Letters From The Peace Corps Volunteers 2001-2002
Theses letters have been sent to us by Peace Corps Volunteers, Rosalynn Frederick the PCV from our current project, the Boure well project, Nelson Cronyn the PVC from our 2000-01 project, the Gonse, Burkina Faso, maternity ward, and Kelly Dixon, the International Relations Club President in 1991-92.
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- Wednesday, December 19, 2001 5:52 AM, from Rosalynn Frederick
- Monday, January 07, 2002 11:00 AM, from Nelson Cronyn
- Wednesday, January 16, 2002 10:05 AM, from Rosalynn Frederick
- Monday, February 04, 2002 6:33 AM, from Kelly Dixon
The Original Taillight
- Saturday, February 09, 2002 4:22 AM, from Kelly Dixon
Miss Hokey Pokey
- Friday, February 15, 2002 11:05 AM, from Rosalynn Frederick
- Thursday, February 21, 2002 1:52 AM, from Rosalynn Frederick
Literacy project
- Saturday, February 23, 2002 4:27 AM, From Kelly Dixon
Watdee
- Saturday, March 09, 2002 3:17 AM, From Kelly Dixon
- Friday, March 29, 2002 4:20 AM, From Kelly Dixon
How many people can you fit in a Toyota Land Cruiser?
- Tuesday, April 02, 2002 5:16 PM, From Amy Hertz
Peace Corps Partnership
- Friday, April 05, 2002 3:31 PM, From Rosalynn Frederick
- Friday, April 05, 2002 3:31 PM, From Rosalynn Frederick
thank you
- Friday, April 12, 2002 5:01 AM, From Kelly Dixon
- Friday, June 12, 2002 4:57 PM, From Amy Hertz
Hi Jim! I got back from brazil yesterday. I had a wonderful time. Brazil is a beautiful country. It seems there are beaches and mountains everywhere. I'm so glad you finally recieved the package I sent. I did recieve the money through western union, no problem. It seems like that might be the best way to send money... isn't that their slogan? I am a big fan of reading rainbow! I used to watch it all the time! I would be thrilled to be a part of that! I have already taken some video in my vilage of women drawing water from the old well and of a traditional baptism. The new well work started while i was away. I am still in Niamey right now, but I am looking forward to getting back to see how everything is going. I can definitely video kids at school and drawing. Sounds like the penny drive is a success. I think western union would work for those funds as well. I will send updates on both the well and literacy projects as soon as i get back out east and check on the progress. Good luck with the IC stuff. Everyone here who has seen the cards you sent me thinks they are beautiful. They are. The students are really talented. Have a merry christmas/happy hanukkah and a happy new year!
-Rosalynn
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Hello Jim,
Happy New Year! Attached, at long last, is a photo of the Gonse maternity. I wanted to take some shots of the inside of the maternity, but the batteries died. There was not much activity outside the maternity because it was a holiday. Taking a few photos should not be such an undertaking - I will get some shots of the inside before too long.
My visit to Gonse was a surprise one, and I was pleased to see that the maternity is well-used and *clean*. The nurse in charge, who had worked with PC Volunteers elsewhere, was aware of the history of the maternity and the source of funding. His only complaint was that he wants to see another PCV assigned to Gonse.
Best regards,
Nelson
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Hi Jim! Happy new years! I recieved the shirts, they are great! Thank you. I've been doing a lot of videoing. Will it be okay if the video comes home with me to the US aroundd the end of march. do you need it by any certain date? the well will not be finished until the beginning of march. I'm trying to get things rolling with the literacy program, I've run into some stumbling blocks, but I think it will all work out in the end. We will train people from each village to go back to teach in their villages. Much more sustainable. My best to everyone at Corcoran! I am really looking forward to visiting some time in April!
-Rosalynn
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So, it didn't take long to meet the village elephant. For about 50 cents I bought a bag of cucumbers to feed the Chang (some of you out there who will remain nameless may be more familiar with Chang beer). And too ensure everyone's safety after sundown this elephant comes equipped with her own blinking red tailight taped around her tail. A Kodak moment not soon forgotten. I was encourage to learn that there is a debate within the country about the elephants being used in this way. With so many working elephants displaced after the government outlawed logging, sadly this is now the occupation they have fallen into. It is degrading and not necessarily ethical on one hand. But, at the same time hauling around a couple of tourists is a lot less strenuous then moving 20 foot logs around all day.
