Hi Friends,

First, I am going to do a little begging. I want to thank all of you who have already donated but we still need about 2000 dollars. So please if you haven't made a donation consider doing so. We've spent a lot of the last couple days working out some of the details for Camp GLOW and its going to be an amazing experience for these girls. Not only will they gain valuble skills and knowledge on such subjects as assertiveness, communication, peer pressure, and rape and sexual assault but they will also have a lot of fun. We will doing art projects with the girls including making sanitary pads, teaching them dramas, and doing a lot of fun sports and games. We've gotten a lot of support from local businesses but we still need your help to pay for our wonderful facilities. All we need is 200 people to give 10 dollars, or a hundred to give 20! It doesn't take much and it will add up if everyone does their part. So please donate if you can and pass this along to anyone else you know who may be interested in supporting these wonderful young women ( and my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer!)

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-055

The last few days have been very GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) oriented. Thursday and Friday we had a training with our partners at the YWCA to practice, finalize the schedule and figure out a lot of the logistics of the camp. It was lot of fun and we got a lot done but our to do list grows everyday. We spent yesterday trying to cross a few things off the list including getting more donations here in Chipata. Mostly this means we are going shop to shop asking for any donations that they are willing to give. Yesterday was very successful as we were able to raise some money and also got a few needed items donated. Our biggest surprise was from our landlord ( who owns a resturant and butcher) who donated ice cream so that we can have an ice cream party for the girls! Most of these girls have probably never had ice cream, so are very excited. We still have a lot to do but are slowly getting it all done.

Back in my village I've been traveling throughout my catchment conducting sensitization meetings to increase the levels of HIV testing in the area. For the most part things have been going well and people have even requested VCT services. I did have one meeting where only 4 people came and had to be rescheduled but one out of three is not bad at all. Once we have visited all the neighborhoods, we will be returning to conduct the actual testing. Most testing is done at the clinics but since people are reluctent to come in for testing we are going to them! Since most people who are postivie in Zambia don't know their status testing is very important.

Besides all the work that has finally jump-started I have still found time for fun. My friend Denise came to visit before our provincial meetings at the beginning of June. It was fun to show her around my area and introduce her to all the people I tell stories about. My village was very excited to have a visitor, with one little boy yelling "A'zungu A'wiri" or two white people when we came in to the village.

Its cotton harvest time and I've been learning a lot about cotton from my neighbors. This means that many villagers have money in the first time for a long time which is both good and bad. I am not enjoying the fact that men can once more afford alcohol but it is good to see children getting full meals again.

Time is flying by, I can't believe that I've been in Zambia for 11 months! This means that its once again the cold season, which means no rain which is nice but that it can be rather cold in the morning. Good thing I packed my long underwear...

Well I guess thats all for now, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there (especially mine!). Enjoy the beautiful MN summer for me!

Love,
Allie