers from around the country each bring two girls to the camp, which this year was at my site, to learn about health and environmental issues like malaria, AIDS and STD's, hygiene, deforestation, and water conservation. For most of the girls, it was the farthest that they had ever traveled from home. The camp was a huge success-it girwas so fun to see groups interacting who usually wouldn't and girls doing things that they normally don't get to do, like games, sports, and silly songs.There were three different ethnic groups represented, so we did lessons in 3 languages during the day and then did group activities during breaks and in the evening. This picture is from the final activity on the last day of the camp.

Relay races
We tried out duck duck goose on a whim during the evening sports, and it was a hit!


Working on the camp poster
We planted a tree.
Long jump during the camp Olympics
The winning long jumper!

A trip up north

School ended officially on May 28th, so that very evening I took off for the north to visit my friend Aly. Northern Mauritania is the more "touristy" part of the country-people like to do camel treks in the Sahara and visit the ruins of the ancient caravan towns. As for me, I went to Atar to partake of the tourist amenities such as ice cream, Orangina, and chicken. During my stay, we also found time to do a camping trip at an oasis about 12 km outside of Atar. This village was the starting point of our hike.
Shortly after we arrived at the pool. We planned the hike in poorly; we began at 10:30 in the morning and arrived at 2 in the afternoon, which is the hottest part of the day. In this picture we are happy and relieved because a) there is water and b) the 125 degree heat has not killed us.
Where we swam. We also discovered freshwater jellyfish!A hanging garden.
The canyon we hiked in through.

In and around Kankossa

My site-mate's goofy host family.

Earth Day, Ecole 5

I held a drawing contest at this school to celebrate Earth Day. The top three drawings from 3rd and 4th year were awarded tree saplings.
Kids in 3rd year working on their drawings.

Finished!

Earth Day, Ecole 2

To celebrate Earth Day at one of my schools, we planted moringa trees from our school tree nursery.
Here, the director waters trees that are ready to be out-planted.

I am still alive

Sorry to have been so lax with both emails and blog updates. I am still here, but Internet access has been less certain lately. Not much new; I am working on some projects and it is becoming hotter every day. More later when I am on a better computer!

I am getting ready right now to go to WAIST, which stands for West African Invitational Softball Tournament. It is held in Dakar each year, and a lot of Peace Corps countries in West Africa send teams. Mauritania sends three (A,B, and C); I am not actually playing though; hopefully just cheering and exploring Dakar.

Things are going well back in Kankossa-I was back for just three weeks after three weeks away for Christmas, which was an awkward amount of time. The biggest change in the past three weeks was that I moved. Typically I save major complaints for personal emails and my weekly chat with my mom, but I was extremely unhappy with the family I was living with for the past 5 months. I finally moved and found a room with a really nice woman and her two kids. I have only been living with them a week but already I am so much happier.

It was also strange coming back to Kankossa after three weeks away because I feel like it had modernized before my eyes. The town is three hours from a paved road, but recently got electricity. When I arrived 5 months ago it was on 4 hours a day, and now it is on from noon to midnight. The Education Inspection office just got two computers, so I have been giving them informal lessons on how to change their desktop backgrounds and not download viruses. I also came back to find that two of my neighbors had bought TV’s, which people here run off of electricity, gas generators, or car batteries. It changes the atmosphere so much. Instead of talking, people watch TV all day. I hesitate to pass judgment on this since a) it is still nothing compared to the sedentary habits of people in the U.S and b) it is not my place to tell people in a third world country that they should maintain a “traditional” lifestyle and forgo luxuries previously limited to wealthier nations. Still, it is interesting to see. The novelty has not worn off yet, although the consequences are beginning to show. One of the grade schools had a meeting last week with the APE (the parent-teacher association here) about how grades are dropping because the students watch TV all night instead of studying. Mauritania has not become the United States yet, though; a teacher in a tiny village 10 kilometers away told me they have a similar problem with kids not studying, but it is because they form drum circles into the wee hours of the morning instead of doing their homework.