Good Morning.

This morning I had meetings with the Directeurs of the two CEGs in
Tanguiéta (the highschools). At CEG 1, there is already a pre-existing
club that deals with the environment, so I met with the teacher who
ran it last year. Apparently it was a club started by the Ministry (of
what part of the government, not sure) and they were chosen as one of
the first schools to test it out...it's called "EPD" for
Environnement-Population-Developpement. The goals is to teach kids
good environmental practices as well as good health practices
(including stuff for the pregnant highschoolers) so that they can use
them in the future to create sustainable development in Bénin. Sounds
cool, ou bien?? I'm hoping to help primarily with the environment
section this year, but am definitely interested in the other stuff,
too. The teacher (Bernard) that I will be working with already has a
tree planting project in mind, too! I told him I'd check into getting
seeds.

At CEG 2, the Directeur took me to the classes and introduced me and
advertised for my Environmental Club that will have it's first meeting
on Saturday morning! What have I gotten myself into?? The kids seemed
excited, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. One girl had
the balls to ask if I was going to give them presents if they came to
my club....to which the Directeur responded: "No, of course she isn't
going to give you presents. She's giving you her TIME and her
KNOWLEDGE which you can maybe use in the future to be a better worker,
make more money, and improve the environment of Bénin. Asking the
white lady for presents is a big problem in Bénin - it is rude and
unsustainable and only teaches the Beninese that they don't have to
support themselves. You will always be poor if you ask for cadeaus."
Harsh (and maybe overstating the goals of the club a bit) but damn! I
thought it was kind of awesome.

I'm hoping for a good turnout this weekend. Hopefully there will be a
few truly interested students. On verra! If all goes well, maybe I can
start a Girls Club and English Clubs. Gotta get over my fear of public
(French) speaking. :)