As in Japan, Sunday is family day in Thailand. Spent the day in Lo Buri town where these wild (and I mean wild) monkeys hang out in the center of town at the site of some pagoda (pyramid-like) ruins. It is a little out of hand as the monkeys tend to hop the fence and go for a bit of a stroll around town. They also aren't very accommodating as one of them literally jumped on my head as I was trying to take a picture of the ruins (no worries Mom and Dad - I'm still bite free as of day 6).
In the evening we headed out to this river to go for a swim and have a little picnic. Ok, not really a little picnic. Instead of having three
large meals a day, Thai people have these mini-meals about every twenty minutes. I basically ate from sun up to sun down yesterday, so now I actually believe the trainers when they say that female volunteers tend to put on weight here (Are you happy to hear that Mrs. Kelly?). My family is now fully aware my weak American tastebuds as I was brought to tears by something I ate the very first night at dinner. Word travels quickly around here and I think I'm now know throughout the village as the one who cries.
Alas, tomorrow is another Two for Tuesday. Unfortunately, rather than hearing a couple of my favorite tunes on the radio I'll be getting a second round of Rabies and a shot of Polio. I've got quite a nice mix of Rabies, Typhoid, Tetanus and Hepatitis, soon to be Polio floating around in me - a walking bio-terrorist you might say.
On that lovely thought I have to go and grab another mini-meal before our evening session. Sawatdee Kha for now!
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Attention Attention....My Dearest Aunt gets the Gold Medallion for my
first piece of mail mail in Thailand!! Yes, I was the envy of many a volunteer
and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!
I'm getting quite a few strange looks as I am surrounded by a bunch of school boys all playing some kind of computer game. They keep screaming back and forth to one another - really peaceful atmosphere. I know I'm new with the language, but I swear they are yelling something to the effect of, "Hey, you sunk my battleship!".
Moving along.....
Got into a bit of trouble with the host family as I did not make it home before dark the other evening after the training session at the hotel. I wasn't along on this one as most everyone's family was ready to call in the Thai national guard to locate our whereabouts. Big cross cultural communication blunder on that one. So, I have to type a bit quicker tonight to make it home before 6pm. Yeah, never thought I would have a curfew at age 27, let along one at 6pm in the evening. So much for being Miss Independent over the next couple months.
I actually felt pretty terrible (ok and annoyed too) that the family was so worried. They went ahead and bought tickets to this Chinese Acrobatic Show for that evening which I didn't know about. Thankfully, we were still able to go and catch all but the first act. It had everything from trapeze artists, to ladies spinning plates and doing cartwheels every which way. Not the type of show that comes to Singburi town every week.
Did an intro. lesson at Wat Tuek Rha Cha School this week to get into the classroom and get a feeling for the English levels of each grade. After a mini-lesson on parts of the body we busted out with the Hokey Pokey. I rocked, I must admit it. Although, the only problem now is that I have kids coming up to me on the street wanting me to bust out with the Hokey Pokey, in the middle of the marketplace.
I get to be a traveling woman this week as I am headed out to spend a few days with a current Peace Corps Volunteer. I'm off to a village called Sangkrom which is just outside the town of Nong Khai (just outside translates into a 3 hour bus ride through the mountains here, but that's ok). Nong Khai is in the northeast side of Thailand right at the Laotian border for all you map-a-teers out there. A booming metropolis no doubt as the Lonely Planet was able to describe the place in about 3 sentences. At least those three sentences included mention of a couple waterfalls in the area. Will be good to get an up close look and feel for what the current PCV's are doing in the schools and communities here.
Alright, the cyber battle is getting a little too intense. Time to sign off. Thanks for all your wonderful e-mails!!!
