Finally Done - And in Ethiopia!

Hello! This blog post is brought to you from my uncle Bob's office at the Ethiopian Center for Disabilities and Development in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. But first let me rewind.

MALI

I finished in my village on September 8th. About a week or two before I left, my replacement, Katherine, came to the village to do a visit for a few days. I helped to familiarize her with the village and the community members she should know and work with. She has a really good attitude and I'm really excited for her to be working in this most amazing village that has become my home the past two years!! On September 11th, after finishing my work and shopping up in Sikasso, I went off to Bamako. I closed out my projects, and finished my service without a problem. I was delayed in Bamako with problems with the airlines, and a sudden pretty serious cold. I guess that was my body's way of telling me to SLOW DOWN. I listened. I was supposed to leave on the 19th but because of the cold and bus scheduling (it was leaving on Friday instead of Saturday because of the end of Ramadan), I decided to stay until Tuesday, the 22nd. I bought my plane ticket leaving Accra, Ghana for Saturday the 26th because I saved about $700 by leaving from Accra instead of Bamako. Luckily I have a very nice friend in Bamako that has been willing to take me in over these past two years, and let me feel at home there. So, plane and bus tickets in hand I boarded a bus at 7 am Tuesday morning to Accra. Saying goodbye to Mali was difficult to say the least. Luckily I was met in Sikasso by a friend who dropped off some pictures we had taken Malian style the last night in Sikasso, so this brought my mood up.

BURKINA FASO

We got stopped for 2 hours on the Malian side of the Burkina border, and then again on the Burkina side for another 2 hours. We didn't get into Ouagadugu (the capital of Burkina) until after 1 am. By this time I felt as if I had fluid in my ear and got a Qtip - BIG MISTAKE! About 30 minutes later I was struck with the most intense ear pain I have ever experienced accompanied by deafness! Because we had stopped for the night, the bus was locked and the driver sleeping. I decided to let him sleep because despite the bus company saying there would be more than one driver, he appeared to be the only one, and we were leaving at 4 am!! Well, this pain ensured that I didn't sleep, but I sat with the women and helped them keep their restless children out of trouble. After no sleep, we got on a bus at around 4:30 am. I loaded up on ibuprofin and fell asleep shortly on the bus, all the way to the Ghana border.

GHANA

We didn't spend too much time at the border, and then we were off to Kumasi, about 5 hours from Accra. We made it to Kumasi by sunset, and I was lucky enough to find someone to help me out with a place to sleep and internet. I stayed on my regular sudafed and pain killer schedule so I could sleep. I stayed on that all the way down to Accra the next day, when I arrived at about 4 pm Thursday afternoon. I immediately went to a doctor who looked and said my ear was fine, no rupture, no earwax buildup, it was just water in the ear and it would go away. That night I couldn't sleep again with all the pain, and went to the doctor again the next day. She prescribed antibiotics, and assured me the pain would go away. By this time, it was Friday, and I was scheduled to be on a plane by Saturday morning!! With all this pain, the doctor told me I shouldn't fly and gave me a note. I went to the airlines, and they let me switch my flight to Tuesday, Sept 29th. So, I spent the rest of the weekend on a dwindling cash supply in Accra. Finally the pain subsided and I boarded a plane to ...

ETHIOPIA!

I was met in the airport by my uncle Bob. I spent two nights at his house in Addis Ababa and then went to Awasa with my cousin Myles to check out his newest restaurant that he's building. It's quite the place, there's a beautiful lake and lots of good food and night life. The food here is amazing! And the juice, I can't get enough of it, avocado, mango, pineapple, guava, orange, lemon. We're not just talking juice, we're talking puree. Like right from the blender. It's SO GOOD!!! A few nights ago we went out to an Oktoberfest party at a bar, and then went off to see a reggae show. It was fantastic, and I had a lot of fun. Yesterday, we celebrated my cousin's son, Michael's birthday, age 6. So, that brings me here. I'm still deaf, but luckily it's my already mostly deaf left ear. I'm hoping it will go away before I leave Ethiopia!! I'm headed off to Awasa again today with Myles, until Friday, when his mom, my aunt, Kitui, will arrive from Geneva. I'll keep you posted as events unfold, and hopefully I can get some pictures up sometime.

