It’s hard to believe that it is 2008 – almost the end of this decade – and also that I have been here for almost a year now. I spent Christmas and New Years working at an eye clinic in Bakel, a medium sized town in eastern Senegal on the border with Mauritania. Dr. Judith Simon, a Hungarian/American doctor from New Jersey, came to hold the clinic and perform free cataract surgeries. She does about two missions a year using her own money and finding donations of medicine and glasses to give out. Pretty cool thing to do for vacation! I was one of two volunteers who helped screen patients. We screened about 150 people each day, while Judith performed 7 surgeries each day. It was quite the operation, especially with five different languages going on at one time. Most people spoke either Bambara or Pulaar, but quite a few people also spoke Soninke, which none of us spoke, so we had to pull a translator out of the crowd. This meant that the doctor would tell us something in English, we would tell someone else in Pulaar, and then they would translate finally to Soninke. Exactly like the game of “telephone!” Somehow it all worked out. I sat in on a few cataract surgeries and a couple of trachoma surgeries, something that I obviously couldn’t have done back home. Trachoma causes your eyelids to turn under and your eyelashes scratch your cornea causing blindness. The surgery turns the eyelids back to “normal” preventing any further blindness and greatly improving comfort. Really fascinating!
Needless to say, the entire trip was exhausting, but really interesting and a great way to spend the holidays. It definitely didn’t feel like Christmas (especially in 80-90 degree weather without any hint of Christmas whatsoever), but it was great to be with other Americans and great to be working together on such a worthwhile project. While some patients were upset that we couldn’t do more for them (if we didn’t have glasses that were appropriate or if they had glaucoma), but many were thankful that we were there. Even more touching, I felt, was the compassion that many of the volunteers showed the patients. Despite long days dealing with literally hundreds of people (and multiple linguistic boundaries), my fellow Peace Corps volunteers kept their patience and compassion. A great realization of humanity…
Back in the village, my host family just finished picking all of our cotton, which means harvest is done! We are now “processing” some of the food crops. Yesterday we started on the peanuts. The plants have been pulled up from the ground and are now dried sitting in piles in the field. The men hit the piles with sticks, breaking apart the peanut from the plant matter. The women then fill basins and pour out the peanuts/leaves/stems into the wind. The heavier peanuts fall into a nice pile while the lighter plant matter flies nicely away. Really effective way to collect the peanuts – and shows how in-tune they are with the environment, since it is windy most mornings (after 9 AM) now during the dry season. Now we just have to shell them all… which will take basically happen everyday until the next planting season!
(When Josh, my closest neighbor, returned to his village after the holidays, he found five fresh chicken eggs waiting for him in his basket of clothes! TIA… Thankfully I wasn’t so “lucky.”)
In other news, I attended a region-wide declaration against “female genital cutting” (FGC) held by Tostan, a literacy organization (and now also a female-advocacy organization) started by a former Senegal Peace Corps Volunteer awhile back. Representation from 900 villages came to Tamba to march through town. We ended at the stadium where different dance troupes performed skits, songs and dances. Female circumcision as a right of passage has been traditionally practiced by both Pulaar and Bambara cultures, but after many villages have had literacy classes (provided by Tostan), women have decided that they no longer consent to the practice. (As an aside, Tostan recently won the Hilton Humanitarian Award; there’s a link to their website on the right.)
I’ll also be working with Wula Nafaa, a USAID sponsored project, to start tree nurseries at three sites near my village. Apparently behind my village is a protected forest. Wula Nafaa (which literally means “uses of the forest” in Bambara) has worked with villages in my area to sustainably produce and sell charcoal. Now they are expanding their project to start these tree nurseries to be able to replenish the forest, build a natural “border” around the forest, and also to make trees available for purchase for personal or public spaces within the villages. I’m attending a training in Tamba the next few days on how to build tree nurseries and then I’ll be working (along with two other Peace Corps volunteers) with local counterparts in each of the three villages. While one site is basically in my village, the other two are accessible about 12 miles through the forest! We have a lot of bike riding ahead of us!
