Girls Leadership Camp!

Hi All!

Just wanted to send out a quick update, as I have some great internet access! Currently, I am in the city of Koalack (known for its sheer amounts of trash) and have just had a meeting regarding the upcoming Girls Leadership Camp in June. This is all very exciting, as now I am finally getting to start into some projects. This leadership camp chooses high performing high school aged girls from all across the Koalack region (each region of Senegal hosts a camp). These girls are of course volunteer chosen, and my close neigherbor, Josh, and I plan to attend a couple of high schools in his area (Koungheul) in search of some good candidates in the future. As I have already experienced throughout my rural village, women in Senegal are often married off at a very young age (as little as 10 or 12) and destined to spend their lives cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and reproducing. This five day long camp aims to educate these girls about the opportunities that exist for them outside this lifestyle. The camp incorporates sessions on self-esteem, individuality, women's health, career opportunities, sports, self defense etc... many of which are volunteer taught. Currently, as some of you may have guessed, the camp is looking for funding so as to make it the most effective for these girls. If anyone would like to donate please follow the link below!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-198

This website provides a small blurb about the camp and look to the side bar on the right for information about donating! No donation is too small!

In addition to this, I have just added more photos to my "Sali" album on photobucket. Nothing too exciting has occurred recently in village, but the new photos do include the brand new baby (the second wife's first child) which was born on March 3rd, a boy named Ibrahima Sal Sarr or Ibu for short. In addition, upon my return to village tomorrow, I should be greeted (fingers crossed) with a brand new hut! A few things might be missing from it (including cement covering the walls) but I will still welcome the chance to move away from the bats and mice into a nice, cool hut! So, there are a few photos of the building process as well.

Enjoy!  http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa428/katierichards0/Sali/

Also, I would welcome any suggestions about what you would like to see or hear about! I am still very new at blogging and am not sure if what I include in my posts is the information that everyone is looking to hear. Shoot me an email or comment and let me know if you have questions or want to see pictures of anything etc.

Thanks again! Katie

Raw Hog

My life has been pretty crazy most recently and is only just starting to slow down and develop a routine. In the first couple of weeks in February, all of the agricultural volunteers that arrived with me in Senegal in August (totaling 54) got together at the Training center for our In-Service Training (IST). These were two very exhausting weeks involving 8-5 everyday in the classroom or garden, trying to obtain as much knowledge as possible about farming in Senegal/what our future job involves. After finishing this training, I returned to my village on the 16^th of February. Now, as other Peace Corps volunteers may attest to, is kind of a strange and stressful transition period. The first three months in village (before IST), is when our time should be spent getting to know the community, chatting while shelling peanuts or drinking attaaya. However now, all of the sudden, things are expected of us. I feel pressure from myself, the community and my colleagues to get some projects underway/be of some importance within the community. Though something you learn very quickly as a PCV in developing countries is that nothing happens fast. And in addition, you as the PCV, are never to lead a project, only to facilitate or hopefully initiate motivation. This is of course all in the hope that our projects will be sustainable and after we return to the states there will be some sort of community structure in place to continue them. In addition, we have to be very careful in the projects we choose for this exact reason –sustainability. The community must actually be interested in the project and have some investment, as opposed to it being imposed upon them. Thus, here I sit, still slightly nervous to take the first step and trying to be sure that everything is in line before I do so.

Most recently, I have been spending lots of time in my small 12x12 meter garden space, digging beds and seeding things like tomato, lettuce, carrot, eggplant, okra, and Moringa (a great tree! A craze in international development work, google it!). I hope that I can set up some demonstrations in the garden that will be of interest to the village, i.e. mulching, composting etc. Though this is all under the assumption that my baby plants will survive the fast approaching 120-30^oF sunshine (now at about 100^oF). Other than this my head is spinning with more projects but it may be a while until I know where to start.

Before I go, I do feel obligated to update a story that shows a little of what Senegalese hospitability really means. A few days ago I traveled about 5 kilometers away on a horse drawn charette to a tourist camp nearby. A Frenchman owns the camp and brings in small groups of people to visit Senegal and go hunting for various bird species in the bush. Every once in a while they catch a warthog and since this is way too much meat for just those at the camp, they often offer it to the few catholic villages nearby. A few Senegalese that work at the camp asked if I would like to try a taste the next time they catch one. Of course, I was thrilled to integrate more protein into my diet and responded with yes. A few nights ago, I had completely forgotten about this encounter and turned in early, around 9 or 10 pm. About 10 minutes after settling into bed, I got a knock at the door from a friend who works at the camp. I opened it to find him struggling to hoist a large front leg and shoulder of warthog into the air to show me. This leg had been FRESHLY cut off the carcass, still covered with course warthog hair and a lovely tick crawling on it. My friend was completely expectant that I would simply set the raw piece of flesh on a shelf in my room, wait until morning and consume the kilos of meat all to the myself. After much shock and babbling on my part, I finally convinced him to at least cut the meat from the leg, throw the remains to the dogs in the bush and then I would keep the rest in an enclosed bowl through the night. Needless to say, I did not sleep at all that night as I assumed rabid dogs would break down my rickety door in search of the raw hog. All turned out okay, I ended up cutting off a small piece for myself and carried the rest to a nearby catholic friend. Anyway, just goes to show you, you ask for a little, they give a lot!

