Charlie and I spent out last year working hard on two projects for the community of Lalo. Many of you are most familiar with the school's library project because we reached out to many of you for a donation to help us complete this project. Thank you, again, to those of you that supported this project!
These are some "before" pictures to give you an idea of why we decided to re-do the school library. It was a mess and totally inaccessible!
These are pictures of the project in progress: Cleaning and classifying the books, installing the new furniture, and moving the books into their new home.
And... the final product!
We could not have completed this project without the support of those that donated, so again a big THANK YOU on behalf of the students at CEG Lalo.
Charlie worked hard on organizing a project to install 10 latrines for communities in or near Lalo that did not currently have them. You may be thinking, "Where, then, did they go to the bathroom?" Answer: the closest field. As a public health specialist, Charlie had to do his part to make sure that the citizens of Lalo had access to the most basic means of sanitation! Here are a few pictures to show that process:
While it may seem that these projects made a large impact on the lives of those living in Lalo, we feel that the Beninese made a larger impact on our lives than anything that we left behind. We had a great experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. We miss our friends there, but they will stay in our hearts forever. Again, thank you to all of our friends and family (and blog readers!) for their support- we wouldn't have made it through without you!
AH! SO good to hear from you both. That library came out fantastically. So glad to have been able to help, even if it was only a teeny tiny amount. Welcome back to the USA. if you're in the DC area, drop me a line. Glad you had rewarding services! Love, Catherine
ReplyDeleteSo delighted to see what you did and can't believe you are already back! Wasn't it just yesterday that we were wishing you luck? Sounds like a great experience and I hope to hear more about it in person sometime!
ReplyDeleteIt’s never too early to think about the Third Goal. Check out Peace Corps Experience: Write & Publish Your Memoir. Oh! If you want a good laugh about what PC service was like in a Spanish-speaking country back in the 1970’s, read South of the Frontera: A Peace Corps Memoir.
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