After a two-week break in the US, I once again find myself back in Cape Verde. (The trip was wonderful, except for the fact that my bags never caught up with me until 3 days before I was due to return. Even without warm clothes, I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting friends and family in the DC area, and attending an advocacy retreat for American Jewish World Service.) Despite being jet-lagged, I went to a St. Patrick’s Day happy hour sponsored by the US Embassy a few hours after landing.
Yesterday I participated in a field trip with our Post Language Program (PLP). We visited two Aldeias SOS orphanages in the villages of Sao Domingos and Assomada, both within 1 hour of Praia on the island of Santiago. It was truly inspiring to see how the children there are being cared for by this privately-funded institution. During one family visit, though, we learned that rural Cape Verdean children only receive on average 25% of the daily recommended nutrition, mostly due to the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. (Since the island rarely gets rain, most produce is imported and therefore prohibitively expensive.) Pictured below with the family is Bea Weiss our Community Liaison Officer (CLO) and Stahis Panagides, the Country Director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
Throughout the day, we got to practice our Kriolu language skills, and were even treated to several demonstrations of “capoeira”, an Afro-Brazilian mixture of dance and martial arts.
With a little more than 3 months remaining of my Fellowship, I still have a lot on my plate. In April, I will be traveling to other islands (Sao Vicente, Santo Antao and Fogo) to conduct teacher-training workshops at secondary schools. I have also started collaborating with UNI-CV’s Business School to develop their English curriculum and programming.As you can see, there is never a dull moment here in Cape Verde! Ciao for now!