As a final note, thank you to everyone who has donated thus far to help build a health hut in my village! The response in the first couple of weeks after it was posted online was quite touching and I really appreciated the personal e-mails that I got from people who donated. Last week my neighbor gave birth to a baby boy, but he died three days later of an “obstructed gut.” Having a health hut in the village probably wouldn’t have saved him, but it would have been one step towards overall better health. This sad event was yet another reminder that this project is necessary.
At this point, it looks like I still need $1,600 at this point, so if you know of anyone who would be interested in helping with this sort of thing, PLEASE pass on the information! We are starting to make the bricks with the contributions of the village, but we are otherwise waiting for it to be fully funded. Ideally we would like to finish building by April before it gets too hot to move. Many, many thanks!!! (And a special thanks to my cousin, Julia Klein, who raised funds as part of her Bat Mitzvah celebration!)
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Contribute to My Village!
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am seeking funds to build a "health hut" in my village to give my villagers better access to better medical care. My proposal has finally been accepted and is ready to receive donations! I am really excited about this opportunity to really "help" my village -- my counterpart is trained to be a community health agent but currently just works out of his own home. Having a health hut will give him a place to work and provide a better environment for people to receive medical care, including giving birth. I know the holidays are here, on top of a hard economic year in the U.S., but I hope you will consider donating! If you have ANY questions or concerns or want more information, please do not hesitate to e-mail me. And many, many thanks in advance, even if you can't donate but wish me luck, donate $5 or $100, thank you!
To contribute click here or follow this link:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=685-089&
You can also go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.volproj and scroll down to see the project listed under "Senegal."
Here is a summary of my project proposal:
Madina Guinguinéo, in the region of Tambacounda, Senegal, is a village of over 600 people, yet at nine kilometers from the main road and nearest health post, access to health care and medicine could be improved with the construction of a health structure. The community has initiated this project, with their vision of a small, 3-room “health hut,” complete with a waiting room and rooms for patient care and maternity care. The village already has a Community Health Agent, Mamadou Dansokho, trained by district and departmental health care providers, as well as a midwife, Ramata Ndiaye, who has received some training and is seeking more. Both are already sought after by the community for health care at their home; building a health structure would give them a legitimate place to work, as well as a place to supply medicine and materials, treat patients with minor health problems in a clean environment, and offer a place for women to give birth. The health hut will continue to be managed by Mr. Dansokho as well as an elected health committee. Mr. Dansokho already gives health talks on preventative measures; the health hut will provide this space and an opportunity to give personalized consultations.
To see my complete proposal, click here. (If you can't get this link to work but would like to find out more about the proposal, please e-mail me!)
To contribute click here or follow this link:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=685-089&
You can also go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.volproj and scroll down to see the project listed under "Senegal."
Here is a summary of my project proposal:
Madina Guinguinéo, in the region of Tambacounda, Senegal, is a village of over 600 people, yet at nine kilometers from the main road and nearest health post, access to health care and medicine could be improved with the construction of a health structure. The community has initiated this project, with their vision of a small, 3-room “health hut,” complete with a waiting room and rooms for patient care and maternity care. The village already has a Community Health Agent, Mamadou Dansokho, trained by district and departmental health care providers, as well as a midwife, Ramata Ndiaye, who has received some training and is seeking more. Both are already sought after by the community for health care at their home; building a health structure would give them a legitimate place to work, as well as a place to supply medicine and materials, treat patients with minor health problems in a clean environment, and offer a place for women to give birth. The health hut will continue to be managed by Mr. Dansokho as well as an elected health committee. Mr. Dansokho already gives health talks on preventative measures; the health hut will provide this space and an opportunity to give personalized consultations.
To see my complete proposal, click here. (If you can't get this link to work but would like to find out more about the proposal, please e-mail me!)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I really cannot believe it is this time of the year again. It does get cool here at night (sometimes I have to put on a sweatshirt!) but it is still in the 80s during the day and dry. The lack of a real change in weather is one reason it does not feel like Christmas. Another is probably that there are no “Christmas things” out. No Christmas trees, Christmas carols, Christmas specials, discounts, window displays, or even stores, for that matter. For the most part, I haven’t thought much about “missing” Christmas this year, but writing this does make me a bit sad now, especially not having Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions with my family. At the same time, this is a chance to think about this holiday (and New Year’s) without all the commercials, wrapping paper, and long lines at the grocery store getting in the way.
