A week ago I had my Close of Service (COS) conference where myself and all the volunteers who arrived in Senegal with me came to Dakar and began our preparation to either return to the US or remain in Senegal.
It doesn't feel like it has been two years. There were hard times where I thought my service would never end (or mean anything) and I would look at my calender and count the months or days til my potential leave date. There was was a particular rough few weeks where I counted 286 days til my COS. However far more often and especially in these last 6 months my life has been one extraordinary event after another and my service more important to people as my projects were completed.
Sure I made the call home once where I seriously considered going home and I think almost every volunteer has had the moment. Mostly I think the calls have been "Guess what gastrointestinal parasite I have this week or this snake/chicken/cow/bat colony go into my room and man it just would not leave!"
Some fun experiences I've had:
-taking bucket baths during rain storms
-throwing frogs at my siblings (frogs terrify them) and they, in return, chasing me with dead spiders and scorpions.
-Operation Frog Annihilation with my brother Tidiane to remove the pests from my tree nursery
-while running in the forest scaring a pack of bush weasels, a giant pelican/penguin bird, various monkeys, and one giant golden furry bigfoot (which I am sure was just a very large golden baboon.)
-The first road kill I ever saw: monkey road kill
-Biking 40K into Kolda and not dying
-biking 60K to a new site and also not dying
-Being given chickens (5 total-all are dead now. 2 we ate, 1 died because I biked 20K with it hanging off my handlebars, 1 got sick and the other a snake got.)
-Playing with baby cows
-Camping at Segou Falls with Alan and Shelia where we got run out of our campsite in the middle of the night by hoards of ants, chased by barking chimpanzees, and then just when we thought we reached safety got caught in one of the firs flash thunderstorms of the rainy season.
-Biking past by a herd of over hundred monkeys on my way to a new site.
-Making my family chili for dinner (they were not fans.)
-Flagging down more free rides than I will ever get in America
-Out sassying the sassiest ladies in my village-"Girl you say my butt is big? Let me do a booty dance and show my butt is better than yours!" Never fails.
-Expressing my outrage in pulaar at the garage and putting some of the jerks in place.
-sharing my room with 13 bats who control my mosquito population.
-Having a rabies scare when a dog bit me
-comfortably talking about the frequency and type of bowel movements I have with other volunteers
-Pooping my pants. Yay brown badge.
-Getting Dengue fever
-Numerous stings and chemical burns by ear wigs and blister beetles.
-Being chased out of my room by a spider crab.
-eating organic fruits and veggies and free range meat all the time
- learning to recognize which animals are sick enough to point where we should eat them before they die.
But of course I have been in Senegal for more than just personal enjoyment. I've grown a lot and my perspective on the world has changed. When I leave my village the thing I will be most proud of is that I did everything I said I would do.
-Constructed a garden and well for increased food security
-Personally distributed over 500 nets in and around my village and then assisted in the 2010 Kolda Region net distribution which covered everyone person in the entire region.
-Increased the cashew orchards whose product ripens in March just in time to help the village buy food when all of our food that we harvested the previous fall has finished
-Planted more trees than I really know what to do with
-After a year and half of gentle prodding, submitted budgets, friendly greetings and finally one angry blow out got World Vision to agree to fix my school. The repairs haven't begun yet which means they could still back out on me but they have come with the school inspection (the Kolda equivalent of the school board) and entrepeunear to price everything out and guarentee the village an additional teacher so we won't have just one teacher for 48 students K-8.
-Met the 12 families of girls nominated for scholarships and explained to them the program and how their daughters are extremely gifted and should remain in school.
-Organized tree nursery trainings, gardening trainings, and one on one consults for farmers and specific tree projects.
And then there were times where I became more connected to my village.
-Saw one of my close friends give birth to her first daughter after she had seven sons. Beautiful baby Bana.
-Helped my village fight a forest fire that would have consumed our village.
-I helped my name sake pay for his medicine when he got malaria
-Carried other womens' babies on my back when they got tired and their children did not cry
-joined people under the meeting mango tree and was regarded as someone to talk TO not talk AT.
-Asking everyone man who came to village to find a wife how old he is and then all my village ladies (without me prompting them) tell him I think he is too old. They know me so well.
-Provided care for our local mason when he gouged his finger while working and it became extremely infected
-Cared for my little brother when his eyes became infected and filled with puss.
-Helped my mom get medicine when she got a bad case of parasites.
-Traveling to the bush villages by myself and meeting people who had never seen a white person before then they thought I was genie.
-chasing down other people's chickens/sheep/goats before the rain storms hit.
-Going on mango missions with my brothers and getting sick because we ate so many mangoes.
There so much I have enjoyed doing and while doing I have gained a lot of useful skills. I can write grants, price supplies, conduct interviews in foreign languages. I've collaborated with NGOs and local government bodies. I can do good work in the worst conditions.
I never thought I would be as confident in pulaar as I am now. One of best moments was where I was visiting another volunteer and a man came up to us as we were talking and said my pulaar sounded like Guinea Bissau pulaar. My family is from Guinea Bissau and the fact that I have an accent them which the rest of the village doesn't have was pretty awesome.
However this is not supposed to be post about me finishing my service and going home because I am extending my service another 6 months to be a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (PCVL) in Kolda. I am really excited about this as it means I will gain even more professional skills since I will be reviewing grants, meeting with people, supervising site set up and developing volunteer resources. I am hoping my french will be fluent by the end since it is very rusty.
The hardest part though will be leaving my village and handing it over to my replacement. When I originally asked to be replaced I wasn't thinking about extending. Now I am and it will be hard leaving and being there while it is someone else's village. I am very excited to be replaced-I've heard great things about the new group that arrived about a week ago. I am sure Medina will have an amazing volunteer. It will just be a little lonely with my crew of 150 people who know where I am, what I am doing and usually why I am doing it.
So sorry I won't be home this year! 2011 folks! I promise to really come back then!
AND PS! I uploaded a ton of pictures to my shutterfly account for those who would like to see some of my projects, village, and my awesome wounds and scars! Take a look! The link is under my photo!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Its been a while YAAFO! (Sorry)
Greetings everyone! I am sorry for the lack of updates over the past 3 months and I promise to try and do better for the rest of my service.
However first of all I must express a sincere and grateful thank you to all the people who donated money to my well project. A few months ago when I was first writing the grant for our garden the biggest obstacle was keeping the overall price of the project low enough so that the community would be able to meet the community contribution requirements- 25% of the total cost, at least 10% in cash, the rest could be met with in-kind contributions like labor and transport. It doesn't sound like much but to a village whose population hovers around 150, with only 13 actual households it turned to be a much bigger concern. So after trimming the garden size and materials to the lowest we could reasonably accept we still had the problem that the village could not come up with the cash. The only thing left we could remove was the well and a garden without a water source is a sorry excuse for a garden.
Then the NGO equivalent of a shining white knight appeared in the form of Appropriate Projects, an initiative of Water Charity. This wonderful offshoot of Water Charity is focused on water sanitation and availability, works with PCVs all over the world, funds projects that are 500 dollars or less and best of all they cut through the red tape and prefund the project with the terms that the project is ready to begin and can be completed in a month. It was if the Fates of Developing Countries felt our despair with the unreliable and frequently late funding problems and gave us a break (and actually Appropriate Projects is directed by a RPCV of Bolivia who proves that you're always a PCV at heart by fixing a problem faced by volunteers all over the world!)
After getting approval from Appropriaten Projects, I removed the well from the garden grant and we could thankfully meet the community contribution requirements which meant I could submit the garden grant. We began construction on the well at the end of February. The village men came out to the area and measured out the land and then the masons (who gaves the BEST deal for the labor-seriously like took a significant reduction in payment, one that no one else would have ever taken) outlined the well area. I bought a pick axe for the masons as a symbol of my gratitude and so afterwords each man in the village took a turn breaking the earth with the pick axe and saying a blessing over the well to make it clean and successful. By the end one man commented that it is the most blessed well in the whole village and that water from this well will taste better than any other well. By the second day the masons hit water and a few of the boys jumped into the well to take the first celeboratory sips and proclaimed it to be the better than any of the other wells.
To the people who donated to the well project you not only gave my village another source of clean water but you also enabled us to to apply and receieve a grant for our garden which will help the village develop food security and increase nutrition. In the single act of giving you have had a multifaceted effect on the lives of Medina Abdoul. A jaraama (Thank you.)
For people interested in helping more PCVs please go to http://www.appropriateprojects.org/ It is a great organization that is truly making a difference for volunteers and their communites. You can also see other projects in Senegal (as Senegal currently has the most projects being funded-GO PC SENEGAL!)
In terms of the garden project I received the funds and have purchased all the materials. The village has prepared the land and the goal is to have the project complete by the end of March, si Allah Jaabi (if God wills it). I'm really excited to get it done and start garden trainings for the rains.
