We are officially PCVs!

We are now officially PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers).  The swearing in ceremony was on Wednesday.  All 46 of us who started Pre-service Training together in January were sworn in!  Our Community Health Event went well.  We had over 200 children who learned about the importance of washing hands, had fun in a “jump castle” and had a generally good time.  I’m putting up a picture of a group of girls that did some traditional danced for us. 

We have moved into our 2-room house and have started making it our home.  We have a functional kitchen with a 2-burner mini-stove, a small refrigerator and the necessary dishes, pots & silverware to cook.  We had our first “home-cooked” meal on Friday evening – scrambled eggs, rice & squash.  We spent Friday at our primary school.  They have a library that was set up by a previous PCV but it had not been used for several months because they had lost the key to get in.  Richard was able to get the door off.  I’m excited about getting it operating again.

Tomorrow we will be going into our “shopping” town to get a PO Box and see what is available there – maybe a hardware store? Some hooks to hang things on would be nice.  We know there is an internet café so I will be posting this from there.  Maybe I’ll have a chance to find out what is happening in the world.  With very poor phone receptions (therefore no internet) , no radio & no newspapers, I feel very cut off from the rest of the world.