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.
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.
Things That Go Bump in the Night
Let me start small and work my way up to the “grand finale.” Actually, it isn’t so much “grand” as just “big”—literally.
For about the past month, it seems that the dogs of the village have engaged in warfare. Maybe even tribal warfare. Starting at about 2 AM, the dogs bark and fight non-stop. You can hear them from the next two villages over. Sometimes I worry that they are barking at some wild animal that has entered our compound plotting to eat our chickens or somehow open my locked door to eat me, but other times it is clear they are just barking for the sake of it. Other times they are running in packs and fighting, each trying to protect their territory. I can’t be sure about anything; I have enough languages going on in my head that their language just doesn’t fit. Sometimes thinking up all the different scenarios that could be playing out in the village in the middle of the night is entertaining between 2-5 AM when I am inevitably awake. Other times it is just plain annoying…
…but not as annoying as the saga of the shrew. I’m not even sure if it really is a shrew; actually I’m not really sure what a shrew is. But this creature is definitely nocturnal, makes a small squeaking sound, and has large teeth with which to eat toads. (The convenient name for a toad in Bambara: “toad-y.”) I used to have a toad problem in my room, especially around dawn and dusk, but no longer. Now, I have a shrew problem! Like the dog fights, the shrew enters my hut usually around 1 AM. It searches the corners for toads. When it finds one, the toad’s fight for survival begins and I am no longer asleep. Thankfully they are afraid of the light emitted from my flashlight and will squeak back to the corner or, if I am lucky, under my door and back outside. It would help the situation if they were cute, but they are not. And finding half-eaten toad carcasses in the corners of my hut in the morning is not very pleasant!
Now, if you are my mom (or my dad for that matter), you should probably stop reading! This story has to do with… a snake. (In Bambara: “saa.”)
Last Thursday night, while we were eating dinner, the commotion started. The men got up and found their flashlights (or took their wife’s) and started searching around my hut. I asked what they were looking for but all I could get was a hurried, “Thing.” The women continued eating and dismissed the men as crazy. About 10 minutes later it came out that someone was riding their bicycle on the path behind my hut and saw a huge snake cross and enter into our compound. Another ten minutes or so and they found it—under a log behind and beside the back of my hut. They chased it out into the road again and killed it. When all was said and done the women (including myself, since I am now so adherent to Senegalese gender standards) went out to see it. The slight amount of moonlight and the glow of flashlights made the scene even more dramatic than it already was, but the men had killed a black snake at least 6 feet long. (After a few months of telling this story this number is definitely going to increase!) They said they have never seen a snake that big. Regardless, it is now DEAD. (And no one was hurt, except the snake, of course.)
The next morning they left it on the road for a few hours to show off, let the kids see it, and give me the opportunity to take a few pictures. (Go to the link to my pictures on the right.) I guess they threw it down a well they are digging on the outskirts of the village for later use in a garden. This seemed like not the best idea to me, but then again, what do I know? At least it is buried, kind of.
To add to the story, later that night, Mao, my host brother and counterpart, told me that they believe that snakes and evil spirits are “la même chose” or “the same thing.” If a snake comes to a certain man’s house (some sort of spiritual master), he can tell the snake (and thus the evil spirit) to leave, saving his family. (Of course it was implied that a woman does not have the same power.) Later as I was trying to sleep, I started thinking what this meant for me. Out of all the huts in the village, it came next to mine. Do I have evil spirits coming after me? Am I cursed? Do people in my village now think this? (Probably not. At this point it was midnight, WAY past my village bedtime and I was getting a bit delirious.) Life au village is sometimes slow, unchanging, each day a repeat of the past. But sometimes, like last Thursday night, something does happen. And these are the little stories I am thankful I will have for the rest of my life.
