Mike Hebert: Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal

New Post, Finally!!!

2010-04-20T20:10:00.004Z

Well, as seems to be the trend, I haven't written in my blog for a long, long time. I apologize to anyone that is anxiously waiting on the edge of their seat for the next exciting installment, but I have been really, really busy recently and the little free time I have I just like to hang out and relax. Nonetheless, as time has passed I've made a little outline of the important things that have happened, lest I forget them, and have finally found the time to go through and fill in the blanks. So here is the first bit, with more to come soon, Inshallah! Also, I put some new photo albums up on my Picasa account, so check them out if you want to see some corresponding visuals.

(Early November) : Finally, the cool season has arrived. Although it can still be in the upper 90's under the sun during the day, at night it gets quite cool and I've actually been wearing pajama pants and a tee-shirt to bed while wrapping myself in a bed-sheet. It's glorious! It's also quite amusing to see my family shivering, huddling around a fire when it can't be any less than 60 degrees out. They ask me if this is like America, and are amazed when I say that America is much, much colder. They're reactions are priceless that when I tell them that America is like the inside of a freezer. Although the cold air makes it tough to get out of bed in the morning (it's so comfortable I just want to sleep all day!) it also makes it much easier to go biking and do other outside activities. I have had the chance to make multiple trips back and forth from Kolda via bike, something that is nearly impossible during the hot season. Also, a Peace Corps friend of mine, Darren, and I took advantage of the weather to build a large, cement grill at the regional house. I must say, however, that even in the cool season mixing cement by hand with a half-broken tiny shovel is not easy work. I have a lot of respect for all the masons here, who build whole houses entirely by hand.

The cool season also means that Thanksgiving is coming. Our Country Director was kind enough to buy each regional house an American Turkey for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, our oven is nowhere near big enough, has little to no temperature control, and was needed to cook the various other Thanksgiving day treats, so we were obliged to deep-fry the turkey, along with a few locally bought chickens. It was no true Quinn family Thanksgiving feast, but I have to say it was quite impressive and delicious considering the circumstances. The other volunteers really become your third family here (after, of course, your real family and your Senegalese family) and we all get together at least once every couple months and treat ourselves to a little slice of America. After these parties you can go back to site feeling refreshed and ready, once again, to tackle Senegal. But the longer I've been here the more I realize that while I have become very 'integrated' (to use one of Peace Corps favorite terms) I am, and always will be, American. But as always, these short breathes of fresh air that one oftentimes finds himself daydreaming about while at site pass all too quick, and in no time it's back to business as usual.

This time, for me it meant the arrival of the computer lab project. After months of talking, planning, filling out paper-work and bugging people for money (thanks again!), the computers were finally on the boat and on their way to Senegal. This meant it was time to tell the greater public about the project, which until now had been kept between me and a few key players. So we had a meeting with representatives of the teachers, the parents, the quartier chief and many others to discuss how the project would be implemented. It very quickly turned into a yelling match, each group claiming the others were going to try and monopolize the lab. In the end we made sure that everyone understood that, above all, the lab was for the students and that the adults would be the secondary beneficiaries. Fortunately, on that point at least everyone was in accord. I left the meeting a little scared about the future success of the lab, as it seemed as though some people would rather see the project ruined than see someone else gain something that they are not, and would even go as far as to actively hinder it in spite. It's really disappointing, but I've heard many, many stories of just such a thing happening. Fortunately there is still time before the computers actually arrive in Velingara to try and figure this all out.

To continue on the somewhat negative note and get it all over with at once, there have recently been some troubles in Guinea, stemming from the military junta of Dadis Camara that claimed control of the country about a year ago and is now being held responsible for killing and rape of over 150 Guineans by the Guinean military at a pro-democracy rally earlier in the year. Since then, there had been an assassination attempt on Camara's life (yes, he has the same last name as me!) and rumors of mercenary groups entering the country from South Africa and Nigeria. In an attempt to prepare for a possible civil war (Guinea borders Liberia, which had a massively violent civil war in the 90's), USAID and World Vision are making plans and stocking up on resources to create possible refugee camp sites. If violence was to break out in Guinea, there would likely be a large flow of people fleeing the country, and they would end up right where I live. So lets all hope, for the good of everyone, that it doesn't come to that. (*Note from the future... it's been working out 'ok' in Guinea, at least well enough that no war has broken out*)

Now I will try to be a little more upbeat. Too often all we hear about Africa in the West are the terrible things that happen, which is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. Yes, terrible things happen, but on a daily basis it isn't like that (fortunately at least not in Senegal) and it's a shame that many of the normal day-to-day things happening are heard in the States. So on that note, my host father wants to create a little business to try and generate some extra income for the family. After talking through a few projects, we decided to mostly work on creating a small chicken farm with the goal of selling eggs. All of the eggs in Velingara come all the way from Dakar, which is absolutely absurd, and it is frequently difficult to find any at all. The demand is clearly here and the project has potential to be quite profitable, that largest problem is his lack of start-up funds, likely the most common impediment to would-be entrepreneurs in Senegal. So I helped him to make a financial plan, so that he could clearly see all the costs and the possible future rentabilty of the project. Also, this paperwork is necessary if he is going to seek out a loan from a bank in order to get the project started. At this point we are waiting on him to collect the 10% contribution that he needs to provide in order to receive the loan, a sum which, frankly, I have no idea how he will be able to raise. I really hope that this, or another project, works out for him in the future, because the family could use the extra income and he could use something to do!

My father is not the only burgeoning entrepreneur in the family. My sister who had lasted about 1 month in her marriage and is now back home is also looking for something to do. Now that she is no longer in school she basically just sits around the house, does some laundry and cooks, and that's it. Clearly not the most exciting life for a 20 year old. She has said that she wanted to start her own little business. She wants to buy a freezer and make these little freeze-pop type treats that people sell around here. So my first question was how did she plan on buying a freezer? To this she had no good answer, so I encouraged her to find people in town, mainly single men (teachers, etc.) for whom she could do their laundry. Clearly not the most glamourous job, but for someone in her situation it's pretty much her only choice. If she did this, I said I'd pay her to do my laundry as well, and I'd take the money she earned each week and save it for her so she wouldn't 'eat it,' as the Senegalese saying goes. In the way, after a few months of doing laundry she could buy a freezer and start selling the crèmes. As with my father, I wish her the best of luck... there are far too many people around here who sit around doing nothing all day and if they can gain any job, no matter how small, it's for the betterment of everyone. As I've said before, the one person with a job ends up being obliged to buy food for the other ten people in their family who do nothing, and never have the chance to ameliorate their own situation. They're stuck and therefore the society as a whole is often left in the same position: stagnant and in a cycle of dependence.

My work with World Vision has also continued. I have been recruited as their unofficial marketing guy and have been helping them to make a year-in review booklet for the 'Grandmother Project.' Basically this involves me going out to the villages with them for their various forums where they discuss the loss of traditional culture and problems currently facing women in the society, and I take a lot of pictures etc. I then took the photos and quotations and made this booklet (there's a French and a Pulaar version) which has since been printed out hundreds of times and distributed to all the surrounding villages. I've enjoyed working on it, as it is a large change of pace from my other work. I get to just sit in their office and mess around with Photoshop, so it's a nice break from the normal running around.

There is also a large mosquito net distribution project that is being planned for the department of Velingara which will involve Peace Corps, World Vision, Tostan (another large NGO presence in the area), the local Health System, and Malaria No More, an NGO from the US. It's the biggest ever done in Africa, and is going for a new approach to fighting malaria known as Universal Coverage. Basically, in the past nets have been given mainly to children, the elderly, and pregnant women: the people most susceptible to the malaria infection. The idea with universal coverage, however, is that by giving nets to everyone, you not only keep them protected but destroy the vector that spreads malaria. Basically, a mosquito needs to bite someone that already has malaria, and then bite you, in order to give you the infection. If no-one around you has malaria, however, you can get bit by mosquitoes all day and you won't become sick. So the hope behind giving 75,000 mosquito nets to cover every single bed in the whole department is that the malaria vector will be completely wiped out. It's a bit of a test, and if it is successful will be repeated throughout all of Senegal and then most likely all of Africa.

I must admit that I've been a little skeptical as to the long-term efficacy of this project, particularly as I tend to be wary of large-scale handouts, except for in real emergencies. It doesn't seem like a very sustainable approach to solving a problem. What happens in three years when the nets are all ripped and broken? I would prefer to see a system set up where Senegalese sell nets in the area, creating not only jobs and income but a durable system of distribution (plus, people will take much better care of nets they spend their own money on). Yes, this means not everyone will have one, but with this large scale handout, anyone that tried to sell nets will now be out of business, and in three years there will be nowhere for anyone to get nets in the area unless another huge handout is undertaken. There never seems to be any completely right or wrong solution to these types of problems, so many interconnected factors that play a large role in the outcome. As to this project, though, I hope I end up being wrong and that it ultimately saves a lot of people lives, in the near future and long term. So wish us luck!

The project is also funny because it is one of the ones that apparently gets a lot of media attention in the states. You know how there is always some actor or musician saying we all need to save the poor, suffering people of Africa (which, by the way, while well intentioned is a very one-sided and narrow view of what life is actually like here), well this project is being largely funded my Ashton Kutcher and something he did with Twitter, as well as Yousou Ndor, the most famous Senegalese musician in the world. It's funny, after seeing all those ads and benefit concerts, etc. in America, to actually be the person who physically hands the mosquito net over to someone in a village here.

So there is a lot more coming, this is only up to around the beginning of December, but I will try to get in up as soon as possible. A lot of it is already written, I just need to fill in the gaps! Also, go check out my picasa site, as I have put some photos up on-line... some of them having already been explained here and some others that I have not yet talked about here, but will shortly, si Allah jabbi!

Back to the Real World (about a month and a half belated)

2009-12-05T18:27:00.002Z

(First of, I've skipped a description of my vacation, but will try to write something up about it and get it in soon. Until then... back to Africa!)

As the title of the post says, it's time for me to re-enter the 'real world' after my delicious, relaxing, well-deserved (ok, so that one's a matter of opinion) vacation. Upon my return to Dakar, I was instantly hit in the face by a wall of hot, humid air and surrounded by 1,000 people calling my their 'friend,' trying to grab my bags from my hands and carry them to a taxi for me for an exorbitant price. Welcome home...! I ended up having to spend a few more days in Dakar, doing paper work and getting my mid-service health exam. Lucky me, I even got my first cavity and filling! I assume that's thanks to the sugary tea and coffee that I drink far too much of here. Fortunately, I got a chance to go out 'surfing' (I use quotes because it mostly just involved my getting tossed by waves all day) with some other volunteer friends.

So after a few days of hanging out in the big city, I took the beloved 13 hour car ride down to Kolda (as usual, I was in the back, middle seat... they manage to make me take the worst seat in the car every time, not exactly sure how). It was a pretty average ride down, desperately trying to get some sleep in a seat that's so small my head is pressed against the roof at a 45 degree angle. It was, however, spiced up a bit when a bus hit our car around the Gambian border, taking off the back bumper and tail-light. I guess that I'm lucky that my first Senegalese car accident was so harmless (no-one got hurt), another volunteer had just the week before seen a car flip and roll, killing multiple people; and of course if you're the only white person around at the scene of the accident, people for some reason assume you know what you're doing and expect you to help all the injured people and officially declare the dead. Like I said, I'm lucky my accident was minor and no-one was hurt, her description of what she saw was pretty graphic, and even a month later she was scared to enter a car in Senegal. The Senegalese tend drive really crazy, the car's are usually about 30 years old, don't have seat belts and are made up of pieces of six different cars, so I dont blame her.

Upon my arrival in Kolda I spent a couple days getting back into the swing of things, walking around town practicing my Pular a bit (which fortunately was still there, I didn't lose too much of it over the course of the vacation) and getting ready to go back to site. At this point I was quite ready to get back, while vacation is great it can get tiring not being able to sleep in your own bed and living out of a bag for a month. I wasn't looking forward to the inevitable "Wheres my suriche (gift)?" question that I knew everyone in Velingara would be asking me, but I knew that would only last a couple of days. For some reason every (people I've talked to for a total of 5 minutes before included) thinks I'm going to bring them back cell-phones and other such gifts upon my return, and they act offended when I say I didn't bring them anything. I know, I'm so selfish. Here I am, so rich that I'm just rolling in the money, and I just keep it all for myself and never help anyone out (it's very nice to listen to people tell you that all day)! Fortunately my family knows I hate it when people ask me that, so they don't any more, plus they're they only people I actually did bring gifts back for, so that probably contributed to their praise and approval and lack of nagging. In the end, however, it was great to see my host family again. I had missed them and they had genuinly missed me. They all started singing and dancing: "Ahmed returned! Ahmed returned!" which is quite a welcome home.

There was, however, a big surprise awaiting me as well. My sister, who had gotten married right before I had left on vacation was back living in our house. Apparently while I was gone she had decided that she didn't like her new husband and didn't wish to be married to him; which is bizarre considering he wasn't even at the house with her the whole time, but in Dakar working. There was some small conflict and drama between the two families, whom have been friends since my parents were young, but in the end they decided to annul the wedding. While my parents were disappointed (and, understandably, somewhat angry) with my sister for waiting until after the wedding to declare that she didn't like her husband instead of speaking up before hand, the whole situation made me realize how reasonable and 'Western' my host father really is. Many, if not most, marriages around here are forced; usually involving the marrying off of a young girl, aged 14 years old or so, so an often much older man with no choice given to the bride-to-be. My father, however, has stated how he wants all of his daughters to be able to choose who they marry and to do so at a point late enough in their lives to allow them to finish school.

My sister is lucky to have a father who is as forward thinking as that, it's a rare trait here. I find it admirable that she had the guts to speak up and say that she didn't wish to be married to this man instead of living out her whole life in silent discontent, as many women do here. It's just too bad she didn't speak up sooner, for a family that already has difficulty simply eating each day and buying each child one pen for school, they spent A LOT of money on the wedding and strained the relationship between the two families. I just hope she can now find something good to do with herself, as she's no longer in school and is now a 'woman' after her wedding night, which her in Senegal means it will be much harder for her to find a husband in the future. As of now she pretty much just hangs around the house, yet another mouth for my father to feed which is quite a challenge in and of itself. We'll see how that one works out, only time will tell!

When I got back I also had a lot of work to do, which is good and makes the transition a lot easier. For one, all the money for the computer lab project has been raised! We thank you all again for your help, it's really appreciated! So the computers are currently on the ship and are due to arrive in Dakar around the first of December. Peace Corp has offered to ship the computers from Dakar to each of our sites, although the date for that is not yet definitively set. I plan on trying to go up to Dakar to see the computers before they are shipped down to Velingara and buy all the other needed computer accessories to have them shipped down to Velingara along with the computers. Hopefully all this will be happening around December 5-10; although this being Senegal I would not be surprised if that date gets pushed back. In preparation for the arrival of the computers, we have started getting the room ready, which has been keeping my busy to say the least. The chairs and tables are being built, the electricity and security (metal bars in the windows and a reinforced door) are being installed in the room, and the internet company is planning on bringing the line in soon. At this point it's a bit of a waiting game on the computers themselves. It's just nice to know that they're at least on the way... so even if it takes longer than expected they will eventually arrive.

Upon my return the school year had officially started as well. I say officially because while the schools had opened they have yet to really start classes. In most classes only a quarter of the students show up each day because their parents don't let them go to school until the majority of the crops have been harvested (which won't be until near the end of November). So the teachers and 1/4 of the students come in each day, just to be sent back home. Worst of all, some of these students are walking miles and miles to come in just to turn around and go back home. Also, in many classes the teachers are already on strike as the government has yet again failed to pay the teachers salaries on time. Oh well... at least the hundred-odd government ministers in Dakar (aka. friends of 'His Excellence, Master Abdoulaye Wade") are boosting the sales of expensive imported cars and boosting the economy!

The beginning of the school year also means that my classes at the CETF (Centre d'Enseignement Technique Feminine) are getting under way. I had worked all summer with one of the teachers from the school, Mr. Corea, giving him personal business classes and creating a curriculum that will span three years. Each grade, therefore, will have 2 hrs of class time a week, thereby giving me some structure for at least three afternoons a week. This combined with the preparations for the computer lab and my work at World Vision with 'The Grandmother Project' is doing a good job of keeping me very busy.

