It’s Official!


Two days ago (Dec. 5) I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia along with 38 others in my cohort. With me in the photo are our Peace Corps Country Director, the charge d'affaires from the US Embassy and the Minister of Environment. 

We are a proud and happy group! 

Yestersday and today were full of celebration, shopping for household goods to bring to our sites, and packing. Tomorrow we travel to our permanent sites to begin our two-year service. 

The big adventure begins! I feel so very fortunate for the opportunity to take part in it and for the amazing people who are on this journey with me. I look forward to sharing updates with you along the way. 

Comments

  1. Jen Z.December 8, 2018 at 12:02 AM

    Hurrah, KT!! I love this wee peek into your journey. Keep sharing and best of luck on this next phase of the adventure! We think of you every day! xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 8, 2018 at 1:00 AM

    Congratulations on metriculation! Now on to the good/hard stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  3. MarciaHDecember 8, 2018 at 3:16 PM

    Feeling excited for you too, and looking forward to your updates!

    ReplyDelete
  4. dbJanuary 17, 2019 at 9:53 PM

    Happy Adventures Karen!

    ReplyDelete
  5. TracyFebruary 6, 2019 at 4:57 PM

    Congratulations KT! Very excited for your journey

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greetings from The Gambia!

Image
[Please use the SUBSCRIBE button if you want to get notified when I post something. Also, the best way to contact me directly is through What's App - my # is +220 288 8757. My gmail account also works!] I’ve been in country since October 10th and am fully immersed in the two-month Pre-Service Training phase of my 27-month Peace Corps assigment. Our focus is learning the language and culture, as well as a variety of orientation sessions and introduction to health and agriculture topics.  There are 39 volunteers in my training cohort - half are focusing on health and half on ag/environment. But realistically, we may be doing some of both or even some other things depending on the need of the community we will be placed in after the training period. Next week we will learn the name of our permanent village, and will visit it for a couple days in mid November, before making the permanent move in mid December. I'm very interested to learn more about my fate! Most day...
Read more

Tour of My Home in The Gambia

Image
Welcome to my Peace Corps crib! At last! A glimpse into my home in The Gambia. I found a rare moment when no (human) family members were in the compound and decided to shoot a video. But first, to clear a couple things up. First, I don't normally wear "african" attire as shown in the photo above, although I always get many nice complements when I do. I prefer capris/yoga pants and lightweight T-shirts and tanks, like this. The groundnut harvest has begun! Here I'm removing groundnuts from the roots of the plants. We shell them all one-by-one and when we have a good amount we'll roast the nuts and take them to the machine to be ground into peanut butter.  Peanut butter is an ingredient in several of the typical local dishes.  Second, I don't have a parquet wood floor in my room. What you'll see in the video is an inexpensive flooring material that is a little heavier than shelf paper. Much easier to keep clean than the cement floor. Hope you enjo...
Read more

Village Life - Episode #2

Image
Just a few pics of typical activities in my family’s compound.  My Ba (short for Baay or father) slaughtering a goat with helping hands from Hassan, Dembu and Sarjeko. This pregnant goat was slaughtered after Ba determined that its babies had died in the womb. The goat was otherwise healthy as far as could be determined. If the goat had been sick or injured it would have been hauled to the field for the vultures to eat. My understanding is that it is contrary to Muslim teachings to eat a sick or injured animal. It is also their practice that men conduct the slaughter. The women may undertake butchering but the men ( or boys) kill the animal.  Ah, the cycle of life! A few weeks later here is the two day old offspring of another goat in my family’s menagerie.  Mam Hoja doing laundry. This is how I do mine as well, although I sit on a short stool. I can’t fathom how these women can so easily maintain this position for hours at a time - doing laundry, weeding...
Read more