Tamale sure seems quiet without the 30+ 2012 Winter Fellows, assistant translators and CWS support staff! We miss their daily stories of village life, center construction, and transportation mayhem. Their communities certainly miss them too. I’ve never seen so many disappointed faces in response to my presence as I did in the first couple weeks of follow up; its hard to be the wrong salaminga!

We’ve tried to block out our post-fellowship blues with a roar of moto engines and a cloud of fresh Sahara dust, and staff has hit the ground running in the past few weeks. With nine new villages and two new districts to follow up in, it can sometimes feel like we spend more time on motos than not. With that in mind, this week’s update from the field is an homage to our favorite mode of transportation!

The motos aren’t just great for rough-roading. They also are favorite props for photos! Alhassan helped us open Gidanturu’s center last week and, in return, got to pose on our Apsonic.

Baramini, Alhassan’s mother and the lady who runs the treatment center in Gidanturu, also posed for a picture.

And still to come – a video montage of TJ, Shak and myself (Kathryn) taking Rodney Atkins‘ advice to heart…

Check back soon!

-Kathryn

*UPDATE* : You can check out the video here .