Cheers,
Kelly
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Hi! Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you. I've been running around like crazy...and it's not because i'm leaving in a month. On the contrary, I decided to extend. I will be here until mid august. I realized that I was not ready to say goodbye to Niger yet. I have had so much work going on the past year that I never spent time in my village. The people there mean so much to me and I want to spend some quality time with them before I say goodbye forever. I hope to get all of my major projects finished in the next month, go home to visit for a few weeks at the beginning of april, then spend the rest of my time living as much of a village life as I can. this experience is very valuable to me and I don't want to rush out of here. So, I'd still like to visit in april if time permits, if not I will get all the video stuff to you through mail. I did receive the money for the literacy course, I will send a detailed description of the status of the project to you by next week. I'm really excited about it. The well project is on hold for the time being due to a strike by the workers of OFEDES. We're so close to being finished, I hope everything gets settled soon. It's frustrating to know that the work that should be able to be completed in a month or two has taken six months. But such is life in Niger. I will have patience, it's the only way to deal with the system here. My best to you!
-Rosalynn
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Due to the fact that we decided to train people from the participating villages to teach the literacy course the budget is a different than what I first described on the outset of the project. We realized that the cheapest and most sustainable way to run an ongoing literacy project would be to have trained instructors that live in each village. These people would be available any time of the year to teach and would not require a large salary. At first we were unsure whether there would be anyone from these villages capable of being trained as a literacy instructor since they had only undergone 4 months of literacy training in the previous year (which
was the only instruction they had ever had). We decided to take two people
from each village to take a test at the Literacy office which would show what level of literacy they had gained and if it was a high enough level to allow them to be trained as instructors. As it turns out there was a least on person from each village who's level of literacy proved enough for him to take part in the training of instructors. Now, since the cost of the instructor's salary will be considerably cheaper than we first imagined, and the village will not have to provide housing for an instructor, the villagers participating in the course will contribute to the project by buying there own pens and notebooks. We still plan to use remaining
donated funds to buy supplies such as kerosene, chalk, and paint for the black boards, but the training required immediate distribution of funds, so we used the money that was first available. The following is the budget for the training of instructors (which used funds donated by Corcoran):
BUDGET:
1. Trainer per diem............$4.73 X 18 days = $85.14
2. Food for 4 trainees.........$2.70 X 21 days = $56.70 X 4people = $226.80
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Hey Y'all,
Today was another stacked day in Thailand! This morning we had an intro. Session on Buddhism at a local Wat (temple). After a little lecture, the head monk led our group in two short medication - sorry that's meditation sessions. The first session found us in the usual lotus position, but the second was a type of walking meditation. Relaxing in theory, but kind of hard to practice in an environment where there are motorbikes whizzing by, dogs chasing you and people yelling FARANG (foreigner) at you every two seconds.
Anyway, we ended our session with a big meal at an Isan (Northeastern Thailand) restaurant for all of $1.25. Someone tell Reagan I've got a proposal for him. If he picks up everyone's airfare, I promise to cover the tab for our annual New Year's Eve Day Feast.
Tomorrow is sure to be another day of non-stop eating. The 5 volunteers in my local village have been invited to a wedding that kicks off at the tender hour of 7am. And there is no such thing as a break between the ceremony and the evening reception in this country. You just go all day. The best part is that you can't wear black to weddings here (there goes my one dress out the window). Not to worry, the women in the clan took it upon themselves to put their wardrobes together in order to outfit the Farang. Let's just say I will be looking like something out of a bad early 80's prom with an Asian twist to it. Oh, did I fail to mention that I won't be eating, sitting down or breathing tomorrow to. Mom, don't be alarmed if they call and say that I've been admitted to the hospital. It will only be because I'm going to have to have the dress surgically removed.
Other than that everything's cool. Will find out on March 5 where I am going to spending the next chunk of my life at. Really trying to plug the Elephant thing in hopes for an assignment Lampang Province up North (near Chaing Mai) or in Tsurin Province over in the East. Off to Ayutthya this week for a few days to do a school visit. I was there on my last visit (lots of beautiful pagodas and pachyderms too).
Until next time.
Take Care All,
Kelly
Yeah, here's hoping that none of the photo make it to the US.