Closing up

Hello blog readers! Well, it's been crazy around here for the last 4-5 months or so. I was waiting on this blog post because I really wanted to get pictures up, but that's just not going to happen right now. I really also want to thank again everybody that donated to these projects, it's only because of you that I was able to do this. And again thanks to Donna and Mel for arranging it all eliminating the stress of money from my Peace Corps experience!

So, as you may know, I'm getting ready to close up my service this month. Here's a quick and dirty of the last few months at my site (and America, etc.)

After our latrine project was finished back in April, we moved on to the well project. The large diameter well that we had begun last year was opened to discover that a large chunk of the mud wall had fallen in the hole, and the charcoal that we were using as back fill was full of mud, and a lot of it had entered the well itself. We had to clean out the charcoal and wash it and spent a few days simply repairing the damages the rain had caused the previous year. We then started digging again and got the well to a final depth of about 16 meters. It was a long, slow, difficult and stressful process. After digging and lowering the bricks the rest of the way, we were able to build the walls up to surface level. This part was relatively quick and I felt like it was a little safer as well, alleviating some of the stress. After the well walls had been built up we placed a cover on top of the well, closing it off from surface water, rainwater, and any debris that might fall into the well.

The day after this project was finished, I rushed to Bamako for our Close of Service Conference. There, all the volunteers who came in with me in 2007 met, and talked about readjusting to America, medical stuff and the overwhelming amount of paperwork we must do to get out of here. In my village on the first day of the conference an engineer had come out to do a site prospection on the installation of two pumps in the village. Pumps are the best, easiest and most reliable source of potable water in Mali because, unlike wells, they pull water form a deeper aquifer that is thought to be uncontaminated. The engineer then produced a report and later gave us a cost estimate on the two pumps. This information was gathered with the intention of providing it the the volunteer that will be replacing me in my site so that she can continue with my work here. Thus completing my funded project number 2.

Immediately after the COS conference, I hopped on a plane to Ann Arbor, where my friend of years, Liz, was getting married to a wonderful guy, Ryan. The wedding was beautiful and tons of fun. I had a really good time being around my family and friends again. I especially had a good time with the hot showers, beer, and cheese, but the spring cold was a little rough. After too short of a visit (3 weeks), I was off on a plane again back to Mali.

During the time I was in America, I was thrilled to hear from my village 2-3 times a week on their progress on the rest of the well project. During the design on the project, we had decided to perform well repairs on two other wells, if our money and time allowed us. Well, the community members continued to work even when I was in America, where they set up safe workplaces, and cleaned out 2 wells, pulling debris such as shoes, clothes, ropes, toys, and mud out of the well. The then dug the wells deeper by about a meter, increasing access to water during dry periods. The top couple meters were dug down and the mouth of the well was widened where bricks were cemented in place to prevent surface water from entering the well. The well cover was then placed on top of the well. On the third well, the bottom was also repaired. The well owner had initiated a well repair and payed for the bricks to repair the well, but the well was only half repaired. The mason, also my work counterpart, was lowered into the well to place more bricks to prevent the mud walls from caving in more. So, you can imagine my delight when I came back to my village and not only were the well repairs done, but the accounting had been completed accurately and there was still money left over. Overall probably the most valuable part of these projects were not the end product, but the knowledge gained during implementation. My work counterpart now knows how to set up a safe work zone at a well, how to build new wells and repair old ones. All of the workers in my village now know how to lower people and objects into wells safely, and make concrete bricks using the appropriate ratios. The fact that they could do all of this even when I wasn't there to be their manager shows the sustainability of this project.

I then spent about a week in my village, after which I took my final vacation to Ghana. While in Ghana, I went to Mole National Park and slept amongst the baboons, elephants and wild pigs (think Pumbaa). I then went to Kumasi, and on to the coast to the Green Turtle Lodge (tourist heaven), and then to Cape Coast where I toured the slave castle. Cape Coast was full of banners featuring Obama's face, because he had been there just days before. Then I was off to Accra, where I shopped, watched English TV, ate good food, and even went to a local soccer game. Ghana is a nice country, quite a bit more developed then Mali, there are better sanitation systems in place (although drinking water is questionable), more cell phone service and electricity, and a lot more literacy. It was a great change from life in Mali.

