Here

Hey friends,



Well, most of you know that after much anticipation, I received my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer late this winter. After many weeks of doing little to prepare and about three weeks of frenetic activity, I (and a modest 67 pounds of luggage) made my way to Lome, Togo last week. My staging group is made up of twenty-five men and women from all over the US and some other places, too. Of those, twelve will be sharing my work in Community Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention (CHAP). Since arriving, we are doing a lot of acclimating to the weather, the food, the language, the customs, but so far it has all been good. We are staying at a charming little hostel, which has both electricity and running water, luxuries we will no longer enjoy starting this evening. Our days have been fillled with informational meetings about everything from Togolaise greetings to diarrhea. It's a lot of information, but it all seems important. Thankfully, for the health parts, they gave us a manual entitled "Staying Healthy in Togo," which, of course, everyone calls by its acronym.



The most exciting meeting we've had was yesterday afternoon, and we got to hear about the history of the CHAP program and the work it has done and continues to do. The staff here work hard to make sure we stay in touch with the needs of our host country, so the foci of the programs is constantly evolving. Right now, CHAP in Togo is primarily focused on four areas: malaria, family planning, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS. During our eleven weeks of training we will learn about the work involved in each specialty, and once it's finished, we will be responsible for developing relevant projects directed at one or more of the focus issues. In addition to CHAP, there are also programs for Small Business Development, Natural Resource Management, and Girls Education and Empowerment, so we will also have the opportunity to partner with a volunteer from another program in a joint project. It seems like we have a lot of freedom to meet the needs of our post villages as we see them as effectively as we are able. This, of course, is both thrilling and terrifying.



For the moment, we still have eleven weeks of training ahead of us. That time will be spent living with a host family for full immersion into Togolaise language and culture. During the day, we spend our time in language and techincal training sessions, which everyone says are pretty rigorous but absolutely essential. In truth, I'm really looking forward to the work and information. The downside to training is that mine will take place in a village that has no electricity or running water, so email will be somewhat less frequent, but please keep them coming, as I will love to read them when I can get to another site on some weekends. Also remember, snail mail is still a thing, and I would love to get it.



Thanks so much for all the well wishes. Write and tell me about you.



Love.