School Expansion 101

I’m going to go ahead and start by posting the link to the fundraising site. Click it… Open it in a new tab nnnow, so that it’s super easy for you to donate after you hear me pour my heart out about this project.

https://beta.peacecorps.gov/donate/project/secondary-school-expansion/

Thanks.

Now.

Why is this crazy health volunteer in rural Benin trying to build classrooms? Seems random? As a public health professional, classrooms were not immediately on my radar... but as a community member, it's hard to ignore how much people want this and all the reasons why.

Personally, I have 398 smart, spunky, inspiring young reasons why I want to build up this school… But I don’t want to keep you here all day :-P So let me hit you with just a few solid reasons why this project is so important:

• Currently, only 58% of girls in Benin go to school. That’s in BENIN as a whole. Rural Benin has lower rates. Gender equality is incredibly important to achieve, asap, all over the world. Want some relevant stats? :
• A girl with one extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult. 

• A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5.

• Women with no education have 6.7 births, on average. The figure falls to 5.8 for those with primary education and more than halves, to 3.9, for those with secondary education.

• The current situation in my village is that there are 398 students attending a school that only has 4 classrooms. That’s about 100 students per class. Teachers are ingenious and have gotten creative with where and how they teach classes, but when it’s hot season (111 degrees last week!) or rainy season (buckets and buckets of rain + flooding) things get tricky. Absences are super common, and I think that's really understandable.

• The school only goes up to 3eme. That’s basically America’s equivalent of freshman year of high school. Most students don’t go beyond that, ever. Making it that far is considered a big accomplishment. If you get super passionate young people with family in bigger towns, they can sometimes finish by passing the next few years at another school, but this is rare. It will be awhile before Peonga’s secondary school has the capacity to offer the last few years of school, but this is extra difficult if they can’t adequately accommodate those they currently have.

• SO much bang for your buck. A good friend in a nearby town has a background in construction, and is so ready to move this forward. We've wheeled and dealed with the local masons and carpenters, parents and community members are fired up and ready to work, and we've partnered with a wonderful organization nearby who can match on materials. The final amount we need to fund raise is only ~9000 American dollars… That’s for 3 new strong and sustainable classrooms, a small school library, desks, and chairs.

Now, I’m under no illusion that a few new rooms are going to entirely change the face of education in my region. But having a safe, organized, not insanely overcrowded place to learn is an important piece. We're also launching a ton of coinciding projects that are meant to build capacity, create opportunities for young people, and break down barriers to education, especially for girls. The teachers, parents, students and I are working really hard here, and I promise this has the potential to be a great thing. Help us out, please :-)

If you have any questions, ideas, or want to get more involved please feel free to email me at sierrapetrosky@gmail.com

Oh Peonga

Welcome to Peonga!

The best village in Benin ;-) and my home for 2 years.

Peonga is a small village located deep in the Borgou department of Benin. Though there’s no running water, electricity, or solid phone service, it makes up for these things with culture, heart, and insanely beautiful people.

I live in a small concrete house with two rooms, an outdoor shower area, and a latrine over yonder ;-) I love it. Here’s a sort-of tour:

Room 1:Kitchen/sitting room.

Room 1:Kitchen/sitting room

Room 2: Bedroom. Where the magic happens ;) (...but actually not at all).

Still the bedroom :P

The shower. Also where I collect rain water, do dishes, and do laundry.

The concession... outdoor space shared with another local family.

My latrine is that little building up there... I almost always make it in time.

So there you have it! My little home.

...What else?
Oh! I also have a roommate:

His name is Twigston. He's pretty great. Loves helping me with laundry :D

Okay. Work. Peonga has a small health center with 5 full time employees: the head of the center, a pharmacist, and three aids… and now, me! There is also a small Fulfulde (the local language) primary school, French primary and secondary school. Since I've moved here, I’ve been working a lot with the health center and the secondary school, as well as taking Fulfulde lessons and trying to improve my French….  I’ll try to post a blog with more deets on all these things soon!

Peonga is small, but it does have one restaurant place that (oh heeeeeeyyy!) sells cold drinks on Sundays! Sundays are our market days, and my new favorite day of the week. There is a strong Fulani influence in this region, so our markets are especially colorful; full of beautiful scarves, fabrics, handmade jewelry, and SOJA. Soja is a tofu-ish food that is SO darn good, and always a welcome change from my “all carb diet” the rest of the week.

As far as transportation goes, most of us in Peonga just walk everywhere. In order to leave, I take my bicycle or a zemidjan (a motorcycle)((sorry Mom & Dad...)), and if I’m going to the city I take a bush taxi. It’s…. usually a tight fit :P

There are four seasons chez moi: Rainy season, Petit Chaleur (a short hot season), Harmattan (a super dry, dusty, and kind of chilly season), and Chaleur (the omgIthinkI’mgoingtodieit’ssohot season). We are currently finishing up Chaleur, and lemme tell ya, it was no joke. Arizonans: picture summer in Phoenix with no AC, fans, or refrigerator. Iyiyiyi!

Even though each day here has its own unique set of challenges, I feel really lucky to be where I’m at. I've made some great friends in Peonga, have an awesome support system within the Peace Corps, and a solid influx of letters and packages from family and friends back home. Who could ask for more? :-)