Update about Charles from Charles' dad

December 2, 2008

Charles passed his French language test today and will officially become a Peace Corp Volunteer (PCV) at a ceremony in Lome on Friday along with about 2 dozen other trainees. He will leave a few days later to go to his permanent assignment in Nanergou. He will be lone volunteer in the town which is about 6km northwest of the regional capital of Dapaong.

Update on Charles!

10/26/2008

Charles is currently still in training in Agou Tomegbe which is about 50 kilometers north to northeast of the capital. He is living with a family in 2 rooms both of which have electricity, a hanging light bulb. The water well is close by and his latrine is working. The “father” at the airport in Lome and his wife Elizabeth is Charles’ current “mother”. She has a set of twins who are 12, one boy and one girl.

Each day consists of classes, about 50% French language traing and 50% technical skills. After training his assignment will be in a town of less than 1000, which is about 5 kilometers from the regional capital of Dapaong the northernmost city in the very northwest of Togo (638 kilometers from the capital of Lome on the coast). They are in the process of finishing his living quarters there (actually repairing) and he will go there for a few days next week. He then returns to training in Agou and if all goes according to plan he will complete the training in early December.

Charles' first entry

This is my first entry in this blog. I leave for training the 17th of September. I am a little stressed about packing. There is no way I can take everything I need for two years and I cannot even fathom what I might come in hand in Togo. I am also a little worried about my poor french skills. However as with all things it will work out. Below included a little information of Togo and how to contact me.

Situated between Ghana and Benin at 8 degrees North by 1 degree and 10 minutes East is the epic African state of Togo. Shaped like a pogo stick this state of 5,858,673 that official speaks French and many unofficial indigenous languages will be my home for the next 27 months. If you do the math that means I will return December 10th, 2010, start counting down for Christmas and New Years 2010 they will be the best yet.

My first three months in Togo will be spent training in a little town 55km outside the capital city of Lome. Once I am done, I will serve as a natural resources management agent which involves a myriad of skills from well building to teaching sustainable agriculture techniques in rural villages.

I know my absence will drastically alter your lives as you currently know them. But do not worry the transition will not be that harsh. This blog will be where I will post updates and tales of my fantastic adventures.

I will also be sad because I will not see any of my dear friends and family for two years so please keep in touch. I will be desperate to hear about anything from updates about eating McDonald's to photos of you and the new addition to sticker collection. There are a couple ways in which you can contact me. One way is through the new electronic mail (this fad seems to be staying around) my address is below. Or through traditional mail, all you need is an 98 cent stamp that you can get any post office, the address is also below. If you really want to make someone's day write me a letter, every letter I get while I am over there will be very special to me and I thank you ahead of time.

Note: if you letter is really great or something big happens in your life I might buy a goat or a smaller animal and sacrifice it in your honor, feel free to start writing now.

Address in Togo:

Charles Kienzle, PCT

Peace Corps
B.P.3194
Lome
Togo

Email:
ckienzle(at)gmail(dot)com

Puddles, Winter Coats, and Giraffes

In America, I always loved the rain. But in Niger, not so much. It is currently rainy season- and that means that the rains come every other day or so (when I first got here it was about once every three days) Rain in Niger means that I have to sleep in my hut (thatch is not quite waterproof), that I am either damp or soaked all day long (like in New Orleans-umbrellas are completely useless) , that my laundry never gets dry (and then it starts to smell bad), that there are more mosquitoes (if that is even possible), that there are frogs everywhere (you have never heard frogs croak as loud as they do in the middle of the dead silence of nighttime in Niger). After the rains come there are giant puddles and rainy season rivers throughout the fields and if you are not careful you are likely to fall in one and perhaps even lose a shoe. But the rains have some perks too. A good rainy season means a great harvest (that means more fruits and vegetables). The rain makes the desert soil grow grass and the landscape is surprisingly green. The rain brings a few hours of respite from the heat and humidity. Most importantly, the rain also brings a winter jackets. Upon arriving home, I am greeted with the usual slew of greetings (mate gaham, mate Peace Corps, mate farga, mate goyo, mate cawyan etc.). But rainy days bring a new greeting: How is the cold? On occasion I try to explain that at 70 + degrees, it isn't exactly cold, but to the Nigeriens who are proudly sporting winter jackets and sweaters, it's even too cold to sit outside.

