In Service Training

For the last two weeks I have been learning what is expected of me as an agriculture volunteer in more detail than we have ever had before. Some of the second and third year volunteers demonstrated what they have done at their sites and we had endless power points. I have some great ideas of how things should roll and I'm so ready to be back in my hut. I'm also too broke to stay in the city any longer. Also, since we had our agriculture summit and all vol the week before I have been away from my village for three weeks! That's just ridiculous. I plan to spend a lot of time convincing everyone that I'm not going home. I never want to hear some of the trainers talk again, I would rather take their place and prepare for the class than sit through jumbled English on a subject that has been repeated so often I want to shoot myself.
I am ready for my first Christmas and New Years here and plan to be very busy. I hope to visit some of the more picturesque parts of Senegal. Although they will have to be short trips because I have a lot of work to do. Farmers to train, bed nets to distribute, and overall teaching my village how they can make money! The past weeks should be the longest time I will ever be out of site and I'm glad because it is a pain to travel with more than a day or two of clothing.

All volunteer Conference

This week we had all the volunteers in Senegal get together and share our most successful moments and projects. It was really informative and cool to talk to everyone. I have some ideas for my garden now and know more than I did before about how we can use trees to reclaim the soil and improve farming practices. It is also nice to share all of the frustrations that are the same across the country and sectors. For example, your cab driver didn't really know how to get where you were going, your host brother wants to marry you, your acne from teen years has returned, and my favorite question how many pairs of underwear have you ruined? Also, after being in village for 6 weeks not having electric and taking bucket baths it is nice to be back in the center using the internet for free and having a free flowing shower. I did have to do my laundry in brown water this morning. It may be the center but it's still Senegal :)

Tabaski

Tabaski is a holiday which celebrates the willingness of a Bilical man to sacrifice his only son in the name of the Lord. An angel comes and gives him a sheep instead. So my family killed four sheep, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I had a chill morning; I watered my garden and braided the hair of one of my youngest sisters. It hurts and before we were done with it she was, and started crying. It kinda sucked trying to do it while she was crying and moving. Then  they killed the sheep in the yard. My dad came by and dug a hole. I was like huh maybe we are putting up a tent for shade. Nope that is for blood, they slit the sheeps’ throat over the top and drain it in there so that it doesn’t make a mess. The chickens came by later and were picking at it and small scraps of flesh. Then I helped cook lunch. We hacked the sheep into smaller pieces after the men had skinned them and cooked it all. I mean all, heart, liver, stomach, and oh yeah intestines. We peeled onions and potatoes and boiled macaroni. I ate by myself which I thought was weird it being a holiday I thought they would have me eat with them. Then we went and greeted people in wolof clothes. I wore the same thing I did for Korite. I didn’t have anything new made that was ready yet, but my family didn’t know it wasn’t new. Then we ate dinner EWWWWW is all I really wanna say about that. I should have taken a picture! I tried to stay up late but shortly after 9 a little girl began destroying my hair and I had to excuse myself to salvage what is left. She was trying to help me take out my braids. They have fake hair so when they take out their braids they don’t care if it is destroyed, hence my dilemma. The next day we did it all again. I stayed out longer this night greeting some of my aunt’s friends, this aunt is younger than me and the people were cool. Overall as I told my sister it was a two day Christmas party at your inlaws with no booze. I hope next year I am magically in America for Tabaski and our Thanksgiving J

My New Lifestyle

I have been trying to integrate into the community and make my presence known while staying within my comfort zone. I went and ate at the "egg mans" the other day. In all cities and many villages in Africa there are women who sell beans and bread in the morning for breakfast While it sounds simple I assure to a malnutritioned volunteer in need of protein they are the shit! In my village I have instead of a bean lady a man who sells bread and eggs.  Not as good as a bean lady though, and he overcharged me. I do have a new friend in the village now  though! I have been to people's fields and gardens and sometimes I just walk around and say hi to people. There is one boutique, and by that a mean a room in someones compound where I can buy sugar and soap, which I frequent. I think the people there are used to me and that the woman though I don't know her name yet likes me.  My family is getting used to my schedule and know the times I will be sleeping or showering and I feel that they give me my space. Things are looking good :)

Veggie Wars!

