Hello to all! I apologize for there being such a gap between my last post in July and this somewhat belated one! My only defense is that this is Africa and things work differently here... There is no possible way I can describe or relate everything that has happened in the last 3 months, so I won't bother to try. A brief summary is probably needed, though, before I can move onto more current things!

Peace Corps training took place in a small village called Hamdallye, located about 30km outside of the capital of Niamey. Peace Corps has a kind of training "camp" there designed to prepare volunteers to go out and fulfill their service. After the first weekend, we moved down into the village with host families. This helped a lot with language and cultural integration, although we still had language and technical training everyday at the site.

As a Municipal and Community Development (MCD) volunteer, I was required to meet a basic requirement in French before I could go on to begin learning one of the national languages. This is due to the fact that the official language of Niger is French and since MCD volunteers work with local government, some knowledge of French is considered useful. Fortunately, I met my French requirement in a few weeks and got the benefit of almost a month of Zarma lessons (Zarma is one of the primary languages spoken in the Eastern region of the country).

In addition to language, we also received technical training in our future field. Although Peace Corps has operated in Niger for 45 years, the MCD program is entirely new and this was somewhat frustrating as it was difficult to know what to expect. Training focused on a variety of topics ranging from learning about and trying to understand the Nigerien government and political parties, how decentralization is occurring in the country, and how to help villagers identify community strengths and weaknesses, etc.

After taking the official oath at the Swear-In Ceremony in September, I was installed in my village which is located in the Dosso region. It is a small town off a laterite road without electricity or running water and has a population of roughly 4,000 people. For the first few months, volunteers are encouraged to go slowly and work on their language and getting to know their communities. Projects are generally started after In-Service Training (IST) which takes place in December. This has been somewhat difficult for me since I'm eager to begin working, but I realize the importance of getting the lay of the land before jumping into anything.

My basic daily routine consists of going to the Mayor's office every morning and sitting around and chatting with some of the guys that work there and practicing my Zarma. These men are definitely my best friends in the village so far and have helped me so much, I can never thank them enough! During the middle part of the day, it's so hot that everyone tends to relax and take it easy. I usually read or nap under my taande (shade hangar) and do what I can to stay as comfortable as possible! In the late afternoon, it cools off quite a bit and the whole village wakes up and becomes active again. I usually go and sit with some of my women neighbors around this time and "help" them pound grain (I'm too weak to actually do anything!) play with the kids, and just generally socialize. Since there's no electricity in the village, bedtime usually follows pretty quickly after this!

I'm fortunate enough to have a neighboring volunteer who lives about 2 km away. This has been incredibly helpful since she speaks fluent Zarma and is very well integrated and can help me navigate the culture. One of the projects she has been working on is a radio show which broadcasts out of the regional capital. It is a weekly 30 minute program she does entirely in Zarma where she talks about American culture and does sensibilizations on things like nutrition, birth spacing, the environment, etc. Radio is really popular in Niger and is a great way to communicate with large groups of people since literacy rates are so low. Last week I went with her to see how radio operates in Niger and even got to talk a little bit on air in my (awful!) Zarma. It was a lot of fun. One of the high points occurred when a friend from my Mayor's office called me to say that my village was listening to the program!

I'm currently considering other various projects to begin after IST, but haven't made any definite plans yet. I still need to work on my language and discuss with my community their ideas for improving the village and their lives.