In The End : No Fim

I’m finally coming home (well eventually)!! Two years, wow. When I look back on my first day or week here I can hardly remember how difficult it was to adjust or how foreign everything felt. This is normal now, it’s my life and it seems as if I have been here for a lot longer but yet the time as flown past. In some ways I find it scarier going back to the U.S. rather than when I was leaving the U.S. My Peace Corps service couldn’t have been better; there is not a thing I would change. Most of the projects undertaken by myself and locals have been completed and showed positive results. I have made awesome friends from Cape Verde whom I am sad to say good-bye. I have had a great Peace Corps peer support network with other volunteers living close to my village and not to mention my support from back home. I want to thank everyone for the letters/packages throughout my service; they have really meant a lot and have gone a long way as I express my deepest gratitude. I am officially completing my service August 29^th! However, officially I won’t be stateside until September 23^rd. I have the opportunity to do some traveling before heading back so I’m seizing the day. Myself and a friend will be spending some time on the gorgeous white sand beach of the northern island Sal, Cape Verde (I just can’t seem to leave this place in a hurry) before heading to Europe. Europe plans are to visit Germany, Serbia, Holland and end in London (hopefully we will find it much calmer than current news). I’ve posted some last pictures of my garden project that was completed a couple of weeks ago. As soon as reliable internet is available it is my goal to have other pictures of my service and the trip to Europe available for viewing online. Thanks again for the support and see y’all in about 6 weeks!

This is the town square in my village! Awesome view, right?!?

My Peace Corps boys! (Left to right): Toby, volunteer in my village; me; Scott, volunteer living in a nearby village & Nico, volunteer in my village. We were celebrating one last weekend together.

Above & Below: Youth and employees transplanting tomatoes previously grown in the plant nursery to the recently restored garden space for growing and harvesting.

Youth of Delta Cultura Cabo Verde (NGO youth association in Tarrafal, Santiago) participating in the garden restoration project funded by the African Development Foundation. 30 youth and employees participated in a 5 day hands on training involving sessions on theoretical and practical gardening skills as well as sustainable agricultural practices.

Photos!

My friend Ja and I posing for the camera!

Compared to the before picture you can see here we have placed the fencing posts around the garden area. The next step is to install the fencing and create our plant nursery.

Delta Cultura youth and employees turning up the soil in preparation to begin planting.

H2O...Drip Drip

Oh yes, Tarrafal is my home...through thick and thin. Quite often my home doesn't have electricity and water. No big deal, it is as expected. Currently, we haven't had water for nearly a week. This is a major problem. Normally we have running water for an hour or two each morning. Just long enough to fill up the various buckets in your house for later use. There is never running water at any given point during the day for usage. Always you use water taken from the buckets you prepared in the morning, and hopefully your supply doesn't run out. My supply has run out. Last time this occurred, this past summer, the village went an entire two weeks without water and electricity. This was due to the motor at the power plant breaking down. It took two weeks for the plant to get another up and running. Showers were scarce or taken in the ocean, washing clothes was not an option and I was completely out of contact with Peace Corps the entire time, fun. I was informed today that our Municipal Hall is responsible for our water shortage. Apparently Municipal Hall is in charge of paying the electricity in order to generate water disbursements. One problem, Municipal Hall is unable to pay the electric company so the power has been cut off. This directly affects the entire village because no one is receiving water. Question, if the Municipal Hall can't afford to pay its electricity bills how is a village or better yet a city (we were recently deemed a city) supposed to be functional? Guess its back to showers in the ocean or showering with a 1.5 liter bottle of water bought at the store and wearing dirty clothes while trying to smother the musty smell with lotion, deodorant and cheap sprays. I am lucky enough that bottled water can be found at the store and my water conservation skills are improving...that much I have the Municipal Hall to thank for.

*Note* I chose to share my feelings on this subject not as a means to complain or blow off steam...just as an entertaining read. I actually find the whole ordeal humorous and it brings another topic to discuss during the day.

Home

Here is an impeccable snapshot of my village from the mountain. You can see our beaches and how the town is laid out. Above the main cluster of buildings you can see another small cluster of buildings which is the next village about 3K away. My primary assignment with the farmers association is located between these two villages on the coast. The agricultural fields span the entire area between.

This is home.