My family never has vegetables. I tried to fix my lack of nutrition by buying veggies for my family. This worked for all of one day until the veggies I bought were not appearing in the lunch bowl. I was offered to eat with my brothers' family for dinner one night. I saw them cooking and they had a lot of veggies so I accepted. This infuriated my grandma. I was told I am never allowed to eat with that family again. I will now be hiding vegetables and fruit in my room and eating it when I have my door shut and locked. Crazy crazy crazy lady, just feed me some of the veggies I buy, and really why do you care if I eat with them? Then I'm not eating your food which I'm still paying for. In this culture it makes my family look bad if I eat with someone else, that's why they got mad.

The real work begins

So far I have bought a fence, weeded an area for gardening, and began to fertilize soil for a veggie pepiniere. It was hard work considering I was given a more or less junk yard to start with. Check out the before and after pictures on facebook, it’s a serious improvement I plan to have five beds which I will use to demonstrate the  techniques I learned in training which will help improve the soil lifetime and fertility. This includes making burms to hold in water and digging soil deeply while adding green leaves and manure for nitrogen replacement. It is important for me to teach the farmers to use what is naturally in their area to decrease input costs and demonstrate how you can work with the environment instead of depleting it.

            I planted a mango tree yesterday but it was stolen or eaten this afternoon.... I’m a little pissed off about that. I also did food security work at a nearby school. I went to another volunteer’s site and helped her. She works with an NGO called Trees for the Future. We taught ten kids how to transplant mango and orange trees. It was pretty cool. There is a serious lack of trees here. I will plant trees all along my fence so that when it breaks, because it will, there will be a living fence and windbreak to replace it. This is considered sustainable because you have a living tree working as a fence instead of cutting one down to build and rebuild. My fence is made out of millet stalks and I am having trouble keeping the sheep from eating it.

            I plan to seed in the next couple days. They will have a month to grow before I have to go into in service training (IST) for three weeks. During this time my dad will be responsible for keeping the garden alive. IST is the #1 killer of gardens they say, but I’m confident that my dad understands farming and most of all wants the vegetables. Hopefully it survives because I don’t want to have to find and buy more seeds.

            It is really hot and humid here and since I’m working outdoors my schedule has changed. Sunrise is at 6:30 now. I wake up at 6 and am in the garden by 7. I work till about 12pm and then chill in my room until 4:30 or 5 when it’s cool again. And work until about 7 which is sunset. If I don’t work in the garden I either go to the peanut field with my dad or help the women at home shell peanuts. Working with the women is really good because it forces me to talk and listen which improves my language. I have also gone to other volunteers sites to help with their work and to work with a nearby pilot farmer. The pilot farmer is someone who we have taught techniques and allows us to show her fields’ and gardens’ to other farmers in order to spread the knowledge. I don’t feel like I’ve done any real Peace Corps work yet but that’s normal for a PCV before IST.

Now I’m a real volunteer!

After another week in the village of Thieneba I returned to the training center. There we did some final meetings on what we are here for and discussed swear in and install. Swear in is when we became official volunteers as opposed to trainees. We went to the capitol city, Dakar, and had the ceremony at the US Ambassadors house. There were speeches by our trainers, the ambassador, and various other important officials. It was mostly in French so I didn’t understand it. We got our official IDs and had awesome snacks afterwards. There was tuna and caviar, mini hamburgers, and brownies. It will be the only time for the next two years that I’ll have any of those I’m sure. Then we went to Club Atlantiqe or as the volunteers refer to it “the American Club”. There is a swimming pool, good food, and beer. It was great!

            We had one last night in Thies at the training center and then we went to our regional houses. The 60 Americans that I have been with the last two months are now spread across the country. There were about 20 of us in my region. For three days I stayed in Kaolack. We shopped, ate, and drank. The only reason I mention beer is that since it is a predominantly Muslim society alcohol is available in the cities but very rarely near volunteers’ sites, so it’s a real treat to have a beer. Volunteers can stay in the city at regional houses across the country for free. We have been given a challenge to stay out of the regional houses until Thanksgiving in order to integrate into the community instead of hanging out with other Americans. There was plenty of time to shop but shopping sucks! First of all imagine shopping for your new home with no car. You can only buy what you can carry at a time. Transport is more expensive if you have baggage even for a car ride. People also like to steal out of your bags if they get put on the roof of the car. In the city there are pick pockets every where! One of the volunteers got picked while we were there and caught the guy in the act. He gave back her wallet without a fight.