Being back in Velingara, I can really tell that I was due for a vacation. It was exactly what I needed: I came back feeling refreshed and ready to go. It's nice to have a clear 'half-way done' divide like that as well. I can already tell how different this second year is going to be from the first. I'm used to being here at this point, each day seems pretty normal instead of something wildly different and unpredictable, thereby making being here simply life as normal. Plus, I now have a level of French and Pular that allows me to communicate without much difficulty. Most importantly, however, I now have more direction in terms of work and how I spend my time. Instead of aimlessly wandering around town trying desperately to find places where I can help out, I know have stong connection with many people and concrete projects on which to work. This leaves me with more of a 9-5 type schedule which is actually quite nice after a year of ambiguity. All this with the fact that it is the beginning of the cool season (Alhumdoulhilai!) means that I am ready and happy to be back.

Here's to one more year!

Vacation Time!

2009-11-03T10:37:00.003Z

Before I start the 'Vacation Time!' Entry, I just want to say that all the money needed for the computer lab project at Ecole 4 has been raised! Thank you all so much for your support, it honestly wouldn't have been possible without you. Everyone at the school and I are really excited that this is moving forward without any hang-ups (as of yet, knock on wood)! I will keep everyone updated as the project moves along. Now to the entry...

(Nov. 1)

So it's been a year and it's vacation time! I'm actually in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris writing this while I wait for my parents plane to arrive. Before setting out on vacation however, there was the end of Ramadan and the ensuing holiday, Korité. At the end of the month of fasting, Senegalese Muslims celebrate by eating all day. That's basically it, but it's certainly a great thing to be able to eat and drink during the day after a full month (about 20 days for me, I took a break from fasting when I was in Kolda and not Vélingara) of abstaining. Once again, I joined everyone in the communal morning prayer, basically just imitating whatever the person next to me is doing: kneeling, touching your forehead against the ground, getting back up and repeating. It's amazing how open they are about their religion that they would allow someone such as myself, who is clearly not Muslim, join in on the prayers. They actually want me to pray with them all the time, but I politely decline. The holidays are good enough for me!

The day after Korité I left site and headed to Kolda to officially begin my vacation! The past month or so I had been in somewhat of a funk, just kind of floating through the days. I think a lot of the excitement that came with the first months in Senegal had largely worn off, and now some of the monotonous aspect of life in a developing country was starting to wear on me. Needless to say, I was ready for a little break: a breath of fresh air. And what better way than to go see my parents in Europe?!?! I spent a few days in Kolda, hanging out, watching movies and soaking in the glory of knowing that I was totally free for the next month! I started eating some pasta in order to get myself ready for the upcoming days in Italy; going from fasting all day and only eating white bread and white rice to rich Italian food was going to be a challenge and I felt as though I should prepare my body as best I could.

The fact that even the change to Western food kind of scared me is a strong indicator of how I felt towards returning to the first-world. I had gotten so used to living in Velingara, that the thought of such big cities, huge crowds of clean, white people and hot showers kind of intimidated me. Maybe that was yet another good sign that I was ready for a vacation? Even Dakar, where I haven't been in over six months was overwhelming, so I could only imagine what Rome and Paris would be like. Well after a few days in Dakar the day finally came where I went to the airport to start my trip.

On the plane I was very excited to get going, but at the same time I found myself thinking about my Senegalese family. It made me realize that the next time I would be boarding a plane in Dakar would be for my trip home, for good, which is going to be a very difficult moment for me. Even though I was so ready for a break, I started missing my host family already and knew that in a year's time it would only be a hundred times harder. It's then that it really hit me how lucky I am to be able to be doing what I'm doing, and while I'm now going to go ahead and enjoy my vacation, when I get back I need to make the most out of every last day. Before I know it, I'll be back in the States, stupefied out how fast two years could pass.

More coming... I have three posts to put up at the same time, but the next two aren't done yet!

Rainy Season Fun

2009-09-12T20:55:00.008Z

I want to apologize for how long it's been since my last entry (not including the one describing the computer project it has been a couple of months!) And yes, I am still here in Senegal: alive and well. I will continue to write about my adventures in this blog post, but first need to make one more desperate plea. I have received many well-wishes concerning the computer project, and they are greatly appreciated. Thank you all. However, I have not received many donations and still have a long ways left to go in order to get these computer shipped to Senegal. About $650 of the $2000 needed has been raised and I want to thank everyone who contributed. I understand that most everyone is having some economic troubles back home now and it is not the easiest time to share what is left, but I can assure you that a little money can go a long way here (and believe it or not the economic problems hit Senegal as well... when you're already unable to eat every meal and the price of rice, oil, and gas drastically increases it hits hard).

So please visit the World Computer Exchange website - (http://www.worldcomputerexchange.org).

Click the "Donate Now" option from the top navigation bar
Click on the "Donate Now through Network for Good" button
Specify “PCV Michael Hebert - Senegal” as the designation, and your donation will be applied to the Senegal shipment for Ecole 4, Vélingara.

Even $5 would be a great help. The grant I applied for in conjuncture with the WCE computers should be going through any day (it received positive remarks from my superiors) and will be paying for everything needed besides the computers themselves. So the project is waiting and ready to go as soon as the computers can be shipped! Thank you all once again and I'll stop this shameless begging and continue on with some stories. And for anyone who is interested, here is an article that appeared in our Hingham paper, describing my project in further detail: http://www.wickedlocal.com/hingham/news/education/x488842557/HHS-grad-wants-to-bring-computers-to-Senegal.

I suppose I left off right before the Fourth of July, so I will start there. Now you may want to settle in and get comfortable for this entry, it's going to be a bit long! To celebrate our national holiday, a bunch of volunteers went down to Kedegou to celebrate. I went a few days early with friends to check out some of the local waterfalls that Kedegou is known for. Upon arriving in Kedegou we biked about 40km on dirt trails out to the village of Segou. There we then left the village and biked into the woods on a small dirt path surrounded by palm trees, bamboo, huge red-rock cliffs and monkeys yelping. It was definitely a cool bike ride! Eventually the path ended and we had to hide our gear and lock our bikes to a tree and started hiking along the rocky, slippery river bed. It felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie and was a nice break away from the normal day to day life in Senegal. After about an hour and a half of walking we finally made it to the waterfall, which, to our surprise, was almost completely dry! The rainy season had started, but I guess we needed to wait a bit longer before the full brunt of the rains could feed the waterfall. At least we got a few rocks showered down on us from some monkeys above.

That afternoon, after a little swim in the waterfall pool and refilling our water bottles, we headed back to where we left our bikes and set up camp. We spent the night camping, nestled between bamboo chutes and giant termite mounds while listening to the baboons howling all around us. Pretty cool... and we didn't run into any poisonous snakes or scorpions, which was a plus! At this point all of our diets have changed quite substantially, and we can survive miles and miles of biking and hiking across a few days on a little bread and some sardines. It's amazing what you can get used: mentally, socially and physically. So after getting a little sleep (can't lie, it's a little hard to sleep by yourself in a tent when baboons sound angry at you for being in their territory... and they can travel in packs of sixty plus and are aggressive) we got back on our bikes and went to another village, Dindephelo, to see yet another waterfall. Fortunately, this fall was fed by an underground spring, so there was actually a substantial chute and a large pool of cool, clear water in which to swim. There were also some groups of young Senegalese people there, who had come to the village for a party, dancing and rapping under the falls. It was quite hilarious. Finally, that afternoon, we biked back to Kedegou to get some rest and regain our energy for the Fourth of July, which was only 2 days away.

When the Fourth finally arrived, there were about 50 Peace Corps Senegal volunteers in Kedegou. Some of the local Kedegou volunteers had organized a morning 5k memorial run that was open to volunteers and the Senegalese public to celebrate our nation's holiday and better inform the public as to exactly what Peace Corps is and does (plus it was fun). The race essentially ended up being between all the military and police forces of Kedegou and a bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers who had partied a little too hard the night before. Needless to say, my fellow volunteers were crushed (I didn't run, I was 'helping' work the race / I didn't feel like trying to run in 95 degrees after getting only a couple hours of sleep). It was quite a sight, however, to see a bunch of white people running through the town, some with American flags as capes, getting confused looks from all the local Senegalese. The first place prize was three live chickens, tied by the ankles and handed to the winner at the podium. The other prizes were various articles American paraphernalia that you can find in most any market here: Barack Obama hologram belts, 'Barack and Michelle in Love' slow-dancing t-shirts and World Trade Center sandals. Meanwhile, great American classic 80's music was blaring from speakers lent from the local radio station, most likely doing a better job of scaring people off than attracting them. Oh well, we were all having a great time!

When the race was over it was time for the real party to begin. The Kedegou Crew does a great job getting ready for the party, which is the second biggest Peace Corps gathering off the year, after WAIST. We had large speakers rented (and stole the power from next door to use them), two large party tents, some games reminiscent of college, freshly made honey wine, a piñata full of goodies, more than enough to drink and two pigs to eat! Basically we all just enjoyed ourselves celebrating the great country that we are fortunate enough to have been born in. At night we even shot off a few fireworks, which some Senegalese people apparently mistook for something blowing up (there had been some fairly intense riots there a few months before). All in all it was a good time and gives me something to look forward to the next 4th of July.

After the nice break for the Fourth, it was back to day-to-day life in Vélingara. Now that we are in the rainy season and school summer vacation, my schedule has changed slightly. One of the main projects I've been working on (besides the computer lab project) has been continuing work with the Girl's Technical School. In the spring I gave entrepreneurial classes at the school to the girls who were about to graduate. This, however, is not incredibly sustainable as I will be gone in a little over a year and won't be able to teach the course. Throughout the summer, therefore, I have been working with one of the school's teachers, Mr. Gaspar Korea, on the class. I have been teaching him all the business basics while we simultaneously create a curriculum for the school to use, complete with tests and homework and all. Mr. Korea is a great guy and one of the few Catholics in town, so it's been quite humorous the few times he's wanted to have a glass a wine after lunch, and he asks me in a low, secretive voice if I know what wine is. To his surprise, I do! Senegal being a mainly Muslim country, the Christians who are here tend to be discreet when enjoying an alcoholic beverage. He also has more of an entrepreneurial spirit than most Senegalese (possibly to be attributed to his religion... it seems that the average Christian is a slightly more successful business person than their Muslim counterpart) and a great person with whom to work on this project.

The plan is to teach the class together the upcoming school year, work out any 'bugs' in the curriculum next summer, and then he can continue teaching the course once I return to the States. I'm a huge fan of the project because it is directly applicable to the students real lives, and isn't just an exercise in theory. During the last year, the students will spend half the year working to plan their proper enterprises. They will then graduate with a micro-loan from a local credit mutual and have the plans for their business already worked out. In this way the young girls can start working and making money right out of school. This will also help to get the women out of the house, where they are often stuck doing all the work. People here often complain that there isn't enough work. They will sit around construction sites and hope someone will pay them $2 a day to move cement. Otherwise they spend 75% of their time sitting around the house talking about how there is no work. Apparently the idea of creating their own enterprise and job is one that doesn't cross many people’s minds, and leaves the local economy stagnant and heavy in unemployment. Hopefully this course can improve the standard of living for these girls and their families and prove that with a little entrepreneurial spirit and effort there is work out there. Inshallah.

So on a day-to-day basis I have mostly been working on that project, teaching excel classes to people that work at the IDEN and doing any more work needed to get the computer project going strong. From time to time, however, it proves necessary to head out of Vélingara for a day and visit another volunteer; enjoy a change of scenery and company. While I like it here in Vélingara, it can be a very repetitive life (something I was partially hoping to avoid by coming to Senegal in the first place!) and a slight change of pace can be refreshing. Plus, it's always a boost of self-confidence to visit a volunteer in their village. When meeting people for the first time they are always amazed that you can speak Pular, while the people you're around everyday can tend to focus more on what you cannot yet understand. This is mainly due to the fact that with new people I just go through introductions and basic conversations that I have down pat in Pular, while with your own host family there tend to be more in-depth and complicated conversations that test your language level.

So on one of these days I went to visit my friend, Anika, in a village about 20km down the road. Very similar to my computer lab project, Anika worked in cooperation with a mosquito net distribution NGO and donors from home to bring over 650 mosquito nets to her village and the surrounding village. On this day she was distributing the nets to one of the surrounding villages while also doing a malaria 'info-session' to inform the public how to avoid catching malaria, how it's spread, etc. So I came to help carry the nets by bike from her village to the distribution village and, unexpectedly, to give a presentation in Pular on how to detect and avoid malaria. It was interesting being put on the spot in front of thirty women and told to do this presentation with Anika with no prior preparation. It's surprising, however, how well I was able to explain things through broken speech, some hand motions and a few animated demonstrations. It's also interesting to work a bit in another field, specifically health, as most of my work has to do with business and computers. Malaria is a disease that gets large international coverage and for good reason: it kills a lot people here every year, mainly children and elderly. The worst part about it is that someone can be completely healthy, a day later they have incredible hot sweats and are hallucinating in agony, and the next day they are dead. It's hard to get medical attention for such an affliction when your village is 25 km from the nearest health post. A teacher at the Girl's Technical School had recently fallen ill to malaria and couldn't so much as speak, never mind get out of bed. Fortunately he got the medicine in time and appears to be on the mend, but it just goes to show the problem malaria poses.

Being on this subject, it's interesting to note the difference in attitudes towards death between Americans and Senegalese. When someone died recently in the neighborhood, I asked my brother how or why. He looked at me with a face of amused confusion and said: "What do you mean how did he die? He just did, God willed it so." Of course I wanted to know if it was malaria, an infection that had spread, a car accident, anything! But to him it seemed a completely ridiculous question... people just die sometimes. Whether it's a child, adult or elderly person, it just happens. Back home we like to find the exact reason why a death occurred, oftentimes find someone to blame for it, and do everything we can to prevent it from happening to someone again. Quite a different attitude towards the one thing that we all, as human beings, have in common: the inevitability of death.

I was going to mention this later on, but I might as well get all the gloomy stuff out of the way all at once. Recently a 14 year old girl in Vélingara died while giving birth. Fortunately her baby daughter survived. I mention this as it is all too common here, especially in the southern sections of Senegal. Girls here tend to be far too young when they quit school and start having children, whether in wedlock or out. In the villages it is common for a girl to be married at the age of 14 to a man who's forty years old and already has two wives and ten children that he cannot adequetly support. I suppose the idea is that it's better for a young girl to become pregnant under these circumstances than young and unwed, however neither seems all that appealing. Fortunately the girls in town are often given more of a chance to attend school and hold of on having children than their village counterparts. My father here is good about insisting that all his daughters finish school just like the boys, but still uses marriage in an interesting way to avoid the girls getting pregnant. My one cousin, for example, tends to spend a little more time out roaming the streets at night than a 13 year old girl should. After not listening to her families warnings and continuing to go out, my father solved to the problem the best way he knew how: by marrying her off. The way this works is that the actual marriage will not happen for at least a few more years, probably depending on how she does in school and how demanding her husband to be is. In the meantime, the mariage promis will, theoretically, stop her from putting herself in the position to get impregnated by another man. An interesting solution and one that seems absurd given the way we view maraiges (true love, free choice, etc.), but given the culture and circumstances there are, at the very least, worse ways of dealing with this issue.

Ok, so after that I'll now try to lighten it up a bit. We're deep into the rainy season now, a fact that drastically changes life here in Senegal. For one, everything is green where it used to be sandy and dry. Seriously, no exaggeration, everything is green, including most of my possessions. Due to the extremely high level of humidity most everything has a thin layer of mold growing on it. My clothes, shoes, bed etc. are all finely coated in a thin layer of green. Smells great! The rainy season, as the name indicates, means there is a lot of rain. The storms, unlike at home, appear very quickly. One minute it's sunny out, the next you are hit in the face by a wall of wind and sand which is immediately followed by a downpour. Fortunately, the storms often leave as quickly as they appear, although sometimes they can be more reminiscent of New England rains by simply drizzling and keeping the skies grey for a few days. Here in Vélingara, the rains turn the roads into little rivers, sometimes forcing you to wade up to your knees in flood water, disgustingly dirty flood water, just to walk next door. As there is no trash collection system the water in the roads is stained brown by the run-off dirt and mud, the animal (and likely human) feces which covers the roads and all sorts of trash which was not fully burnt away. I make sure to do a good job washing off my sandals and feet after a walk around town.

The coming of the rainy season also means that it's time to work in the fields. Almost every Senegalese person has at least one field, regardless of their profession. Even in town, every square meter of free space within the compounds is used up with miniature corn fields. I enjoy riding my bike through the fields and watching everyone working, hacking away at the ground with a crude hoe, planting their livelihood. It also makes me glad that I'm not an agriculture volunteer, it looks like backbreaking, hard labor. Even the kids are involved, and they can commonly be seen working all day, leading donkey's with plows in tow or hanging out in the fields over-night warding off hungry monkeys; troops of which are know to eat entire fields in one night. It's a beautiful, although wet, time and while I enjoy it I'm also looking forward to it ending. Every small cut or scrape, even ones that are so small you couldn't see them, somehow get infected and turn into large sores lasting weeks at a time. It's a good thing Peace Corps gave me a whole briefcase full of meds upon my arrival in Senegal!

