Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wearing the flag for charity

Last weekend we went to Parakou for a Peace Corps Benin fundraising event. All the volunteers come together for a dinner and auction to raise money for the 'Gender and Development' (GAD) program funds. These are funds that are available for volunteers to use in their communities to carry out activities that address issues of gender and development. There are multiple examples of events that qualify for these funds, but typically they help raise the awareness of girls and women's roles in Benin.

For example, on International Women's Day we held an event in Lalo for all of the girls at Miranna's school. We applied for the Gender and Development funds to pay for this event, which allowed us to carry it out without paying out of our own pockets. We invited prominent women from the community to come speak on three topics: staying in school, women's rights, and sexual health. We had about 250 girls turn (about half of the girls in school) out for the event! It was a huge success and the girls still contiunue to talk about it! We plan on doing this again next year as well.


International Women's Day event in Lalo- a great turnout!


Miranna and Charlie dressed as the Benin flag for the GAD dinner. Our outfits were a hit!
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2 comments:

  1. viajera4evaMarch 31, 2010 at 12:23 PM

    nice outfits! que lindo! (very cute). I'm so glad to hear your event was a success and popular among the girls!~

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  2. UnknownApril 13, 2010 at 1:43 PM

    Hi Charlie and Miranna,

    I wanted to let you know about a new travel guide for Benin, written and researched by two RPCVs. It's part of a series of travel guides written/researched by RPCVs. You can find out more about the project at www.otherplacespublishing.com. Feel free to shoot me an email at cbeale@otherplacespublishing.com. We'd love to have you take a look at the book (being a PCV in Benin and all). Thanks and hope to hear form you soon.

    Chris Beale, Other Places Publishing, RPCV Eastern Caribbean 2005-2007

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