We also picked a new place to the tree pepineres in the village. Mainly not in my backyard since that means we have to carry water through my house and our well is the most used well in the area and it is prone to getting a little dry toward the end of dry season. The village All-Star Demba offered up his small gardening space next to his much less used well. He put up the fencing and even filled the first 300 tree sacs. This is a man who would suceed in America. He works so hard, the village respects him (they even wanted him to be Chief but he politely declined insisting on giving the Chief's son a chance to prove himself first), and NGOs trust him. One NGO gave him a real bee hives and a very torn, but real bee suit. The hives are in working order now, I even got stung for walking too close to the hive (did you know bee stings can itch because I didn't) and Demba gave me a sample of his first honey batch. The only thing that worries me is he says he has so many friends and family he never, in good conscience, sell his honey because he could never charge a friend. He much rather give to everyone than have anyone pay. Still working on how we can compromise on that sweet but economically unhelpful stand point.
I am also doing the site set up for a new volunteer in the arrondissment center, about 15KM down the road. It will be an Environmental Education volunteer and if I may say, their site is going to be baller. Like amazing. Great family and motivated schools. Can't ask for much more than that!
This new volunteer will arrive in a week or two and after they get here I will officially be a 'senior' and be entering the home stretch of my service, the last 6-7 months I will be a volunteer. Its strange to think that I have been in Africa for the past year and half. In many ways I am so used to everything here that thought a different routine in America is kind of alien, maybe even a little scary. Probably more scary because when I get back I have to actually get my plans for future in order. After making the choice to come here I didn't think any things else would be as challenging.
I hope everything is well in America! I greet everyone!
However first of all I must express a sincere and grateful thank you to all the people who donated money to my well project. A few months ago when I was first writing the grant for our garden the biggest obstacle was keeping the overall price of the project low enough so that the community would be able to meet the community contribution requirements- 25% of the total cost, at least 10% in cash, the rest could be met with in-kind contributions like labor and transport. It doesn't sound like much but to a village whose population hovers around 150, with only 13 actual households it turned to be a much bigger concern. So after trimming the garden size and materials to the lowest we could reasonably accept we still had the problem that the village could not come up with the cash. The only thing left we could remove was the well and a garden without a water source is a sorry excuse for a garden.
Then the NGO equivalent of a shining white knight appeared in the form of Appropriate Projects, an initiative of Water Charity. This wonderful offshoot of Water Charity is focused on water sanitation and availability, works with PCVs all over the world, funds projects that are 500 dollars or less and best of all they cut through the red tape and prefund the project with the terms that the project is ready to begin and can be completed in a month. It was if the Fates of Developing Countries felt our despair with the unreliable and frequently late funding problems and gave us a break (and actually Appropriate Projects is directed by a RPCV of Bolivia who proves that you're always a PCV at heart by fixing a problem faced by volunteers all over the world!)
After getting approval from Appropriaten Projects, I removed the well from the garden grant and we could thankfully meet the community contribution requirements which meant I could submit the garden grant. We began construction on the well at the end of February. The village men came out to the area and measured out the land and then the masons (who gaves the BEST deal for the labor-seriously like took a significant reduction in payment, one that no one else would have ever taken) outlined the well area. I bought a pick axe for the masons as a symbol of my gratitude and so afterwords each man in the village took a turn breaking the earth with the pick axe and saying a blessing over the well to make it clean and successful. By the end one man commented that it is the most blessed well in the whole village and that water from this well will taste better than any other well. By the second day the masons hit water and a few of the boys jumped into the well to take the first celeboratory sips and proclaimed it to be the better than any of the other wells.
To the people who donated to the well project you not only gave my village another source of clean water but you also enabled us to to apply and receieve a grant for our garden which will help the village develop food security and increase nutrition. In the single act of giving you have had a multifaceted effect on the lives of Medina Abdoul. A jaraama (Thank you.)
For people interested in helping more PCVs please go to http://www.appropriateprojects.org/ It is a great organization that is truly making a difference for volunteers and their communites. You can also see other projects in Senegal (as Senegal currently has the most projects being funded-GO PC SENEGAL!)
In terms of the garden project I received the funds and have purchased all the materials. The village has prepared the land and the goal is to have the project complete by the end of March, si Allah Jaabi (if God wills it). I'm really excited to get it done and start garden trainings for the rains.
We also picked a new place to the tree pepineres in the village. Mainly not in my backyard since that means we have to carry water through my house and our well is the most used well in the area and it is prone to getting a little dry toward the end of dry season. The village All-Star Demba offered up his small gardening space next to his much less used well. He put up the fencing and even filled the first 300 tree sacs. This is a man who would suceed in America. He works so hard, the village respects him (they even wanted him to be Chief but he politely declined insisting on giving the Chief's son a chance to prove himself first), and NGOs trust him. One NGO gave him a real bee hives and a very torn, but real bee suit. The hives are in working order now, I even got stung for walking too close to the hive (did you know bee stings can itch because I didn't) and Demba gave me a sample of his first honey batch. The only thing that worries me is he says he has so many friends and family he never, in good conscience, sell his honey because he could never charge a friend. He much rather give to everyone than have anyone pay. Still working on how we can compromise on that sweet but economically unhelpful stand point.
I am also doing the site set up for a new volunteer in the arrondissment center, about 15KM down the road. It will be an Environmental Education volunteer and if I may say, their site is going to be baller. Like amazing. Great family and motivated schools. Can't ask for much more than that!
This new volunteer will arrive in a week or two and after they get here I will officially be a 'senior' and be entering the home stretch of my service, the last 6-7 months I will be a volunteer. Its strange to think that I have been in Africa for the past year and half. In many ways I am so used to everything here that thought a different routine in America is kind of alien, maybe even a little scary. Probably more scary because when I get back I have to actually get my plans for future in order. After making the choice to come here I didn't think any things else would be as challenging.
I hope everything is well in America! I greet everyone!
Friday, November 13, 2009
It finally happened
The moment that I knew would come and didn't really expect finally showed up last night after dark just before dinner
Its night fall and there is very little light from the moon. I have my trusty headlamp which is on its last two AAA batteries and I have trying desperately to keep my head from exploding. I have been sick since last week and it is resulted in a constant fever, body aches and one giant headache. So I have been drinking lots of water and just before dinner I go to my room to grab some water.
Since the end of the wet season I have had frogs EVERYWHERE. Literally dozens of them at all hours of the night in ever corner of my room. I don't mind this anymore because a)their small and b) I am going to kill of them later when they get in my pepinere so I figure karma is coming why rush.
I bend down to my water container and suddenly I realize that the thing that it is twelve inches from my face is not a frog, but a wriggling, scaly reptile of a length that I didn't stay to find out. After going a whole year without having a snake in my room (seeing them everywhere else) it finally found a way in-thru my open back door.
I ran to my front door and yell
"Mbodi Mbodi!! Mbodi inder suundu-am!" ("Snake! SNake! Snake in my room!)Usually people have a hard time figuring if I am saying snake or mosquito but since I am not prone to yell and wave my arms about the insect variety, my 3 brothers, 2 male village friends, host father and uncle all show up in record time all carrying clubs but not machetes which at the moment I thought was ridiculuous because this is an excellent moment for a machete.
"Adama where is it?" My brother asks. I gave him my head lamp and then gave my room a bigger berth in case the snake was faster that 6 Senegalese men.
"The canari." I said using the wolof term for the clay pot for storing water.
"What? Where?" Finally I used the pulaar word for the pot and they found it.
Unfortunately because I am not very wise near the canari is not only my water filter, water bucket, and gas stove but also several empty bottles of bleach and one glass bottle for storing peanut butter. Excellent hiding place for a reptile.
I let the experts handle it and all I hear and see are murmurs and shadows coming to gether and then shouts as they collectively jump backwards. I hear glass break and know there goes my jar. Oh well.
Finally someone smashes its head and they bring it outside. Its only about a meter long but its body is still wriggling even though its head is mostly flat.
"Touch it Adama!'
Thank you boys I will pass.
However then they quickly dig a whole in front of my room drop the wiggling snake into the hole, cover it up and pour water on- apparently this will keep the snake from coming back. At this point I'll just shut my door all the time.
My brother Buena came up to me and was like "Adama you had cobra, if that spits at you, you will go blind! Don't go near them and shut your door at night!"
Thank you Captain Obvious.
There you have it folks.
I have had:
Goats
Sheep
Chickens
cockroaches
Spider Crabs
Scorpions
frogs
One monitor lizard that lived in my duche area for a few hours
And finally one cobra.
I draw the line at monkeys. No monkeys. If I have monkeys in my room you will be hearing the story from me in person because I will be at home. Monkeys are serious business and I am not monkeying around. (couldn't resist sorry.)
I also came into today to charge my phone (sorry mom my phone is lame and died) and I managed to find the one Alhum that wanted to road race another alhum. These are cars that are piled so high with crap that they lean like their going to tip over and they are going as fast as their duct tape, u-haul, brake-less, gear-less, spit and prayers machines will go. Nearly died.
Then I go to Kolda and I get off, head straight for the bean ladies because after life flashes before your eyes in Africa you want the best possible meal which in the morning is a bean sandwich and a cup of kinkilibob. However as I was walking I was stopped by the sight of something I hadn't seen in Kolda. I mean I had seen it on the road but never IN Kolda.
Four huge trucks filled Senegalese military. The last two cars have people with rocket launchers. I've only seen those in Museums and on GI Joe. They are not very big for the amount of destruction they can cause.