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Hello All,
The verdict is in.....Kel's bound for Changland! I've been assigned to Surin Province which is the elephant capital of Northeastern Thailand!!!! The province is most known for (ok only known for) the Elephant Round-up which takes place every year in November. Surin is home to about 80 elephants year-round, but about 200 more come from other parts of the country for the celebration. For all you late night channel surfers out there, check out Animal Planet for a glimpse of Surin. They did a spot on the Elephant Round-up a year or so ago and tend to air the re-run in the wee hours of the morning. Yeah, I'm moving on from the Today Show. My big
goal now is to get on the Animal Planet Network over the next two years. Move over Mr. Crocodile Hunter!
Tomorrow I'm off to check out my site to meet my co-workers at the school and education office. Geographically, Surin is abotu 450 kilometers from Bangkok and is a border province with Cambodia. As I'm sitting here sweating my *%# off, it's hard to imagine that I'm actually going to a place that's even hotter. Let's just say that Surin is about a degree shy from the average annual temperature in HELL! When asked about the weather, I now believe Roosevelt when he said he saw a man in an orange robe burst into flames. But, I think I'm going to wait a bit before I attempt any of his cooking techniques (that one was for you, Jeff).
Moving along......
For the next 6 months I'm going to be based in two schools in the village of Tha Tum. My district has 11 clusters with a grand total of 65 schools. The goal is to try and visit a different cluster one day a week, but spend the rest of the time getting to know my local community. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself as I still have about a month left of training before swearing-in (at the Ambassador's residence in Bangkok - party on!!!) The current US ambassador was a PCV here back in the early days (this year is the 40th anniversary of PC Thailand), so it should be interesting to hear his whole story (and check out his pad in Bangkok too, of course).
Seeing that it is probably going to be the driest St. Paddy's day on record for Kelly everyone be sure to have an extra Guinness (or two) for me.
Cheers,
Kel
PS. The Black Dog has made it to Thailand! One of the actors on this cheesy drama my family is addicted to was sporting the shirt on last night's episode.
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Hello All,
The answer would be 13 in this case. Ah, yes a very cozy, 2 hour ride to and fro from Pattaya beach. But, a price this sun worshipper was more than willing to pay. Sorry about all that snow that keeps hanging around for you New York folk.
Training is coming to a close in a few weeks. We met the Ambassador Johnson on Tuesday and will have the pleasure of seeing him again at swearing-in. I didn't realize that the US Embassy in Bangkok was the second largest in the world. It's quite refreshing to meet a person in such a high profile position who has still remained very down to earth. A top bloke in Kel's book. As is the case with many a top bloke, his wife is pretty amazing in her own right.
All next week we are heading up a teacher training at a school about 30 minutes outside of Singburi. On April 9 I am off to The Ayutthaya Elephant Camp for a couple days to do a bit of on site research. The American guy I spoke with there two years ago has returned to the states, but they currently have a different American volunteer and a Belgian volunteer on staff. I'm really excited to learn more about the elephant conservation efforts going on in country as well as gaining some more info on eco-tourism in Thailand. I'm sure I'll manage to eat up more than a few rolls of film there, so be on the lookout for some pachyderm pics in your local post box.
Songkran Festival is just a couple weeks away. This is what happens when people live in a place as hot as Dante's Inferno - you have a 3 day celebration where people shoot water on eachother 24 hours a day. We're not talking small squirt guns here cause if your not packing your Super Soaker Mega 2002 your basically done for from what I understand. One PCV told me to put everything I value in a plastic bag for those three days. Very encouraging words indeed.
Hope things warm up so the Easter Bunny has an easier time delivering all those tasty treats your way. Lisa and Tom from Pittsburgh, PA shared some of their peeps with us. It was kind of a rough trip overseas for the peeps, but the beautiful thing is that regardless of appearance they still had that same, gooey, marshmallowy, I'm going to rot your teeth taste!
