So we’ve all heard the one about Math walking into a bar and the bartender says “Hey, Math, if you’re so smart, what’s 2-1?” At this, Math sits down, drinks a beer and says “1”. The bartender says “No stupid!!!!” After Math drinks a second beer the bartender returns and says “ Wait a second…. 1. You’re right” Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hysterics aside, in the above mentioned equation the numbers represent years, so Two years less One Year = One Year. That’s right. I no longer have the miserable title ‘First Year Volunteer’; instead I have the honorable, distinctive, sweet smelling title ‘Second Year Volunteer’. With this promotion comes many perks and benefits including:
A new coffee mug
A free ice cream cone at Artica
Collection of my stool samples
A trip to Disneyworld
Another year in Cape Verde
And so, one year down and one year to go. What’s it all been about, where is it all going? I don’t know really. I do know that I more fully understand why the Peace Corp service is two years. Getting things, anything, done takes a long, long, long time. Hence, sometimes a project may take the entire service to actually get off the ground. With this prelude, here are some of my current, future, and made up projects I am working on
Movie night in Cachaço!!!!! That’s right kids, on the first Wednesday of each month, on the roof of the loja, using equipment from Parque Natural Monte Gordo, volunteers do Corpo da Paz, Os Amigos Unidos e Assoc. Monte Cintinha will show movies for children, youth and generally anyone who shows up and pays. The goal is to give kids a fun activity to do, and to make some money to help aid development of Cachaço.
Protected Areas status for Carberinho. Here’s one of those examples of a project taking a long time. I have written a proposal which me and another volunteer have shown and gotten signatures from the local community, I have now written a full length report about the area, and hopefully this coming month will do some field studies of the area. This is a long process to have the area protected, but it’s worth it as anyone who comes to visit will see.
Cape Verdeans in Space!!!!! Move over MIR residents, and make some room for a boiling pot of catxupa, cause coming this fall the first flight of the CVX1 Shuttle will occur. The space station and control center, all located here in the heart of São Nicolau in Cachaço will be manned and operated by local community members trained by Peace Corp volunteers, aka, Me. Scheduled for the first flight are three males, two females, and a donkey in case they need to fetch some water. All are excited about this new prospect of development for the island and for Cape Verde itself, and to quote Camara President Meca, “It is long past time for Cape Verdeans to enter the Space Race. For years now the world has been asking when we would send up our first astronauts, and today I am happy to announce that the wait is finally over.”
Bike Safety (…perhaps, depending on your stance towards helmets) A project that has already been long in the works and will be even longer in the works is a project I like to title, “Bicycle Safety and Awareness Event”, or BSAE. The BSAE is a project on my behalf here with the Camara Municpals and the Centro do Juventudes along with the support of Sonadei (www.sonadei.com), a great clothing company in America who focuses on clothing for bicyclists and bicycle advocacy. Well, they are going to be selling bicycle t-shirts to help raise funds for the BSAE, and the shirts will also be made from recycled materials with non-toxic dyes. The funds will go to purchase bicycle helmets from American Safety/ASHP (www.buyashp.com), an awesome organization helping distribute quality helmets at low cost, for bike riders here, and for bicycle repair workshops. I am still working on getting support from other bicycle organizations around the states, to help supply things like bicycle tools, bicycle tubes and patch kits. More on this as details emerge.
So there you somewhat have it. During my work for the Park, there are always little projects getting proposed, some implemented and a few done, like a health workshop for drivers and cooks on the island, or more English classes, or building tables and benches in the park. But, if I give it all away now I won’t have much to say next time.
Keep those dry nuts and dry fruit coming (meaning start sending dry nuts and dry fruit)
Ta ta
PS. If you want to help support a project I am doing, send me an email about what you are pondering, or if you have an idea in mind about something that you want to help do in Cape Verde with my or other Peace Corp assistance, again, send me an email. Also, if you happen to buy a surplus of Clif bars and can’t eat them all, feel free to send them to me,