On the way to my village this past week (we had a one week test run for living in our villages) I had my first encounter with African wildlife. Niger has quite the variety of wildlife, we have been told. But up until now the only wildlife I have seen includes a vast array of farm animals, lizards, bugs and camels. But on the bus from Niamey to Dosso at 6 am this past Sunday morning I got woken up from my open mouthed head bobbing sleep by the honking of the bus driver. Drivers in Niger think their horns are equivalent to their brakes so at first I tried to resist waking up. But luckily I opened my eyes just in time to see a herd of about 8 giraffes grazing right by the road. Niger proudly sustains the last wild herd of giraffes in Africa, and there they were just eating trees on the side of the road.

I spent one week alone in my village. And while I still don't have a latrine, a wall around my concession, or a shade hangar- I do have a three room square house with a metal roof. My house is really too big for someone whose belongings fit into two duffle bags but that means that I have tons of room to decorate. For the first time ever (probably in my entire life) I was completely alone (not even cell reception). And what I figured out was that I have plenty of time to try a variety of different hobbies. So on that note, I am open to suggestions from all of you on what I should try (send the necessary supplies via mail). So far my list of potential activities includes gardening, composting, yoga, meditation, art, training for a marathon, cooking, dancing alone in my house to my ipod, and GRE Prep.

And I have a new address, so start sending letters there (don't worry the ones you already sent will still get to me)

Kate Elizabeth Sheerin-PCV

Corps De La Paix

B.P. 144

Dosso, Niger

Don't forget to write airmail on whatever you send!

First blog entry from Kate: A ga kanu ay se, a ga bori ay se!

After four weeks in Niger, I am happy I came. And maybe I am starting to adjust, just maybe. Definitely because my mom writes to me every week so that I always have mail. Definitely because life without running water or electricity in my house isn't that bad (going back to my roots, my dad would say. Definitely because the night sky is incomparable. Maybe because I have a mosquito net, an iPod and now a cell phone. Maybe because I am starting to understand the language. Maybe because I am realizing how lucky I have been. Maybe because I have amazing friends both in Niger and America. Hopefully because I am going to last the whole two years here. Hopefully because joining the Peace Corps was the right decision. And hopefully because I am figuring out how to be myself, just myself in Africa.

Philadelphia is the beginning. Aside from the obvious nervous awkwardness, everyone seemingly hit it off right away. And after two days of receiving limited amounts of information, worrying about chariot spiders and lack of toilet paper, and getting our first round of vaccines, we boarded the plane a makeshift family. And somewhat surprisingly, I managed to pack less than 100 pounds of luggage and while I didn't have the least luggage I certainly didn't have the most. The first good omen for the trip was the American flag debit card containing 180 dollars to pay for our Philadelphia expenses. The second good omen for the next two years was that all of the bags made it to Niger. The first week went by extremely slowly but the last three have flown by. I am almost half way through training!

My day usually starts at about 5:30 am, when the prayer call blares over the town speaker system. An African alarm clock, the prayer call, lets me know I need to get out of bed in 30 minutes- the roosters are the reason I actually get out of bed at 6. I head into town at 7 to buy breakfast which normally consists of coffee and a beignet typefood (fari masa). Then I head up to the training site where I have a full day of technical (municipal community development), medical (howto deal with diarrhea, skin infections and malaria), cross cultural (what not to do in public), and most importantly language (ZARMA!) training. We eat lunch at the site and then get kicked out after a full day of learning at 615. I then go home to my host family for dinner. Sometimes I go for a run and other times I read or write in my journal. I take a bucket bath just as it is about to go dark and then I am in bed by 930.

A few things that happened this week: a cow died in the neighboring field and smelled up the neighborhood, I looked into buying a small donkey (to be purchased when I am at my post), I got some phone calls from America!, I reached intermediate level at Zarma during my first language assessment (which means I can swear in to be a volunteer on time), I visited a maire and learned about budgets, decentralization and taxes, and tonight I am going out to dinner in the capital!

Next Week: I find out where my post is!!!!!!!

Funny Story of the Week. The title of this blog entry is a direct quote from my seven year old neighbor. Literally it means, "it's good to me, it's great to me". My friend Hamas lives with this family and he woke up one morning to the kid dancing naked under a floral umbrella singing it. It's a pretty good way to start your Sunday morning and now we sing it about five times a day.Thanks to everyone who called and sent me mail! It makes my days! (If you want to call me from Skype my number here is 011-227-96349589,-I put it up wrong before sorry! and the best times are either at midnight east coast time or 2 PM east coast time)

Email from Kate on July 29th

Hey you guys!

