hi-ho it's off to work I go

I've been getting a lot of questions about what do I actually do here, so here are a few photos.

Off to village! Once a week my work partner and I go to 1 of 2 villages (we alternate villages each week) to work with out 6 family leaders. Each leader is then in charge of 4 families from the village. They are responsible for teaching their families the weeks health lesson. We cover topics such as child and mother nutrition, malaria, first aid and so on...

Since the villages are not in walking distance we moto there. If you look close, I'm on the first moto.


These are our 6 health leaders! My work partner is in the frount in the pinkish shirt. Can you find me?
This may look like a meat scale, but it is not. This is how we weigh children (in theory) under two years of age. Most of the time the children are complacent, but every once in a while we get a pee-er. Then they all seem to pee after that. Oh the fun of baby weighing!

During my last baby weighing we weighed about 30 children. Of that 30, five were in the yellow (warning, headed to red!) and one was in the red (danger!!!). Six how ever were in the blue (chunker babies, thats a good thing!!)
Question: what are the 3 food groups in Benin?

This is a lesson on nutrition specifically amid at the families who had children in the yellow or red. After the lesson we then did a cooking demonstration of a porridge that is high in calorie and protein for the kids to eat and become healthy again. We guided the families as they planed a meal with what is available in village on a regular basis. Then the families had to go find the ingredients and prepare the meal.

Answer: The three food groups are protection (think veggies, fruit...), growth (think meats, dairy...), and the force (as they call it here) or energy (think carbs).

No this isn't a witches brew. I'm helping my neighbor make porridge. She sells it for breakfast and dinner. It's yummy!
They are laughing at me mixing the porridge. It's really not that funny..... ok, maybe it is a little.
Here is my garden! So I guess this is borderline play. It's work though to explain to my neighbors that it's ok to eat green beans with out cooking them. The green and silver basins are my laundry machine.....
Now on to my everyday life. Since we are in the rainy season right now the temps. have dropped a bit. This is Jo-Jo in a winter jacket. Some days it really does feel that cold.

Now that the kids are out of the school for the summer, they come over every day to play. They love puzzles and my rabbit (goodnight moon) book.

The domestique that lives next door. She's kind of like the nanny for the baby. She often sits out under the tree by my house and greats me with a big smile when i'm leaving or coming back to my house. It turns out she dosen't know how to read. Her French is wonderful so we can communicate. Often she will clue me in on what people are saying around me in local language.

As a year comes to a close I continue to count my blessings, work, neighbors, family and friends. Through the ups and downs I know one thing for certain. This has been quite a journey and I could not have done it without all of you! I'm excited to see what this last year here has in store.