Recently we celebrated the marriage of one of my sisters, Hadji Camara. She has been 'promised' / engaged for a while, and hardly knows her husband as he lives and works in Dakar, but the two family compounds know each other well. Senegalese weddings tend to last a couple of days (they love their parties) and involve overwhelming amounts of people hanging around the house. Much of the celebration is only for the women. In the morning, about fifty women descended on the house and starting preparing the food together. Preparing a feast for 100 plus people without any modern equipment takes a while, so it makes sense that all the women come and prepare the meal together. They prepare rice, meat (a treat!) and sauce for the main meal and make packets of salt as a traditional gift to all the visitors. For me, being the unofficial camera-man of the whole celebration, it was somewhat overwhelming: being surrounded by a seemingly endless number of women yelling at me in Pular from all sides to take their picture, and then demanding to know when I'm going to print everyone off copies and deliver them! Some of the pictures, however, are quite funny. I wasn't able to figure out exactly why they do this, but as part of the celebration, the sisters of the bride dress up as men and pretend to hassle the bride. Like I said, I'm not exactly sure why but it's funny! After an afternoon of picture taking, I used the incoming rain storm as an excuse to sneak back to my compound and room and catch a breather.

Later in the night, the party was moved from the house to the local 'hotel.' This is the nicest place in town, but would be at about the same level as a Motel 8 without cleaning maids. Here was the celebration for the younger people (no children and older adults allowed) which impersonated the type of wedding celebration we all know at home. This part of the wedding is, as far as I can tell, fairly new and not generally found in the villages, just the 'hip' town kids. It involved the cutting of cake which the bride and groom then fed each other, arms crossed. They also shared the first dance, while being encircled by all the bride's maids and best men. The weird part is the giving of gifts. Each guest has to come up one by one, kiss the bride and groom on the cheek and pose for a picture while handing over the gift. That way everyone gets to see who gave gifts and how many! After all of this is some excessively load music and dancing. My family, particularly my sisters, have been bugging me to come out and dance with them at some point and I usually turn them down... I don't think it's really necessary for me to go to parties with a bunch of teenagers. So I agreed to dance with them at the wedding, and after all the build-up and hype there was only music and dancing for about 15 minutes. I couldn't believe how worked up they could get for those 15 minutes! (Check out my picasaweb account for pictures from the wedding.) All in all it was a fun day, a nice change from the ordinary, and made for quite a few funny pictures and memories.

This past month has also been the month of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for the Muslim faith. This means a lot of praying, reflecting on how you live your life and, of course, fasting. The rule is that you can't eat or drink anything during the sunlight hours. So every morning we wake up a 5am and eat a little bread and drink some coffee. My family members then go and pray at the mosque, and I go back to sleep. Most people end up sleeping half the day away, trying to conserve energy, while others take the philosophy of working away the hunger. I've found that I can agree with both schools of thought. Some days I go out and work all day and am able to, for the most part, forget my hunger and thirst. Other days, however, I simply sleep most of the day away then watch movies on my computer or read. Overall the fasting is not nearly as bad as I had expected it would be. It being in the mid-nineties every day the whole no-drinking part is a little tough, but it sure does make that first sip of water and bite of bread taste great when you break the fast at around 7:15 pm! Most people here appreciate it when I take part in the fast. Most people tell me "No, you're not fasting, white people can't fast." But then my family members defend me and say I actually am and the person usually ends up looking pleasantly surprised. There are also the people that have been vehemently trying to convince me to pray with them and I just respond that I will not say something in pray that I don't understand. This led to a few small attempts at learning some basic Arab, which will unlikely go anywhere as my head is already full with two new languages. Plus, Arab would be much harder to learn than French or Pular as a whole new system of writing is involved and the pronunciation is just plain crazy. Ramadan will be over soon, though, and I can get back to my normal eating habits... that is if my stomach lets me! At this point a little bread and a cup of water and I'm pretty much full.

Now that you've all been staring at your computer screens so long that you've had out and vamp up you eyeglass prescriptions, I'll try to wrap it up. As of September 10th (today), I've officially been in Senegal for a year. I know it's cliché to say, but time is flying by! I'm in Kolda, at the regional house, for a good-bye party. A group of my fellow volunteers are leaving and a new group is going to arrive any day. Believe it or not, I'm a 'junior' in the Peace Corps world. Pretty soon it'll be me who is coming home. While I'm starting to realize how much I will miss being here when my time is up (and its half-way there), I'm also starting to realize how much I miss being home. Much of the excitement surrounding my that came with being in a new environment has, at this point, largely been lost as I am used to living here now. This makes some of the repetitive aspects of life in Senegal wear on you over time, and recently I've been a bit out of it. I guess that's the real trick of life, viewing each day as new and exciting, even if it's almost identical to all the days prior. Fortunately, I'm about to go on vacation and see my parents in Europe for a couple weeks. Getting this break a year in is perfect. It will let me get a taste of life in the first-world, which, frankly, I'm a little afraid of at this point. Upon arriving in Senegal I remember thinking all the volunteers that had been here a little while were a little weird or off. I'm sure that's me and this point, I just hope I can still function in 'toubab' society! Upon returning to Senegal I will know that each day that passes will be one day closer to me coming home for good, so I better enjoy the time while I have it. While I miss home, I know I will miss Senegal as well. Life here sure is something else...

Computers for Ecole 4, Velingara

2009-07-12T18:27:00.002Z

Hello everybody! So I haven't written in a while, as is per usual, but this time I'd like to talk a little about one of the projects I'm working on (I'll tell you all about the 4th of July, etc in the next post). One of the projects I am currently working on, in collaboration with The World Computer Exchange, aims to bring used, discarded computers from America to “Ecole 4: Thierno Souaïbou Souaré,” an elementary school in Vélingara, giving students and the local community access to technology. The school draws students from surrounding rural areas, as education in the villages only exists for the elementary level, if at all. Currently, there are no schools in all of Vélingara with properly functioning computers, leaving most students completely ignorant as to their use and potential.

I has observed that education in Vélingara faces many obstacles. Only a small minority of students earn a high school degree. For most families, simply buying the 50¢ notebook and pen required for class is a struggle and a decision to go without a meal. The school has only a few books which must be shared amongst the students. They are treasured to the point that they are never allowed to leave school grounds. A typical classroom consists of 30 plus students per class under a tin roof in a concrete room with outdoor temperatures over 100 degrees. Needless to say there are no fans or air-conditioning. Some temporary classrooms are simply grass-reed structures which are cooler, but more distracting as teachers have a hard time being heard over the din of the adjacent class.

The biggest challenge for the students, however, is simply a lack of access to information. As Director Baldé states, “We don’t even have adequate textbooks with pictures, so how can we explain things such as mountains, the ocean, and islands to students that have never seen them?” This inspired me to start this campaign to bring computers to Vélingara. Computers would give the students access to an incredible amount of information, where currently their education only consists of copying word-for-word passages their teachers write on the chalkboards. It would allow them to see images of the world and its peoples, read innumerable historical accounts previously unavailable, and grant them access to the wealth of knowledge that we take for granted in America.

I believe that one of the main purposes of education is to open the student’s mind, imagination, and interest to the wider world around them. Bringing computers to this school will provide that window to the world for its 866 students and the community at large, granting them access to more information than any other medium can provide. This would effectively allow the students to discover interests and be well equipped to pursue them: broadening their horizons beyond their current view of the world, which is limited to the 10 miles they know between Vélingara and their village of origin.

In the United States, most companies update their computers every couple of years and end up filling the landfills with fully functioning computers that could be put to good use somewhere else. I am aiming to bring twenty computers to Vélingara to build a computer lab for the students and the community at large. I will be in Vélingara for another year and a half with the Peace Corps, so I will be able to train the teachers and create a curriculum for the school. Outside of school hours the lab will also be open for community training -- educating the general population while simultaneously providing income for the school to maintain the computer lab. An overriding goal of the Peace Corp is to provide technical knowledge and sustainable assistance and, in setting up a technology program that also generates income, I hope to fulfill this goal.
The Vélingara School has also expressed interest in setting up an electronic exchange program with a Hingham School with their new email capabilities, so any Hingham teachers out there if you're interested, once the lab is all set-up, I will be looking for some partner classes! Note: they don't speak English, just poor French!

The computers are available through World Computer Exchange, but I need to raise enough money to fund shipment to Senegal. This cost will be approximately $2000. In addition, I am applying for a Peace Corps grant to fund installation costs (electricity, internet, fans, tables, etc).
If anyone is interested in helping to provide financial support for the project, donations can be made through the World Computer Exchange (www.worldcomputerexchange.org). By clicking on the “Donate Now through Network for Good” button and specifying “PCV Michael Hebert - Senegal” as the designation, funds will be applied to the Senegal shipment. Additional information and my complete project proposal is also available on the Senegal page of this site under “Ecole 4: Thierno Souaibou Souare de Vélingara”.

Also, check out my photo album dedicated to the Ecole 4, Vélingara school at http://picasaweb.google.com/MichaelHebert. Please send any questions, comments, or simply small talk to me at MichaelTHebert@gmail.com. Thank you all very much for keeping up with my blog and tendency to rant (including this entry, which those of who live in Hingham will notice is almost exactly the same as an article that should be appearing soon in the Hingham Journal). Thank you again for bearing with my little promo here and I'll start writting interesting things again next time, Inshallah. On jaaraama buy!!!

Bassari Festival and Ligge, Ligge, Ligge!!!

2009-06-10T20:10:00.001Z

On jaaraama buy sahelbe-an fof! Right after my last journal entry I left for Kedegou to see the local Bassari festival. After a full day of sitting, waiting in garages and sept-places, I finally got to Kedegou to find many of my good friends from my stage already there! In general, you see the people that live around you a lot more frequently than the other volunteers in country, so I hadn't seen many of these people in months. Needless to say, it was nice to share a few drinks and stories and catch up.

The next day we all set off from Kedegou to go out into the bush where the festival is taking place. Kedegou is a very pretty place and much different than the rest of Senegal in that there are actually small mountains instead of being completely void of any change in elevation; and like the Kolda region, it is far more forested than any place in the North. So although it is the end of the dry season and hasn't rained in at least six months, hence leaving the landscape rather dried out, it is still quite a beautiful site. So to get back on track, we all got in this giant, open-sided tour bus to get out to the campsite. As is typical with traveling in Senegal there was a huge number of us shoved into the bus, which was driving about 100mph on dirt roads, and which practically flipped on many occasions while on the real rough trails (the Senegalese guys sitting on the roof even had to jump off a few times). We did, however, finally make it to the campamment (group of huts rented out to tourists) to find that all the huts were already full. So we, about 40 of us, just set out our mats under this one big open-air shade structure and slept 3 or 4 to a mat. One good thing about the Peace Corp is that you know all the other volunteers around you are used to living in villages too, so everyone lowers their standards (as far as comfort, sanitation, eating with hands, etc...) to the level we are used to here, which can be quite comical when taken out of perspective.

That night we headed up the mountain and hung out in the village with all the locals: drinking palm wine, eating rice and bush meat, and simply having a good time. One of the great thing about hanging out with the Bassaris is that they are animists, not Muslims, so they will actually have some drinks with you and share in the merry-making (sometimes a little too much!) In typcial Senegalese fashion, someone called us over and gave us a giant bowl of rice to eat: that's one lesson I hope I never forget, there's always enough to share! The next day was the 'coming of age ceremony' for the young men of the village. This consists of the older brothers dressing up as their ancestral spirits, dancing around all morning, and then culminating in some hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, women and cameras were off limits during the fighting, so I don't have any pictures; but at least I was allowed to watch! Check out the picasaweb account for some pictures, they're costumes are great! I can only imagine how long it took some of the women of the village to make them.

After returning from Kedegou it was back to business as usual in Vélingara. I went on another weekend forum trip to the village with World Vision (check out the photo album Sare Thierno Demba). I basically act as photographer at the actual forums themselves and don't give too much other input, but it provides me with a greater understanding of what the organization is doing as a whole so I can work more effectively on other aspects of the project, such as hopefully creating a book of traditional Pulaar stories and proverbs.

I have also continued my work at the girl's technical school. I gave my last two classes of the school year, and had them create 'fake' businesses and describe their product, market, etc... Basically the 4 P's of marketing. Unfortunately I think some of the students didn't really understand what I was looking for and basically just copied my example, but there were definitely at least a few that had a good grasp on the material. Now that those classes are done for this school year I can look ahead to next year. I hope to work directly with another teacher next year so that when I return back to the US the classes can continue and become a permanent part of the curriculum. This summer I will likely work one-on-one with one of the teachers to provide a basic business training. After which we will create lesson plans and teach the classes together next year. Here's to hoping!

I, and another volunteer, Colleen, also painted some murals at the girl's school; which was a lot of fun and a nice small project that shows concrete results! She has been going around most all Senegal painting various health and education related murals, and so when I expressed interest she stopped by and helped me out. We wanted to do some murals that expressed the subjects the girls were learning in school (cooking, sewing, gardening, etc.) but also wanted to show a certain professional or entrepreneurial aspect to it. In the end we decided to paint a few designs (will put pictures of them up asap) so we did the outlines and had the girls at the school paint in the colors. Overall it came out pretty well, and the girls seemed generally pleased to play a role in beautifying their school a bit.

After all this I had to head up north to Thies for two days of a Small Enterprise Development training. Unfortunately it's a lot of traveling for only a few days of work, but Peace Corp said they'd pay for the transport and I can order good food up there (chicken!!!), so I figured it was worth it for that if nothing else. And yes, to answer your question, it is worth 25 hours (round trip) shoved in the back of a broken down old car on broken roads for chicken. The 9 hour plane ride home at the end of service is going to seem like a living in the lap of luxury!

After the training, which also offered another good chance to hang out with some old friends, I went to Dakar for a few days to hang out. I didn't really plan on spending those couple of days there, but one thing you learn quickly here is that things hardly ever go as planned in Africa. It's amazing being in Dakar... somewhere where I can simply walk down the street and walk into a mini 7-11 type store. The options are seemingly endless. There's real restaurants, that serve meat, and so many countless things that it is overwhelming. I can only imagine going back to the US at this point... everything you could want in easy access! The funny thing is that I have found my desire for many of these simple creature comforts diminish. So while it was great to see them available, I hardly ended up buying any of it. At one point while in Dakar I stopped by the zoo, which was easily the most depressing zoo I have ever been in. All the animals are in these tiny little cages alone; and while it is neat to be able to get so close to them you can practically see them losing any and all spirit they may have had. I even got hit by a rotten apple that an unhappy chimpanze threw at me!

So to continue on another one of my excessively long entrees... I finally came back down to good old Pular-land (Pulars are soooo much nicer and more laid back than Wolofs!) and have had a lot of work to try and organize within a week before heading out again. The Directrice of the girl's school, whom I give personal computer lessons, just gave birth to her fourth girl! Therefore, I attended my first Senegalese baptism this week (they do the baptism one week after the birth). It's yet another celebration centered around food, which is always ok with me! After a lot of dancing, the Directrice came out all done up in Senegalese fashion (basically that means totally over-done with makeup etc. to the point that they look like crazed monsters), and did a bit of a model runway type tour around the celebration's attendants. Unfortunately my camera's batteries were dead, so I wasn't able to take any photos, but I'm sure this will not be the last baptism I go to here in Senegal.

Well that's basically it. I will write another entry soon describing the new project I'm working on in detail. But until then, Jamtun!

Fun in the (115 degree plus) Sun

2009-05-13T17:44:00.003Z

So I gave my second lesson at the Girl's School and it went reasonably well. There are some girls in the class you seem generally interested and a few who could care less... same as teenagers in the states I suppose. I decided to start with marketing instead of accounting / costing as it is much less technical and (hopefully) will catch their attention better than the other subjects. Of course when I say marketing, costing, accounting I am talking really basic stuff: "Qu'est-ce que c'est une client?... Ko hundon woni 'client'? (What is a client?)" I do the class in French, but have to speak really slow as even my French is, amazingly, far better than most of the girls in the class; but I also find myself repeating some key phrases in Pulaar when I can. I think the hardest thing for the students is to understand how to take these ideas and apply them to there real lives. They think of business as buying something in bulk, sitting in the market next to all the other people selling the same good, and selling it for the same price as everyone else. What I'm trying, therefore, to get across in my course is not so much a lot of technical information, but simply trying to get them to start thinking like entrepreneurs with an eye for competition. It's the only way that a sustainable business with prospect for any growth will ever happen.

