The Man has a Home

Spoke with Will this afternoon. He is back in training camp following a week "live in" at his post (aka: home for 2 years). His town which is directly north of Maradi ( the financial capitol of Niger) has 7,000 people. He reports neighboring towns have running water and electricity and perhaps the good stuff will reach his town during his tenure but for the current time he will live like the rest of the citizens, without! He remarks that a non profit built the new city municipal building with ceiling fans and water facets...but they remain just for show. The town has 2 schools and a small hospital which is evidently typical for the larger towns. There is a market every Thursday where he can hopefully pick up some grain and fruit and a little meat. There are 10 people from Will's group that are living near by, one close enough for him to visit every Sunday. This friend will have access to good phone reception and poor Internet access so the plan is that we will hear from him each Sunday. He states he will stay over at the different post on Sunday night and on Monday he will do a radio show with the other volunteer on municipal issues and educational issues, all in Hausa.
He does not have a clear picture at this time of what exactly he will be doing. The plan is to live in the town for a month or two and learn the needs. He spoke with us today about starting a recycling program for the plastic. In a nearby city there is a plant that turns the plastic into bricks for building. He states his living quarters are a bit primitive, and that he has great plans for remodeling, talks of adding a window and building an oven to cook pizza! He sounds amazingly at home. Had us laughing over his trip on the back of a bush taxi to the city to catch the bus back to training camp. We know he had some Internet access this week and sent greetings to as many of you as he could. He said the connection was archaic! He states one more week of education at the training camp. And then a week of parties.....We would imagine by the 14th of September he will be in his new home.

Thanks for being Will's friends -

The Parents

Will's Class of Peace Corp Volunteers

Thirty two volunteers in his group-one married couple. They have been together for 5 weeks in the training camp outside of Niamey the capitol. Will stays with a family each evening in the near village where he sleeps out under his mosquito netting, showers with a bucket and poops without a toilet. His language training is Hausa. The training is quite intense as in mid September each volunteer will be on their own. He sounds remarkably at home in the country at this early stage in his adventure. His post is about 10 hours from the training camp. Email us jwsmith6018@tx.rr.com if you need his new address. His accomodations will not include electricity or running water. He tells us less than 5 miles from his post he will have access to internet and plans on visiting his fellow volunteer there weekly. He has a cell phone so ring us if you want his number and access to the most economical phone card.

Our hope is that each of you is doing as well as Will is in Niger!

The Parents

You Are the Best!

Each of you played a huge role in Will's readiness for Niger! You should have no doubt that Will values you both as individuals and more importantly as friends. John and I miss your presence in our backyard or in front of our finally big screen TV. Drop by anytime. There are always beverages in the garage refrigerator and we will cook if we know you are coming.

The Parents