Following of this was a tank, a real live tank. That sounds stupid but I don't think I have ever seen one that wasn't in a Museum. Completely operational there is clearly someone driving it and then the person on top with the walkie talkie who is chatting up and watching the street life. It just blue my mind.
As volunteers we get pretty desensitized to the fact we live in a third world country. Its a coping mechanism really because it would be depressing to remembering this all the time. You get used to the limited diet, the threadbare clothes (because your clothes are threadbare too), and the generally unreliablility of technology and the unreasonable social norms that exist. Then stuff happens and you realize Yep I am in Africa.
Scary stuff like military strikes and high concentrations of gendarmie. Dengue fever outbreaks. Malaria within your family. Car hits you. Snakes in your room.
A swarm of ants invades your hut and covers the floor so you can't see it. (DO NOT MESS WITH ANTS)-this happened to a volunteer recently near my site.
Sad stuff like babies dying, people not being able to afford medicine or treating themselves with stuff that isn't medicine so they end up making themselves sicker. Girls who get pregnant and then drink poison (that their MOTHER gives them) to kill their babies so they can live without the stigma of loose woman but end up killing themselves.
Angry stuff like teachers refusing to teach or politicians not doing their jobs.
It all builds up and we need to cope so we integrate and then any of the above happen and remind us that there is a reality year- life sucks a lot.
Just another a day in Africa. There is no shortage of need for change.
Its night fall and there is very little light from the moon. I have my trusty headlamp which is on its last two AAA batteries and I have trying desperately to keep my head from exploding. I have been sick since last week and it is resulted in a constant fever, body aches and one giant headache. So I have been drinking lots of water and just before dinner I go to my room to grab some water.
Since the end of the wet season I have had frogs EVERYWHERE. Literally dozens of them at all hours of the night in ever corner of my room. I don't mind this anymore because a)their small and b) I am going to kill of them later when they get in my pepinere so I figure karma is coming why rush.
I bend down to my water container and suddenly I realize that the thing that it is twelve inches from my face is not a frog, but a wriggling, scaly reptile of a length that I didn't stay to find out. After going a whole year without having a snake in my room (seeing them everywhere else) it finally found a way in-thru my open back door.
I ran to my front door and yell
"Mbodi Mbodi!! Mbodi inder suundu-am!" ("Snake! SNake! Snake in my room!)Usually people have a hard time figuring if I am saying snake or mosquito but since I am not prone to yell and wave my arms about the insect variety, my 3 brothers, 2 male village friends, host father and uncle all show up in record time all carrying clubs but not machetes which at the moment I thought was ridiculuous because this is an excellent moment for a machete.
"Adama where is it?" My brother asks. I gave him my head lamp and then gave my room a bigger berth in case the snake was faster that 6 Senegalese men.
"The canari." I said using the wolof term for the clay pot for storing water.
"What? Where?" Finally I used the pulaar word for the pot and they found it.
Unfortunately because I am not very wise near the canari is not only my water filter, water bucket, and gas stove but also several empty bottles of bleach and one glass bottle for storing peanut butter. Excellent hiding place for a reptile.
I let the experts handle it and all I hear and see are murmurs and shadows coming to gether and then shouts as they collectively jump backwards. I hear glass break and know there goes my jar. Oh well.
Finally someone smashes its head and they bring it outside. Its only about a meter long but its body is still wriggling even though its head is mostly flat.
"Touch it Adama!'
Thank you boys I will pass.
However then they quickly dig a whole in front of my room drop the wiggling snake into the hole, cover it up and pour water on- apparently this will keep the snake from coming back. At this point I'll just shut my door all the time.
My brother Buena came up to me and was like "Adama you had cobra, if that spits at you, you will go blind! Don't go near them and shut your door at night!"
Thank you Captain Obvious.
There you have it folks.
I have had:
Goats
Sheep
Chickens
cockroaches
Spider Crabs
Scorpions
frogs
One monitor lizard that lived in my duche area for a few hours
And finally one cobra.
I draw the line at monkeys. No monkeys. If I have monkeys in my room you will be hearing the story from me in person because I will be at home. Monkeys are serious business and I am not monkeying around. (couldn't resist sorry.)
I also came into today to charge my phone (sorry mom my phone is lame and died) and I managed to find the one Alhum that wanted to road race another alhum. These are cars that are piled so high with crap that they lean like their going to tip over and they are going as fast as their duct tape, u-haul, brake-less, gear-less, spit and prayers machines will go. Nearly died.
Then I go to Kolda and I get off, head straight for the bean ladies because after life flashes before your eyes in Africa you want the best possible meal which in the morning is a bean sandwich and a cup of kinkilibob. However as I was walking I was stopped by the sight of something I hadn't seen in Kolda. I mean I had seen it on the road but never IN Kolda.
Four huge trucks filled Senegalese military. The last two cars have people with rocket launchers. I've only seen those in Museums and on GI Joe. They are not very big for the amount of destruction they can cause.
Following of this was a tank, a real live tank. That sounds stupid but I don't think I have ever seen one that wasn't in a Museum. Completely operational there is clearly someone driving it and then the person on top with the walkie talkie who is chatting up and watching the street life. It just blue my mind.
As volunteers we get pretty desensitized to the fact we live in a third world country. Its a coping mechanism really because it would be depressing to remembering this all the time. You get used to the limited diet, the threadbare clothes (because your clothes are threadbare too), and the generally unreliablility of technology and the unreasonable social norms that exist. Then stuff happens and you realize Yep I am in Africa.
Scary stuff like military strikes and high concentrations of gendarmie. Dengue fever outbreaks. Malaria within your family. Car hits you. Snakes in your room.
A swarm of ants invades your hut and covers the floor so you can't see it. (DO NOT MESS WITH ANTS)-this happened to a volunteer recently near my site.
Sad stuff like babies dying, people not being able to afford medicine or treating themselves with stuff that isn't medicine so they end up making themselves sicker. Girls who get pregnant and then drink poison (that their MOTHER gives them) to kill their babies so they can live without the stigma of loose woman but end up killing themselves.
Angry stuff like teachers refusing to teach or politicians not doing their jobs.
It all builds up and we need to cope so we integrate and then any of the above happen and remind us that there is a reality year- life sucks a lot.
Just another a day in Africa. There is no shortage of need for change.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Alright folks, I apologize for the delay in updating my blog since my return from America (sigh.) I have been trying to be in village and get stuff done and it is just so easy to get sucked into the internet and enjoy youtube and facebook. I am never going to get over the addiction of wasting my own time. So sorry I am trying much harder now to be focused. So lets start on America.
It was great. I had 6 pints of ben and jerry's ice cream, 3 quarts of beyers ice cream, 5 reeses klondike bars and a package of popsicles. This was within 17 days. Digestion was a problem that I accepted in the face that I was going to go with readily available ice cream for another year. It was totally worth it.
I also attended the wedding of the year-it was easily one of the most important and beautiful events I have ever had the pleasure to belong to. The dress fit the bride who was the most gracious and prepared bride ever, the groom was calm, the father told hilarious jokes about how the groom won the bride's mom over, and the dancing was off the chart because we pulled out moves that had no names. YOu can measure how great a party was by how sore you are the next day-I've been biking all over my region for the last year and I was sore the next day. Bravo and best wishes to Kelsey and Kevin!
Seeing family and friends and hearing how their lives had changed in the past year was a reality check for me. Time moves so slowly and is so centered on the immediate day to day occurances its weird to know that the lives I used to be so aware of are rapidly changingin my absence.
So enough on that. I made it back to Senegal alright though I arrived in New York just in time to hand my boarding pass to the attendent and walk down the aisle way before they shut the door. That would have been an interesting call to the country director-sorry won't be back til I can get enough money for a plane ticket to Senegal.
I arrived back in Senegal in time for Korite-the day when Ramadan ends and the masses can eat tons of glorious food and ton be insane and starving from sun up to sun down. It trapped me in Dakar for two more days (that and I left my Peace Corps ID in America and I didn't want to be getting out of the car in the Gambia to argue with a border person about why I shouldn't pay to have my passport stamped) but then it was a quick ride back to Kolda and two days later I was back in village.
When I got back everything I owned, patrially owned and wanted to own was covered in mold. My hut smelled like a basement and everything was stiff with mildew and moldy fuzz. However two days of laundry and keeping the doors open cleared everything up and now I am back to my naturally dirty and aromatic self.
Coming back to village I was relieved to find my language had not regressed significantly and that my village still loved me, though a few people confided in me their doubt that I would actually return to Africa after going to the land of ice cream and Mcgriddles (everything I have wanted to eat for breakfast in one bite.) The corn harvest has come in and peanuts are starting to be pulled from the fields to dry. Whenever I walk past a field someone uproots a plant and just hands it to me to eat. Didn't like it at first but as my body began to remember how limited my diet is food I didn't want to eat started to taste much better.
