The World Changes Every Day

About two weeks ago, I officially received my invitation to serve in Benin, West Africa with the Peace Corps.  It was a long application process; I first submitted my application in February.  But it looks like the invitation to Benin will be well worth the wait.  I will be part of their Environmental Action program.  My job title will be Community Natural Resource Advisor, and it could include working with environmental education programs in schools, helping to promote sustainable agriculture techniques, working with agroforestry...or something else!  I won't know exactly what I'm doing until part way through our in-country training.  Once the staff has had the chance to get to know each of the volunteers, they will pair us with an NGO or governmental agency in a community in Benin that has requested a volunteer.  My work will have a lot to do with what my NGO or government agency is focused on. There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to what my e...

The posts below this are from a trip I took to Africa for my work as International Christian Science Group Coordinator at The First Church of Christ, Scientist.  Posts after this will relate to my preparation for and service in the Peace Corps. 

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.". This quote, which I learned as an exchange student, seems particularly appropriate for this trip. This morning, we got up planning to go to Kinshasa. (The capital of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.) We didn't yet have visas; all we knew for sure was that our co-worker had called the DRC embassy the week before and was told that they don't issue visas anymore to anyone who isn't a Congolese citizen. Having learned from our trip so far that nothing is impossible, we went to the embassy anyway. Painted in bright letters above the window where we had to apply for the visa were the words "patientez s'il vous plait.". How appropriate that the French have come up with a verb for "patient". We "patiented", and with the help of our stellar clerk's rep Angelique and a local CSO member we had met in one of our meetings we got our visas. Then we h...