I'm down in the capital right now and unfortunately I'll have to be coming down every weekend for 5 out of the next 6 weeks for work and meetings. Boo to so much travel! But I suppose it's good I'll be keeping myself busy and passing the time.
One big reason for so much time here is to prepare my project "Take Our Daughters to Work Day". In conjunction with a big fundraiser dinner I'm helping to organize for Saturday, May 8th, we decided to invite some girls down from our villages to accompany professional Beninese women to work on Friday the 7th. Then, I'll be running a seminar for the girls to talk about career and education planning on the 8th and they'll give a short presentation about their experience to the dinner guests on Saturday night. The dinner is to raise awareness and funds for our Gender and Development Program and I'm excited that attendees will actually get to meet some women and girls who have benefitted from one of our projects.
It's all very exciting, actually. The whole project is in partnership with an NGO called Maman Modeles. It's comprised of professional woman located around the country and its been fun to meet some of them and see how much enthusiasm and energy they have for the project. Take Our Daughters to Work used to be a huge project for over 50 girls funded by USAID and run by Peace Corps Volunteers, but when USAID cut funding the project ended in 2003. My boss and the Maman Modeles were very excited and willing when I approached them with the idea of restarting it on a smaller scale (we'll have 8 girls this year). We held essay competitions for 3rd year secondary school girls in which they had to write about what woman they admire and why. Just yesterday I met with a Maman Modele to choose our 8 winners from amongst 38 entries. I've spent the rest of my time here writing up permission slips, grant proposals, and schedules, and I think it's already to go now until our big event! I'll be bringing 3 girls from Dogbo so I'll have to notify them and visit their parents for permission this week.
One of the most encouraging (and easy) things about this project is the history of the project itself. I found out from my boss that multiple girls who participated in 1999 and 2000 actually kept in touch with their Maman Modeles, finished their educations through university, and then their Maman Modeles helped them find professional jobs and relocate here to Cotonou. One of our Maman Modeles this year was actually a participating girl herself in 1999. Now she's a popular news reporter on one of the 3 major channels here in Benin. I'm jealous of whatever girls gets to spend Friday with her and the news crew!!
So, lots of time in Cotonou devoted to that, but also planning for our summer camps, a regional rep meeting with admin, and then, maybe the most exciting thing is 19th-22nd of May we have our official Close of Service Conference. It's at one of the nicest hotels in Cotonou with a full pool, AC, and CNN! I'll also be getting my official date for home at that point and then it'll be less than 3 months til the end. Crazy how time flies and it's all almost over! On the other hand, at this point I'm starting to look for and apply for jobs and I'm just getting anxious to get home to friends and family. Luckily all this weekend business will help the time fly by even faster and hopefully all of our projects will work out great in the meantime!
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4 comments:
Wow!! The "Take Your Daughters To Work Day" sounds like such a great idea!! I sure am glad that you are starting it up again. It must be a tremendous amount of work but I am sure it will be worth it. It sounds like a powerful way to change some lives. I sure am proud of you.
Before you know it you will be back in the USA and having the chance to reflect on your experiences. It will be an interesting time for you. I hope some day my wife and I (and hopefully Carly) can take you out to dinner and welcome you back.
You are doing great work. Never doubt it.
Best, Mark Loehrke (Carly's dad)
Hey! Not much longer...
One of my coworkers met her Dad's new GF and apparently she lived in Benin for 5 years. I sent her an email and a link to my pictures. I'll let you know what I find out, but how crazy is that! Talk soon! Enjoy the AC of Cotonou
Ryan
Kristin, How fascinating to hear about the current state of Take Our Daughters to Work! I was very involved with TODTW when I was a volunteer from 1997 -2000. Its neat to hear that some of the girls from my time are now maman modeles! Bon travail and du courage!
WOW! That is such an amazing initiative. It sounds like there's a lot of planning that goes into it, and I am so impressed that you keep on taking on these major projects in addition to your regular job. I hope it goes well, and that you get your fill of cnn. Love!
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