This brings into question some personal problems I've had with people thinking solely with a capitalistic frame of mind that plagued me before leaving America to joining the Peace Corps. The Senegalese are incredibly community focused and help out their neighbors, friends, extended family (usually these groups are all one in the same) without a second's thought as to what they are giving up. This is a trait I feel as though we've lost in the States, where everyone seems to look out for themselves and immediate families only. On the other hand, when your society expects you to support everyone around you regardless of the cause of their problems it creates a situation where all too often the one motivated, productive individual is held back by the large number of people who are dependent upon him or her, leaving no room for growth and hence an overall stagnant economy and a country with little hope of development. In the end I think that both cultures can ultimately learn from each other: yes, competition is good and drives progress but it wouldn't hurt if we looked out for each other a little more. I mean people here are giving food to each other when they themselves haven't eaten and at home we second guess helping someone in need because we are saving up for a nicer car. So, as I said before (in another of my little philosophical/sociological rants... I think it helps to clear my mind sometimes if I write it down), I think we in the States could learn from the Senegalese: help each other out a bit, and realize that we really do have it pretty good (I know I'm not home for the big economic crisis right now, but I doubt anyone reading this is missing meals); and maybe the Senegalese could learn that a little competition could help 'whip them into shape' a bit and the people that are motivated and hardworking here would be allowed to flourish and develop their country.

One day I also made my first attempt at making 'Neem Cream' at my house. There is a tree that grows around here, called Neem (in Pulaar maybe... not sure what language that name is in), that has certain properties which deter insects. It's therefore used in agriculture to ward of pests that eat crops, and can also be made into a type of insect repellent. Basically you just boil a bunch of the leaves in water for a while, whittle up a bar of soap, and mix it all together with some oil. Then you get a cheap, homemade insect repellent. The idea is that people can make this in their village and get bitten by mosquitoes less frequently, leading to less malaria and infected mosquito bites. Of course my family thought I was crazy for using perfectly good cooking oil and a bar of soap for a purpose other than what they're intended for. Soon (the rainy season should be starting within this month and is strongest June - August, bringing not only a lot of rain but A LOT of bugs as well) we will find out how well it works and just maybe they will actually want to make the next batch themselves! Here's to hoping...

This past month some of the volunteers and I also had another one of our sex ed meetings at the school in Diaobé; this time it was actually the students presenting what they had learned from us to their classmates. This consisted of two days of work, the first being a day of planning with the students, helping them to make lesson plans out of the information they learned and letting them practice presenting one time before having to do it in front of their peers. The topic chosen to start with was 'Grossesses Précoces et Non-Desirée' or Premature and Unwanted Pregnancies. Then the next day the students presented to their classes while the other volunteers and I walked between classes to monitor the talks and add little tidbits in when deemed necessary, sometimes trying to steer the direction of the conversation a little. It went well over all, the students were very interested, but some pretty amazing cultural differences shone through in the course of the classes. The relation between women and men is much different here than in the states and some of the classes turned mainly into a discussion between girls and boys (the girls being vastly outnumbered as so many have quite school by the age of 14... hence why we're trying to have them talk about premature and unwanted pregnancies!) Also some people mentioned how people will purposely cut the tips of condoms to purposely impregnate / get impregnated to force a marriage, how it is 100% impossible for guys to resist a girl if she says she wants to have sex without a condom and it is totally her fault for the lack of protection (apparently guys just can't say "no, I'd rather use a condom"), and some other really unique statements I've never heard before. In the end the talks should help, if nothing else they now at least know they can get condoms from their classmates without having to go to the med hut to ask for them where everyone in the village with know they're searching for condoms: blush, blush. It worked last year in another village, so hopefully the talks prove effective in Diaobé as well, Inshallah.

Well, since this was a two day event I got to spend the night in Kounkané; giving myself time to go swimming in a local river. I had heard mixed reports about crocodiles and hippos but when it's 105 in the shade and you're biking in the sun it's hard to resist. I even got some nice photos with a local fisherman, who then told me there are crocodiles, so that ended that swimming session. I'll just have to wait to go to Kolda again and swim in the pool! Before heading back to Velingara I went to the large market in Diaobé with my Senegalese Mother. She used to buy stuff in bulk here (mainly this type of cooking oil they use in almost every sauce here) and then sell it back in Velingara for a pretty good profit. But, as I had mentioned, my host Dad has been having trouble with money recently as the government here simply will go 9 months without paying people while the bosses are visiting France and Dakar... so my family spent all the capital my mom uses to buy the goods on food that we ate. So I went with her and bought all the stuff she sells just to get her doing something again other than just sitting around the house with no way to make any money. This way she can sell it all, give me back my investment (theoretically) and keep the profit she makes until my dad actually gets paid.

Well this entry is going to be another long one, sorry, but I've been going a month between posts and I'm actually a little more active now. Since I've gotten to Velingara my family has been saying I need to visit this village called Lenkering where some family friends live. So one weekend I just called up my Dad's friend, Sadio, (he's like 60 but really nice) and told him I was coming for a few days. The village is farther south, approaching the border of Guinea, and is beautiful! The farther south you go the more trees there are, so it's not quite so sandy there even though we're in the driest part of the year right now. I spent a day walking all around the town with a friend and neighbor of Sadio, including visiting a really cool community garden they have fenced in where there are a lot of grafted mango trees and vegetables. Ohhh ya, it's mango season now and for the next couple months, which here in the south of Sénégal basically means I get to eat as many free, freshly picked mangoes as I want, which is awesome and simply delicious.

I have also been battling wing Senelac recentely, which is the the Senegalese power company. I have been trying to get electricity installed in my hut, which is no small feet. Basically they are waiting for the bride that I'm resisting giving them. Anyways I have been stopping by there most everyday hanging out with the workers there, trying the build enough trust for them to give me my counter before I leave in a year and a half! It's to the point where the "patron de base" is sick of seeing me, so hopefully I will win soon. Inshallah, I will win without paying them they're extra money soon; we exchange knowing, smiling glances each time I pay them a visit.

In the meantime I have been continuing the classes at the girls' school and recently showed a video aimed at improving girls rights in the area. The movie encourages Senegalese girls to leave the house and aspire to achieve their personal dreams: outside of playing the typical culturally appropriate role of house maker (and not the only the only house-maker, but one of many at that). So we are giving out scholarships to girls in volunteer communities throughout Sénégal, encouraging them to continue their education beyond an elementary level, which is very lacking here. People here can't so much as buy a single notebook or pen, so it's great to know a few girls will at least be able to pay their school dues and get the utter basic supplies.

This past weekend I went on some village visits with World Vision and The Grandmother Project, who I work with. We had these forums with grandmothers and others from the villages and talked about reinforcing traditional values while ending female genital cutting, etc. My 'job' for the day was photographer, so I got to take a lot of photos (check my picasaweb account, a lot of new pictures are up, haven't had time to comment them yet though!) It was a fun weekend that included a lot of dancing with really old Senegalese women, some interesting car rides including one in the truck bed on dirt roads with about 50 plastic chairs and 8 elderly African, I had two grandmother's sitting on my lap as we drove through the bush!

Finally back in Kolda though, been a month since I was last here! So I'm more than ready for the break and to speak a little English. I'm going to be going to Kedagou soon to see a local Bassari animist festival, then back to site to continue working. Missed a bunch of stuff again but this is already a long enough post. Although it's now 115 degrees every day, it is at least mango season, so I can fight the heat with as many fresh mangoes as I want! Jamtun and more soon, Inshallah!

What happened to the last month?

2009-04-22T10:31:00.002Z

Well as before I haven't written in a while as time is starting to fly by and my life here becomes just as normal my life at home ever was. It's amazing how a month will just fly by without even realizing it... I'm going to be home in no time! I forget exactly where I left off last time (I'm writing this from my father's house where there is electricity for my computer but no internet to see my last entry), but I believe it ended right around St. Patties day. I will tell you now, since I'm looking at my calendar of what I've done this past month, this entry will be a bit long! Bonne chance!

When I returned to sight after the holiday I cooked my family an 'American Meal': Beef Stew, as it's easy to cook for a lot of people and whatever I made would have to be able to be eaten out of the communal bowl. In the morning I went shopping with two of my sisters, who were cracking up seeing me interact with people in the market. They see me at home all the time but rarely in public and they got a kick out of some of the sarcastic responses I have to stranger's ridiculous questions. That night I made a really think stew, which as a whole they liked ("Ahmed, no weeli kono a fotti beydu Magi seeda!" : It's delicious but you should add more Magi bullion cubes). I think it was the richest thing they've ever eaten, a heck of a lot heavier and more substantial than the normal white rice, and they all fell asleep almost instantly with heavy stomachs! For once I wasn't in bed far before everyone else.

Later in the week I went out to a nearby village with some people from World Vision, where I'm working to help them with some of the technical aspects of their "Grandmother Project" campaign aimed at ending negative traditions, such as female genital cutting and premature forced marriage) while reinforcing the good traditions such as the importance of family and community. This was a great example of how long it takes to do most anything in Senegal. We spent the morning doing introductions and giving the assembly of local teachers (about 20 of them) these little children's booklets that had traditional Pulaar values in it and asked them to outline the values and how they could incorporate them into class and into which academic domain. Then we left them until the 1pm lunch break, ate, then reconvened. At this point they presented there findings, which were simply things like: "In the [CHILDREN'S!!!] book it described the value of grandmother's wisdom to new mothers and wives. This could apply to language skills." That's it! A whole day for TEACHERS to say what was in an children's book they've already read, and they didn't even do the most important part of the exercise: which was to describe how they could incorporate the lessons into the class. I ended up giving a basic example like having the children go home, ask their grandparents to tell a traditional story, write it down, and then have them present it in class; hence practicing their listening, writing, and presentation skills. That's one of the big problems here, for the most part it takes a LONG time to do even basic things.

It also made me realize a few things about our education system in the US. I'm not sure if this has more to do with the fact that Senegal uses the french system of education, which is already extremely focused on brute memorization, or if it has more to do with Senegal itself, but there are some big differences between the education here and ours at home. In the US we learn not only memorize certain information (multiplication tables, dates in history, etc.) but we also learn and are encouraged to think critically about that information and try to draw our own conclusions. Here I have never seen anything even closely resembling that second part of the learning process. They will memorize word for word a page about an event in history, but if you ask them (most any student) a question about the event that isn't worded exactly like the paragraph they freeze and can't answer the question, There's no 'big picture' behind it... just memorize specific words. Once again I believe a lot of that comes from the French system of education which has been installed here, as I've heard the schools in France operate similarly themselves. Our system is also far more integrated with information from health to the arts. In our elementary schools, for example, you do not simply memorize grammar rules, but read a book that describes some sort of value, like being generous to others, and then talk about the grammar. In this way you are actually learning a technical, grammatical skill while simultaneously improving moral values, general health knowledge (it's good to brush your teeth every day!) instead of simply memorizing all the rules of the past tense.

Another interesting handicap that the Senegalese have as far as education is concerned (one of the many), is that they are not learning in their native language. Imagine going to school and have to learn everything in Japanese. Granted you would take Japanese courses at school from a young age, but it is a language that you would hardly ever use at home or in the town, only at school. In this way it is hard for students to express themselves with a rich understanding of a language which is needed to form and convey complex ideas. This language barrier simply makes it harder for students to learn and more time is lost in the schooling process. Add to that lack of ability to buy supplies, the high drop out rate, the constant teacher strikes (they're not getting paid right now!), illness, etc and it's no surprise hardly anyone ends up with a high school level of education. From my viewpoint it's a shame, because it would be of great economic advantage to the Senegalese if they all spoke a language that is known on the international level, but at the same time nobody wants a world that has killed the vast variety of cultures and languages currently present in favor of one homogeneous group. Unfortunately (and yet in some ways, fortunately... it's a tough question to decide on a concrete answer, whether it's good or bad and how the benefits from both sides can be achieved without hurting the other!) the world seems to be moving exactly towards that end, one giant, homogeneous, capitalist, English/Spanish/French/Mandarin speaking population.

Well I could philosophize on that subject for a while or simply end it with: "I don't know" and move on... I have also since given my first business class at the girl's school. Of course the day before I came down with strep throat, so I was giving my first class in 105 degree weather with a 102 temperature and a throat so swollen I could hardly eat. Needless to say, I took a lot of ibuprofen before going to that class! Overall it went well; at first the girls were a little shy and hesitant to talk, but after I kept insisting I wanted it to be a discussion class and not a lecture class (plus cracking a few jokes with them to lighten the mood up a bit) they started to open up a bit. So the next class is coming up tomorrow (after the schools took 2 weeks of Easter vacation) and I'm excited to continue with the course. The next morning after the class I went to Kolda where I got some penicillin for my throat and a few days later was feeling great again. It seems like I get reasonably sick about once a month here! At this point, being 85% healthy has moved to being 100% healthy.

At Kolda we had the COS (Close of Service) party for a group of volunteers who had completed the 27 months and were getting ready to head home. It's crazy to see these people leave as your fellow regional volunteers become your family in country (that means I have three families now: my family in the states, my Senegalese family here, and the other Kolda Volunteers). The next night the new group of volunteers came down for site visits. They still have another month of training to go but this provides them an opportunity to really see what a Peace Corp Volunteer's life is like, as life at the training center is much different. There are three new volunteers and I'm excited to have the new editions to the Kolda group. It's weird not being the 'newbie' any more! I guess I actually have been here a while now. The trainees coming to visit also helps one to realize how much they really have learned over the past six months. Sometimes, on a daily basis, it is very hard to see progress made; but when I look back at where I was six months ago I realize that I really have come a long way. Like I said, life here seems normal now and if I go back and look at some of my first blog entries it's really interesting to see what I used to think was so bizarre that would now cause me to not so much as blink an eye. In a week or two the new volunteers will be moving down here for good!

To keep moving on this excessively long entry... April 4th is the Senegalese Independence Day and they celebrate in much the same way as we do at home, with parades (minus the beer, BBQ and fireworks)! I was able to get a seat up on the main platform with all the Velingara 'notables,' apparently I'm important enough here to deserve such treatment (... although I was in the back..)! The parade was fun and reminiscent of a local town level parade at home. The various schools had groups of students walk by, as well as karate and sports clubs, the local military and police, the public transport, and a representation of the 'common man' in the form of fishers, chicken raisers, farmers, etc. A few days after the Independence Day I was looking a little shaggy and went in for my first Senegalese haircut. You should have seen the expression on the barber's face when he say all my hair and I said I wanted him to cut it, not shave it (every male shaves their head here). He didn't even have a pair of scissors and had to search, and eventually find in the roofing, the clipper heads. About 20 talibés were in the hut watching in amazement the whole time; but in the end he ended up doing a decent job. I figure I can just keep going to the same guy throughout my time here as he at least kind of knew how to cut my hair. That was followed by a nice relaxing day of watching Star Wars: A New Hope with my family on my computer... they obviously couldn't understand a word that was said as it was in English, and I'm not totally sure they understood that it took place in space, but they got a kick out of Chewbacka and basically love anything with action and flashy effects.

The next weekend, constantly on the lookout for a day to leave Vélingara and get a change of scenery, I went out to the village with Amadou and Ouseman on a donkey charet to get a bed which we brought back to sell in Vélingara. I really look forward to days such as this were I get to see a bit more of the villages and relax all day while still getting the feeling that I accomplished something. I even got to drive the donkey charet for a while and ride a horse a bit. Apparently I needed to beat the donkey harder, because my friends kept saying it would only go slow unless I hit it with a little more force. Ohhh well, guess I'm just not as used to being around work animals like they are. When I go somewhere new I always get a lot of compliments on my Pulaar, which is another plus as that is a constant difficulty; although certainly much better now than before. (... been saying that for a while!)

Finally, and yes I swear this is the last paragraph, I went into Kolda for Easter. Ended up taking it easy there, as usual, and spent three days in a row sitting by the pool at the local nice hotel. Basically feels like your on vacation in some tropical island, and nothing is greater than a pool when it's 105 plus degrees out! Unfortunately we were having power/internet problems at the house and I wasn't able to get on the internet as usual, but overall it was a nice break. Even had Chili Cheese Fries for our Easter meal! Well I will let you all get on with your lives now, I'll be updating photos as soon as I can... I have to start taking some more as well! Jamtun and enjoy the Spring!

Les Preservatifs, Entreprenuriat, St Patties Day et les Elections!

