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!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
What happened to the last month?
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Les Preservatifs, Entreprenuriat, St Patties Day et les Elections!
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...
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...
Friday, February 20, 2009
IST and WAIST
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!!!
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!!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Celebrations, Loss and The New 'Patron du Monde'
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)
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)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Working, Relaxing and Recuperating in good old Senegal
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!
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!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tamkharit, Work (finally!) and Good Old Velingara
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.
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.
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