All Volunteer Conference

For the past two days, I was in the All-Volunteer conference hosted at the Thies Training Center. The sessions were very helpful and triggered other ideas I could implement in my village. It also helped me think constructively about the coherence and the connectedness of my projects. The objectives of my projects are to be culturally accepted, based on the needs of the population, and to be sustainable.  

The sessions I attended were Health Project Report and Baseline Data Report, Connectedness and Coherence presented by a Cameroon volunteer, Environmental Change in Senegal, GamLight Solar Bottle Bulbs: Daytime Interior Lighting for Africa, Envisioning a New Peace Corps presented by the Country Director, Expeditionary Diplomacy in Action: The Casamance Peace Initiative with Ambassador Bullington and PC Senegal Seminar on International Development by the Country Director.

I was thankful to speak to Vanessa Dickey and Chris Hedrick. I also want to thank the visit of the U.S. Ambassador to my village to gain a better understanding of our work in Peace Corps. Their feedback was much appreciated and they are the epitome of why I am proud to be a Peace Corps volunteer. The Peace Corps staff truly gives you their unconditional support.

I had met with the volunteer from the Gambia in December to talk about the solar light bulb project. We spoke about expanding his project to Senegal starting with my village where I wanted to see if we can test the effectiveness of the bottle bulbs when you place them through walls. I am waiting to get the contact information of his carpenter who is traveling throughout the Gambia to promote the light bulb project. I hope to see the carpenter next month so we can discuss more on the logistics of the project.