Until next time! Love you all, sending some of this sunshine your way!  

Laying the Foundation...

...of a brand new hut (or some other metaphor if you prefer)!!

My village has officially begun the building process of my new hut, almost three months late... And I am ecstatic! I can't wait to move in! My father has informed me that the search for weeds to complete the roof should be finished soon and the doors and floor will follow shortly after (you guessed it, I just have walls).
     Other than this, I recently visited the post office in Koungheul. My multiple previous visits in search for some mysterious packages (I had heard rumors of from the states) always ended up in disappointment. Most recently, however, after a long stint in village, I chose to make the voyage again. This time, I was led into the back storage room....only to find... a nearly entirely empty room, except for a corner filled with packages all addressed to me! This was the best Christmas ever!! Thank you all so much! I really appreciate the thought that went into each and every one of those and I seriously cannot describe the shear joy that any PCV feels when receiving quality food and goodies from America. Thank you!
     At this point, I don't have too much to update a full blog post, but I have recently added quite a few photos to my "Sali" album on photobucket. The photos have a few family members and include a bit of the  hut building process. Follow the link to check it out:

http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa428/katierichards0/Sali/

Currently I am in the wonderful city of Thies for what's called IST or In Service Training. The idea being that now that we've been in village a few months, as volunteers, and we should have some understanding of what things we would like to learn about/implement within our sites. Thus, we have two big weeks of classes to get a lot of information! This does mean that I will have some pretty good access to internet for a while, so if you would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you!

Hope all is well and the weather is turning up! Maybe even a little snow?
Love

Well, I have officially been in village 2 months as of January 11^th. I can certainly say that those first few weeks of adapting were the most challenging (not knowing a soul and not speaking the language) and during that time I frequently questioned if I could really stick this out for two years. Now, however, I am starting to feel more and more comfortable each day (or maybe its just that distance makes the heart grow fonder and I was just on a great beach vacation…not sure as of yet). Something that helps and fills my time, I am beginning to develop a routine of visiting many of the family compounds within the village, chatting over attaaya (strong/sugary tea) and getting ideas for what they would like to see happen in terms of development within their community. Many would like gardening projects including composting or live fencing, but others bring up things like fixing the peanut shelling machine (so women and children don’t have to spend hours shelling a bucket of peanuts that could be done in one minute), getting solar panels for the materinity ward or school or health post, improving access to water by digging wells or spickets in the community, or even building latrines (as many here still don’t have them). As some may notice, not all of these are agriculturally related… I’m beginning to realize that though I made hold the title of “sustainable agricultural extension agent,” I have the freedom to undertake many projects within the village and am very excited to do so…

Other than making my way through the community, and in the process realizing what great people reside here, I have been spending a lot of time with my work counterpart, Omar. This past year, Peace Corps provided Omar with a hectare of land surrounded by a chain link fence and a concrete building in which to keep tools and seeds. This was all under the condition that he would work closely with the agricultural volunteer in the village (now me!) and help extend/demonstrate new agricultural techniques to the village. Omar, Sali—a great guy that works daily in Omar’s garden and is obsessed with just that…working—and I have been diligently putting together a garden. We’re working on digging lots of beds, amending the soil (now purely sand) with manure/compost etc., and seeding and planting things like lettuce, cabbage, onions and okra. Now, the garden is….well just dirt, but I have high hopes that it soon will improve. In addition to this, Omar has had some problems with monkeys (not sure what type) coming into his garden and stealing his now ripening watermelon. To solve this issue, he recently went out into the bush, found a dog with puppies and snatched two of them. He hopes soon they will protect his hectare of land from those thieves. This certainly contributes to the fun I have the garden, getting to play with two adorable puppies and laughing at how scared a lot of Senegalese people are when they see them.