After coming back from Ghana, I used the rest of my project funds to buy little kiddie pots so that babies and toddlers can also be potty trained. I chose a woman from my village whose child always using the pot and I had her walk with me to each concession to hand them out. She explained proper usage and the benefits, and each woman got a pot for their kids. I also was able to buy hand washing stations, which are buckets with a kettle on top and a place for soap. I bought soap for each hand washing station, and my work counterpart, Hadi, and I went to each eating area, and he explained how they worked in a way that was culturally sensitive and hopefully got over their barriers to change. Now all 3 of my projects have been completed and closed!

After all this, I was able to meet the volunteer that will be replacing me, and she's excited about the work, and I'm really excited to have her there. As time goes on, I'll try to keep my readers updated on the progress of the projects that she's doing in my (our) village.

As for me, it's a difficult time. I've been living in a tiny community for 2 years, and I know each and every one of the community members, some better than others. I have my closest friends there, and have learned so much about life and work and different cultures and so much more. While I'm ready to go back to the conveniences of hot water, good food, good health, contact with the outside world, and a wide selection of people to chat with, I'm also really sad about leaving. This is my home and feels more like my home than many other "homes" that I've had in my life. I can only hope that I'm fortunate enough to have another experience like this in my life again.

As for what's next, I'm headed to Ethiopia where I'll be staying with my cousins and uncle for about 6 weeks, and then I'm off to India. I'll keep you posted on my travels, and hope to get pictures up soon!

Latrine Project Finished!!

After many months of work our massive latrine project finally completed!! (See slideshow below) First I would like to thank again all the donors that helped make this happen, especially Donna Dunn and Mel Danaher for all their help and organization! This project brought the following improvements to my village: 21 new 4-meter deep, concrete slab latrines with a separate concrete floor bathing area, surrounded by concrete brick walls, and a drainage system that dumps greywater into a shallow, covered soak pit area, 1 stand-alone concrete bathing area with soak pit; and every wastewater area has been dug up and replaced by a covered soak pit, such that no standing wastewater is present in the village anymore! This project provided 12 family concessions with latrines that were previously non-existant, and replaced 9 latrines. The latrines that were replaced had a range of problems, including one which when exposed the hole covering of logs and mud was on the verge of caving in due to termite activity, and another with a concrete slab that had recently fallen in the hole, and was unusable for safety reasons. The project provided access for every single member of my village and a small family concession in the next village over to a concrete latrine and bathing area. The project has also purchased covers for the opening reducing fly activity. With the extra funds that are left over, we are going to buy plastic soap containers and a bar of soap for each latrine to be left in the latrine at all times. We will also be holding a village wide meeting where we will discuss the need for use of the latrines, and strategies for teaching young children to use the latrines without fear of falling in. We'll also be teaching proper handwashing techniques.

For those of you who would like to know more about construction techniques, here are the steps for digging and building a latrine:

1. Dig a hole, one meter in diameter by 4 meters deep

2. Measure, cut and tie #8 rebar into 15 cm on center grids for the reinforced concrete slab that will cover the hole

3. Build the reinforced concrete slabs and water 3 times a day for 7 days.

4. Make thousands of concrete bricks, and water 3 times a day for 7 days.

5. Dig the mouth of the hole down ~20 cm, and out to meet the size of the slab (approximately 30 cm). Using rocks and cement/sand mixture, build a foundation for the slabs, and water 3 times a day for 7 days

6. Using manpower, logs as levers, and donkey carts, remove the concrete slabs and move them to the holes; place them onto the foundations built, and check with level to make sure that water will drain properly when dumped on slab

7. Measure and build the foundation and walls of the buildings

8. Dig the soak pit (1 cubic meter)

9. Place PCV piping, and finish the floors ensuring that water will drain properly to soak pit

10. Fill soak pit with boulders that have been dug up and transported to village from the fields

11. Cover soak pits with plastic sheeting and dirt

12. GO POO!

The good life

Since last time I blogged, a lot of things have happened so here’s a quick recap:

