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| Soulemane and Estelle, my two Spelling Bee winners. |
These are the two winners of my local spelling bee, Soulemane and Estelle, right after they won the competition -- when I took this picture, Estelle was still so nervous that she could barely talk, and Soulemane could barely stay still he was so excited. They worked their butts off to win -- they studied at home, actually, and between classes I'd hear them saying the letters to themselves in their best American accents -- and I'm so proud of them!
Quick, fall in love with them. K, now, the problem. The prize that they've won is a trip to Natitingou, which is waaaaaay up north, to do the national spelling bee in June. Lots of Peace Corps volunteers in Benin have done local spelling bees, and all of the winners will get together to compete, hang out, and get to see more of their own country... neither of these kids has been anywhere near that far north. In order to get them there and house them, we PCVs need to raise money. Every cent of donated money will go to the kids, their food/transportation/housing for two nights, and prizes for the overall winners.
I need to raise about $100 to take care of my kids -- if you have a couple extra bucks, please please please send it in! I'll love you forever, and write you a pretty thank-you note. Soulemane and Estelle absolutely, positively deserve the trip, and I promise to post lots of pictures of them as they see parts of their country they'd probably never get to see otherwise. Here's the link: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=680-203
And here are their answers to the questionnaire I made them fill out when they were still shaking from the competition:
Name: Estelle
Age: 13 years
Village: Adanmagni
Class: 6eme M2 (My class!)
Favorite food: Rice, macaroni, and cold water
Favorite subject: History-Geography
What do you like to do in your spare time? Have you visited Natitingou before? No.
Name: Soulemane
Age: 13 years
Village: Djegou-Nagot
Class: 5eme M3
Favorite food: Rice, "mankaronie", pate and sauce with fish or meat
Favorite subject: History-Geography
What do you like to do in your spare time? (he wrote this in English) I like playing football.
Have you visited Natitingou before? No.
1 comment:
Way to go on the spelling bee and girls group! That's awesome that you've already got that stuff up and running! And I totally agree with the tex-mex. I've made my parents send me taco and fajita seasoning and it's delicious every time.
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