I Bless the Rains

So I have been staying in village more lately, ironically when there is almost no work to be done. It is raining about two or three times a week now. So everyone is out in the fields now, cultivating. In my village, it is mostly millet, rice, beans, and peanuts that make up the vast majority of land.Since everyone is working, it leaves me with nothing to do. But I did just get electricity installed in my house a few weeks ago, which does give me more options. I have been watching more movies lately, that's for sure. I was going to write this blog post ahead of time, but of course the power decides to go out early yesterday morning. That is the one problem with electricity in the raining season: it goes out with most storms.

We did just finish up another national polio campaign. Our village divided up into six teams of two. We met each morning at 6am for four consecutive days. Each team was assigned a specific section of the vilage and we had to go to every courtyard to make sure every child in the village under five years old had been vaccinated. Ask any health volunteer, it is quite an exhausting ordeal. The first day I vaccinated over 200 kids, the following day over 150. I knew four days were not required when the third day we got nine children and the last day none. But the state wants every single child in the country protected. The only downside is that even if there are no children left, you are still made to go out and look for more, which usually results in groups finding a secluded place and just hiding until the 10am return time. I didn't mind it all too much; it did give me something to feel busy, but somehow I was placed for the second campaign in a row with the one man in my village who I do not get along with so well. He always seems to want something from me. But I thought: I should take this as an opportunity to get to know him better and maybe we might actually be friends. Unfortunately, it took only a few hours for him to ask me for a 20,000 CFA (about $40) loan to buy a goat to raise. Hah!

Anyway, I am in town to visit some friends, hang out, buy some groceries, and then it is back to village. I had photos to share, but internet sucks, so I will post them later. Later!