As the end of my service is winding down with 4 months to go I am involved in multiple projects. One of which is the garden restoration at the youth center. We have had some setbacks but that is as expected and will be starting construction within the next two weeks. Other volunteers and myself are creating an HIV/AIDS overnight camp for youth that will take place once school is out for the summer in July. I am also in the planning stages of another summer English course with the city hall in my village. This weekend I am participating in a Global Volunteer event located at the capital. It will be similar to an informational fair and Peace Corps will have a booth set up with photos of projects and information to share with the public. So, as my service is wrapping up I find myself super busy and the time running by faster and faster. I feel like I will be stateside before I know it!

I recently returned from a 2 week trip to Senegal, West Africa. Jumped on buses, cars and a camel to trek the country and see everything I could. O.K. Maybe I didn't trek cross country on a camel, but I at least got to ride one! Will be posting pictures as soon as a can, although my access to internet isn't that great so you might have to wait until I am back in the states to see the entire album...including my Cape Verde album, of course.

N ta spera todo mundo sta fixi e vida sta dretu! --- I hope everyone is well and life is good!

Working Together

I am highly involved with the non-profit youth association in my village, Delta Cultura, creating opportunities for the center to grow and provide for youth. This youth association, another Peace Corps volunteer and I have written a proposal to raise funds for providing the association with a youth library and resource center. Our proposal has been approved by the Peace Corps Partnership Program which is a program used to raise such funds for Peace Corps volunteer projects around the world. This website located below accepts donations and provides further information regarding our project. If you know anyone else who might be interested in our project please share!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=655-029

Pre Project

This is Delta Cultura, the German-Austrian-Cape Verdean youth association I am working with to restore their garden space. The youth center is located just above my village and activities include a football school with approximately 150 boys, two batuku (traditional drumming) groups of 20 girls each, pupil mentoring, ICT/fight digital divide, painting workshops, professional trainings, computer and language trainings as well as an afterschool program for girls.

Here is the 400 m² garden space where we will be planting and harvesting as well as installing a fence and drip irrigation.

Helllloooo!!!

Friends and family, I am well overdue for an official update as to how/what I am doing in Cape Verde. With only 6ish months left in my Peace Corps service I shall provide you all with one. I have just started a project to restore a garden space at a youth center and connect two water tanks, one of which is using recycled water. These two tanks will be used to irrigate the garden and the youth at the center will be maintaining and selling the produce. I finished writing a proposal to receive funding on this project in November and we were granted the money in February from the African Development Foundation based in Washington, D.C. Here is a picture of myself and colleagues creating a plant nursery to begin growing the vegetables that will be transplanted to the youth center. Hopefully soon I will be able to upload some before pictures of the center garden space that we will be restoring.



I am currently teaching a 6 month English course for the farmers association I am assigned to. We meet three times a week and the course is taking place until the end of my service. Teaching English has been a challenge in having to actually learn grammar rules myself and finding fun and interesting ways to present the material.
With only 6 months left in my service thoughts of America are becoming more frequent. I am still enjoying my time here and looking for further opportunities to create projects or make a difference somehow, somewhere or in someone's life. The thought of going back to the states is almost scarier than when I left the states to come to Cape Verde. When the time comes though I know I will be ready and anxious to see everyone. Until next time!

Wahoo!!

View of Tarrafal (my village) from the black sand beach off the village of Ribeira das Pratas. My village is located below the mountain Monte Graciosa and is a seaside village and fishing port on the northwestern coast of the island.








Rooftop view of the layout of Tarrafal. Houses are spaced quite close to one another leaving small alley ways to maneuver through neighborhoods. Set in the center of the village is a small town square and houses continue until the coast.





Coming down the mountain from the national park, Serra Malagueta. Once again you can see Tarrafal located below the small mountain on the coast. This is one of my favorite views on the island. Driving down the mountain after a trip to the capital and seeing my village off in the distance feels like coming home...and my home, it is.

Sometimes the waves are so enormous you can see them forming and breaking from the mountainside, cool!!


My beach! This is the only white sand beach located on the island. In this picture the sand is wet due to high tide and huge waves that sometimes splash into this cabana located at the end of the beach...unbelievable, I know.

The mountain behind is Monte Graciosa, Tarrafal is located directly behind this photo.








This is the other end of the beach (opposite the cabana) where the fishing boats are docked, or pulled up on the sand rather. Took this picture at 7 am when the fishermen were unloading and ladies were preparing to sell fish at the market. The fish seen here in the bucket are flying fish.


View from the beach looking into the bay. There are also a few fishing boats and maybe a couple of boats passing through on their way to Brazil, Canaries or Northern islands.

During December and January we are blessed with big waves like this one. Lots of fun trying not to be clobbered by one!








Myself and Nico, another Peace Corps volunteer in Tarrafal. We are at a friends dance club helping out before the night starts.