I have also really become comfortable at the health post in the village. The local doctor and his wife are smart, hilarious people both of whom grew up in the larger cities of Senegal and are therefore a bit more understanding/educated regarding my culture and habits. Whenever I have time, I enjoy visiting them as they often spoil me with very nutritious food (like salad!) and always offer the best conversation. This makes me very excited to take on projects involving the health post. Right now, I’m thinking about doing a very simple seminar on hand washing with soap. This sounds obvious, but seeing is believing here, what looks clean is clean, and therefore most just use water before eating (you can imagine how many sicknesses this could cause when people eat with their hands).

As of now, I am off to the city of Thies for what’s called the “All Volunteer Conference.” Peace Corps Volunteers are getting together from all across West Africa to discuss projects etc. It should be a great opportunity to get ideas for my community, not to mention a visit to my previous host family! Hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year!! Until next time!

 

Cooling off...Christmas Vacation

Christmas breakfast, Delicious!

The resort where we stayed in a 

small village on the coast.

Coast of Senegal, in the distance is the city of Dakar.

Photos!

Hi all!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Also hoping maybe one of you could send some colder weather this direction... Senegal has officially entered the "cold season" and just as I had expected...its not cold, with daytime temperatures still reaching between 90 and 100 degrees. The nights, however, do get very pleasant and drop down into the 70's.

I'm hoping to write a longer blog entry within the couple of weeks, though these plans are being slowed by my desire for a vacation! For now I've added some photos of my new family in village and posted them up on photobucket.

the link: http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa428/katierichards0/Sali/

Sorry to say that I have yet to photograph everyone within the family, I think I'm missing a couple kids and my host father. Though I did include pics of my new addition, something every Senegalese is scared of, a kitten!

Enjoy!

A day in the life

6:30 AM: The sun rises...i do not
7:00 AM: Wake up with sounds of roosters and women pounding millet

7:30 AM: Make a little oatmeal breakfast over a small gas burner (occasionally I will add some peanut     butter or honey, though these days peanuts are way to easy to come by in all my other meals...I could use a break). 

8:30 AM: Emerge from my quiet cocoon to walk around the compound and individually greet all the adults of the family

9:00 AM-1:30 PM: Figure out what to do in the middle of nowhere...usually I choose between reading, studying some Wolof, braving the sun and heading to my garden or helping the women and children with whatever chores they have (i.e. cooking, washing clothes, pulling water for the cows etc.)

2:00 PM: The long awaited lunchtime, always consists of rice, usually with a peanut and tomato sauce known as "Mafe." Occasionally, on my favorite days, my mother will incorporate bitter tomatoes (jaxatu) and eggplant (I like to hoard these in my portion of the bowl)

2:30 PM: Too darn hot to do much. Most everyone in the village sits around in the shade, chatting and drinking a strong, sugary tea known as attaaya. My family is lucky this time of year to have a prosperous watermelon farm, so my host father always cracks one open around now. 

5:00 PM: Go for an evening run in the middle of the bush. If I pass someone along the way, I try my best to go through the many greetings while panting for air.

6:00 PM: Go with my younger sisters to the well (probably 100 yards behind my house), pull some water and carry it in a tub on my head to my room. Now, I'll have enough to shower tonight and drink the next day. 

6:30 PM: Shower, cup and bucket style. 

7:00 PM (the sun sets): Emerge again clean...for the most part

7:30 PM: Help the kids burn a pile of peanut plants so we can eat "roasted" peanuts

8:00 PM: Dinner! Always a millet couscous with a peanut or leaf sauce and squash (I hoard the squash).

8:30 PM: I retreat and pass out quickly on my cot to the sounds of my new friends, bats and mice. 

On the 11th of November, I arrived here in my new village and its been a crazy transition. My father, Basiru Sarr, (about 35 years old) is a very conservative, repsected figure, and serves as both chief of the village and the village Imam. I haven't gotten too much of an opportunity to chat with him as he has had two bouts of Malaria since I've arrived. He has two wives. The older wife, Fatu, is about the same age as my father and now has six kids. Her kids range in age from two months to 10 years and include one set of twins. The second wife, Hadi, is 20 years old and pregnant with her first child. Two other children live in the house as well. A boy named Mali, about 8 years old, has come to my house to learn the Quran from my father (he stays full time). Another girl, Yamaxadi, is probably also 8 and simply stays at my house because her mother works in another village. On top of this, we have two cows (soon to be three), one donkey, eight goats and way too many chickens (all of which are right next to my room). It sounds like a popping place but its quiet compared to my previous homestay. 

All in all, I'm just taking some time to adjust to an extremely rural lifestyle. There really isn't all that much to do yet out in the bush, but I'm hoping to start some projects soon. 

Miss you all and hope you all have a great holiday season!