            We were installed over a few days after that three or four at a time. A car would come to the house we would load up the people and massive amount of stuff that was purchases and then a PC staff member would take them to their sites. I had a fever and some stomach issues the day of my install so it really sucked, especially when we got lost in the bush for half an hour. I made it to my hut though and found it to be unfinished. It had a roof and doors though so it was good enough. My family was very excited to see me and many people in the town came to visit. It is a medium sized village of maybe 1000 people. There is a robinet in my dads’ backyard for water and there is no electricity. There are seven boutiques which sell soap, tea, sugar, candy, batteries, and a few veggies. I did find a guy who sells eggs out of his back door though. My family makes my lunch and dinner so it’s not a big deal. I get rice with peanut sauce and bitter tomaotoes, a veggie they have here, for lunch and millet and milk for dinner. Every day it’s the same thing. I can buke 20 kilometers to Kaffrine a small city and get anything else I need. I have to go all the way to Kaolack for an ATM though and that is the only way I can get the stipend I receive to live and travel on. I get about $40 a week. I give my dad $8 a week for food and water the rest I use for travel, breakfast, a tutor, and a little will be getting sent home for my student loan interestL.

            I am not sure yet how many brothers and sisters I have. I know I have 2 moms and a grandma. I have at least 9 brothers and sisters all younger again. There are like 10 huts in my compound and there are women with kids and husbands who I am somehow related to but haven’t figured it out yet. It’s so confusing here because women call their brother and sisters kids their kids. My dad calls people his mom and dad out of respect People also call other people uncle out of respect so it can be hard to tell what real relations are especially when we all live together.

            A big difference between here and training is that I have my own hut and side yard which is fenced in. It gives me a lot of privacy compared to the last place. I will even plant a few of my own veggies and watermelon back there so I can improve my diet. It’s hard to buy things and not share them but I just can’t afford to buy my family fruit and veggies every day. I hide what I buy for myself the best I can so that they don’t have to see it and wish they had it. They ask me for stuff all the time. Today they asked if I would buy tea and milk. I said no because I pay for food already. I’m not heartless I bought them tea last week and bananas just yesterday. They seriously ask if they can have anything they see, including the clothed you’re wearing. I have not gone a day without someone asking if they could have one thing or another out of my room or on my person. Its the culture though, here that isn't an offensive line of questioning.

A Baptism

Today I went to a baptism. Baptisms are a really big deal here and a lot of people attend. First, we sat while the religious men gathered around the baby in a circle and prayed. The baby is about two months old at this point but no one says it’s name out loud until after the ceremony. At the same time the name is said a sheep is killed. I think it probably has something to do with Abraham willing to kill his son and killing a sheep instead. Then they passed out little sweet pieces of bread in decorated bags, and we each got a bowl of millet and yogurt type topping. It was pretty tasty. Then they took the baby inside and shaved it’s head so it would have a clean start.

            Then there was a very very very long boring period. We sat and talked to people and danced a little with the women as they prepared lunch. I took a little nap on a mat under the tree for a while. Then the mother of the baby came in all dressed up with so much makeup and fake hair she looked like a walking doll. It was amazing. All of the women began dancing around her and took her to her bedroom and danced around her in there too. Then we sat around for a while again.

            Finally, we had lunch around 4:30. It was really good though. We ate the sheep they slaughtered on top of rice that was flavored really well almost like Chinese. There were hard boiled eggs, olives, onions, and carrots mixed in with the rice and it was awesome. After lunch they passed around small cups of soda, one for each person. I bet that cost them as much as the meal. I hung out for a little while longer chatting with some of the family and then left to spend time with my own.

