Or so it has been said.
However I have come across a few questions that you never want to ask.
Why is there a scorpion in my shower?
Do preying mantis' attack people?
Did I take my malaria medication last week?
Is that snake deadly?
What just crawled across my leg?
Why is there a hole in my mosquito net?
Do bats attack people?
Did she wash her hands before she made my meal?
How many parasites do I have in my stomach?
Do baboons attack people?
The water I just drank came from where?
What meat is this? (when preceded by the question 'where is my cat?')
Happy Thanksgiving everyone
Jer.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Still here
Just for those of you who are starting to wonder if I am still there. Yup. Still am. And you? Are you still there?
Hope to be in town for Tnks Gvng. (Thats text message code for Thanksgiving). Looking forward to being able to come home in about 10 months (yup already counting), before that Aaron will be here for Christmas, that should break things up a bit. Contemplating a road-trip to Senegal after my service is ended. Wondering what life has for me after Peace Corps....oh yea thats right, I have to go back to school =).
Happy Holidays all.
Hope to be in town for Tnks Gvng. (Thats text message code for Thanksgiving). Looking forward to being able to come home in about 10 months (yup already counting), before that Aaron will be here for Christmas, that should break things up a bit. Contemplating a road-trip to Senegal after my service is ended. Wondering what life has for me after Peace Corps....oh yea thats right, I have to go back to school =).
Happy Holidays all.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Boo. Ya.
What a week! And really, what a month! It has been amazing to see how well things have fallen into place, its almost like Someone else is in control. That being the case, I have no problems bragging about what I have not done.
After over a year of nothing but fantastic ideas of what a Masters project may look like the last week produced an array of community meetings, a NGO willing to provide financial support, and one very educated and motivated development consultant helping with technical details, on our planned fish-farm/animal raising/garden project. (And for the English majors reading the last sentence I apologize). Granted nothing has happened on the ground yet except listing the villagers interested in each particular project. (The next step will be to select a Pres. Sec. and Tres. for each group, sorting out some financial stuff, and then finally the actual labor of getting the fields ready. And as far as my project is concerned, getting equipment for measuring temp. evap. precip. and soil moisture....maybe I should save my apology to the English majors till the end). But at this point all the lights have turned green.
The 15th was World Hygiene Day, and having a specific day helped me set a deadline and get a hand washing demonstration set up for the school. Three workers from the health center plus myself went to the school to talk about hygiene and give a demonstration on how and why to use soap. (It went ok overall). But before that we had talked with the school directer and will set up hand washing stations (plastic bin filled with water and a spicket at the bottom...I have the buckets and spickets...just need to find some super glue) next to the latrines and the teachers will set up 'hygiene teams' that will make sure the latrines will be kept clean. (The latrines were installed just before I arrived in village, but all last year kept locked because the teachers didn't want them to get dirty.) So hopefully the kids will now start using the latrines and get in the habit of hand washing. The next step here is to get a hand washing station in the village where people eat and prepare food. I hope to focus on this hand washing thing for a while, it is simple, relatively cheap (the school agrees to provide a stand for the bucket and locally made soap), and important.
Though these are small steps, the fact that they are steps in the right direction has provided me with motivation, purpose, and an overall lifted spirit. I am excited for what is ahead...and it has been a while since I could have honestly typed that.
But I think all the above stuff is so amazing because it is the result of something greater. It is the result of God pursuing and loving me after I gave Him permission, through my own pursuing and loving, to get closer. Or something like that...not super easy to put into words.
Ok all for now, but if history is any indication I will be sitting on facebook all evening waiting for people to pop up so I can chat with them =). It's an addiction that I indulge in once every few weeks.
with Love,
Jeremy
After over a year of nothing but fantastic ideas of what a Masters project may look like the last week produced an array of community meetings, a NGO willing to provide financial support, and one very educated and motivated development consultant helping with technical details, on our planned fish-farm/animal raising/garden project. (And for the English majors reading the last sentence I apologize). Granted nothing has happened on the ground yet except listing the villagers interested in each particular project. (The next step will be to select a Pres. Sec. and Tres. for each group, sorting out some financial stuff, and then finally the actual labor of getting the fields ready. And as far as my project is concerned, getting equipment for measuring temp. evap. precip. and soil moisture....maybe I should save my apology to the English majors till the end). But at this point all the lights have turned green.
The 15th was World Hygiene Day, and having a specific day helped me set a deadline and get a hand washing demonstration set up for the school. Three workers from the health center plus myself went to the school to talk about hygiene and give a demonstration on how and why to use soap. (It went ok overall). But before that we had talked with the school directer and will set up hand washing stations (plastic bin filled with water and a spicket at the bottom...I have the buckets and spickets...just need to find some super glue) next to the latrines and the teachers will set up 'hygiene teams' that will make sure the latrines will be kept clean. (The latrines were installed just before I arrived in village, but all last year kept locked because the teachers didn't want them to get dirty.) So hopefully the kids will now start using the latrines and get in the habit of hand washing. The next step here is to get a hand washing station in the village where people eat and prepare food. I hope to focus on this hand washing thing for a while, it is simple, relatively cheap (the school agrees to provide a stand for the bucket and locally made soap), and important.
Though these are small steps, the fact that they are steps in the right direction has provided me with motivation, purpose, and an overall lifted spirit. I am excited for what is ahead...and it has been a while since I could have honestly typed that.
But I think all the above stuff is so amazing because it is the result of something greater. It is the result of God pursuing and loving me after I gave Him permission, through my own pursuing and loving, to get closer. Or something like that...not super easy to put into words.
Ok all for now, but if history is any indication I will be sitting on facebook all evening waiting for people to pop up so I can chat with them =). It's an addiction that I indulge in once every few weeks.
with Love,
Jeremy
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Technology these days...
Skype... for those of you technically savvy people, I now have a skype account!!!!! Not that I have internet often, but you never know.
my name is jeremy.m.jenson I'm not sure how it all works but I think you can request me to be one of your contacts. And I think its sort of like facebook in the more contacts I have the cooler I am. So please request me. =)
my name is jeremy.m.jenson I'm not sure how it all works but I think you can request me to be one of your contacts. And I think its sort of like facebook in the more contacts I have the cooler I am. So please request me. =)
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