For about the past month, it seems that the dogs of the village have engaged in warfare. Maybe even tribal warfare. Starting at about 2 AM, the dogs bark and fight non-stop. You can hear them from the next two villages over. Sometimes I worry that they are barking at some wild animal that has entered our compound plotting to eat our chickens or somehow open my locked door to eat me, but other times it is clear they are just barking for the sake of it. Other times they are running in packs and fighting, each trying to protect their territory. I can’t be sure about anything; I have enough languages going on in my head that their language just doesn’t fit. Sometimes thinking up all the different scenarios that could be playing out in the village in the middle of the night is entertaining between 2-5 AM when I am inevitably awake. Other times it is just plain annoying…
…but not as annoying as the saga of the shrew. I’m not even sure if it really is a shrew; actually I’m not really sure what a shrew is. But this creature is definitely nocturnal, makes a small squeaking sound, and has large teeth with which to eat toads. (The convenient name for a toad in Bambara: “toad-y.”) I used to have a toad problem in my room, especially around dawn and dusk, but no longer. Now, I have a shrew problem! Like the dog fights, the shrew enters my hut usually around 1 AM. It searches the corners for toads. When it finds one, the toad’s fight for survival begins and I am no longer asleep. Thankfully they are afraid of the light emitted from my flashlight and will squeak back to the corner or, if I am lucky, under my door and back outside. It would help the situation if they were cute, but they are not. And finding half-eaten toad carcasses in the corners of my hut in the morning is not very pleasant!
Now, if you are my mom (or my dad for that matter), you should probably stop reading! This story has to do with… a snake. (In Bambara: “saa.”)
Last Thursday night, while we were eating dinner, the commotion started. The men got up and found their flashlights (or took their wife’s) and started searching around my hut. I asked what they were looking for but all I could get was a hurried, “Thing.” The women continued eating and dismissed the men as crazy. About 10 minutes later it came out that someone was riding their bicycle on the path behind my hut and saw a huge snake cross and enter into our compound. Another ten minutes or so and they found it—under a log behind and beside the back of my hut. They chased it out into the road again and killed it. When all was said and done the women (including myself, since I am now so adherent to Senegalese gender standards) went out to see it. The slight amount of moonlight and the glow of flashlights made the scene even more dramatic than it already was, but the men had killed a black snake at least 6 feet long. (After a few months of telling this story this number is definitely going to increase!) They said they have never seen a snake that big. Regardless, it is now DEAD. (And no one was hurt, except the snake, of course.)
The next morning they left it on the road for a few hours to show off, let the kids see it, and give me the opportunity to take a few pictures. (Go to the link to my pictures on the right.) I guess they threw it down a well they are digging on the outskirts of the village for later use in a garden. This seemed like not the best idea to me, but then again, what do I know? At least it is buried, kind of.
To add to the story, later that night, Mao, my host brother and counterpart, told me that they believe that snakes and evil spirits are “la même chose” or “the same thing.” If a snake comes to a certain man’s house (some sort of spiritual master), he can tell the snake (and thus the evil spirit) to leave, saving his family. (Of course it was implied that a woman does not have the same power.) Later as I was trying to sleep, I started thinking what this meant for me. Out of all the huts in the village, it came next to mine. Do I have evil spirits coming after me? Am I cursed? Do people in my village now think this? (Probably not. At this point it was midnight, WAY past my village bedtime and I was getting a bit delirious.) Life au village is sometimes slow, unchanging, each day a repeat of the past. But sometimes, like last Thursday night, something does happen. And these are the little stories I am thankful I will have for the rest of my life.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Malaria
This is an interesting article on malaria from the National Geographic a few months ago,
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0707/feature1/index.html .
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0707/feature1/index.html .
Friday, November 23, 2007
There is much to be thankful for...
