it's a boy!

so i got a puppy. he is fluffy and light brown and chubby and absurdly adorable. we have only been together for 6 hours, but i can already tell that it is meant to be. i will obviously be obsessively photographing him in the manner of first time moms, and i will get pictures up as soon as i can. he doesn't have a name at the moment. let me know if you have any suggestions.

moving along, i am in lomé at the moment. i came down to work on my quarterly report, apply for my Ghanaian visa, submit a project proposal, eat cheese and, of course, get my puppy. lomé has so many wondrous things that i miss, living out in the bush. BUT i am very ready to return to village. a few days in a "city" is enough. my 6.5 months in togo have caused the city girl in me to crawl under a mango tree and hide. though it is very nice to have access to Internet and electricity and a GROCERY store. it is so refreshing to buy things that actually have price tags on them, rather than spending 20 minutes haggling over prices. at first i really hated discouter-ing (bargaining) but i am beginning to embrace it.

the elections are over. the incumbent president was re-elected. small-scale marches and protests persist (i inadvertently ran into one in the marketplace today) but there was no major action. march was hectic; i was traveling for a good part of it. now, those who know me would be shocked that this is not something i enjoy. but these same people clearly have never attempted to travel in togo. imagine, if you will, 6 hours in a dented van that was produced in the 80s that generally has cracks covering (50% of the windshield), barreling down an only occasionally paved road pocked by giant ruts, crammed in with twice the number of passengers are there are seats. then throw in a goat, a few chickens, a couple of crying babies and extreme heat, and you might begin to see why i would prefer never to leave home.

aside from traveling woes, things are going exceptionally well. the teacher with whom i have the girls' club and garden has been a great help. she came with me to a training a few weeks ago, and she is incredibly enthusiastic. we are hoping to work with a group of girls after the last trimester ends, teaching them simple income-generating activities. They can work on them over the summer and use the money towards school fees in the fall.

i am also working with a volunteer from a nearby village, trying to organize a science camp this summer. the schools do not even have books, so obviously, there are no materials for any kind of interactive work. the sciences, especially, suffer from a curriculum of rote memorization and little else. we are hoping that the week-long camp will evolve into a regular club in the fall. we are currently soliciting ideas and materials. i will post more information at the end. if you know of any individual, organization or school that might have something to contribute, please let me know.

i had so very much to talk about, but i did not write anything up before coming to the Internet café, and now i am running out of time. as always, thank you all for the love and support. the cards, letters and packages are amazing. i definitely have difficult days here, and hearing from all of you is an indescribable source of strength.

sorry, this was rushed, poorly written and un-edited.
happy easter, passover and international women's day.

k

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Dear
I am currently a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in Togo, West Africa. In collaboration with a nearby volunteer, I will be starting a science club to benefit the students in our two villages.

What: Science clubs with the objective of teaching students to think critically about the world around them through experimentation andobservation. At each session an experiment will be conducted anddiscussed. The first few sessions will focus on the experimental method (how to write a hypothesis, procedure, etc) and afterwardssessions will depend on what materials are available, but we hope toincorporate a wide variety of subjects - astronomy, physiology,ecology, chemistry... anything fun and informative.

Where: Assoukoko and Tchifama, 2 small, rural, villages in thesouthern Centrale region of Togo.Who: 30 students aged 12-16 from the local middle schools (15 pervillage - all the students from Tchifama will be girls). The studentswill be nominated by their professors.

When: Bi-monthly meetings beginning September 2010.

Why: We feel that it's very important for students to have theopportunity to have hands-on time in the sciences. Because classsizes here start at 60 students, lessons are understandably focused onrote memorization, and students are not familiar with interactive methodsof learning (and this is often the most memorable part of scienceclasses for US students).

How you can help: We are starting from scratch! If you havesuggestions, templates, ideas or materials for experiments that you oryour organization would be willing to share, they would be mostwelcome. (Togo is a french speaking country, but we would be able totranslate from english).

Karalin Sprague
B.P. 55
Pagala, TOGO
West Africa

Please forward this to whomever you think may be interested / able to help, and feel free to email me with any questions. I do not have regular access to internet but can generally check email once a month.

Thanks so much!
-Karalin Sprague (Girls' Education and Empowerment volunteer)
-Emerson Easley (Community Health and AIDS Prevention volunteer)