It's sprinkled a few times here and there, but we're still waiting on our first REAL rain, which will be amazing. Other than that, things are progressing as normal. Just yesterday, our work partner (Abdou Dieye) coordinated everything to have a container full of baskets and other artisanal products from Thies and Dakar to be shipped out. It's really gratifying to see our work partners take the initiative and do this work on their own. They had been hesitant at first, but over my service they have gained confidence and are taking steps towards becoming independent from Peace Corps, which would be a huge success! In the interest of shameless self promotion, a media crew from the Peace Corps came to the villages and filmed our work a few months ago. It was made into a short Youtube video that you can see here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw3p0uhdN7U
In other news, I had been volunteered about a month ago to help set up a large Eco-Tourism training to be held before a large International Tourism Fair in Dakar. We spent 3 days having guest speakers and talking about strategies to revitalize the Eco-Tourism component of Peace Corps Senegal. Even though I'm not an Eco Tourism Volunteer, it was a worthwhile conference/training, and the program seems to heading the right way.
Then, we spent the following 3 days at the International Tourism Fair of Dakar, which was MASSIVE. There were thousands of people there, and the president (Abdoulaye Wade) even made an appearance! Just about every tourism agency in Senegal had a stand there, and most countries sent representatives from their respective embassies. One highlight of the weekend was when Senecart Tours (a car rental agency) offered us a free limo ride around the parking lot, which felt like a somewhat silly (yet fun) show of force by the company. It was a great opportunity for the Eco-T volunteers to promote their sites, and some of us also took the chance to display some of our artisanal products! Not much else to report. The World Cup is making the heat more bearable, and it's exhilirating rooting for the U.S again after last years Federation Cup. In mid August, after my stage has its COS (Close of Service) conference,
I will be moving to Dakar to extend my stay here in Senegal for about 6 months. Instead of coming home in September/October-ish, it turns out I will be here until about March of next year. In Dakar, most of my work will be aimed at media production (helping make instructional videos for agricultural volunteers) and adding content to our pcsenegal.org website. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to it, especially since two of my best friends will be rooming with me during the 6 months. For now, I'm off to watch some more World Cup matches with the host family. Go USA!!!