Take Care,
Kel
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Dear Jim,
My name is Amy Hertz, and on behalf of myself and the people of Sabon Guida, I send you all a big THANK YOU! for providing our funding! I was excited to recieve the letter and photo you sent... I will pass the latter on to my teacher. [I think they will like the story about the big pipe filled with pennies:)] The benches/desks are all made and have been brought out to the school, as well as the teacher's desk and chair. Originally we had planned to spend about 10,000 CFA on some large teaching rulers, but it turned out he already had them. So instead we decided to buy some for the students. I got lucky with the current exchange rate and was left with 45,000 CFA to spend, so we got a math kit for each student (60). [each kit includes a small ruler, protractor, triangle, compass, pencil, eraser, and some letter/shape stencils all in a little case] I am just returning from the capital city, Niamey, where I bought them... I know they are going to be absolutely thrilled. So "sannunku da kokari" -- greetings on your effort!
You asked me to tell you how I got here, so I'll give you some background. Im from the Chicago area but went to school in Washington, DC at Georgetown where I studied Linguistics, with minors in Anthropology and Theology. [My junior year I spent studying abrouad in Jerusalem.] Ive wanted to come to Africa for a long time, and as I was floundering around trying to find a job senior year, I figured this was the best time in life to do it. So here I am. Peace Corps, Ive discovered, is pretty unique in that its really one of only ways some random American can get to live, fully immersed, in a small third world village. It offers such an intense, ground level perspective on the country and the issues it is facing... as well, of course, as on the world as a whole and what it means to be human, American, happy.... I came here as a health volunteer, but for mysterious bureaucratic reasons was switched to agriculture upon arrival. So now I'm an agriculture volunteer who does a lot of health work. Peace Corps is extremely flexible--your service is entirely what you make of it, and everybody's is very different. Twice a week I help out at a nearby clinic, with prenatal/maternal health and child care. Thats pretty much my focus here, preventitive health care, esp focused on women and children. The
mortality rate in Niger is extremely high, and malnutrition is a serious and
prevalent problem. That, in conjunction with diarrhea, malaria, and tuberculosis, is what is killing so many children. Its a slow fight, and it can be hard and frustrating trying to change ingrained behavior patterns, but it can also be so rewarding on the smallest levels.
So... I just sent a letter your way via a friend going to the states, so you should get that in a week or two. I have also taken some photos, but it will be a bit before they get developed and get back to me. As you can see I am perfectly accessible by email I can check it whenever I'm in Konni, which is at least once every couple weeks. So please greet Joanne Webster and her students for me, and again, an immense thank you from us all!
Amy
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Hi Jim! I'm still in Zinder. My vacation got pushed back until may. I just can't seem to get to a point in all my projects when i feel comfortable leaving. My ticket is bought and paid for for may 17th. I return to Niger on June 5th. The well company was on strike for about two months. They just went back to work again last week. So, I sent some video home with a friend of mine. She will be sending it to you some time next week. There is a lot of different stuff on the tape. The old well in the village, village life, the literacy training school in the village (that went on a little too long, i'm sorry, but i did not know it was all being taped). I taped some stuff on there for my parents too- me pounding millet, it's kind of silly. There is some well work on there too. Unfortunately, the really good footage of the initial digging of the well got taped over by the extra school footage. I could have kicked myself. But since the well is not finished yet maybe i can get some more of the work while they are putting in the remaining molds. I hope some of it can be useful to you. my friend also video taped a well in her village for a well project she is doing. that is at the end. if that interests you just let me know. She is the one sending the video to you. Her name is Jessie Smith. i will send you pictures once i get home in May. I'm sorry it takes me so long to get things to you. The whole school year has passed and my projects still are not completed. I really think time moves slower here. It's the heat!
Well, it's too bad Ithaca is not interested in what you have proposed to them. I'm sure it's all political. No one has ever heard of Niger.
Congratulations on the award you'll be recieving. Is it for your work with PC? You surely deserve an award for that.
I'm headed out to my village for a few weeks to relax. It will be the longest stretch i've been there for a while. I hope that you have seen some video by the next time i write!
take care!
-rosalynn
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Rosalynn Frederick has sent a thank you letter to the Students at Roberts School, it is on a sperate page because of it's format.
Click here to view it.