Where do I start? The last month has been pretty great. My trip to Egypt and Dubai to see my friend Nick was no less than amazing. It was so good to see an old friend and have more than a 15-minute conversation with someone from “back home”! He had to work during the day, so I saw the pyramids and Memphis ruins outside of Cairo by myself. I also went down the Nile to Luxor for a day to see the Valley of the Kings (the site of King Tut’s tomb as well as many others), Valley of the Queens, Queen Hatchetsup’s temple and a few other temples. That may have been one of the single most interesting days of my life—so much history and really such a different time (thousands of years before Christ). We went to Dubai for two days within the week that I was visiting, and that was quite a trip. The city is brand new and was basically built yesterday (or at least in the last ten years). They say that a fifth of the world’s cranes are in Dubai because they are building so much. The world’s tallest building is in Dubai and is still under construction—and will continue to be built with the use of helicopters because it has gone beyond the reach of cranes (so I hear). This sounds kind of silly, but we went to the most amazing mall ever, with what seemed like any store you could think of. We went to Starbucks and then went next door to the ski slope! Yes, we went skiing in Dubai—in the mall. It was a decent little slope, too, complete with two lifts and a lodge halfway down. We also went to a water park and then walked through the world’s only “7-star” hotel, which was both beautiful and gaudy. You can check out the pictures…
Back to my humble reality in the village, which seems a million miles away from the comforts of Cairo and Dubai, things have been smooth. I may have written this before, but I am now really starting to feel like my village is “home.” I no longer feel (very) guilty about things like going to Tamba for a day or two, sleeping past 7 AM, not going to the fields, etc. There’s still a lot of the language that I don’t understand, but I have still noticed that I have improved. I have a few running jokes with some people, which I consider somewhat of an accomplishment. With Sira, who is about 3, I ask her, “I che le?” Or “Where is your husband?” She responds, “He’s in Madjaly,” which is the next village over. It’s pretty cute, coming from her. She’s quite the flirt. With Mama, Sira’s mom, we joke that she loves cheeb e jen (a dish of oily rice and fried fish, which I detested at first but now love) and that she eats a lot. One evening her husband hit her and she left to go to the next village to stay with her mom for a few days. The other women told me I should go get her to come back and I said I would, but that she would only come if they would cook cheeb e jen. After writing this, I realize it’s not actually that funny, but they loved it and it broke the awkwardness. One woman in the village, Sadio, had me “marry” her 6-month old son, Amadou. They love when I come over and ask where my husband is and why he hasn’t given me any money lately. Ah, those small village moments…
The last two weeks in the village have been fairly busy. The rainy season is officially over and the dry, cold season has begun. At night I put on two sets of clothes and socks (!) and sleep with a sheet and believe it or not, I’m STILL cold! I need to invest in a blanket. During the day it is still in the 80s though. We are harvesting, so I have spent mornings bringing in corn and peanuts (all by hand). We’ll start with the cotton sometime soon. (As an aside, I highly, highly recommend working in a field or garden for everyone. Even though I somewhat claim I am a “country” girl, I really had no idea about such things. It has been so gratifying to spend a few hours doing hard labor and to actually see the results!)
As far as my work is concerned, the big news is that I finally started a group for girls between the ages of 14-18. Fifteen girls attended my first meeting, about half Pulaar and half Bambara. As usual, language is a big issue. I spoke in French and Bambara but things had to be translated to Pulaar and sometimes clarified again in Bambara. Life would be so much different (for me) if we could speak in English or even if there was just one common language! During this first meeting, I just wanted to break the ice and have the girls get to know each other and me a little better. I asked them to write their names on a piece of paper and then draw their favorite food and their favorite outfit (for CASC people, a bit like personal portrait but really simple). Unfortunately only half of the girls knew how to write their names. I was a bit shocked at this and thought that most had gone to school at least long enough to do this, but apparently I was mistaken. (Only about 5 of the 15 girls are currently in school, all in primary school.) They’re not very used to drawing or to even seeing pictures, so having them draw their favorite food was also more challenging than I thought. Despite many other examples, they all chose a banana, mango or orange. This all took so long that we just left it at that without drawing the more complicated favorite outfit. They were quite embarrassed but each one still presented in front of the group, amidst lots of laughs and giggles. It was a bit of a slower start than I had hoped for, but nevertheless, everyone came, everyone participated, and everyone seems excited. Most of the sessions I have planned focus on health topics, including nutrition, sanitation, male/female anatomy, pregnancy, birth control options, etc. I also have some sessions on goal setting and saving money. As many of the girls have not gone to school (or at least recently), I do realize I have quite an opportunity to “teach” them something. Hopefully I don’t let them down.
Winship School (where my mom is a teacher) has also fundraised enough money to pay for a new concrete floor for our school. The village held a meeting yesterday and there may be enough to buy materials for a fence to create a garden at the school as well. Hopefully we can start the work in the next few weeks. Many, many thanks to the students and faculty at Winship for their support! You are not only improving the conditions of the school, but exemplifying the importance of education. My entire village greets you and invites you to visit. The teachers are also interested in starting a correspondence program between students.