Perhaps the most exciting and happiest moment was when I got back to village this most recent time after putting Lauren on a plane, and I was greeted by the newest addition to my village! As I held this sweet tiny baby, my whole being filled with joy and sadness at the same time. My mind flooded back to the happy times I had with his father, Tahiru. Knowing that I was holding his one last gift to this world was overwhelming. Tahiru’s second wife got pregnant shortly before he died, and gave birth to a tiny little boy at the beginning of February. He appears to be premature, but keep him in your thoughts and prayers that he’ll grown into a wonderful man just like is father was. He has yet to be given a name, but my guess is that he’ll be named after his father.

Like I said, I put Lauren on a plane Feb 4th after a month long visit in Mali. During her stay here, we went up north to the Hand of Fatima to a wedding between two good friends and fellow PCVs, Kevin and Rachel Belida. Congrats you two! We were also really lucky to get some climbing in. The Hand was breathtaking; one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. After the wedding and climbing and hiking, we headed up to Gossi where we saw wild elephants, and took a camel ride. It was amazing up north, as usual!

Later on in her trip, we had decided to make a trip to Manantali, but after negative feedback from others who had been, and a 5 hour wait on the side of the road after our minibus started dumping oil, we decided to check out Segou. The Festival du Niger was happening at the time, which I went to last year. We spent a few days checking out Segou, and then randomly met these three South African guys who had rented a boat to go to Bamako and were leaving that day, and did we want to come? We packed up our stuff and hopped on their boat, where we spent the next three days and nights hanging out on top of the river (and in it). It was quite a good, relaxing break for me to not have to translate all the time. Thanks to Conrad, Jason, and Lloyd!

So, on the work front, my latrine project got funded the day Lauren got here and then the money came through about a week or two later. Hadi and I went to a few training sessions together where we were able to learn more about how to make reinforced concrete slabs to cover our latrines. He also stayed a few days longer and learned how to do top well repair. We also were able to go to the place that installs pumps, and found out that in order to drill the borehole we need to hire an engineer to come out and do some surveying about how deep the water table is and where exactly we can drill. We were put in touch with someone in Sikasso and were able to get a cost estimate for his work. As for the latrines, we bought two tons of cement and the rebar, and all of the equipment to make the bricks, which will be happening Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays for a few weeks, until we decide to work on the well again. Finishing the well from last year should start sometime in March. The work left on this project is to dig a few more meters, build the walls and make a door. I’m in the process of writing a proposal for some money to supplement the money we got last year since the project so drastically changed. Due to overwhelming support, we’d also like to clean out the bottoms of and do top well repair on the other two wells in the village. These wells were significantly overused when the well we were working on closed down, causing damage to the tops of the wells.

As for me, I’m happy as a clam! It’s great to be back in village after a long time with visitors, and fantastic to be working again. I’m also looking forward to coming home in May for my good friends Liz and Ryan’s wedding. It’s so hard to believe that these two years are almost up! It seems like only yesterday I got here, and now I have only 6 months before I leave. Any ideas for post Peace Corps?

Some pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/chelsea.ransom/WeddingAndElephants?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/chelsea.ransom/LaurenInMaliDogon?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/chelsea.ransom/SelibaAndVillageLife?feat=directlink

THANK YOU!

To everyone who so graciously donated to the latrine project initiated in my village, THANK YOU! In under two months, more than enough money was raised to fund this project. It looks like there are even enough funds to cover finishing the well project. It will take about two weeks for the money to arrive in my account, so I can begin to buy supplies with my counterpart, Hadi. In the meantime, my friend Lauren is here to visit me, and I'm headed up to a wedding in Hombouri. My counterpart will be attending a technical training session in January, where he'll learn to repair wells and build latrine slabs. Also a speical thanks to Donna Dunn and Mel Danaher, who have put in more time and energy than I ever thought possible. Without them this would not have happened, so thanks! I'll try and keep you posted!