This is the first time I have been able to access the internet and only have a few minutes so here is the lowdown really quick on africa so far.

1. I have no electricity
2. I have no running water
3. I live in a hut
4. I poop in a hole
5. I shower with a cup and a bucket
6. my african name is fadila
7. I have 6.5 weeks of training left
8. i am learning a language called zarma
9. the sky at night is amazing
10. I can see mars
11. it is really hot
12. I am always dirty
13. the people are amazing
14. I wake up at sunrise and go to sleep at 930
15. the food is terrible
thats all i can think of for now. hopefully i will be able to write you all a letter soon I miss you all terribly send me mail letters packages (us postal flat rate envelopes are best)
I feel out of the loop so keep writing!
much african love
-kate

More News About Kate!

I just realized that there were posts in the comments section, and there's some news from Kate that was posted in the comments. Here's the letters from Kate, reposted.

From July 29, 2008

Fo Fo Family!

This note has to be short because I have limited internet use, but i happen to be in the capital traveling back from a weekend away from training. Everything is going well so far. I live with a host family in a rural compound right outside the town of hamdallaye. We dont have any running water or electricity. My house consists of a round thatch roof hut and a walled in concession. my shower and latrine are seperate. the latrine is clearly just a hole, and the shower is cement room. there is a letter in the mail with some more details so you should be receiving that soon.
Everything is going pretty well- It definitely is harder than anyone says it is but it is also more amazing than I could describe. I am practicing my new language everyday and am already getting the hang of it. I have made a solid group of really good friends and all the people in my training group are really supportive. The trainers and the language teachers are all really great and have been helping us through all the difficult times. My family has given me the name fadila so everyone in hamdallaye calls me that. I either here fadila or anasara (white person) being yelled across the feilds wherever i go. at first being called white person all the time sucked but now i respond by calling them borobi which is black person and is a pretty good joke.
I miss you all tons and hope everything is well at home. I should be getting a new cellphone number soon so i will text you all when i have it. Happy Birthday James! and send me letters everyone with all your news because i feel really out of the loop.

I love you guys
-kate (perhaps a little more african, but still kate)

Here's the second letter...

Today we got a Kate letter.She wrote it before we talked to her so some of it you've heard before. One of her fellow PCT's has developed a severe peanut allergy and is returning to the US so he offerred to mail a letter from his home in California. Another letter is somewhere in the mail from Niger.

excerpts from her letter...The night sky is amazing,I have never seen stars stars like this! I went for my first run, the landscape is amazing. You can see for miles and it is very green as it is the rainy season. She has no electricity or running water but takes a bucket bath every day. She says that she still wears her good clothes, wears makeup and brushes her hair everyday. Still Kate!!She is learning a new language 'Zarma' and is beginning to make some sense of what people are saying to her. She has some good friends and lives near 2 PCT guys, who keep her company, walk her to school etc.

She is quite homesick but determined to get over it. She loves to get letters about our everyday stuff so if you have a chance drop her a line. A stamp is about $1:00. Make sure you write 'Air Mail' on the envelope.

Email from Peace Corps Niger Director

(Here's an email that Kate's mom forwarded to me, from the Peace Corps Niger director. You can click on the picture above to see a bigger image. Kate is on the bottom left-ish - Melody)

Hello all - I am pleased to announce the safe arrival of the Peace Corps Niger July Training Group for the beginning of their training to become Peace Corps Volunteers.? Everyone is in good spirits and, as you can see from the attached photo, settling in well to our training site.? They are also, as I type this, experiencing their first really big African monsoon storm!

We are thrilled to have this new set of trainees and look forward to working with them over the next 2 years.

Cheers,
Mary Abrams
Country Director
Peace Corps Niger

The First Post

So, Charles and Kate are going to Africa for about two years through the Peace Corps. This is their blog. I will be posting up any news I get from them, whether by snail mail, messenger pigeons, or a message in a bottle, for their avid fans.

Kate is going to Niger from July 2008-October 2010 to work in Municipale and Community Development. Charles is not set to leave for Africa until September. He's in New Orleans from Aug 5th-8th if you want to see him before he leaves!