2009-03-24T18:59:00.005Z

Hello everyone,

I think it's been about a month since I have last written and that is for a few reasons. First off, my schedule is actually starting to get a little more full, which is good as I was starting to go a nuts from all the free time. (Sounds crazy, I know... but I am theoretically here to do work, not just sit around drinking tea, speaking like a three year old in two languages that I have adequately butchered and sweating profusely.) Also, I've started to realize that my daily life here has become increasingly normal to me, so that things that once would have seen incredibly foreign and bizarre now appear to be nothing special, making it harder for me to find things to write about on a regular basis.

But as I mentioned I do actually have some more work to do now, such as the Sex Ed trainings I did with some other volunteers at a CEM school in Diaobe (Middle/High School). Diaobe is a large market town which gets visitors from all over Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Guinea. With so many people coming in and out and the town being completely packed every Wednesday for the weekly market, a small prostitution problem has developed there. Also, as is true with the rest of rural Senegal, there is a huge problem of girls getting pregnant around age 15 and therefore not being able to finish school. It was these main two problems that we aimed to address. I friend of mine and fellow volunteer, Laura, did these trainings last year at her local CEM and this year led the expansion to two other schools.

Basically each school picks fifty students and ten teachers spread across three grades to come to this 2 day training and learn all about STDs, unwanted pregnancies, the menstrual cycle, etc etc. It is then the job of the students to go back to their classes and give trainings on the material to their classmates. The idea being that since it is peer education it will break down many of the social and cultural barriers that usually make it hard for students to discuss such subjects (remember, this is a Muslim country!) The Peace Corp volunteers are also going to go to the schools twice a month, once to help the students plan their lesson, and the other to 'supervise' the lesson and help out if questions are asked that the student relays can't answer or to steer the discussion in a more apporpriate direction if it starts to go awry (it is likely that things such as "If a girl gets pregnant it's her fault" or "Wearing a bin-bin..." essentially a rope around the girls waist that is blessed by an imam, "... will stop pregnancy" will be said).

I had a great time at the initial trainings (I even got to explain some fairly graphic preventitive measures to a roomful of Senegalese teens who didn't get it, rather interesting) and I'm excited now to have at least two days a month scheduled where I get to make day trips out of site. It's nice to break it up and bit and move around... staying in the same place all the time can get a little tiring. My computer lessons at the Inspectors Office are also continuing. Those are nice because it also adds something concrete to my schedule, but explaining five hundred times how to change the font size, etc. is a little trying of my patience. Fortunately for me if there is one thing that I have learned since being in Senegal it is patience.

I am also going to be starting classes at the girls school in Velingara. It is a lot like a technical school in the US, and teaches girls who have mainly dropped out of regular school. It teaches them the basics, such as math, literacy and french. But the girls also learn to cook and/or sew. The school has a restaurant and tailor shop where the girls put their skills to practice. The money the girls gain while in school is put into a collective account at a microcredit bank. This way, when they graduate they already have a "Groupement Interet Economique" with capital available at the bank, allowing them to start their own little businesses immediately upon graduation. This is great as it not only generates income for their family's, help them with the starting costs which is often times the biggest obstacle to starting a personal business, but it also gets the women out of the house and empowers them as a whole. It's been started numerous times that the key to effective development is empowering women, and the longer I'm here the more I can see why that is true. It is the women who are more likely to go out of their way and bust their but to make some extra money for the family, when oftentimes the men don't have the motivation or determination to do so.

So I showed up at the school and said I could offer basic business classes and the directrice's face lit up. She said that is a component they have desperately wanted at their school but haven't been able to provide. Later today I will go and present my lesson plans to her and start next week with the classes themselves. I will also likely by helping teach the directrice and assistant directrice to use their computers a little better, help with the accounting at the school and it's restaurant / tailor shop, and basically anything else I can find to help with there. I'm really excited to get going... and it's yet another thing to fill up my schedule.

This past week was also St. Patrick's day, and yet another fine excuse to go to Kolda for a few days and relax (maybe play a little poker and have a few drinks!) Of course I had the bright idea of riding my bike to Kolda as the last time I tried I got an exploded back tire within 5 miles. Unfortunately, it's starting to get hot now, with temperatures over 100 degrees every day. So me and a fellow volunteer, Kelly, set off for the 85 mile bike ride. Needless to say, by the end of the trip we were quite exhausted and had gone through all of our water; I think I drank over 7 liters throughout the course of the ride. Unfortunately for us, the last 10 miles before Kolda is void of houses along the road, so we weren't even able to go and use some random person's well. I think we barely made it without passing out, but now I know I can do it! I'll just wait untill the next cold season to try it again...

After finally making it to Kolda I spent a nice long three and a half days there relaxing. I got my computer! Which I'm now using to write this unnecessarily long entry. For St. Patties day we killed and ate a pig, fresh pulled pork... yum yum yum! Me and some Peace Corp friends also started a fantasy baseball draft, they were laughing at my strategy of drafting almost exclusively Red Sox players. All in all it was a good time in Kolda, as always! And now I'm back at site, electricity is almost finished be installed, and soon I should have a fan, can't wait for that. Won't have to sweat myself to sleep every night, Inshallah.

In the wake of our own elections in the US, today is the local elections throughout all Senegal. Of course this means that people have gone running around in large groups yelling god knows what, climbing 100 people on a mini-bus and driving around town blasting load music, and stopping cars on the road and banging on the windows. I don't know about you, but having my travels delayed by mobs and being woken up in the middle of the night by load reggae music makes me want to vote for the candidate they represent. Fortunately, it is not only discouraged, but forbidden for Peace Corp volunteers to have anything to do with politics, so we stay away from all of this. Considering there have already been deaths in Senegal related to the elections (not to mention the fact that 3 countries surrounding Senegal have had military coups within the last six months) the farther away I stay from the excitement the better.

Politics work a little differently than back home, although Senegal is one of the best African nations as far as democratic liberty. It has reasonably free press, although there is only one TV station, which is government run, and spends have the news program simply playing speachesdelivered by President Wade. Also, since they have been freed from colonial French control, whichever candidate has been elected by the people has taken power without much struggle; something that isn't common on this continent. Overall there's a pretty good political situation here, but I'd still prefer to stay out of it.

More to come... including pictures. I think I missed some things, but I write everything down in my calendar so I can go back and check it out. Sorry for the grammatical mistakes! I think my English is going downhill being here...

IST and WAIST

2009-02-20T12:26:00.002Z

So it's been a while since I've written as well as a while since I have been at site. This past month I have been at my In Service Training in Thies followed by the WAIST softball tournament in Dakar; which means I have been speaking far too much english, having a lot of fun and spending the majority of my mandate.

After the 12 hour ride in the back of a sept-place it was a great relief to show up at the Training Center in Thies for IST. It is so dusty now that we're well into the dry season and the roads are so bad that you have to cover your mouth, nose and eyes for most of the ride due to the extremely fine sand that is everywhere. I was almost entirely orange/red upon showing up in Thies... fortunately there are real running showers there! At first I felt out of place using running showers, sleeping on a real mattress and other such comforts that I didn't previously realize how much I had become used to doing without. Being around so many other Americans and speaking english was also slightly uncomfortable at first, a problem that is now reversed after a month of being surrounded by toubabs!

IST mainly consisted of classes all day, focusing on the technical aspect of our work. We spent a lot of time discussing how to give business trainings and sharing experiences and ideas concerning work opportunities. We had class all day Mon - Fri and half-day Saturday, a very structured schedule that I was not used to at all. It is quite the opposite of the no-schedule, do what you want when you want style that defines the Peace Corps. Each afternoon we were bussed back out to our original training homestays only to return to the center each morning. Staying with my original host family again was interesting and relaxing. Unfortunately I still couldn't speak to most of them as they, for the most part, don't know French and I had learned some Pulaar while they speak Wolof. This schedule, however, left only about 2 hours of free time a day, and I think we were all quite exhausted at first. We got our chances to relax and go out and get some drinks on the weekends and share stories of our first three months at site, which is time highly relished by a group of recent college graduates.

We also managed to make a few site visits during training. One day we all went to an French Catholic Monestary where a group of Senegalese monks are able to be completely self-sustainable by making and selling goat cheese as well as fruit from their sizable orchard. It was quite an experience to see a Senegalese monestary, with painting of a black Jesus, where most of the country is Muslim. Also, the goat cheese and fruit was delicious! We also visited a town that makes these very interesting baskets out of reeds and old prayer rugs which are being sold abroad with the help of some PCVs. While IST was fun and a nice little taste of civilization, by the end of it I think we were all ready for it to be over so we could: 1) go to WAIST! and 2) return back to our sites and previous schedules which we had all grown to love.

So as soon as IST ended we all went into Dakar where we were given homestays in Ex-Pat houses for the week. I stayed with a National Guard Major with three other volunteers... and he had hot water! It was the first hot shower I had in 5 months and I think I stood under the water for about 30 minutes. All the volunteers from Senegal (about 150), most Gambia volunteers, as well as some Mauritania and Guinee volunteers all converge on Dakar for this tournament. It basically consists of everyone dressing up in absurd costumes, drinking copious amounts (having that many 20-somethings in one place who are all used to living in villages is a dangerous/fun combination), playing softball all day and going to parties at night. Needless to say it was an extremely fun time and a bit of a release for everyone. Now I just have to wait an entire year for the next WAIST!

I'm now back in Kolda trying to get myself organized to go back to site. It's been so long and I feel as though I have gotten so used to certain comforts that returning will require a bit of re-adjustment. Plus the fact that at this point I have practically forgotten how to speak French and Pulaar. Oh well, it's going to be nice to get back to site and resume my service. I just need to enjoy these last couple cool days... the hot season is rapidly approaching! A few more weeks and it should be topping 100 degrees daily, yay!!!

Celebrations, Loss and The New 'Patron du Monde'

2009-01-21T14:33:00.003Z

So it's been a fairly exciting last week in Velingara prior to my leaving for a month to attend IST in Thies. I went to a celebration at friend's house who had just finished studying the Koran. Three kids (two boys and one girl, all about 18-20 years old) were celebrating together and there was a huge party. Basically their compound was just completely full of people sitting on mats like sardines packed in a can, leaving only a tiny path to walk through to get from the house to the edge of the compound. Finally the Imam came out and read some passages from the Koran, as well as the three new 'graduates'. It was after the scripture readings that things got really interesting and presented some interesting paradigms in the Senegalese culture (some that I believe also exist more generally in the African culture as a whole).

It is customary for the family to feed everyone who comes to the party. So out came the plates of Ceb and everyone gathered around for their bit. After this, however, some of the older men who seemed to be running the celebration were handing out Kola Nuts and little bags of biscuits (the kind of thing you'd see in an elementary schooler's lunchbox) to everyone at the party. Apparently some people felt as if others were getting served twice and worried they may not receive some themselves, so they started fighting with each other very loudly, pushing and shoving, and simply grabbing bags of biscuits from the men, tearing open the big sack. It was incredible, a group of grown men fighting like children over little bags of biscuits. I just decided to avoid any possible trouble and threw my bag into the middle of the fray.

This illustrated perfectly an interesting paradigm in the Senegalese culture that I have noticed quite a few times now: they are an extremely community-based and share almost everything (especially in the family) and yet expect, and fight over, handouts. Everything from the way they pray together, to the way they dish parts of the dinner into passing Talibes' cans even though they're not eating enough themselves, and the way they don't understand the concept of private time or property within the family structure. All of these things points to a society that thinks for the greater good rather than to personal gain (unfortunately a trait which doesn't help development). At the same time, upon seeing a white person they expect to be given a handout. When talking with many volunteers, the Senegalese (some, not all) have shown reluctance to actually work for their own benefit and simply expect the capital to be given regardless of their commitment (it's always the lack of money that's to blame, never the lack of work!) Half the reason they attend parties is for the free food, which they end up fighting over. It's clear that this dichotomy comes from their conflicting history, that combines the collective thinking of rural Africa and the communal praying of the Muslim faith with the past experiences of colonization followed by the modern times where the only buildings bigger than a shack are the NGOs. Ohhh Senegal... it makes one realize how complex, and oftentimes contradictory, constructing social and economic change really is.

Well back to my life here... the other day I visited another volunteer who lives nearby to me (I biked 45 miles in one day, great way to kill a lot of time without having to strain to think in another language and simultaneously feel like you accomplished something!) for no real reason other than to make a day trip and see how her work has been going. While we were hanging out in her hut we suddenly noticed everyone outside start panicking and a thick wave of smoke coming over her hut. When we walked outside we noticed her neighbor's hut was on fire, not 50 ft. from her hut. Since the roofs of these huts are made from dry straw and there is a lot of wind now, it is really easy for these huts to go up in flames. They're basically like the tinder for a camp-fire, even set up in a conical shape, and its not rare for entire villages to be burned down (just recently 50 huts were razed and two people died in a village not too far off).

Everyone around, myself included, started running back and forth from the wells with buckets trying to put out the fire. There was also a lot of wind blowing straight from the fire towards her hut, and so people started preemptively dowsing her roof with water to prevent it from spreading. Another hut within her compound did start up a bit and we all rushed water to it as quickly as possible while the family members were running in and out frantically trying to get all their belongings out of the room in case it was completely burned down, which was now evident was the fate of the first hut. Fortunately the hut in her compound was saved due to the literally 100-200 people that came running to help. The other hut, unfortunately, was a huge loss for its owner. He had two computers (with the intention of going up to Dakar to study at University), a peanut harvesting machine and lots and lots of sacks of rice and millet. All in all he lost over 3 million FCFA worth of items... an amount that is nearly impossible to save here.

So now this poor guy who has likely been spending his entire life working and saving above and beyond his peers, and finally was about to go to University in Dakar, lost everything. I mean everything... there's no insurance here, if your stuff burns down that's simply it. And the fire was started by a bunch of kids who were doing something stupid that involves breaking open a car battery and placing the acid in a fire to make some firecracker type effect! Genius, on so many levels, I know. But this is where the communal aspect of the Senegalese culture shined... everyone rushed to the help of this man. Partially because there are no official firefighters and they didn't want the fire spreading to other houses, but also because they realize that he is loosing his whole life. You could tell they really sympathized with his plight.

Finally, as you all know, Barack Obama became our next President this past week!!! And it was really interesting to be here in Senegal while it happened. Everyone here is so excited that a black man was elected head of the US (which they constantly refer to as 'Le Patron du Monde' (or Boss of the World). They genuinely seem to love the United States and everything it stands for (not just that fact that we have a lot of money, although they like that as well!) and believe that by electing Obama we are changing the entire world... giving everyone an equal voice. I was actually in the market when the inauguration started and wasn't going to be able to make it to my neighbor's house to watch it. So as I was passing a random tailor's shack I noticed they were watching it (as everyone with electricity and a tv was) and I stopped and poked my head in. When they noticed I was interested in watching so they invited me in, gave me the best seat as they always do here, and I watched the whole thing dubbed in French with a group of Senegalese people I've never met before.

It's another example of the strong sense of community and sharing in Senegal... they don't think twice about inviting complete strangers into their houses, giving them food, and then wishing them peace as the head out. At home we spend most time in public completely ignoring everyone around us. If you went up to some random person and said hello they'd think you were crazy. Here, on the other hand, people enjoy taking the time to simply share greetings with everyone as they walk by. This week my family has been pressed for money so their neighbors will send over extra bowls of rice at dinner time. Yet these are the same groups of people who will fight over a little pack of biscuits. Senegal makes so much sense some days and is completely incomprehensible other days. Well, it's certainly interesting. Until next time, when I'll be back up in Thies, Jamtun!

(Check webshots from time-to-time as well, trying to get more photos up)

Working, Relaxing and Recuperating in good old Senegal

2009-01-17T12:29:00.000Z

So the days go by a little more quickly now that I actually have some work to do hear, although that presents it’s own unique African problems as well, keeping it interesting! I’ve been doing my computer lessons, but of course my last class had only one student showing up! The all tell me how much they want to learn computers but at the same time they don’t want to give up their free time after work (the classes are from 5-7pm). The one student who showed up is very genuinely interested, so as far as I’m concerned the others are missing out and he’s going to be rewarded for his interest with one-on-one instruction!

Also, in the weeks following my IST (which starts next week back in Thies… you can find ice cream, restaurants that offer more then rice and drinks there!!!) I will be working on a sex-ed project with some other volunteers in some schools in my area. We are going to give formations to select students and teachers who are then going to teach the schools themselves. The general view of Peace Corps is to have the local population do as much of the work as possible in hopes of it being sustainable and genuinely desired by the population, with the volunteers acting more as sparkplugs to get things rolling more smoothly. This project is a perfect example as it will be the students and teachers giving the lessons while us PCVs are just there for back-up. The schools are in Diobé, which is a major market town with the highest rates of AIDS in Senegal as well as a prostitution problem due to the huge amounts of people who simply pass through to conduct trade, and Kounkande where many girls as young as 13 are forced to quit school early due to pregnancy. In a country where girls already have enough odds against them to get an education becoming pregnant at the age of 13 certainly doesn’t help.

