JUNE!!!

Not sure where to begin with my June email. I suppose I’ll just bullet the main points with a small description. I felt like changing it up this month
Post Vacation: I was in ville for a little over one week when I decided to start up my evening workout routine. It seemed like a bright idea seeing as after indulging in ice cream and fried foods I had gained a few inches on vacation. Well, turns out that was not the best decision. If you haven’t already found out, as a result of my eagerness to sweat it out to the oldies, I fell and broke my arm. My lady grace persona has followed me to Niger.
Recovery: I was placed on medical hold for one week in Niamey until the PC medical officer placed a hard cast on my arm. I had broken the ulna and fractured my radius, when I do something I do it BIG. As a result of my extended stay at the hostel, I got the chance to hang out with some PCVs who will be leaving next month. It was nice to share some time with people finishing up their service and hearing all the positive things that have come out of their time here in Niger. It gave me a lot to look forward to and reminded me to stay positive even in my current self loathing condition. I kept telling myself, “It could have been worse.”
All Volunteer Conference: Timing was a bit strange this month. I realize breaking one’s arm never occurs at a convenient time, but after my week stay in the capital instead of heading back to ville I headed to an all volunteer coordinated event. The conference was held in Zinder, the furthest region in the country. We shared cross sector projects, testimonials, and got a chance socialize a bit. That of course means drinking and dancing. We even had a Prom! Yeah we are kind of lame, but it was so fun.
Back to Torodi: I got some great news not only did my first proposal get approved and funded, but I was selected to be a VAT in July. Things always turn up I suppose. So I hit the ground running as they say (no laughing please). I got to work coordinating the Library Clean Up project with Ricky and my fellow Tillaberi teammates. We were able to buy all the paint and cleaning supplies on our small budget. We got together on the 26th and were able to get everything done except the outline of the Niger map. But all and all it was a success.

The second part of the project was the open house, which was unfortunately not as hit. We held the open house the following Wednesday, but the guardian in charge of the facility never came to unlock the doors, nor did the community leaders bother to show up. It wasn’t a total bust because instead of worrying about the leaders of the town we decided to have our friends and family come by the next day to see what we had done. It was very well received and it was nice for them to see what I do when I leave my house. I felt validated for all the time and effort I put into this small project. To see my little siblings playing with the chalk and reading the books all the stress and frustrated melted away. It was a very tender moment, sorry to be so sappy.

VATing: The new trainees arrive in a few days, which is crazy because that means I have been in Niger for a year already. My role will be to help with their CYE tech sessions and basically be there as a shoulder to lean on when they get homesick, frustrated, lonely etc. I really appreciated the volunteers that were our VATs and look forward to being a part of their PC experience. It’s a great opportunity to share all my silly stories and even the not so good ones. Like me they just want to be reassured that they made the right choice and that everything will be okay. Peer support is an essential part to surviving this crazy experience and I am so excited that I got picked to be one of those people.

I will be at the training site the week of the fourth to go through some training myself then I will return in mid July to VAT. It is now 11 weeks of training where as mine was only 9 weeks. I am pumped for this summer and hopefully I will have many more exciting stories to share, but I don’t anything could beat a broken arm.

My life is needlessly to say is not a boring as one may expect and this past month definitely proves that. Really though I am doing well and have learned to embrace the ups and downs. It takes some practice to figure out how to cope with it all but I am getting there.