one year and going strong!

I got back to Mali this week, and while it took a few days to readjust to speaking Bambara again, all is well now. There are some changes a-brewing in Sikasso. Two PCVs living in Sikasso city left today. They are extending for a third year in Bamako. Autumn is moving to Kita which really sucks, we'll all miss her. Now we're down to 6 volunteers in the Sikasso region with one, Liz, my teammate, COSing in September and Trinh living in Sikasso-ville.
Rainy season is officially here. It rains just about every day (usually at nite). The new group of trainees are here, but I have yet to see them. I'm supposed to help out with training in September. My group has officially passed 1 year in Mali- I know, crazy, huh? I can't believe how fast it has passed.
I found out today that my project proposal has been approved by Washington to be posted on the peace corps website to start receiving funds. I also found out later today that the project has already been funded by a donor, that was very quick! Thank you very much whoever you are!
After I finished the PHAST training with my sanitation committee we decided to do a few sanitation improvement projects. While the village will be contruibuting a great deal to the project, including all the labor, we applied for a small amount of funding to help with the purchasing of cement and piping. The project includes three tasks: building three wash areas with soask pits, one soak pit for every concession in village, and soak pits for each pump.
Wash areas are cemented areas where women can wash their clothes and dispose of their water in a sanitary matter. Most women wash their clothes near the pumps and then throw their dirty water right there, leaving large amounts of standing greywater, especially during rainy season. Soak pits are basically large holes in the ground filled with rocks and then covered that are connected to a greywater source. For example all the runoff water from a latrine will flow via piping into a large hole so that dirty water is now completely covered instead of sitting in the streets. So these projects will contribute to an improvement in the saniation conditions of the village. Unfortunately we'll have to wait a month or two before we start.