I’m excited to get to work a little out of my ‘field’ (Small Enterprise Development) as well as to work outside of Vélingara. Travelling is one of my favourite, although sometimes stressful, things to do in Senegal so it’s nice to have work that will involve me moving around a bit. Also, as much as I love it in Vélingara and I am in many ways fortunate not to be in one of the tiny villages I still occasionally get a little bored of being in the same place too much. So this work will give me the opportunity to spend many days outside of Vélingara, which in turn makes my time spent here more enjoyable as well.

These past couple of days I’ve unfortunately been sick again, possibly the same thing as before Christmas. But it’s made me realize some more differences between American and Senegalese culture. In general Senegalese NEVER have alone time: they are always hanging out together. I, as an American, on the other hand, like to have a little time to myself each day to read, listen to music, etc. This feeling is only exemplified in instances of illness or suffering. When there is a death, for example, hundreds of people descend on the house immediately to mourn with the family. I, on the other hand, would want at least a day without too many people to mourn and think personally instead of being surrounded by people I hardly know. When people are sick it’s the same thing. Here people hang out outside with everyone when they’re sick and only stay in bed in they are on their death-bed, in which case people are constantly visiting them. I, however, just want to sleep in bed and be left alone to rest while ill. So when I spent all this time in my bed due to my recent illness, my family kept insisting I should go to the hospital and thought I was really, really sick. I explained I just needed to rest and simply could do that better alone than with them (as I’ve mentioned before, even sitting around making tea, essentially doing nothing, is tiring here simply because I have to intently listen to every word and try to respond in a mix of Pulaar and French). Anyways, just another one of the many differences that I noticed and with time am noticing less and less as I become more adapted to Senegalese life, or, at this point… my life.

Well I’ll be in Thies in a week, so until then enjoy the winter and hit up those powder-covered mountains for me! Send news, take pictures, and I will try to do the same.

Jam-tun!

Tamkharit, Work (finally!) and Good Old Velingara

2009-01-09T17:48:00.004Z

So after a nice long break it felt good to get back home to Velingara. I've really started to feel comfortable there to the point where I can safely call it home! (Don't worry, it will never be able to replace my real home in the States.) So upon returning I got right to work (finally) and have given my first computer lesson entirely in French. I am teaching at the Inspector's Office and the group I am teaching now is really at an elementary level... we worked on saving a Word Document, using capital letters, and other such challenging things. This is good for me because it gives me a chance to practice my French computer vocabulary prior to teaching more complex things. I also had a meeting with the leaders of a women's group, which went well and left me with one of those 'I'm actually where a year ago I daydreamed of being' moments, which is always nice; you is needed from time to time here.

The Muslim New Year, or Tamkharit, was also this past week and like all Senegalese holidays revolves solely around eating until you are going to explode. The concept of eating until you're full (especially when there's meat involved... I actually get excited when I see a piece of goat stomach in the bowl!) is enough for them to celebrate and talk about for a week. They also have this funny tradition where they boys dress in girls clothes and visa versa and all the kids run around town with homemade drums singing, dancing and asking for gifts. It's a little like Halloween at home but much crazier and as with all the kid's lives, there's little to no direct adult supervision.

Here every adult acts as a parent to every child and you'd never hear one parent complaining to another if their child was beaten (not sooo viciously, we're not talking about serious damage here and the kids here are tougher than in the US). Just the other day my little sister got hit with a horse whip for messing around with some guy's horse and her Mom basically just said that she deserved it (don't worry, it didn't even leave a mark, just gave her a little sting and a scare). And I'm sorry if it seems like I'm defending the beating of children, I don't and never will hit them even though people here have said I should from time to time. It's just that it's not like at home and I'm trying to put it in perspective. It's hard to explain but, at least from what I've seen, it's not so bad here and the kids are never seriously hurt; it's not wrong, not right, just different.

Well I'm kind of in a rush but I'll try to get on again soon. Have fun back in the States and as always: eat a nice juicy steak fillet for me. Jam tun.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T14:59:00.003Z

First off, thank you everyone who sent cards and or packages, it's greatly appreciated! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and I must say that I am slightly envious of all the snow you've been getting. I can't complain though, I've been on vacation this week and instead of dealing with shovelling I've had to worry about sunburns! So I left my site on the 23rd and spent Christmas here in Kolda with the other volunteers. We had a pretty good celebration that including plenty of good food, Christmas music, and Christmas movies. We had everything to eat from two ducks to peanut butter fudge. The ducks were extra fresh as you buy them alive and get to kill and pluck them yourselves... it makes you realize how lucky we are to be able to eat them when you have to see them running around one minute and on your plate the next. We even got a little Christmas tree.

Two days after Christmas two other volunteers and I left for the beach to relax until New Years. We stayed in a small campemment in a two bed room where the beds were made out of concrete. We spent about five days there doing pretty much nothing but eating food that isn't rice and relaxing on the beach. There were big waves, very few people and even a herd of cows that apparently love the beach. After the first couple of days two more volunteers showed up to celebrate New Years with us. At the end of the day it was a great vacation, relaxing and leaving me ready to go back to site (I just hope I havn't been speaking English for so long now that I forget my French and Pulaar!)

So tomorrow I will head back to Velingara where I will likely stay untill my In Service Training at the end of January. I am going to be starting to give computer training classes to the people who work at the Inspectors Office (Superintendant of Schools) and then go around to the other schools to teach people there how to effectively use computers as well. I'm a little nervous for the first lesson, as it's for a room full of more educated Senegalese men and not for High School students or someone like that. I certainly know more about computers than they do, but the biggest problem will likely be my ability to add appropriate structure to my computer knowledge so I can teach with results. Also, I need to practice my French technical vocabulary a bit. But it will be nice once I've gotten the first lesson out of the way and have a better idea of the problems I will face in the future.

Well I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Peace and enjoy the new photos I put up on webshots!

Tabaski and then Some

2008-12-17T12:54:00.003Z

Happy Tabaski! So It's been another week or two at site (the days tend to just blend together here) and my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer chugs along. I have basically been spending my days hanging out with my family, working on my language skills (that will never end!) and making more introductions and figuring out exactly where I will be working. I have a meeting coming up with the Inspector of schools of the Department of Velingara (similar to the Superintendent in the States) where we will be discussing the possibility of me giving computer training to students, and during the summer vacation, to all of the teachers (very few of whom know how to use a computer at all). This will be interesting as I will be teaching many people things as basic as how to use the mouse and what a cursor is... I should be returning from Senegal with a new found appreciation for the saying: 'Patience is a Virtue.' I'm still waiting on my Supervisor to return from Mecca, which should be in about a week, at which point I will be introduced to the women's groups with whom I will provide some business / management advice and training. I really need some more Pulaar for that, as most women here don't speak French.

As a whole things have been going well. As I said the days can kind of blend together, some days being better than others. There are definitely days where I am completely bored, feel as though I'm doing nothing and really realize how much of an outsider I am. But then there are also the days that are great, I get along well with everyone and make some new strides in my language. I had my first loss of patience with a Senegalese man who was more educated than most and was persistently asking me for money which he said he's spend on a party (this was immediately following a long and in depth conversation about the causes of poverty and the lack of funds and work in Senegal: such as the fact that all the most highly educated people leave for Europe or the US and having no capital with which to invest). I then lost my temper and yelled at him in French that spending money on things such as parties was exactly the problem and that nobody here saves for the future and that it was exactly the reason for the lack of funds and work. I did manage to add a few apologies in and walked away mid-sentence with my face clearly red and my fists clenched. It wasn't that what he said was any worse than other Senegalese, it was just kind of the boiling point. (Don't get the impression by this story and my last post that all my time with the Senegalese is spent deflecting demands for money... it's usually just once and then we can talk for hours and have great conversations.)

This past week was also Tabaski, the largest Muslim holiday of the year. It is to celebrate the Story of Abraham (same in the Koran as the Bible) where God told Abraham he must kill his only son as a sacrifice as he didn't have a goat. Right as Abraham was about to engorge his son, God replaced the boy with a goat... hence proving Abraham's faith in God and God's status as great and caring. The more I learn about it, the more I realize how similar the three major sects of religion (Christians, Muslims and Jews) are basically the same thing. They all preach doing good towards others, they all believe in one God, and they all draw on the stories and history of the same area and roughly the same time period. Religion aside, a Senegalese holiday basically consists of a lot of buildup with very little actual ‘party.’ Everyone who can (and many who can’t but do anyway) buy new clothing for the event. This is likely the only clothing they will buy that year, so it’s a pretty big deal for them. Also, the girls all do each other’s hair by adding fake hair extensions and braiding for a week straight. Finally, and most importantly, each family buys a goat for slaughter in celebration of the holiday and in recognition of God.

In the morning I got up early and joined the male members of my family at the large prayer session in the center of town. There were many, many people there and it was pretty powerful sitting in huge lines with the rest of them as we bowed and kissed the ground simultaneously in the Muslim style of prayer. I obviously didn’t know exactly what to do, but I’d seen others do it enough at this point that I could just mimic the people around me and get along fairly well. I must say, being at the prayer session earned me a little ‘Velingara street-cred!’ It was also quite powerful to kiss the ground and pray with so many people at the same time, it really invokes a sense of community and humility. After that I returned home where we did the ceremonial killing of the goat (that thing was stick and bones... hardly any meat at all!) after which the day of eating began and so I came to realize the reality of a Senegalese holiday. They basically just go around giving benedictions to all their neighbors and eating all day. I ate so much goat meat at every house that I visited that by mid-afternoon I passed out for a couple hours because I was just so stuffed. When no ‘party’ arrived as I had expected, I realized that eating meat and a new pair of clothing is definitely the most exciting thing that happens each year and is celebration enough in itself.

Also, at some point I took out my camera which made people go completely nuts. EVERYONE wanted a million photos taken of them and I was basically a photographer for the day while my family were the models; my sister’s especially loved it. I even was taken around to all my Dad’s friends’ houses to take photos for them as well (not as if I even have a way right now of making prints!) and by the end of the day I had taken over 100 photos and I wasn’t in a single one (got some of me in my bou-bou the next day). As a whole Tabaski was a good time... if nothing else I got my year’s worth of protein in one day, even though most of it came in the form of fat and cartilage (it’s amazing how good even that tastes now). And I will never forget my mental image of my brothers fighting over the cooked and picked clean skull of the goat (it looked like one of those skulls next to a tumble-weed in an old western) as they managed to find little pieces of brain and eye socket to eat. They picked it clean like a chicken wing. It’s too bad that with all the pictures I took that day I missed that one!

Two days later I left to go to Kolda for a few days as most all the other volunteers would be there, it was Jess’ birthday and we were having a house meeting. I had previously decided to ride my bike from Velingara to Kolda with two other volunteers who live close by, a distance of about 80 miles. All week my family was saying it was too far and I couldn’t do it, but I knew it was possible and was looking forward to the long ride... at least I could tell myself I accomplished something these first couple months! (Just kidding, my language has improved and I know my way around much better now. It’s just weird living for so long with no schedule or tangible accomplishments, so a little challenge like this is exactly what I needed!) So I got up to leave with the sunrise, beating the Mosque wake-up chants, and left by about 6:30 in the morning. I made it about 7km when I hit a pothole in the road and my back tire exploded! So after a week of being told I couldn’t make it to Kolda, I had to walk my broken bike back the 7km and prove them right. Needless to say I was a little disappointed but getting over stupid things like that is something I’ve gotten good at here: the land where pride can oftentimes be your biggest enemy. I ended going to Kolda via sept-place and the two girls rode their bikes without me... I passed them in the car on the way! But they made the whole distance in one day, so I will be doing that as soon as the next opportunity arises. Probably not for Christmas, as I will be carrying a fair amount of baggage, but my next visit to Kolda.

Ohhh, and for Christmas I’m going to spend it with the other volunteers in Kolda, baking cookies, watching Christmas movies and even eating duck! After which, for New Years, I think I will be going to the beach, but I’m not sure. I was originally going to go north to the beach with my stage-mates but unfortunately I think that might be a little too much for my Peace Corps budget right now. But that’s okay, this month as a whole is going to have a lot of time away from site and with other Americans, so it’s fairly relaxing. Meetings and class tomorrow, need to get some sleep. Goodnight and Merry Christmas!

Peace Always!

P.S. : Check out my Webshots albums, I’ve added some photos of Velingara... many more to go but it’s tough with the internet here to load too many. Got at least 100 up though!

Life as a Volunteer... I think

2008-12-03T19:01:00.005Z

So I haven't written in a while, but I'll try to remember everything! First of all, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I celebrated at the Regional House in Kolda with other volunteers from the region. We each cooked something, and it turned out surprisingly well! We fortunately have some real chefs in the group. Going to Kolda was relaxing after my first two week stint with hardly any English and being the only American for miles (I do fortunately get at least 1 volunteer visitor a week as I live in the 'city' and they all live in the villages). Going to Kolda also means I successfully took 'public transportation' a distance of more than 100km by myself for the first time... a task that seemed impossible upon my arrival in Senegal but was actually done quite easily. I had to take a Sept-Place (REALLY old Peugots, none of which would ever come close to passing inspection in the States) and wait 4 hours at the garage just for it to leave because there were only 5 people (they wait for 7). There were two ladies trying to convince me to buy the last two seats, as being white I could clearly afford it. But fortunately I know enough Pulaar now to say only if they pitched in, which ended that conversation quite quickly!

People asking me for money solely because I am white is a daily occurrence here, and usually doesn't bother me as it is true that even as a volunteer I have more money than most everyone here. It's just unfortunate that begging for money is so ingrained in the culture that people expect me to give it to them, just to go out and spend it on some short term benefit. I'm not complaining, I can't blame them for wanting that 1 new article of clothing they get per year for Tabaski (the big holiday coming up this week), but they spend money without regard to investing or saving for the future. I suppose that's why I'm here as a SED volunteer... but it's hard to tell someone not to spend that money on food but save it instead . I have given food to the young boys begging, as all the money they collect only goes right to their teachers at the Koran schools who then feed them next to nothing. But I don't think I've ever given money to someone on the street. It's often tough to say no, especially when complete strangers who can't even speak hand you their unfilled prescriptions, but it's just one of those things you have to get used to here. From time to time it gets on my nerves, but fortunately I am able to keep my cool. Gotta just got shrug things off every once in awhile! Being able to laugh at yourself and shrug things off are certainly vital attributes a Peace Corps volunteer must have.

I have spent most of my time hanging around Velingara, getting a lay of the land and meeting the people here. My average day consists of waking up at 5am to the Mosque next door calling the morning prayers (they yell stuff really loud in Arabic out of crappy speakers that sound worse than scratching a chalkboard for about an hour!) and laying in bed half awake for a couple more hours. For breakfast I walk to the nearest boutique and buy some bread, say good morning to my family (introductions at all times are important here and usually take five minutes) and return to my room; all of which I can now do in Pulaar! I like to relax and eat in my room in the morning with my AMERICAN COFFEE... soooo much better than the sugar/milk drink they call coffee here, although it was hilarious to have them try my coffee and watch as they all grimaced! I also have been going for bike rides in the cotton, millet, rice and peanut fields at sunrise, which is absolutely beautiful. It's also fun to see the surprised look on peoples' faces when a toabab rides by on a bike in the middle of their fields. For the rest of the morning I spend a couple hours drinking tea and joking around with my cousins, two of which are my age and speak great french.

I've also been spending a lot of time getting my room set up (which it finally is!) and just getting situated here. Then I eat with my family around 2 (some meal that involves white rice... usually "mafe gerete", white rice with peanut sauce. Although on more than one occasion I have simply eaten white rice with a little palm oil on it). After lunch everyone naps for two hours, as even in the cold season the sun is unbearably hot in the middle of the day. I usually just go in my room and read a bit or study some Pulaar, because if I took a nap I would be out for hours! I'm pretty much always a little tired here, so I'm going to try and get more consistent exercise and augment my diet a bit now that I'm situated. I have a nice big bed, a table and chair, and a chalkboard I painted on the wall to practice Pulaar; as a whole I have one of the nicer Peace Corp rooms, but no electricity yet. Also, the wall of my bathroom just barely comes up to my belly button, so I'm fine while using the 'toilet' (hole in the ground) as I'm squatting. But the entire main road can watch my shower, which a religious parade of young girls in burkas did just the other day as they stopped right in front of my house for some reason. After nap time is some more tea and then dinner and bed. A lot of sitting around and chatting!

