Since the arrival of our counterparts we have established a youth team that has taken responsibility for the library, clubs and computers. The youth team consists of one SMARTD staff member, Wes, me and four out of school youth. The team has been working very hard and has achieved a lot more than I could have ever expected in such a short time. Here are some of the projects and clubs that have been created or improved since the creation of the team: 

In a month since their arrival, the library is now officially open and we are seeing around 100 students and community members a week come through. Once we receive the books from African Library Project we will begin distributing library cards and will allow the books to be checked out. (THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to our African Library Project. I am so sorry that I have failed to express our extreme gratitude before this time. The community is very excited about the new reading materials. Once the books have arrived, which will be sometime in March, I will make sure to post a lot of pictures and updates.)

A gym has been created at SMARTD that has a stationary bike, a bench press, jump ropes and free weights. It has been incredibly popular with community members of all ages. Out of this a body building club has been created for the youth. In the near future we also hope to begin a aerobics club that will appeal more to the girls and women in the community. The gym has led many people to begin making healthier choices about their diets. There have been many requests for further training on proper nutrition and ways to lose weight. 

The Tae Kwon Do club has begun again and is pulling in between 20 and 30 students every Friday and Saturday. We also have a music/dance club and drama club for the youth that meet weekly. (I will take pictures of the clubs this week and I will put them up on flickr).

Computer classes are back up and running. Wes is currently teaching alongside the youth team so that they can take over once we leave. He has been busy training the team how to maintain the computers and keep them virus free (or reformatting them often due to the inability of the anti-virus to keep up with the multitude of viruses that are everywhere here!) 

My wonderful sister sent me close to 60 early reader books that we have donated to the local primary school. Prior to this time, the school had very few books for the students to use to help them learn English. The principal was overjoyed with the donation and is going to put them to very good use in the classroom. Thank you so much Tori!

This last week the standard seven students and several teachers helped us build 8 tippy taps (hand washing stations) at the primary school. Prior to this time, the students and teachers had no way to wash their hands after using the latrine or before eating. The tippy taps are easy to build and maintain and use materials that can be found locally and inexpensively. The day after we built the tippy taps Wes and I went back to the school and taught the students and teachers why it is important to wash your hands, when to wash your hands, how to wash your hands, how germs are spread and the correct way to cover your coughs and sneezes. I showed them how far germs spread by putting flour in the palm of my hand and coughing and sneezing into it. This was a big hit with the students. I also put flour on my hand and showed how germs spread easily when we touch others, our face, and objects like door knobs. Wes did a great job demonstrating the correct hand washing technique. The students listened very well and proved later that they knew how to properly wash their hands using the tippy tap. Hopefully we will see that increased hand washing will lead to less illness and missed days of school.

The principal at the school told us today that she likes having the tippy taps so much that she has already built one at her house!

On a totally unrelated note, Carol, a fellow PCV, sent me this picture last week and I thought I should share it with all of you. This is me teaching the new group of volunteers last June how to properly use a condom. Oh the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer! It has come in handy though. I have done several condom demonstrations in the community since then. 

Finally, I would again like to wish Wes a very happy birthday! He had a bit of a rough birthday week last week, so we are going to celebrate it again this week…and next week when we are on a cruise to Mozambique! Here is a picture of the donuts I made him to celebrate. They are a little bit deformed because I am limited in my selection of things to cut cirlces, but they were still good.