I have also completed my Peace Corps Partnership proposal to build a “health hut” in my village and am awaiting approval by Peace Corps administration. If approved, the project description will go onto the Peace Corps website, where generous donors can contribute. (Are you getting the hint?) Unfortunately the Peace Corps does not have much funding for such projects, so we depend on donations from family, friends or others who happen onto the website. Don’t worry – I’ll update this blog with information as soon as I can, hopefully within the next two weeks. If you are thinking about donations before the end of the year or also for Christmas, please keep this in mind.
A last update: I have also done a request to a local non-governmental organization, GADEC, to build a small bridge to our village. (They’re in this sort of business.) We’re awaiting their decision…
Finally, I had Thanksgiving in my village yesterday. I was hesitant about doing anything more than tell my village about the holiday, but decided that, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would “give thanks” to them and throw a fete. We spent $30 to buy meat and vegetables and had food for 50-60 people. Since it was a “holiday,” the men of the village didn’t go to the fields but instead sat around our compound, played cards and listened to music. After lunch we had ice (brought in from Missirah, 8 km away), quite a treat, indeed. I have to admit, I did almost burst into tears when I saw the bowl of rice and meat in front of me, instead of turkey and stuffing and cranberries and…. (And I haven’t even had turkey in six years since becoming a vegetarian!) Yet in the end everyone said it was “a fetee diyalla” or basically a sweet party. I was glad to “give something back” to them and celebrate Thanksgiving with them.
As hard as the first few months were here, I do have much to be thankful for. This experience has definitely challenged my views about many things, especially “development.” I have learned quite a bit about myself, perhaps more than necessary, as I am now my own best friend. (My journal is a testament to that!) I am thankful that I have been healthy that the rainy season came and went without any major illness or infection, and that my host family here is also pretty healthy. While it did take us awhile to get used to each other, my host family here has been pretty amazing, never asking me for anything and always being appreciative of any small gifts I give them or any work that I do to help. At the end of every meal they basically yell at me to eat more; while this can be very frustrating at times, I also know they mean well. I’m also very thankful for my family back home, for their support and their great care packages. It has meant a lot.
Well, this has turned into quite the blog entry! Happy Thanksgiving – I hope you had a great holiday and have leftovers to make you happy for many more days. =) (If you have too much, feel free to send them my way!)
Much love!
Back to my humble reality in the village, which seems a million miles away from the comforts of Cairo and Dubai, things have been smooth. I may have written this before, but I am now really starting to feel like my village is “home.” I no longer feel (very) guilty about things like going to Tamba for a day or two, sleeping past 7 AM, not going to the fields, etc. There’s still a lot of the language that I don’t understand, but I have still noticed that I have improved. I have a few running jokes with some people, which I consider somewhat of an accomplishment. With Sira, who is about 3, I ask her, “I che le?” Or “Where is your husband?” She responds, “He’s in Madjaly,” which is the next village over. It’s pretty cute, coming from her. She’s quite the flirt. With Mama, Sira’s mom, we joke that she loves cheeb e jen (a dish of oily rice and fried fish, which I detested at first but now love) and that she eats a lot. One evening her husband hit her and she left to go to the next village to stay with her mom for a few days. The other women told me I should go get her to come back and I said I would, but that she would only come if they would cook cheeb e jen. After writing this, I realize it’s not actually that funny, but they loved it and it broke the awkwardness. One woman in the village, Sadio, had me “marry” her 6-month old son, Amadou. They love when I come over and ask where my husband is and why he hasn’t given me any money lately. Ah, those small village moments…
The last two weeks in the village have been fairly busy. The rainy season is officially over and the dry, cold season has begun. At night I put on two sets of clothes and socks (!) and sleep with a sheet and believe it or not, I’m STILL cold! I need to invest in a blanket. During the day it is still in the 80s though. We are harvesting, so I have spent mornings bringing in corn and peanuts (all by hand). We’ll start with the cotton sometime soon. (As an aside, I highly, highly recommend working in a field or garden for everyone. Even though I somewhat claim I am a “country” girl, I really had no idea about such things. It has been so gratifying to spend a few hours doing hard labor and to actually see the results!)