Just the other day I've started to go around and talk to micro finance banks just to introduce myself and get a handle on their terms for loans. I've also spoken with the Principal of the High School and the Inspector of all the schools here in Velingara, and I will likely be giving computer lessons to High Schoolers and all the teachers / administration in the public schools! Just Word, Excel, Internet, basic things like that, but in french. I've also been reading my GERME books, which are basic business books in French geared specifically for the informal West African market. Good source of new vocab for me! Also I have discovered that the life of a Peace Corps volunteer involves a lot of travelling, which I am excited about. No one goes much more than two weeks at site without a little trip to the regional house. There are also frequent excuses to go to further locations. In the near future, my whole Stage is going to the beach at Popenguine again for Christmas for 5 days. And you don't even have to use vacation time if it's less than a week away! I need to start saving up for the trip across West Africa I'd like to do... I just hope Peace Corps allows us to travel to some of the countries (Cote D'Ivoire, Liberia, etc... watch 'Blood Diamond,' that's why some of them are off limits).

I have already gotten to go to two celebrations where I was able to improve my Senegalese dancing, to the amusement of everyone around me! The first was an official declaration for TOSTAN, which is another American non-profit that works in West Africa for women's rights, mainly the ending of genital cutting and forced and under-aged marriages. The declaration was basically just a party with some music, a few skits, and an official statement that the people of the area will / have stopped such practices. The second was a project that one of the volunteers in the area, Laura, had been working on for some time. It was a contest of traditional story telling, as much of the local culture is being lost as the younger generations follow the American pop culture (or at least as they see it on TV and on the internet) development certainly has its positive and negative aspects!) There were also some skits about abusing anti-biotics and under aged marriages. As with all Senegalese events, this was followed by an entire night of dancing and some food (I swear they eat more at special occasions than the rest of the year combined). That night I hitched a ride in a bus full of teen aged Senegalese Red Cross employees who acted as security for the event. They were jumping all around and singing as we careened through the bush at 2am in a dilapidated bus with holes in the floor... alas they were singing in Wolof, so it was a little tough for me to sing along. Just another average day in Senegal... I always ending up with a bunch of people I've never met before in a place I've never been, speaking two languages I hardly know. It's worth not having AC!

So I've been at the Cyber for a long time now and should probably be heading back home. I need to keep working on that Pulaar and a bucket bath is sounding really good right now. I wonder what will be on the white rice tonight?...

Until next time! Peace and enjoy the holiday season! Celebrate properly for me!

Sorry... no time for the pics! There are a few good ones though! Hopefully in a couple days but probably not until the 12th or so when I'm in Kolda. (There will be Tabaski Pics then too!)

Bienvenue à Velingara!

2008-11-14T17:25:00.003Z

Hey! Well Im here at site in Velingara, on my own in Africa and doing well! My french is really quite strong now, I can hold conversations with anyone and people can explain Pulaar to me in French. The Pulaar is going to be difficult, but I have plenty of time! There were a few problems during my install: for one my hut isnt finished so Im living at my Aunts place for now. Its really not a big deal, as the two compounds are on the same block and the family spends equal time at each. Its just a little annoying not to be able to unpack all my stuff. Also, my supervisor left for Mecca the day after install, but my supervisor is here and one of my brothers (or cousin, not really sure) has be helping me A LOT... hes really kind, patient and speaks good french. Its pretty funny down here, definately a more relaxed attitude than up north. I have A LOT of sisters and cousins and they all just walk around topless whenever they want. Ive had to tell people Im married in order to stave off offerings of peoples daughters! In general I am really excited to be here and as of now its looking like it will be a challenging but fun two years.

Im going to go to Kolda regional house where the other volunteers in the region and I will cook a real thanksgiving meal. Apparently they have some recipes so that we can make all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes from locally available food. The Kolda House is definately a little American haven... I will likely go every other weekend. (I think I watched 3 movies there the other day!) Its nice to be out on my own now, though a bit bizarre to have no schedule whatsoever! My only real job for now is to talk to people, learn the area, improve my french and learn Pulaar. Well Im off to a little more sitting around! My new address is up, but Ive heard it takes FOREVER for stuff to get here. Jamtan! (Peace Only) and have a great Thanksgiving!

I'm Actually a Volunteer Now!

2008-11-10T16:59:00.008Z

'The Stage that Stayed' at Swear-In... all 40!

So about two months after leaving home, I'm finally a volunteer! Leaving my host family in Thienaba was tough and there were a few tears shed. It's amazing how close you can become to people when you can't even talk. I feel like I know all their personalities and can laugh to jokes that are in a language I know only 5 words of - based solely on facial expressions and emotional reactions. It makes one realize how what we say to people, while significant, isn't as important as just knowing that they are there for you and care about your well-being. While I will miss them, I am VERY excited and a bit anxious to move to what will be my home for the next two years. November 7th was our official swear in at the US Ambassador's House in Dakar (PS: I'm becoming an ambassador later in life... I wouldn't mind having a pool like that in my back yard!). I first want to say that our stage (group of volunteers who come to country at the same time) is amazing and is the first in known PC Senegal history to have all 40 that arrived stay for all of training, pass the language exams and ALL swear-in! It really is a great group and it's disappointing to know that I will likely only see some of them who live far away a few times. Now the pressure is on for all of us to stay for the entire 27 months.

The Kolda Krew from our Stage

(Jess, Emily, Dorothy, Megan, Darren and Me)

We all went to the Ambassador's house where everyone gave speeches, ranging from the PC Country Director - Chris Hedrick, The Training Manager - Demba, The Ambassador, and a Representative from the Senegalese Department of State; all were generally very well delivered and inspiring. A few volunteers also got up and gave some short speeches in local languages and did an amazing job... makes me a little jealous that as of right now I only really know French (comme ci comme ca). After the official ceremony we got some AMAZING food, which didn't make it 4 feet out of the kitchen before it was devoured by a pack of starving newly appointed volunteers and their possibly even hungrier trainers.

The Thienaba Crew at Swear In - All Decked out in our Senegalese Clothes

Later that night, back in the training center in Thies, there was a little dinner party for the volunteers, trainers, and a member of each volunteer's training host family. My brother and homonym, Moustapha, came to represent the Diops. For the most part it was a bit of an awkward-fest, I think I actually talked more with Moustapha than any of the other volunteer / host family pairings (it is a little easier to maintain a conversation in French than Wolof or Pulaar). Also, during the presentation of diplomas to the host families, they mentioned the passing of my father and Moustapha become a little choked up. In the end, however, he was able to maintain his composure very well and went up to accept the diploma on behalf of the family of Alioune Diop. There was also crazy Senegalese dancing going on between the volunteers and Senegalese, accompanied by local musicians playing some crazy Senegalese guitar/drum thing. In the end it was a good day and I think everyone was happy to finally be official volunteers.

Senegalese Musicians

The two Moustaphas at the Post Swear-In Party

I enjoyed a few moments of extreme pride and contentment that day, knowing for probably the first time in my life that I was doing exactly what I should be and I am exactly where I belong. I think all us here were a little afraid to make the decision to leave home for two years, but I know that it was definitely the right one for me. There are very tough days here where you feel completely out of place, confused, and lost and you question every decision you've ever made. And then there are days where you just want to start dancing for no reason other than the feelings of pure excitement, adventure and joy that pulse through your whole body and soul when you realize where you are and what you are doing with your life. In the end the lows and the highs are both invaluable experiences that make life what it is; and you can't have one without the other. If it weren't for those moments when you are simply frustrated and want to quit (and this has nothing to do with Peace Corps but with anything), the moments of success would not be nearly so meaningful and joyous. Let's just say I'm glad I'm here as it has made me appreciate everything so much more, especially all that I left behind in order to live in Senegal.

Crazy Senegalese Dance Party

Far from the first time I've "danced" the Sabaar.

Well off my little rant and back to what's been happening: two days after swear in we all woke up at 6am (some of us still a little happy from our 'volunteer only celebrations') and started our journeys to our respective sites. It's crazy that we're all splitting up after two good months, but that's what we're here for! So basically the ride went smoothly, the Gambian border guards didn't hassle us too much and the driver was pretty quick (I think it only took about 10 - 11 hrs). Now I'm sitting in the Kolda Regional house, enjoying the company of the Americans who will be my neighbors and friends for the next two years. I also have the company of a TV with a well stocked movie collection and internet connection on computers with American keyboards and no time limit (can you tell that based on the length of this post?). So we spent all day shopping today buying what'd we'd need for our huts and in 1 day I will be dropped off in Velingara to truly face Senegal on my own for the first time! I can't wait!

Random Gambian Fisherman

The ferry across the Gambia River

I'm not sure what my access to the internet will be at sight but I'll be back on as soon as possible. If not before, I'll be back here at the regional house for Thanksgiving. Peace to you all and keep in touch!

The Final Thienaba Days

2008-10-31T16:56:00.003Z

Baobab Tree in the fields near my house in Thienaba... I get to see this everyday!

French Class with Regina (la Prof), Lindsay, Michelle and Ankith

Yes Mums! I'm alive and have the pic to prove it!

So I'm in the midst of my final days in Thienaba and I ,ust say that I will miss my family here very much. I feel a little bad that I haven't really been learning to speak there native tongue (Wolof) and have instead been concentrating on my French (at my site le gens parlent francais et Pulaar, pas Wolof et francais), but it makes for some good jokes with my one Pulaar sister as I always say I'm going to visit and speak Pulaar with her so that no one else can understand (a bit of a role reversal as I'm usually the clueless one).

Some local Sai-Sais returning from the fields wanted their picture taken

Believe it or not I've actually been getting up at sunrise to run recently (I know, I'm surprised too) and the millet fields interspersed with baobab trees and ant highways are beautiful (and pleasantly cool) with the rising sun and layer of mist... not to mentioned the surprised faces of the local farmers when a toabab comes running through the fields at 7am. I've really been enjoying this last week of training; I'm finally fairly comfortable with my French and the days are generally relaxed. I also bought a boubou today for swear in, so get ready for a few pictures of the Senegalese Mike (as my brother claims me to be). Peace out, Happy Halloween, and talk to you all soon!

Language class... I'm pretending to speak French and Wolof

PS: I finally have some pics with me in them for you Mums! You can thank Ankith (Ibrahima) and Lindsay (Yacine)

More Training!

2008-10-25T16:57:00.003Z

Hey All!

Needless to say training is starting to drag on a bit, but at least it's nice to have a small grasp on French at this point so I can communicate with my training family; whom I already know I am going to miss. This past week has been great... full of new experiences. First I want to apologize for last weeks post, I didn't mean to scare anyone. Everyone who went to Dakar for the match was fine, they just came home with some interesting new stories. We really are all well cared for here, and the Senegalese people as a whole are extremely kind and caring towards strangers.

Someone trying to sell a Djemba to Aaron in Dakar

So as I said we all visited Dakar just to get a lay of the land. It is certainly a world apart from the rest of Senegal. Although you can see the inadequete housing on the ride in to the city, the traffic and scenery downtown practically makes you feel like you're back at home. We saw all the sites of downtown, no-one got pickpocketed (as far as I know) and we all got to see the PC offices and the all important Med Hut where we will all likely be forced to spend some time. We got some great views of the entire city from the roof of a hotel (see above!) Also, a fifteen year old boy, who was one of the hundreds of people trying to sell stuff to people in cars stuck in traffic, attempted to sell us pirated porn videos (a little funny yet a sad tell-tale sign of the state of Senegal at the same time... example below), as well as all the vendors in the city trying to sell us random items (the same guy will be selling a wallet, polo shirt, peanuts, and a pirated version of "The President's Daughter," supposedly starring Beyonce). Overall it was a heck of an experience... there's lots of action in Dakar, and it really is safe, I promise!

Dakar from the rooftop

Later in the week we also had a trainee-trainer soccer match: basically that means a bunch of 30yr old Senegalese men who are in good shape and have played soccer their entire lives against a mix matched team of volunteers. Surprisingly the game ended in a 3-3 tie! Lucky for us a few of the volunteers are great football players and I think the trainers were trying to be a little too fancy with their ball handling. One thing I definately learned from the match is that I realllllyyyy need to start running...

Who needs a 7-11 when you can by munchies on the highway?

We also had counterpart workshops this week. I got to meet my counterpart, Abdurahman Sane, and my supervisor, Fatou Niene (forgive the spelling, I'm sure it's as bad as my pronunciation!) Fatou is a very intelligent and influential woman in the community and will be a great person to work with. Abdurahman will be my daily contact and is a laid back guy who will be living just down the street. After the meetings I am very excited to swear in and get started. The workshop as a whole was quite hilarious... seeing 40 or so Senegalese engaged in "business meetings" a certainly an experience; I'm just glad it was done in French so I could atleast understand the better part of it. All the counterparts even recieved diplomas at the end... apparently that's a motivational tool commonly used by Peace Corps. I can't wait to give out my first!

Well as always internet time is limited and I must go. Getting ready for the last 9 day stint in our training villages to finish language training, then its only a few days before swear in! Inshallah, I'll be down in Velingara soon!

Sry... pics not working now, will try again later.

2008-10-19T16:04:00.003Z

Hello from Thies! I am currently sitting in an air conditioned restaurant that has free internet access, eating ice cream and hanging out with some friends... heaven! I spent the last week in Thienaba with my host family. It was a fairly tough at times due to a recent loss in the family, but in the end the family has been strong and together pushed through it. The entire family has been praying together many times a day (before they often prayed the five daily prayers separately), which is powerful to say the least. Otherwise the time in the village has become fairly routine, consisting of language classes, Thebu Jen (the meal of rice, a little fish, and some veggies that I eat twice a day, most every day) and taking naps under the tree. I'm really adapting to Senegalese culture well, I can take a nap with the best of them!

Last night, back in Thies, a bunch of us went out to some live music. The band was great but at first no-one there was dancing. So it ended up being a bunch of toababs dancing in front while everyone else watched... we were probably more entertaining at first than the band. Eventually, however, we managed to get a lot of the Senegalese up dancing as well and in the end everyone had a great time. Monday I'll be making my first trip to Dakar since we arrived there by plane from the US. I will be bringing the least amount of money possible as the likelihood of being pick pocketed is really high. Also, there have been a lot of riots in Dakar recently as the government has been charging people double for electricity and often times completely cutting the power even to people who pay. Another huge riot occured after the Senegal-Gambia football match, which ended in a tie, eliminating Senegal from the World Cup. Unfortunately a few volunteers and trainees who were at the game got caught in the middle of it and were beaten and robbed. Needless to say I'm glad I wasn't there. Overall, however, Dakar is perfectly safe in the day, so no worries! I'm really excited to see the big city.

Next week is also counterpart workshops, where I will be meeting my supposed future work partner for the first time. Fingers crossed she speaks French! Swear-In is in just a couple weeks and I can't Wait! Training has been a good time and its nice to be around other Americans, but I can't wait to be totally set free in this new country. There is hilarious stuff that happens pretty much every day here but unfortunately I can never seem to remember them when it comes time to write this blog. Needless to say every day is interesting here in Senegal. Well gotta go, talk to you all soon. Have a good Halloween and GO SOX!!!

2008-10-12T19:11:00.005Z

Greetings from Thies! Just got back from a day and night on the beach... International service definately has its perks! All the trainees pitched in and we rented a house on the beach for the night; enjoying the water, a few Gazelles (cheap Senegalese beer), and the good company.

Beach House!

Trip down to Kolda

Megan sleeping on the looong ride down to Kolda

Random village on the road

The Peace Corps as a whole has a very youthful attitude surrounding it, which makes for some good times. As a whole our stage (training group) has been getting along very well, I really lucked out and got placed in Senegal with some great people.

So I should be spending the next week back in Thienaba with my host family, getting in some much needed French practice. Less than a month untill swear in! Its already flying by!