Like for breakfast. All of cows weaned their calves just before I left so every morning all we had was rice and mashed up okra. Not ideal when you want to be working. Well I got back and we didn't even have okra anymore. We had rice with a jumbo cube sprinkled on it. You want to know what jumbo is- you know that little packet inside ramen noodles for spicing the noodles? Thats a jumbo cube. When you have that for breakfast, you are hungry again by 10 and lunch is not till 2pm. I was very unhappy. One morning I got up with the intention of biking to Dabo and I had a banana saved from the night before. When you eat a limited diet and then you have something nutritous you can literally feel it enter your stomach and be dissolved and spread throughout your body as fast as it can. It is a weird sensation.
Fortunately three days ago one of the cows gave birth so now we have milk and breafast is still rice but its rice and kosam and the protein and calcium from the kosam make all the difference.
The first day we had it was actually the day my boss for Peace Corps came to do a site visit and help me complete my community interview and cost analysis for project priorities.
But first let me tell me you about the drama just before he came, because the two days before my boss came I was convinced I had malaria.
All volunteers are on prophalxis for malaria (and I take mine religiously once a week) but the virus does have potential to overload your system and that it was I thought it had done. It started with low grade fevers and body aches when then turned into chills where I was wrapped in my blankets, blowing on my hands and shivering uncontrollably-all this around noon and it was about 90-95 degrees. Not promising considering I also had a fever around 102. After waiting 6 months for my boss to come I couldn't consider risking not being in village for site visit. So I sucked it up, said to myself "Make it to sunday," and took some strong Ibu Profen.
No worries though I made it and I am pretty sure I don't have malaria now. Yay!
The meeting was amazing though. I had been getting people pysched for the past 3 weeks and I even caved and bought a goat for lunch,
We discussed our prevous priorities and began to price the projects. We discussed a pounding machine, a health hut, community garden, chicken coop project, fixing the school, and increasing the cashew orchard. The most expensive project is the pounding machine which everyone said is the priority. The village has to raise 25% of the cost which is around 500,000 CFA and then a matching donor will raise the other 75%.
The women are totally on board with this as this will significantly reduce their workload. I also am a little more confident in them to put forth their share of the money.
Its the men I am worried about. They are interested and want to do the project but they have a slightly less clean record when it comes to paying up when the time is up. We'll have to establish a payment schedule before I can submit anything but I am cautiously optimistic. Plus we priced out the school and I believe without a doubt it can be fixed within this year. It would cost around 400 American dollars to fix it which is doable considering other projects NGOs undertake.
I am very optimistic so far about where projects are going this year.
Other than that I am doing a small event for halloween with the kids and the crayons my grandma's church gave! Very excited for that and that fact the pumpkins are finally in season so I can have eat budu to my little heart's content.
So everyone I am still alive and working in Africa. I am very excited to see where the next 12 months take me.
En Lawwol Gonngal!
It was great. I had 6 pints of ben and jerry's ice cream, 3 quarts of beyers ice cream, 5 reeses klondike bars and a package of popsicles. This was within 17 days. Digestion was a problem that I accepted in the face that I was going to go with readily available ice cream for another year. It was totally worth it.
I also attended the wedding of the year-it was easily one of the most important and beautiful events I have ever had the pleasure to belong to. The dress fit the bride who was the most gracious and prepared bride ever, the groom was calm, the father told hilarious jokes about how the groom won the bride's mom over, and the dancing was off the chart because we pulled out moves that had no names. YOu can measure how great a party was by how sore you are the next day-I've been biking all over my region for the last year and I was sore the next day. Bravo and best wishes to Kelsey and Kevin!
Seeing family and friends and hearing how their lives had changed in the past year was a reality check for me. Time moves so slowly and is so centered on the immediate day to day occurances its weird to know that the lives I used to be so aware of are rapidly changingin my absence.
So enough on that. I made it back to Senegal alright though I arrived in New York just in time to hand my boarding pass to the attendent and walk down the aisle way before they shut the door. That would have been an interesting call to the country director-sorry won't be back til I can get enough money for a plane ticket to Senegal.
I arrived back in Senegal in time for Korite-the day when Ramadan ends and the masses can eat tons of glorious food and ton be insane and starving from sun up to sun down. It trapped me in Dakar for two more days (that and I left my Peace Corps ID in America and I didn't want to be getting out of the car in the Gambia to argue with a border person about why I shouldn't pay to have my passport stamped) but then it was a quick ride back to Kolda and two days later I was back in village.
When I got back everything I owned, patrially owned and wanted to own was covered in mold. My hut smelled like a basement and everything was stiff with mildew and moldy fuzz. However two days of laundry and keeping the doors open cleared everything up and now I am back to my naturally dirty and aromatic self.
Coming back to village I was relieved to find my language had not regressed significantly and that my village still loved me, though a few people confided in me their doubt that I would actually return to Africa after going to the land of ice cream and Mcgriddles (everything I have wanted to eat for breakfast in one bite.) The corn harvest has come in and peanuts are starting to be pulled from the fields to dry. Whenever I walk past a field someone uproots a plant and just hands it to me to eat. Didn't like it at first but as my body began to remember how limited my diet is food I didn't want to eat started to taste much better.
Like for breakfast. All of cows weaned their calves just before I left so every morning all we had was rice and mashed up okra. Not ideal when you want to be working. Well I got back and we didn't even have okra anymore. We had rice with a jumbo cube sprinkled on it. You want to know what jumbo is- you know that little packet inside ramen noodles for spicing the noodles? Thats a jumbo cube. When you have that for breakfast, you are hungry again by 10 and lunch is not till 2pm. I was very unhappy. One morning I got up with the intention of biking to Dabo and I had a banana saved from the night before. When you eat a limited diet and then you have something nutritous you can literally feel it enter your stomach and be dissolved and spread throughout your body as fast as it can. It is a weird sensation.
Fortunately three days ago one of the cows gave birth so now we have milk and breafast is still rice but its rice and kosam and the protein and calcium from the kosam make all the difference.
The first day we had it was actually the day my boss for Peace Corps came to do a site visit and help me complete my community interview and cost analysis for project priorities.
But first let me tell me you about the drama just before he came, because the two days before my boss came I was convinced I had malaria.
All volunteers are on prophalxis for malaria (and I take mine religiously once a week) but the virus does have potential to overload your system and that it was I thought it had done. It started with low grade fevers and body aches when then turned into chills where I was wrapped in my blankets, blowing on my hands and shivering uncontrollably-all this around noon and it was about 90-95 degrees. Not promising considering I also had a fever around 102. After waiting 6 months for my boss to come I couldn't consider risking not being in village for site visit. So I sucked it up, said to myself "Make it to sunday," and took some strong Ibu Profen.
No worries though I made it and I am pretty sure I don't have malaria now. Yay!
The meeting was amazing though. I had been getting people pysched for the past 3 weeks and I even caved and bought a goat for lunch,
We discussed our prevous priorities and began to price the projects. We discussed a pounding machine, a health hut, community garden, chicken coop project, fixing the school, and increasing the cashew orchard. The most expensive project is the pounding machine which everyone said is the priority. The village has to raise 25% of the cost which is around 500,000 CFA and then a matching donor will raise the other 75%.
The women are totally on board with this as this will significantly reduce their workload. I also am a little more confident in them to put forth their share of the money.
Its the men I am worried about. They are interested and want to do the project but they have a slightly less clean record when it comes to paying up when the time is up. We'll have to establish a payment schedule before I can submit anything but I am cautiously optimistic. Plus we priced out the school and I believe without a doubt it can be fixed within this year. It would cost around 400 American dollars to fix it which is doable considering other projects NGOs undertake.
I am very optimistic so far about where projects are going this year.
Other than that I am doing a small event for halloween with the kids and the crayons my grandma's church gave! Very excited for that and that fact the pumpkins are finally in season so I can have eat budu to my little heart's content.
So everyone I am still alive and working in Africa. I am very excited to see where the next 12 months take me.
En Lawwol Gonngal!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wow I haven't updated in almost two months...I'm sorry everyone for the lack of updates. I will try and describe life as concretely and concisely as I can.
The week of hell ended, in a not hellish way. The nets got out and all five villages were finished with in two days of the last distribution.
Since then I have been trying to figure out what to do with my life after I get back because, the cost analysis for my PACA will be right after I get back from America and so basically I get off the plane and start grant writing. Its exciting to know that I am going to be baller busy my last year but also I am afraid I am not going to get all of it finished.
The community garden is something that the community can benefit from and as been on the to-do list for a few years now.
Ooh but cool story that follows the same line of thought.
I have also been hounding Eaux Foret (natural resources dept) for trees because in the month of August they give out trees for free. Unfortunately they make this as difficult as possible for citizens and volunteers by a) not showing up to work b) claiming to be to busy to STAMP a demand c) deciding to hoard trees until an NGO comes along as pays for them at the hefty price of 500CFA per tree (thats one dollar a tree!) This is even worse because they have these great live fencing species that we want to use in village and they won't give them to us. However because I am a woman and in the city, officials love to talk to foreign women and give them what they want I managed to get some trees for my village. I seriously feel very bad for male volunteers who do amazing work and then get nothing but harassment from officials. The city is where my gender works to my advantage. Not so in village (if one more person asks me to go to the rice field I will chase someone with a machete.) Anyways I talked/flirted my way into some trees and then came to a conundrum. My site is 40K out from Kolda and I can't really charet (horse drawn cart) or alhum them out. I needed a car. Eaux Foret obviously can't spare a nice car, the inspectors office can't until the director comes back and the secretary of the NGO that said they would loan me a car doesn't like to show up to work so I can find the car. This left me calling various friends and biking all over Kolda basically truck stalking.
