Old post

Written weeks ago. Sorry, I forgot to blog last time I was in town.

After many phone calls, text messages, complaints, and going to town three weeks in a row (not fun) I got the money to help my Malihai (environment club) kids to go to Mikumi National Park! I had been contcting the district environment guy, and he had kept putting me off, saying he'd call later in the week, week after week. I talked to my APCD at Peace Corps and was told to go to the guy's office. I did, same thing happened. The next week, I went to the head honcho's office, the district director. He called in the environment guy, after he left, I was told that the environment office had over drafted their bank account and had no money to give me. Maybe that's why he kept stalling, he didn't want to admit that. Luckily, since I wanted to take secondary school students, we talked the department of secondary education into funding it. I got what should be half the cost of the trip, bringing the cost to the students to about $15 each for a 2-day trip. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

My girls program started up again. We got to learn all about the menstrual cycle! Then we made necklaces with beads representing the different parts of the cycle. They wear them around the village, even though they were loose enough to reach their shoulders, and I wear mine to be supportive. We also covered natural family planning (rhythm method), which I'm not wild about because I'm afraid they'll use that rather than the abstinence message. Pregnancy is especially damaging to girls here. If you get pregnant, you are not allowed to finish your education. But on the other hand, it’s the only family planning method available to them, and where else are they going to learn it? Since it's at the primary school, we aren't allowed to teach about condoms, not even with HIV prevention. But a few girls asked questions about them, and we can't just not answer their questions, right? So we got them information that way.

In other news, I nearly got run over by a run-away donkey cart, which gave me heart palpitations for about 10 minutes afterward. I found some women drumming in a field one day and got invited to play with them the next day. They neglected to mention that they were playing at a funeral, but no big deal. I still wish someone had told me who had died, though.