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Sawatdee all,
Happy Thai New Year. The Songkron festival has arrived and the lot of us have just come back from our first drenching. After our luncheon at the Village Office, we lined up to pay our respects to the elders in the community by pouring water over their hands and offering wishes of good luck for the new year. It was really nice..... for about the first 15 people. It all gets to be a little hilarious after you've recited the same sentence in Thai to over 50 people you've never laid eyes on. Part of the deal with the water is that it is also meant to wash away your sins. I can't stay out past dark and can barely drink. Now they are going to wash away the few sins I've managed to commit within my small window of opportunity. All this clean living... I don't know what to do with myself.
About those elephants....
The visit to the camp was really good. Got to ride Nong A (14 year old female) into the Lopburi River for her morning bath. The camp currently has 84 elephants many of which are former logging elephants. Others have been rescued from the ivory/pet trade or were abandoned by their owners who were unable to afford to keep them. It was a bit of a shock to learn that 95% of the approximately 70 elephants once roaming the streets of Bangkok came from the district I've been assigned in Surin Province. A telling sign of how poor the elephant handlers are in the Northeast of Thailand I'm afraid. I took lots of pics and will get them developed in Bangkok next week.
Looking forward our week in the big city. I think I plan on spending a whole day at the movies just to get my fix before I head off to the sticks. I think I'll be squeezing in a Guinness or two as well. Take care y'all.
Cheers,
Kel
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Hello all...
I'm going to try to make this brief (I'm about to head back out to my village) but I wanted to at least send out a hello. I know it's been quite awhile since my last message. Time here is flitting away...only 9 or 10 months left in my two years of service. Everyone has started to bounce around post Peace Corps plans; a little scary, the thought of having to survive in the outside world.... Somehow it's almost scarier than the thought of having to survive in Africa was a year and a half ago. The heat, perhaps, has made us all mad....
Overall I'm doing great, still loving it here (at least most of the
time). I've just gotten back from 10 days out east where we did some Guinea Worm prevention work. Guinea Worm is this nasty worm that gets into your body through contaminated water, and about a year later (and fully grown) decides to come out, making a little hole in your skin and popping out its head. Not just disgusting, but also extremely painful. So we were pretty far into the bush, going all around to these tiny hamlets of 3 or 4 households, sensibilizing on clean water and passing out filters. It was pretty interesting. There's been an avid campaign by Global 2000 (part of the Carter Center) to eradicate it, which has been remarkably effect. The numbers have fallen drastically in the last couple decades, and the villagers were all incredibly grateful, remarking on how much better things have gotten. Our work here is rarely so obviously effective and productive, so it was quite encouraging.
The people out there have some serious water issues. Where I was, the well was about 50 meters deep, and there are some that are deeper. Often it takes 2 or 3 people, or an ox, or camel to pull up the bucket. When a bunch of people come to get water, the well dries up fast. Some women even have to sleep there, at the well, in order to ensure that they'll get a bucket in the morning. Others will wait all afternoon, and some have to walk as far as three hours away to the nearest well or pump. Realize that this is all the water for a family--eating drinking, washing, bathing--so if they don't get any in the evening they may have only enough for cooking, and have to go without drinking or bathing water... When the rains come, there are seasonal lakes they can drink from, but that is the water which gives them Guinea Worm and other diseases. Just something to think about, especially in light of the fact that the large majority of the world's water usage is taken up by, you guessed it, the US of A. (I wish I had the numbers at hand to give you. I don't, but I promise, they are shocking and quite embarrassing.) Amazing how much we take for granted!
Anyway, there's not much else.... Work-wise I've been doing this big seed bank/Agricultural cooperative thing which is kind of complicated but will hopefully provide a continuous, self-replenishing source of seeds for them annually. We'll see if it works. Rainy season has begun, in some places more than others, so everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for a good year. Honestly, the thought of another bad harvest is dreadful. I don't know what would happen. I suppose they'd get by, as they always do.... These people are incredibly resilient; it blows me away sometimes.
Anyway, Sorry if this is a bit dry -- I never write well in the mornings -- so I better sign off while I'm ahead. (Assuming I still am ahead, which I may very well not be...) Best of wishes to all of you, wherever you are....
Much love, Amy
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