Things were looking bleak when I started noticing the World Vision truck was appearing on every corner (I heard they were all on vacation for the month of August). After the fourth or fifth time I decided, well heck if they are just trying the car around for kicks and giggles then they can surely spare a the car to take trees out to a village. So I followed the car back to its office (can I put I gained exceptional stalking skills while in the Peace Corps?) and I got out and asked them and they were like "sure, and you don't have to pay for gas'
ALHUMDILAH!
Then it got better. I went back in the afternoon to get the car and was prepared to sit and wait when this nice man introduced himself to me. He said his name and nearly fell down. He was the project manager for all of Kolda, the man I have been told I need to speak to about getting the school in my village fixed.
It was one of those days where everything falls into place because then after listening to me talk he was like "well lets pack up I will take you right now."
We even grabbed the sponsorship coordinator and went to Eaux Foret. I was a little mortified that I needed them to help load up all 600 trees but they took in all in stride when a more patron person would have sat in the car.
Got out to site, kids unloaded the car while then WV people talked with the villagers and then I decided it was now or never.
"Ano faala larde lekkol amen? Mi haalni maa lekkol o ko yakkiima e si a hebori enen mbaawi yahde toon jooni e yiide dum." You want to see our school. I told you it was destroyed and if you have time we can go there now and see it.
Got him out there saw where the roof was caved in, the cement was broken, doors wouldn't lock, and water damage. It was quick but he has SEEN it which means its not just me talking when I go and talk to him again about fixing the school.
Anyways It was an amazing day. I felt like there was hope in my service accomplishing some of the goals I set for myself.
Also I have been outplanting trees like nuts. And a strange thing shas happened to me. People have started giving me chickens. Now chickens are expensive and I try to be clear that all my services are free but as of now I am the proud (?) owner of three chickens named Pizza, Nuggets, and Sushi.
Oh I am out planting because the rains have come. We were and still are concerned there won't be enough rain for a bountiful harvest but they have become more consistent. As long as the season goes longer I think we will be in luck.
But dude when it storms, it friggin storms.
My head lamp broke and so now it doesn't stay on the head band and it only turns on occasionally. When I woke up last week and the wind was so loud I was sure a tornado was about to land on me my flashlight was the one thing I wanted to work. It didn't for like five minutes.
When the wind blows it sounds like a train that is about to run you over. The first few storms we had I would wake up and think I was dreaming of home and wonder why the train was so loud and then realize crap gotta close the doors.
But last week was the worst. I barely got the doors shut in time and then it just howled. I thought my doors were going to blow off (if not at least my roof-thatch hut not so reassuring when the hand of God closes upon you) and papers and clothes fell all around my room.
At one point I tried calling home just to have someone to talk to (site mate is gone in america) but reseau obviously doesn't work in a storm. Thought about crawling under the bed, just in case, but I didn't want to tempt the scorpions underneath it all.
Finally I passed in to restless sleep but it was without a doubt one of those moments where you just think, 'Do i really need to experience this? The weather channel was fine and I got to eat popcorn when the house blew away."
Damage was minimal but I believe the rains only increased the stress on my duche (the toilet) which I have put my foot through not once, not twice but now three times. The day it caves in while I am squatting (and it is coming) I am ETing. I think that is a legitimate excuse-landing in a pit of your own poop can be pretty devestating.
Lastly and most important to announce is that my life is abruptly changing in 13 days. You want to know why?
America. The magic word that is music to every volunteer's ear. I love Senegal (80% of the time) and I am deeply involved in my service and greatly indebted to this experience and that changes it has made to me, but that doesn't mean I don't miss home.
Sometimes it isn't even the amenities that get to me. Sure ice cream, coffee, and laundry machine are great but then a cool, wet wind blows and all I can think of is fall in Michigan. Or how the way the grasses sound in the morning and the birds chirping and buzzing everywhere is so similar to a summer morning at home. Especially with the rainy season I am reminded of fall and spring more and more in scents and textures.
And now that I am going home and also reaching the year mark for my service I am also considering my future after Peace Corps which is not that far away. This experience has changed me, for the most part, for better but I am also afraid that it has further developed a condition I just realize I have. Not physically but mentally.
I am afraid this will only encourage the rootless feelings I have, to go to places I have only read about or seen postcards on, and that the feeling will never abate. I recognize that this actually really normal but some of the things I want (or think I want) require a less mobile way of life. I have loads of time to think about but then I also have none-the decisions I make today, tomorrow, in a year effect how I live my life and I shouldn't waste a single minute not doing something I love and want to do. The problem comes with that conflicts with other desires as well. Oh well. Sorry
Love to all! I will see you all in America soon!
The week of hell ended, in a not hellish way. The nets got out and all five villages were finished with in two days of the last distribution.
Since then I have been trying to figure out what to do with my life after I get back because, the cost analysis for my PACA will be right after I get back from America and so basically I get off the plane and start grant writing. Its exciting to know that I am going to be baller busy my last year but also I am afraid I am not going to get all of it finished.
The community garden is something that the community can benefit from and as been on the to-do list for a few years now.
Ooh but cool story that follows the same line of thought.
I have also been hounding Eaux Foret (natural resources dept) for trees because in the month of August they give out trees for free. Unfortunately they make this as difficult as possible for citizens and volunteers by a) not showing up to work b) claiming to be to busy to STAMP a demand c) deciding to hoard trees until an NGO comes along as pays for them at the hefty price of 500CFA per tree (thats one dollar a tree!) This is even worse because they have these great live fencing species that we want to use in village and they won't give them to us. However because I am a woman and in the city, officials love to talk to foreign women and give them what they want I managed to get some trees for my village. I seriously feel very bad for male volunteers who do amazing work and then get nothing but harassment from officials. The city is where my gender works to my advantage. Not so in village (if one more person asks me to go to the rice field I will chase someone with a machete.) Anyways I talked/flirted my way into some trees and then came to a conundrum. My site is 40K out from Kolda and I can't really charet (horse drawn cart) or alhum them out. I needed a car. Eaux Foret obviously can't spare a nice car, the inspectors office can't until the director comes back and the secretary of the NGO that said they would loan me a car doesn't like to show up to work so I can find the car. This left me calling various friends and biking all over Kolda basically truck stalking.
Things were looking bleak when I started noticing the World Vision truck was appearing on every corner (I heard they were all on vacation for the month of August). After the fourth or fifth time I decided, well heck if they are just trying the car around for kicks and giggles then they can surely spare a the car to take trees out to a village. So I followed the car back to its office (can I put I gained exceptional stalking skills while in the Peace Corps?) and I got out and asked them and they were like "sure, and you don't have to pay for gas'
ALHUMDILAH!
Then it got better. I went back in the afternoon to get the car and was prepared to sit and wait when this nice man introduced himself to me. He said his name and nearly fell down. He was the project manager for all of Kolda, the man I have been told I need to speak to about getting the school in my village fixed.
It was one of those days where everything falls into place because then after listening to me talk he was like "well lets pack up I will take you right now."
We even grabbed the sponsorship coordinator and went to Eaux Foret. I was a little mortified that I needed them to help load up all 600 trees but they took in all in stride when a more patron person would have sat in the car.
Got out to site, kids unloaded the car while then WV people talked with the villagers and then I decided it was now or never.
"Ano faala larde lekkol amen? Mi haalni maa lekkol o ko yakkiima e si a hebori enen mbaawi yahde toon jooni e yiide dum." You want to see our school. I told you it was destroyed and if you have time we can go there now and see it.
Got him out there saw where the roof was caved in, the cement was broken, doors wouldn't lock, and water damage. It was quick but he has SEEN it which means its not just me talking when I go and talk to him again about fixing the school.
Anyways It was an amazing day. I felt like there was hope in my service accomplishing some of the goals I set for myself.
Also I have been outplanting trees like nuts. And a strange thing shas happened to me. People have started giving me chickens. Now chickens are expensive and I try to be clear that all my services are free but as of now I am the proud (?) owner of three chickens named Pizza, Nuggets, and Sushi.
Oh I am out planting because the rains have come. We were and still are concerned there won't be enough rain for a bountiful harvest but they have become more consistent. As long as the season goes longer I think we will be in luck.
But dude when it storms, it friggin storms.
My head lamp broke and so now it doesn't stay on the head band and it only turns on occasionally. When I woke up last week and the wind was so loud I was sure a tornado was about to land on me my flashlight was the one thing I wanted to work. It didn't for like five minutes.
When the wind blows it sounds like a train that is about to run you over. The first few storms we had I would wake up and think I was dreaming of home and wonder why the train was so loud and then realize crap gotta close the doors.
But last week was the worst. I barely got the doors shut in time and then it just howled. I thought my doors were going to blow off (if not at least my roof-thatch hut not so reassuring when the hand of God closes upon you) and papers and clothes fell all around my room.
At one point I tried calling home just to have someone to talk to (site mate is gone in america) but reseau obviously doesn't work in a storm. Thought about crawling under the bed, just in case, but I didn't want to tempt the scorpions underneath it all.