As far as my work is concerned, the big news is that I finally started a group for girls between the ages of 14-18. Fifteen girls attended my first meeting, about half Pulaar and half Bambara. As usual, language is a big issue. I spoke in French and Bambara but things had to be translated to Pulaar and sometimes clarified again in Bambara. Life would be so much different (for me) if we could speak in English or even if there was just one common language! During this first meeting, I just wanted to break the ice and have the girls get to know each other and me a little better. I asked them to write their names on a piece of paper and then draw their favorite food and their favorite outfit (for CASC people, a bit like personal portrait but really simple). Unfortunately only half of the girls knew how to write their names. I was a bit shocked at this and thought that most had gone to school at least long enough to do this, but apparently I was mistaken. (Only about 5 of the 15 girls are currently in school, all in primary school.) They’re not very used to drawing or to even seeing pictures, so having them draw their favorite food was also more challenging than I thought. Despite many other examples, they all chose a banana, mango or orange. This all took so long that we just left it at that without drawing the more complicated favorite outfit. They were quite embarrassed but each one still presented in front of the group, amidst lots of laughs and giggles. It was a bit of a slower start than I had hoped for, but nevertheless, everyone came, everyone participated, and everyone seems excited. Most of the sessions I have planned focus on health topics, including nutrition, sanitation, male/female anatomy, pregnancy, birth control options, etc. I also have some sessions on goal setting and saving money. As many of the girls have not gone to school (or at least recently), I do realize I have quite an opportunity to “teach” them something. Hopefully I don’t let them down.
Winship School (where my mom is a teacher) has also fundraised enough money to pay for a new concrete floor for our school. The village held a meeting yesterday and there may be enough to buy materials for a fence to create a garden at the school as well. Hopefully we can start the work in the next few weeks. Many, many thanks to the students and faculty at Winship for their support! You are not only improving the conditions of the school, but exemplifying the importance of education. My entire village greets you and invites you to visit. The teachers are also interested in starting a correspondence program between students.
I have also completed my Peace Corps Partnership proposal to build a “health hut” in my village and am awaiting approval by Peace Corps administration. If approved, the project description will go onto the Peace Corps website, where generous donors can contribute. (Are you getting the hint?) Unfortunately the Peace Corps does not have much funding for such projects, so we depend on donations from family, friends or others who happen onto the website. Don’t worry – I’ll update this blog with information as soon as I can, hopefully within the next two weeks. If you are thinking about donations before the end of the year or also for Christmas, please keep this in mind.
A last update: I have also done a request to a local non-governmental organization, GADEC, to build a small bridge to our village. (They’re in this sort of business.) We’re awaiting their decision…
Finally, I had Thanksgiving in my village yesterday. I was hesitant about doing anything more than tell my village about the holiday, but decided that, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would “give thanks” to them and throw a fete. We spent $30 to buy meat and vegetables and had food for 50-60 people. Since it was a “holiday,” the men of the village didn’t go to the fields but instead sat around our compound, played cards and listened to music. After lunch we had ice (brought in from Missirah, 8 km away), quite a treat, indeed. I have to admit, I did almost burst into tears when I saw the bowl of rice and meat in front of me, instead of turkey and stuffing and cranberries and…. (And I haven’t even had turkey in six years since becoming a vegetarian!) Yet in the end everyone said it was “a fetee diyalla” or basically a sweet party. I was glad to “give something back” to them and celebrate Thanksgiving with them.
As hard as the first few months were here, I do have much to be thankful for. This experience has definitely challenged my views about many things, especially “development.” I have learned quite a bit about myself, perhaps more than necessary, as I am now my own best friend. (My journal is a testament to that!) I am thankful that I have been healthy that the rainy season came and went without any major illness or infection, and that my host family here is also pretty healthy. While it did take us awhile to get used to each other, my host family here has been pretty amazing, never asking me for anything and always being appreciative of any small gifts I give them or any work that I do to help. At the end of every meal they basically yell at me to eat more; while this can be very frustrating at times, I also know they mean well. I’m also very thankful for my family back home, for their support and their great care packages. It has meant a lot.
Well, this has turned into quite the blog entry! Happy Thanksgiving – I hope you had a great holiday and have leftovers to make you happy for many more days. =) (If you have too much, feel free to send them my way!)
Much love!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
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