I’ll be spending Christmas and New Year’s working at an eye clinic in a larger village a few hours away. An American ophthalmologist is coming to give free cataract surgeries as well as glasses and eye medication during a 10-day clinic. I’ll be working at the clinic with several other Peace Corps volunteers. I’m really looking forward to learning more about various eye problems affecting people in Senegal, as well as focusing on this specific project and being with other Americans for the holidays.
The last few weeks have actually been quite busy. Subsequent meetings with my girls’ group have been difficult. I had a lesson on female anatomy and the menstrual cycle. Granted this is a subject that can be difficult to talk about in any language, especially among certain 14-year-old girls. But with a mixture of my French and Bambara, and then Pulaar, I think a lot of things got lost in translation. The girls just ended up looking at detailed pictures instead of much of a discussion. I think it was helpful and somewhat informative, but again, not exactly what I had hoped. I guess I will keep trying…
With the money fundraised from students at Winship School (where my mom is a teacher), we spent a day putting in the new cement floor. (You can see pictures by following the link on the right.) Men from both the Bambara and Pulaar parts of the village had a good time working together to get the job done. There was money left over to also build a latrine with cement walls instead of just a barrier of woven bamboo. Many, many thanks to the students and faculty at Winship! The students, teachers, and the entire village of Madina Guinguineo is very thankful. You’re all invited to stay in Madina if you ever come to Senegal. (I want to paint a map of the world on the side of the school, pointing out Meridian, California and Madina Guinguineo, Senegal, to give them some perspective. Pictures will hopefully be forthcoming.)
I also helped out with a massive 3-day vaccination tourney to eradicate lymphatic filariasis, or as I like to call it, “elephantiasis.” We gave medicine to practically everyone in my village as well as three surrounding villages, totaling over 1,000 people. Organized by the district health post in Missirah (8 km away) with funding from the American non-profit Africare (www.africare.org), teams were sent to villages in the entire area to pass out the pills. I need to do some research, but I don’t think it was a “vaccination” tourney per se, but more of an eradication of the disease (or the parasite) at this point in time, thus preventing further infection. Even though my ego was a little hurt that I didn’t have a role in any of the planning, I was glad to take part in the execution. It was good for me to literally greet everyone in the area and meet those who I haven’t met yet. I was exhausted by the end of the three days—a good feeling.
On the farming end, harvest is still in process. The corn is all done and now stored on the top of my shade structure in front of my hut until it is slowly used up. The peanuts are all dug up and now getting “processed” to take back to the village. They put the entire plants into huge piles and then literally beat them with a stick, breaking up the dried plants and subsequently breaking the peanut off of the root. The women then put the pieces into a big bucket; when the wind picks up they hold the bucket up and let the pieces fall out. The wind will carry the parts of the plant away leaving the heavy peanuts to fall into another bucket. They repeat the process for harvesting millet, first beating it and then letting the wind carry away the unwanted parts. Our cotton is ready to be harvested and has been sitting idle for at least a month now; once all of our food crops are finished we’ll move on to the cotton.
That’s about it! I wish you all a very happy holiday season, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May you enjoy the endless Christmas carols, movies, and sometimes horrendous holiday decorations or gaudy sweaters. May you also enjoy the cookies, the fudge, and the holiday the Chex mix (if you are a part of my family). And may you especially enjoy time spent with your friends and families. I do wish I could be home, but I am content with being here.
P.S. If anyone would like to send some supplies for my girls’ group (15 girls) and probably others in the village, here are some things I would like to share with them:
- Toothbrushes and floss (toothpaste not necessary but definitely accepted)
- Yarn and knitting needles
Also, if anyone wants to start correspondence with students here or the teachers, they would love to participate. French would be great, but we can also work through translations. And, if anyone has access to French magazines or books, helping me start a mini-library would be great! Reading material is wildly expensive and most people do not read for anything other than school, if they are literate at all.
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