Finally I passed in to restless sleep but it was without a doubt one of those moments where you just think, 'Do i really need to experience this? The weather channel was fine and I got to eat popcorn when the house blew away."
Damage was minimal but I believe the rains only increased the stress on my duche (the toilet) which I have put my foot through not once, not twice but now three times. The day it caves in while I am squatting (and it is coming) I am ETing. I think that is a legitimate excuse-landing in a pit of your own poop can be pretty devestating.
Lastly and most important to announce is that my life is abruptly changing in 13 days. You want to know why?
America. The magic word that is music to every volunteer's ear. I love Senegal (80% of the time) and I am deeply involved in my service and greatly indebted to this experience and that changes it has made to me, but that doesn't mean I don't miss home.
Sometimes it isn't even the amenities that get to me. Sure ice cream, coffee, and laundry machine are great but then a cool, wet wind blows and all I can think of is fall in Michigan. Or how the way the grasses sound in the morning and the birds chirping and buzzing everywhere is so similar to a summer morning at home. Especially with the rainy season I am reminded of fall and spring more and more in scents and textures.
And now that I am going home and also reaching the year mark for my service I am also considering my future after Peace Corps which is not that far away. This experience has changed me, for the most part, for better but I am also afraid that it has further developed a condition I just realize I have. Not physically but mentally.
I am afraid this will only encourage the rootless feelings I have, to go to places I have only read about or seen postcards on, and that the feeling will never abate. I recognize that this actually really normal but some of the things I want (or think I want) require a less mobile way of life. I have loads of time to think about but then I also have none-the decisions I make today, tomorrow, in a year effect how I live my life and I shouldn't waste a single minute not doing something I love and want to do. The problem comes with that conflicts with other desires as well. Oh well. Sorry
Love to all! I will see you all in America soon!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sometimes its a really good day, other times a really bad week
Wow I have been a busy bee the past few weeks. I think June just needed to appear in order for like concrete must happen events to occur. Some of you know that I was expecting to lose my mind and need a stiff drink at the end of it all but its has been ok, if not exciting (though I would still like that stiff drink- if anything to help me brace brace myself for the rains)
Before anything Please note that I added two links under important links. They are links to two of my neighbors/lifelines/friends, Woppa and Naamo, and they have some cool pictures and stories to tell which will help give you an idea of the diversity in lifestyle we PCVs have here. Not to mention they are just some crazy cool girls who you should know. And Naamo has a sweet video on youtube with Tam Tam circles and Akon music. Watch it and marvel. These people dance furiously and fearlessly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkELWJ8bOPw
In other news, the scholarship process for the high school girls is mostly complete, the only thing left is my recommendation for each girl. Doing this scholarship has been pretty stressful at times, due to travel (10-15K just to go to the school) and my lack of experience , but overall I feel like this was an really good project for me to undertake. We (myself and Woppa or Mariama) went to the houses to do home interviews and I think that really brought into focus how important this scholarship could be for some for some of these girls. One girl lives with some cousins, in a two hut compuond with basically stick and mud huts. Talking to her she was really quiet and when we asked the all important question "If you get married will you continue school or will you quit school?" she said she would have to quit. When I asked who told her that, she said her mother. This girl is ranked in the top 15 for the entire college and she would have to quit school. And to not have your mother's support...in this country I would have a hard time being motivated if it was only me pushing. Just seeing these girls and talking with the families, telling them how their daughters were chosen by the school because they're smart and we want to help them to continue their education, that they are were selected out of all the girls because they are special, made me feel like I could actually have an impact on someone's life.
Being an Agroforestry agent, the work that I do for my primary project, is almost always long term, you're not going to see results until the treed reachmaturity (5 years) and thats if they survive the crazy weather and livestock. Recognizing these girls, which is huge because they come from large families and girls don't typically get recognized till they are getting hitched, and potentially giving them the opportunity to get money for school materials and supplies (saving their family the price tag) I could help someone this year be in school and help encourage her family to support her through her educational career. It felt really good.
In my village news, I did a PACA ( the true acronyms escape me but it is community analysis of needs and projects.) It was super stressful but I am glad I did it. I was so worried that I was not going to get whole thing done right, the villagers were going to not get it or drive me up the wall but it all eneded up ok. I had 6 other volunteers show up which helped convince the village, that Adama was serious tigi tigi (really really). We discussed what the village had (a school, storage building etc) and what they are doing during the year followed by needs and wants. I and another volunteer Eljuma worked with the men while two other volunteer, Aliou and Ibrihima took the women. Now these are all volunteers who have been here for almost two years (in fact they are all leaving this fall, sad face) and they have mad pulaar skills. I was pretty proud of my pulaar but this day was truly humbling for me especially when one of the more out spoken men in my village told me to tell Eljuma what I wanted to say and then have Eljuma say it because they could understand him. Massive blow to the ego.
However it went well (thank god the older volunteers were there otherwise I would have been screwed in terms of man power and crowd control.) Got some priorities down so now when my APCD comes to visit he can name prices for village contribution which is the most important part because I want and need my village to understand that any project we do they must contribute to the it which I feel like they have trouble grasping that concept.
I had also had the best day of life since coming to Senegal recently (followed by the week of hell.)
After the the PACA I went to Kolda and the following day I was heading out to Naamo's site to sit in on a health relais training (i.e. make sure people showed up and learned stuff.)
I went to the garage and I only wanted to be taken 20K out which reasonalbly demands a lower price. The driver would not budge. He wanted me to pay a mille for me and my bike. Thats like two dollars in America which shouldn't have been a problem but it was pushed me to the edge. He wouldn't even bargain with me and I was speaking pulaar. So I told him I would bike there before I would pay him.
It was about respect. I can bargain and he clearly ignored it. So I left and started on my bike for Bagadajii. After I got about 5K out I realized I was stupid. It was about ten AM and it was getting to be really hot, somewhere in the humid hundreds. I was going to be dehydrated and tired and after Bagadajii I was going to have to go another 40K. Not the most brillant move but I was stuck with my fate. Then the Fates of Africa stepped aside and gave me a break.
A cement hauler owned by a friend of Woppa pulled up beside me, recognized me, and gave me a ride (for FREE a PCVs favorite) to Bagadajii. Got there finished my business and went to my road town.
As I got there, the Alhum that refused to lower their price pulled up, the apprendes (who are usually good people who must drive a hard bargain) were smiling and waving, saying " A yotiima!" (You arrived!)
Who was I to explain my fortune to them?
"Haa! Mi waddi velo-um gila Kolda ha do!" "Yes I did my bike since Kolda until here!" Then I added some flourishes as I passed the driver, something about an ugly monkey.
Then Karma stepped back in and I dropped my phone on the road as yet another car pulled up and offered to give me a free ride to Dabo. My phone is my lifeline. I have every number I need for work, family, Peace Corps, you name it is in there. I also busted my watch band so it is my time reminder. Several expletives came out of my mouth and while hyperventilating I got the drivers to back up and let me off so I could go back and find. There were so nice and tried helping me find it but no luck. I was going to have to go back and retrace ever step. I could not leave without locating the phone.
Then I got lucky again. I found it. On the road, without being crushed, or broken or stolen. I must have been really good in a past life because almost ten minutes later another car pulls up and offers to give me a ride using the magical four letter word-free.
At first I was like oh take me to Dabo but then as I talked to the passengers I realized that they were going to village I was (which was 20K off the road from Dabo).
At this point I was convinced A) I was having a melfloquine hallucination B) I was dehydrated and hallucinated C) all of the above.
But then it happen I got free rides all the way to the village I need to be-thats 50K worth of free rides-I only rode my bike for 10k. Best day of my life.
Then of course it could only go one direction-down.
Which will be another post because it is a long long week. And it is not yet over.
Before anything Please note that I added two links under important links. They are links to two of my neighbors/lifelines/friends, Woppa and Naamo, and they have some cool pictures and stories to tell which will help give you an idea of the diversity in lifestyle we PCVs have here. Not to mention they are just some crazy cool girls who you should know. And Naamo has a sweet video on youtube with Tam Tam circles and Akon music. Watch it and marvel. These people dance furiously and fearlessly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkELWJ8bOPw
In other news, the scholarship process for the high school girls is mostly complete, the only thing left is my recommendation for each girl. Doing this scholarship has been pretty stressful at times, due to travel (10-15K just to go to the school) and my lack of experience , but overall I feel like this was an really good project for me to undertake. We (myself and Woppa or Mariama) went to the houses to do home interviews and I think that really brought into focus how important this scholarship could be for some for some of these girls. One girl lives with some cousins, in a two hut compuond with basically stick and mud huts. Talking to her she was really quiet and when we asked the all important question "If you get married will you continue school or will you quit school?" she said she would have to quit. When I asked who told her that, she said her mother. This girl is ranked in the top 15 for the entire college and she would have to quit school. And to not have your mother's support...in this country I would have a hard time being motivated if it was only me pushing. Just seeing these girls and talking with the families, telling them how their daughters were chosen by the school because they're smart and we want to help them to continue their education, that they are were selected out of all the girls because they are special, made me feel like I could actually have an impact on someone's life.
