projects, training, and whatnot

happy holidays. a lot has been happening lately. in addition to my parents visit (which was wonderful), i've been at a week of training and working on getting some of my funded projects off the ground.

my parents visited at the end of november. it was great to see them, and i've missed them a lot. among other things, we visited the hassen mosque in casablanca, jama fna in marrakesh, my site (!), and essouaria. it was great for them to see where i live and the work that i hope to do.

right after they left i attended my inservice training in agadir (on the coast). we stayed in a beautiful hotel with hot showers and HEAT! best of all, i was able to meet up with all of the other volunteers from my training, some who i haven't seen since swearing in. i enjoyed the training, much of it was sharing out project ideas with other volunteers and the moroccan public health sector (SIAAP), and exchanging stories and challenges we have faced in the past six months at our sites. we spent time learning about the new project framework. my health sector was previously focused on hygiene and sanitiation and we are moving toward community health education. therefore, much of the program criteria and our requirements have changed accordingly. as volunteers, as part of our work, we are asked to include teaching in schools, running or co-facilitate techniqual trainings and training of trainers for health care professionals and interested community members. this, ideally, will make our work more sustainable once we have left, by working with community assests and building on their knowledge. we also had a presentation on results-based planning and how to plan and execute projects by focusing on desired outcomes and impact. as part of that week, we had to take a mid-term language evaulation... luckily, i improved by one level... sadly, not more (im not considered intermediate high on the LPI - language proficiancy interview - criteria).. no worries, we didn't spend evey minute in training though, we all had a lot of fun in agadir.. i enjoyed mcdonalds and pizza hut... our group even had a burger-off, the winner consuming ten cheeseburgers... heart attack reports will come later. sadly, i did not have the chance to pick up any argan oil (which the area is known for)... but i guess i'll just have to return again soon.

this week is a huge holiday in morocco (surprisingly, it's not christmas)... laid el kabir (literally, holiday the big) where each family slaughters their sheep (which they have been raising and fattening for months) and eats for days. i'm excited to celebrate it with my community (ok, not so much the slaughtering animal part).

now i must get back to work... more will come as my projects get more developed, right now, as far as funded projects, i'm trying to work on a solid waste mangement system and a potable water access project. i will do my best to post mid-january with updates on these. happy new year and best wishes to you all.