Volunteer Site Visit Numbre Une

2008-10-04T18:08:00.001Z

Greetings from Kolda House in the southern region of Senegal! As I said before, the other day I found out where my site is for the next two years. Its a decent sized city of about 24,000 but don't let that fool you, it's still going to be a bit out in the boonies. The Kolda region is south of the Gambia, so when travelling between here and the training center in Thies or Dakar we need to cross international borders; which is interesting to say the least.
We were woken up at 6am to get on the Peace Corps Bus (not a big school bus or Greyhound) and head to our site visits. We started off with 22 people and a lot of gear, including a refrigirator, on the roof. As we moved southward, however, people got off to meet up with current volunteers for a week and get an idea of what our lives are going to be like for the next two years. We had to bride our way through the Gambia, which is pretty cool. Not many people can say they had that experience.
Overall the ride took 14 hours on EXTREMELY bumby roads but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Overall Senegal is really flat, with the southern regions being more green than the northern. The other volunteers in my region are great; they threw a little party for us when we arrived last night, which was great fun. The house has elecricity, TV, and internet (that I'm using to write this) and seems to be a great spot to meet up with other volunteers and get a little taste of home for a while.
Well I'm going to keep this one short as I'm coming down with my first Senegalese ailments: diarhea, headache, chills, and some funky rash. But ohhh well, it all comes with the territory. Atleast I'm somewhere with a nice bed. A bientot!

Thieneba Trip Numbre Deux

2008-10-02T18:52:00.018Z

Hello All

I'm back in Thies after a ten day stint at my training site in Thieneba. There has been so much that has happened and I'm afraid I will forget some of it, but here it goes...

All the SED and EcoT volunteers went out to the village of Popenguine to visit an EcoT site (pics below) on the beach. It was great to talk with the Park Officials and the Womens Group that created the reserve and to see an actual site where my friend Ankith will be working for the next two years. It was also nice to go for a little hike; I've basically been spending most of my time sitting and you get a little antsy after a while. After the trip to Popenguine and some more info sessions (yeah - malaria, blister beetles, and a million other bugs, parasites, and amoebas that I can't even name), I went back to my training site in Thienaba.

Popenguine
Popenguine
Popenguine

Life in the village can run at a pretty slow pace compared to what we are used to back in the states, especially during Ramadan as nobody has much energy due to the fasting. I have kept myself pretty busy though, as we have language classes all day. My French is getting better every day, and I can't wait to start learning a local language. This past visit I have really started to get closer to the family, the culminating moment coming a week in when I was unanimously considered a real member of the family. It's amazing how far a little patience and a few jokes can go.

My sister, Khyadi Ba
My Sisters Rokhya and Fatau trying to hide from the camera because their hair isn't ready yet... seem familiar to the US?
My Brother, Balla, who helps me out with my French A LOT!

The last day before I left Thienaba was Koritay, the feast at the end of Ramadan. If you'd like to celebrate your own Koritay its quite simple: just eat any animal that had eaten the crumbs from breakfast just four hours before until you can't move, sleep under a tree, drink lots of tea and repeat. It's a great day... Also, the kids run around asking for pocket change or candy, its kinda like Thanksgiving and Halloween all in one glorious day. I really was bummed to be leaving my family for the next 14 days as I go to visit a current volunteer and have a few days at the training center; I was really starting to feel really comfortable there. I love my family very much and I wish I could live with them the entire time I'm here... so it goes.

My Niece, Binta, and my nephew, Cheick
My Sisters partaking in the Korita feast... mmmmmm freshly killed mutton (he was my alarm clock the day before, what a tasty shame) After a couple of weeks with no red meat it is undescribable how good it tastes.

So I found out where my permanent site is going to be today: Velingara, a city of 24,000 in the Kolda region. (In other words I'm south of the Gambia in the more rainforestesque region... Alhumdolilah!) I can't wait to check out my site, training is flying by and the time is quickly approaching. I will miss my family in Thienabe but I'm excited to get to my real site. Once again running out of time, but that's a decent post for now. I still can't believe this is my life right now, it's unbelievable and certainly a heck of a lot more exciting than some cubicle job would have been! Love and miss you all!

My room in Thieneba... more pics coming, its tough to take photos as everyone in the world wants 500 pictures taken of them as soon as they see the camera.

PS: Keep my father in your prayers as he's suffering from liver problems and malaria. He's a strong man and I'm sure he will pull through, but the good thoughts never hurt... ohhh and my brother is doing well.

PPS: Mums, if you want to neaten this up for me a bit that'd be great! Love you, talk to you soon!

Thies and My First Host Family Experience

2008-09-20T16:22:00.005Z

Je dis "Asallamalekum" et vous me respondez "Malekum salaam," bien sur! "Nanga def?" "Maangi fi rekk. Yow nag?" That's basically the exchange of words between me and any random person on the street. They love it when a toubab speaks even a little of their language. That simple greeting upon passing a Senegalese person usually grants you a warm smile (often times accompianied with an expression of surprise) and a new friend that you can count on to back you up if the moment ever arises (which is unfortunately not all that unlikely).

So I've been here for a little over a week now and I'm starting to get used to life in Senegal. The heat isn't too bad right now as it's staying under 100°F... unfortunately, depending on where I end up being placed, it could reach as high as 120°F during the hot season. I've also been working on my French, which is my official language for training; although I have picked up a few Muslim and Woloof phrases as well. Eventually during my service I should end up being highly proficient in both French and a local language... but that is a long way off yet. I've been using some of m newly found language skills in the market in Thies (pictures of the market throughout this post... they're not that good because it's a little risky for me to have my camera out in crowded places). Thies is one of the biggest cities in Senegal and is home to the training center for the Corps de la Paix. I've mainly used the market so far to pick up gifts for my training host family (some dates, tea, and sugar make great gifts, especially during Ramadan as all Muslims refrain from food and water while the sun is up for the entire month and eat dates to break the fast). My haggling skills have been alright, but could still use improvement... they always assume us toubabs can afford the high prices.

The basic set up of the Peace Corps training involves total immersion. We are all split up to live in different villages based on the lqnguage we qre learning (there is French and 5 local languages being taught). While at our training villages we live with local families who are instructed to treat us just as another member of the family and not a guest. During the day, the trainees learning the same language meet for small group (4 people) language classes. Then we spend lunch, dinner and the night with our families. After periods in the village, we reconvien at the training center for health, safety and technical training classes for a few days at time, then back out to the village; back and forth for two months!

So this past week I spent my first three days and two nights of time with my host family in the village on Thienaba. It was such an incredible and overwhelming experience that I will try my best to explain it although I know any and all words will fall short. My name for training is Mustapha Diop, after my 17 year old brother. (I like to joke with the family how I am the second Moustapha, "Moustapha deuxieme," even though I am the elder of the two.) I am supposed to be learning French but hardly anyone in the family knows it (myself included) and they all speak Woloof amoungst themselves. Needless to say the first couple nights included a lot of confusion and hand gestures, but even after those few days some progress was made. I haven't quite figuered out the family tree yet, as I live with a good 25 people in the compound (fortunately the Peace Corps requires that I get my own room). Imagine being surrounded by twenty five people simultaneuosly speaking at you in a language you do not undestand a single word of... it's quite overwhelming at first. Overall the family is extremely kind and patient, and a few of them will bear with me as I butcher the French language. The kids especially like hanging around me and could spend the whole day just touching my white skin and staring while trying to get me to repeat the names of objects in Woloof.

As instructed by the Peace Corps, and as I would wish it, I live in the same conditions as the rest of the family: I eat out of the same communal bowl, I use the same hole in the ground toilet (and yes... wipe with my left hand), and take showers with a bucket of water. Surprisingly these are not the things that take the most getting used to. For now the inability to communicate has been my biggest frustration. Also, I'm pretty sure one of the children is sick with maleria. Unfortunately 1 in 8 Senegalese children die, the leading cause being maleria. Hopefully this is not the case for my fellow Diop (Volunteers have had child brothers and sisters pass while living with their families before). Already I love my host family; they have been so kind in sharing what little they have and are patient as saints. So please, keep them in your prayers.

Fortunately, like me, they like to joke around. Many awkward moments of utter confusion have ended with a lighthearted laugh (usually at my expense, and deservedly so). Just the other day the women were pounding millet in the morning. They are so strong and well practicied at this daily ritual that they can throw the pestle up in the air, clap a few times, catch it and bring it down with surprising force onto the millet in the mortar; only to repeat the motion again and again with outstanding grace accompannied by brute force. So when I went to give it a try (which is already funny to them because I, a man, was doing a woman's job) I also threw the pestle in the air and clapped... and they laughed and laughed and laughed. Later on they were talking to a neighbor and all I could pick out of the conversation was my name, a clap, and another outburst of laughter. It was at that moment that i felt as though I started to connect a bit with the family.

The first day and night in the village I was certainly wondering what the heck I was doing there, but by the end of the couple days the family and I had shared a few laughs, leaving me anxious to return to the Diop compound and continue to improve my French and Woloof so that I can someday have a decent conversation and learn more about them. Hopefully that will be soon, Inshallah. Well time for me to go, my time at the cyber cafe is running out again and the Peace Corps doesnt pay well enough for me to sit here all day (and enough has happened that it would easily take that long to write it all down)!

Ba Suba et A Bientot!

Staging and PST

2008-09-14T11:56:00.006Z

So I'm finally in Senegal! I went to two days of staging in Phili, which provided a great opportunity to get to know all of the other volunteers. We had some basic prep classes and got to go out to dinner at night with our walk around money. Everyone has gotten along extremely well and I'm glad to have them all as my friends and support over the next few years. The volunteers come from all around the country and are all between 21 and 25 years old. Needless to say we're all excited to be here.

After two days in Phili we came to Senegal and have been receiving basic health, safety, introduction, etc. classes. Today was the first time we have walked out of the compound, and now we are free to come and go as we choose. Unfortunately I do not yet know where in the country I will be placed, but I should be finding out in the next couple of weeks. Our daily schedule has pretty much consisted of waking up early to a breakfast of bread, followed by classes in the disco hut (the big circular hut), then lunch of rice in a communal bowl on the ground, more classes, Western style dinner, then hanging out and bed (with my sweet mosquito net!)

I have also been using the squat toilet, which is an interesting experience. The first couple of times I had a little trouble doing it without falling over, but I've been getting better at it. Needless to say it is hot and buggy, but all the local people have have been so nice and patient with my poor language skills. In a couple days I will be moving in with my host family and taking my language classes in the local village. Every once and a while the whole group will meet back up at the training center for more classes. After we are sworn in on Nov. 7, we will be placed at our sites for a little of two months of 'integration' time; during which we have no job. Then we go back to Thies for three weeks of IST (in service training) which will be mainly technically based.

Well I have to go, my time at the cyber cafe is up and its taken me forever to type in this French keyboard. I will be getting a phone, so I'll let you all know the number. Sooo much more to say but no time! I'll write again soon, Inshallah (If God Wills It) Au revior!

It all fits in 3 Bags!!!

2008-09-05T17:09:00.015Z

So the time has finally come for me to leave for my time in the Peace Corps. For those of you who don’t know, here’s a general idea of what I’m getting myself into (at least as far as I know, they’re very big on testing our patience for the unknown by leaving things very ambiguous). First I’ll be flying into Philly from Boston on Sept. 8 for 2 ½ days of Staging. Here I’ll meet people for the first time, get introduced to the program, get a few shots and start to take my malaria medicine, which I will be on constantly for the next 27 months. Then we (the other trainees and I) take a bus to NYC, where we fly as a group to Dakar, the capital city of Senegal; landing in the early morning of Sept. 11. There we’ll be met by a blast of hot air, a loudspeaker making announcements in a language that I will just then realize how little I understand and the Peace Corps Senegal training crew. We’ll then hop in a van for the 2 ½ hr ride to Thies, the city where my training will be held. Based on my past experience in Jamaica and Nicaragua and what I’ve heard about the driving in Senegal, it'll be quite a journey. I don’t know how this sounds to you, but I can’t wait!

Once we’re at the training site, I’m a little confused as to exactly what our schedule will be (as I said before they love being ambiguous: I applied the better part of a year ago and didn’t even find out where I was going until this summer). As far as I can tell, we will spend about a week at the training site getting crash courses in Wolof (the local African dialect), culture and safety, sleeping in bunks at the training site. Then we will split into small groups and visit some volunteers at their sites for a few days to see first-hand how the Peace Corps work. After that, the next 2 ½ months will be spent going to language, technical, cultural, and safety classes at the training center in Thies for 8-9 hrs a day, 6 days a week. Ohhh, and did I mention that everything will be taught in French… so I better learn it quick! During this time all the trainees (we’re not officially volunteers until we are sworn in at the end of training) will be living with separate host families. Assuming all goes well I should be sworn in and start my assignment some time in December.

For my assignment I still have no idea where in the country I will end up, whether or not I will have power or running water, or what my exact assignment will be. I do know that I am in the field of Small Enterprise Development. This would likely include projects such as providing basic business education classes to my community, helping to organize or run a microfinance program, and facilitating connections between my community members and other business organizations or NGO’s which can help them to create or grow their own business. The most important part of anything I work on, however, is that it needs to be self sustaining and effective once I leave after two years.

I’m certainly starting to get a little anxious to go. It’s going to be tough but I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I’m ready for my departure. I must say it has been hectic recently getting everything ready to go, but I think I finally have all my stuff packed. Here’s a list of what I’m bringing, it seems like a lot but when you see it all laid out or packed up the my bags it really isn’t that much for 27 months.

Bathing suit, Running Shorts, and two pairs of Khaki Shorts
Old Point-and-Shoot Camera
New Camera (thanks to my extended family for helping me to afford this! You’ll be receiving some pictures soon.)

Nikon D60 w/ 18-55mm and 55-200mm AF VR lenses
3 batteries (still don’t know what my access to power will be, so better safe than sorry)
12 GB of memory cards
Travel Tripod
Manual… still need to read that

8 cotton collared shirts (3 of which are short-sleeved)
6 tee-shirts & 3 undershirts
1 each: PJ bottoms, sweatshirt, rain jacket, long sleeve polyester shirt
10 pair underwear & 2 pairs of Under Armor shorts
2 cool linen pants, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair informal khakis
2 dressy outfits (Dockers and Business shirts)
1 beach towel, 1 bath towel, 1 face towel
2 bandanas, 2 baseball hats, 1 caddie hat (brim all the way around)
2 pair cheap sunglasses
Tevas, Birkenstocks, hiking shoes, dressy shoes
4 pair white socks, 2 pair dress socks
2 Frisbees (1 lights up in the dark)
Soccer ball w/ pump
Pillow, travel pillow, fitted & flat sheet, sleeping bag sheet
2 Nalgene bottles & collapsible 2gallon jug
Coffee press & coffee
Ziploc bags and Tupperware
Swiss Army Knife & sharpener (Thank you Creontes!)
Lightweight sleeping bag (Thank you Tripps!)
Duct Tape, Kate’s Mixed Up Salt, and Cajun Spices
Harmonica (Thanks Daniel… I swear I’ll practice where no-one can hear me!)
Dop Kit

Toothbrush, 1 tube toothpaste, 3 deodorants, razor w/ extra blades, shaving cream, travel mirror, floss, shampoo, 2 bars of soap, travel comb/brush
Ibuprofen & Multivitamins
Extra Strength Gold-Bond powder & lotion (It’s going to be over 100° F and I have to wear pants… Guys, I think you know how important this will be!)

‘Electronics Case’

Rechargeable AA & AAA batteries
USB battery charger
Solar Charger
Wind-Up Flashlight
Power Converter
iPod w/ charger & extra headphones
Radio transmitter for iPod
USB Memory Key & External Hard-drive to back-up pictures

Playing Cards & Dominoes
Paper / Pencils / Pens / Planner / Drawing Stuff / Calculator
Pictures of friends & family
Peace Corps and French books as well as some pleasure reads
Tapestry and poster to ‘make my house my home.’

And so that’s it. It sure seems like a lot of stuff on paper and it really is more than you would ever need to live off of. Believe it or not, though, it all fits in 1 camping backpack, 1 rolling duffel bag, and 1 regular day back pack! Also, I decided to get property insurance on all of it in case of theft / fire / flood / my tendency to be careless and lose or drop things / or just about a million other things that could happen (especially to my new camera). I will also be picking up some local clothing and other items once I’m in country.

Ohhh ya… here’s my address while I’m at training, which should be the first 2 ½ months or so. Just so you know, it could take up to a month for a letter or package to get to me, but I’d appreciate any correspondence.

PCT Michael Hebert
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 299
Thies, Senegal
West Africa

(write:
“SENEGAL – WEST AFRICA
AIRMAIL – PAR AVION”
on anything you send as well)

It’s time for me to ship off and I look forward to writing again soon and letting you all know how it is to live in Senegal. Until then, enjoy the end of summer / beginning of fall!

So Apparently I'm living in Senegal?!?!

2008-07-30T13:51:00.001Z

I just graduated from Fairfield University and decided to join the Peace Corps as a Small Enterprise Development Volunteer. With my EXTREMELY limited French I was assigned to Senegal and I'm so excited to begin "the toughest job I'll ever love." Well, you only get to live once... so here goes nothing. Besides, why not try to add a little more to the world than you take away?