Being an Agroforestry agent, the work that I do for my primary project, is almost always long term, you're not going to see results until the treed reachmaturity (5 years) and thats if they survive the crazy weather and livestock. Recognizing these girls, which is huge because they come from large families and girls don't typically get recognized till they are getting hitched, and potentially giving them the opportunity to get money for school materials and supplies (saving their family the price tag) I could help someone this year be in school and help encourage her family to support her through her educational career. It felt really good.
In my village news, I did a PACA ( the true acronyms escape me but it is community analysis of needs and projects.) It was super stressful but I am glad I did it. I was so worried that I was not going to get whole thing done right, the villagers were going to not get it or drive me up the wall but it all eneded up ok. I had 6 other volunteers show up which helped convince the village, that Adama was serious tigi tigi (really really). We discussed what the village had (a school, storage building etc) and what they are doing during the year followed by needs and wants. I and another volunteer Eljuma worked with the men while two other volunteer, Aliou and Ibrihima took the women. Now these are all volunteers who have been here for almost two years (in fact they are all leaving this fall, sad face) and they have mad pulaar skills. I was pretty proud of my pulaar but this day was truly humbling for me especially when one of the more out spoken men in my village told me to tell Eljuma what I wanted to say and then have Eljuma say it because they could understand him. Massive blow to the ego.
However it went well (thank god the older volunteers were there otherwise I would have been screwed in terms of man power and crowd control.) Got some priorities down so now when my APCD comes to visit he can name prices for village contribution which is the most important part because I want and need my village to understand that any project we do they must contribute to the it which I feel like they have trouble grasping that concept.
I had also had the best day of life since coming to Senegal recently (followed by the week of hell.)
After the the PACA I went to Kolda and the following day I was heading out to Naamo's site to sit in on a health relais training (i.e. make sure people showed up and learned stuff.)
I went to the garage and I only wanted to be taken 20K out which reasonalbly demands a lower price. The driver would not budge. He wanted me to pay a mille for me and my bike. Thats like two dollars in America which shouldn't have been a problem but it was pushed me to the edge. He wouldn't even bargain with me and I was speaking pulaar. So I told him I would bike there before I would pay him.
It was about respect. I can bargain and he clearly ignored it. So I left and started on my bike for Bagadajii. After I got about 5K out I realized I was stupid. It was about ten AM and it was getting to be really hot, somewhere in the humid hundreds. I was going to be dehydrated and tired and after Bagadajii I was going to have to go another 40K. Not the most brillant move but I was stuck with my fate. Then the Fates of Africa stepped aside and gave me a break.
A cement hauler owned by a friend of Woppa pulled up beside me, recognized me, and gave me a ride (for FREE a PCVs favorite) to Bagadajii. Got there finished my business and went to my road town.
As I got there, the Alhum that refused to lower their price pulled up, the apprendes (who are usually good people who must drive a hard bargain) were smiling and waving, saying " A yotiima!" (You arrived!)
Who was I to explain my fortune to them?
"Haa! Mi waddi velo-um gila Kolda ha do!" "Yes I did my bike since Kolda until here!" Then I added some flourishes as I passed the driver, something about an ugly monkey.
Then Karma stepped back in and I dropped my phone on the road as yet another car pulled up and offered to give me a free ride to Dabo. My phone is my lifeline. I have every number I need for work, family, Peace Corps, you name it is in there. I also busted my watch band so it is my time reminder. Several expletives came out of my mouth and while hyperventilating I got the drivers to back up and let me off so I could go back and find. There were so nice and tried helping me find it but no luck. I was going to have to go back and retrace ever step. I could not leave without locating the phone.
Then I got lucky again. I found it. On the road, without being crushed, or broken or stolen. I must have been really good in a past life because almost ten minutes later another car pulls up and offers to give me a ride using the magical four letter word-free.
At first I was like oh take me to Dabo but then as I talked to the passengers I realized that they were going to village I was (which was 20K off the road from Dabo).
At this point I was convinced A) I was having a melfloquine hallucination B) I was dehydrated and hallucinated C) all of the above.
But then it happen I got free rides all the way to the village I need to be-thats 50K worth of free rides-I only rode my bike for 10k. Best day of my life.
Then of course it could only go one direction-down.
Which will be another post because it is a long long week. And it is not yet over.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Whew made it!
Hey folks. Life is busy but this past week work has changed up a bit. And it has been a messy ride-literally and figuratively.
It started Sunday morning when I went to the road town and found that the health relais who was supposed to do net counts with me got called to the Post de Sante (the big, but not big health post that serves as a head quarters for all the health huts and a care center for the rural population). Normally I would have been fine with this but this conflicted with the SCHEDULE, which has become life and the only way I can keep track of everything. This was the last village I needed to count and it was also the largest. At least 50 compounds which translated into atleast 500 people. I already did basic counts but I needed names and gender statistics and I did not want to do it by myself. However it needed to get done because month of June I have booked with no room for the delays another day of counting would bring (it didn't help that we had planned to do this earlier and I changed the date to accomadate him.)
Anyways got mad sat under a grass overhang and moped over how crappy it was going to be to count those nets all by myself. It took 6 hours to us to the other big town, together! I was going to be there all day.
So finally I went to the chief's compound, got the numbers for four houses and then as I listened to the kids who had been sent with me to guide me in this town I decided 'Hell with this! I'll move something around I cannot and will not do this by myself!'
Went back and chilled out in my village, (did I mention the day before I had done 40K of trail riding, again nearly gotten sick from dehydration, and I was sore as all get out?) and got a call from the relais.
"No problem Adama we will do it this evening!!'
Problem 1) I wanted to go Kolda so I could prepare to to go to Thies for the SENEGAD conference.
Problem2 2) I was still mad that it hadn't been done in the morning and now I would have to potentially miss the ride into Kolda and ride my bike out there again in the hot weather.)
Eventually I sucked it up. We did it (4 hours!) and I still missed all the cars but at least it was done! Had to go back to village inthe dark (head lamp died-speaking of which the power surges fried my battery charger. If anyone can send me some AAA batteries or a charger, old, new, whatever, I would be thankful. A volunteer without a head lamp is a volunteer who squats over a scorpion. No one wants that.)
Anyways got into Kolda the next morning. Here is something tha has happened to my body that is good and bad. I can eat village food for the most part with no problem now. Repitition is tedious but its good and consistent and my stomach knows it.
The bad part is when I go to Kolda I get sick because I eat food I don't normally eat. And this was the case. Naseua, light headedness, and fever, followed by vomitting. All before I need to get in a car at 3AM to go to Thies. ANd for those of who don't remember my motion sickness here is on an epic level. I need to be unconscious for these rides. I thought about not going but I really wanted to learn more about SENEGAD, see what projects they fund and give feed back on Kolda.
PLus my change purse disappeared on the alhum, along with 4 mille and my peace corps ID. And I got sent the wrong malaria medication. That pretty much sealed my fate. Got into the car (got a window seat-no one wants me to puke on them.) Passed out till Gambia where for the first border crossing miraculously I was not asked to pay showing my pass port, a favorite pass time of the border people who KNOW that PCVs do not pay to enter and leave the country.
Unfortunately I was super sick at this point and just wanted to make it to an area not populated by people who try to speak english so I could vomit.
Made it to Senegal before I had to urge the driver, in my poor poor french, to stop the car. Botta and I (another volunteer) made it Thies where we a) stopped and got food (even I needed to eat something) and then got to the center and passed out for 15 hours straight. Didn't even put sheets on the bed. Hard core, still covered in a layer of red earth, shoes on, blissful sleep.
The meeting went pretty well. I think we are going to be doing a lot of projects this year and hopefully integrate more men (Senegalese and male volunteers) into gender development.
Its the after part that was really the big adventure.
I went to my homestay village to greet my sister who recently had her wedding (the guy is still in Spain but he is arriving mid-June I guess. Hope he isn't a jerk.) Got out there by myself (or at least as by myself as I could get asking everyone with in ear shot or within my cell phone if I was going the right way) met up with the family. They are amazing. I was so lucky to have them. But anyways the big debate was this-How was i getting to Dakar tomorrow?
My family wanted me to go out there, and come back and then they would send someone to the Garage with me to make sure I got on a good car. Sounded fabulous to me but too much car, i.e. to much vomit potential. So I convinced them (and myself) that I would get to Dakar in the morning, by myself, find the Peace Corps office (which I have only been to twice-during PST and on swear in) and then I would stay at the office until midnight when I would catch the midnight car to Kolda. My reasoning was this. I want to travel in Africa, and I will probably do some of it myself which meant it was better to learn now rather later how to do it.
My mother looked at me like I was saying I was going to walk myself back to America. She is so wise. However she gave my the benefit of the doubt. And then sent one of the cousins with me to garage so that he would find someone on the alhum who was heading in my direction who then would be trusted to see I got there.
Good intentions but the Fates of Africa prevail.
The alhum broke down and so w had to get off. I got into conversation with some Pulaar du Nords who sent me in the direction of the big city buses. "it will stop at the garage.' They said
Got on, near the front. The bus took off. Ok I thought thats not too bad. Only a hundred CFA (like 25 cents) to go another 50K. Thought I was getting a deal.
Then as the naseua started building and Dakar popped I realized something about this bus.
It was making stops. Not like hitchhiker stops but like actual scheduled stops. It was the SMART bus of Senegal! It wasn't going to the garage! It was making rounds!
Now I am freaking out a little. I start askling who understands pulaar.
Zero.
So I start asking in rudimentary french. No one understands with my atrocious accent and infantile grammar. At this point we are in the city and I comforted by the fact that the road is nice (there were nice roads by the office right?) but still started to believe I could be legitimately lost in this city.
Someone told me that the bus was eventually heading in the direction of Ngor but that doesn't mean anything. Direction could be within 5K or 20K. So I realize my options are down to this. Call another volunteer. Or. Call the Peace Corps.
I debated over this for a moment. Do I want another volunteer to think I am an idiot and then try to give me directions even though I doubt they know where I am or what landmarks I am passing? Or do I call Peace Corps and have the comfort of knowing they know Dakar and still have them think I am an idiot.
Chose Peace Corps.
Our security coordinator was the one I called (hey if I am lost I am not secure!) and bless his soul he didn't call me an idiot but said make sure the bus is heading toward the airport. Did that and then another nice man (seriously for ever pick pocket and toubaub hating jerk in this country there are at least 3 more good samaritans) said he was going to Ngor and would take me there. We get off the boss and he negotiates a taxi for us and we get in. About 20 minutes later Id ecide to call the security cooridinator again. I know we are in Ngor, I just don't know where the office is. I figure he can talk in wolof to the man and we will get there in a flash.20 minutes later we are pulled over and he is still talking.
I'm thinking there is no way we are THAT lost. I know we are close. I can practically smell the air conditioning.
Two minutes later and another mille more we are at the office jsut in time to get in before the office closes. I thank the man profusely and I want to give him money for the cab so he can get where he is going. He just waves it off. Who in America would get in a car with a foreigner who barely speaks english and see them to where they need to be and then not ask for anything in return? I finally give him my phone number so if he ever needs a volunteer he can call me up.
So now I am chilling. I made it to the office. The next hurdle is making it to te garage and then to Kolda. Lets hope it is less than 15 hours and vomit free.
It started Sunday morning when I went to the road town and found that the health relais who was supposed to do net counts with me got called to the Post de Sante (the big, but not big health post that serves as a head quarters for all the health huts and a care center for the rural population). Normally I would have been fine with this but this conflicted with the SCHEDULE, which has become life and the only way I can keep track of everything. This was the last village I needed to count and it was also the largest. At least 50 compounds which translated into atleast 500 people. I already did basic counts but I needed names and gender statistics and I did not want to do it by myself. However it needed to get done because month of June I have booked with no room for the delays another day of counting would bring (it didn't help that we had planned to do this earlier and I changed the date to accomadate him.)
Anyways got mad sat under a grass overhang and moped over how crappy it was going to be to count those nets all by myself. It took 6 hours to us to the other big town, together! I was going to be there all day.
So finally I went to the chief's compound, got the numbers for four houses and then as I listened to the kids who had been sent with me to guide me in this town I decided 'Hell with this! I'll move something around I cannot and will not do this by myself!'
Went back and chilled out in my village, (did I mention the day before I had done 40K of trail riding, again nearly gotten sick from dehydration, and I was sore as all get out?) and got a call from the relais.
"No problem Adama we will do it this evening!!'
Problem 1) I wanted to go Kolda so I could prepare to to go to Thies for the SENEGAD conference.
Problem2 2) I was still mad that it hadn't been done in the morning and now I would have to potentially miss the ride into Kolda and ride my bike out there again in the hot weather.)
Eventually I sucked it up. We did it (4 hours!) and I still missed all the cars but at least it was done! Had to go back to village inthe dark (head lamp died-speaking of which the power surges fried my battery charger. If anyone can send me some AAA batteries or a charger, old, new, whatever, I would be thankful. A volunteer without a head lamp is a volunteer who squats over a scorpion. No one wants that.)
Anyways got into Kolda the next morning. Here is something tha has happened to my body that is good and bad. I can eat village food for the most part with no problem now. Repitition is tedious but its good and consistent and my stomach knows it.
The bad part is when I go to Kolda I get sick because I eat food I don't normally eat. And this was the case. Naseua, light headedness, and fever, followed by vomitting. All before I need to get in a car at 3AM to go to Thies. ANd for those of who don't remember my motion sickness here is on an epic level. I need to be unconscious for these rides. I thought about not going but I really wanted to learn more about SENEGAD, see what projects they fund and give feed back on Kolda.
PLus my change purse disappeared on the alhum, along with 4 mille and my peace corps ID. And I got sent the wrong malaria medication. That pretty much sealed my fate. Got into the car (got a window seat-no one wants me to puke on them.) Passed out till Gambia where for the first border crossing miraculously I was not asked to pay showing my pass port, a favorite pass time of the border people who KNOW that PCVs do not pay to enter and leave the country.
Unfortunately I was super sick at this point and just wanted to make it to an area not populated by people who try to speak english so I could vomit.
Made it to Senegal before I had to urge the driver, in my poor poor french, to stop the car. Botta and I (another volunteer) made it Thies where we a) stopped and got food (even I needed to eat something) and then got to the center and passed out for 15 hours straight. Didn't even put sheets on the bed. Hard core, still covered in a layer of red earth, shoes on, blissful sleep.
The meeting went pretty well. I think we are going to be doing a lot of projects this year and hopefully integrate more men (Senegalese and male volunteers) into gender development.
Its the after part that was really the big adventure.
I went to my homestay village to greet my sister who recently had her wedding (the guy is still in Spain but he is arriving mid-June I guess. Hope he isn't a jerk.) Got out there by myself (or at least as by myself as I could get asking everyone with in ear shot or within my cell phone if I was going the right way) met up with the family. They are amazing. I was so lucky to have them. But anyways the big debate was this-How was i getting to Dakar tomorrow?
My family wanted me to go out there, and come back and then they would send someone to the Garage with me to make sure I got on a good car. Sounded fabulous to me but too much car, i.e. to much vomit potential. So I convinced them (and myself) that I would get to Dakar in the morning, by myself, find the Peace Corps office (which I have only been to twice-during PST and on swear in) and then I would stay at the office until midnight when I would catch the midnight car to Kolda. My reasoning was this. I want to travel in Africa, and I will probably do some of it myself which meant it was better to learn now rather later how to do it.
My mother looked at me like I was saying I was going to walk myself back to America. She is so wise. However she gave my the benefit of the doubt. And then sent one of the cousins with me to garage so that he would find someone on the alhum who was heading in my direction who then would be trusted to see I got there.
Good intentions but the Fates of Africa prevail.
The alhum broke down and so w had to get off. I got into conversation with some Pulaar du Nords who sent me in the direction of the big city buses. "it will stop at the garage.' They said
Got on, near the front. The bus took off. Ok I thought thats not too bad. Only a hundred CFA (like 25 cents) to go another 50K. Thought I was getting a deal.
Then as the naseua started building and Dakar popped I realized something about this bus.
It was making stops. Not like hitchhiker stops but like actual scheduled stops. It was the SMART bus of Senegal! It wasn't going to the garage! It was making rounds!
Now I am freaking out a little. I start askling who understands pulaar.
Zero.
So I start asking in rudimentary french. No one understands with my atrocious accent and infantile grammar. At this point we are in the city and I comforted by the fact that the road is nice (there were nice roads by the office right?) but still started to believe I could be legitimately lost in this city.
Someone told me that the bus was eventually heading in the direction of Ngor but that doesn't mean anything. Direction could be within 5K or 20K. So I realize my options are down to this. Call another volunteer. Or. Call the Peace Corps.
I debated over this for a moment. Do I want another volunteer to think I am an idiot and then try to give me directions even though I doubt they know where I am or what landmarks I am passing? Or do I call Peace Corps and have the comfort of knowing they know Dakar and still have them think I am an idiot.
Chose Peace Corps.
Our security coordinator was the one I called (hey if I am lost I am not secure!) and bless his soul he didn't call me an idiot but said make sure the bus is heading toward the airport. Did that and then another nice man (seriously for ever pick pocket and toubaub hating jerk in this country there are at least 3 more good samaritans) said he was going to Ngor and would take me there. We get off the boss and he negotiates a taxi for us and we get in. About 20 minutes later Id ecide to call the security cooridinator again. I know we are in Ngor, I just don't know where the office is. I figure he can talk in wolof to the man and we will get there in a flash.20 minutes later we are pulled over and he is still talking.
I'm thinking there is no way we are THAT lost. I know we are close. I can practically smell the air conditioning.
Two minutes later and another mille more we are at the office jsut in time to get in before the office closes. I thank the man profusely and I want to give him money for the cab so he can get where he is going. He just waves it off. Who in America would get in a car with a foreigner who barely speaks english and see them to where they need to be and then not ask for anything in return? I finally give him my phone number so if he ever needs a volunteer he can call me up.
So now I am chilling. I made it to the office. The next hurdle is making it to te garage and then to Kolda. Lets hope it is less than 15 hours and vomit free.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