            In America I think for Catholics at least Baptisms are more personal. It is more of the immediate family and not the whole family. Also the mother of the baby is the center of attention here more than the baby. I think at home the baby gets more attention. The last difference I notice at all events is the total lack of snacks. No chips, pretzels, dips, or candies. They just can’t afford it and food is such an important commodity here I wonder if they would even understand the concept of eating for pleasure or just to pass time rather than for life.

My First African Style Birthday

For my birthday I wanted to have a big dinner with my family in Thieneba and my trainee friends. In order to do this I knew I was going to have to find out where to buy food and how much it should cost. I talked with my little sisters and they took me and Eric to a chicken coop. Chicken is the safest meat here in my opinion so that’s what I wanted; unfortunately they were only selling eggs. We then went to a stand on the side of the road with what I assume was a half a cow on a table. There were flies all over and I had no idea how long the meat had been there. It was around 1pm and probably 80 degrees. I asked for 2 kilos (~4 lbs) and got a lot of bone, fat, and some meat for a total of less than $8. It was more meat than my sisters had ever seen someone buy at once and they thought I was joking at first. It really wasn’t that much meat when you consider I was feeding like 10 people, but $8 is a lot of money here, even for me.

            Then we went down the street and got potatoes, onions, and soda. The cola was the most expensive thing I bought all day. We took the food to my house and my family began preparing it for me. Peeling potatoes and onions, and chopping the meat into smaller pieces. They then of course fried it all in a huge pot of oil. French fries first, then the onions for a sauce, and finally they boiled the beef. It was delicious. Eric brought over some bread to top it off, and it hit the spot. They all put on their best clothes for me and the kids danced around me after dinner singing happy birthday in English. It was a great day!

CPW, Beach, Dakar

So last week we traveled every morning into Thies and returned every night to our villages. It was very tiring. We did this because of Counterpart Workshop (CPW). This is a 3-4 day event where our counterparts, people in our permanent village that we will work closely with, came to visit. They came to meet us, to learn about what we should be doing, and for facilitated discussion about possible problems. Since I have only middle level language skills we didn't have too much to say to each other. We didn't have a whole lot of time either as we had almost constant sessions. The sessions were all in Wolof. This made it hard to stay awake. After the third morning of driving into Thies I was pretty exhausted, but there is no rest for the wicked. We had a night at the beach planned. There will be few pictures of this on my facebook but most of the pictures and stories are meant to be remembered by those present only. One cool thing though was the bio-luminescent plankton. As I moved around in the water at night I could see the water glowing! It was sooo sweet!!! After swimming all day Sunday we returned to relax for the night at the training center. I was righteously hung over and it turned out I was actually sick too. Today we went into the capitol city of Senegal, Dakar. The PCMO there told me my ear is bleeding internally and I'll be on medicine for my birthday. No big deal. I love how something that would have totally freaked me out at home is like, please girl that ain't nothin' here. The city is very westernized. You can get all kinds of American type things so if I'm ever homesick a trip to the city can satisfy my needs for things like ice cream, a swimming pool in the american club, and stores with American brand foods. The roads are still not great even in the city and there is a big threat of pick-pockets. It's a cool place but we didn't really have all that much time to explore so I'll have to do that another time when I don't have to spend an hour in the med hut and multiple hours in security sessions. The American Embassy is there, and it's good to know that. They will mail in my absentee ballot. Well I think thats enough rambling of Dakar.

Killer Kids

So the other day while in the village my fellow trainees and I decided to celebrate our language test with a little whiskey, snacks, and Simpsons on the computer. We went to the local school which we have a key to. There were a bunch of kids in the yard plying soccer but we did't pay much attention to them. It was very hot in the school so we opened a window. As a few kids began to watch through the window they got louder and louder and so I shut the window in their face. I do love kids after all. They began to throw rocks at the school. After a little time had passed my friend had to pee. She went outside and I stood guard as some kids came up to where we were. We talked to them a little bit as they braked from their soccer game. When we decided we wanted to watch some more tv they of course wanted to watch. I knew this was a bad idea and had no desire to watch tv with 25 kids under age13. The other trainees are not so mean and told them if they could watch quietly they could look through the window. They couldn't be quiet and were really annoying so we shut the door and windows again. They began to throw rocks at the school again and put a stick through the outside of the door which locked us inside, with no adults knowing where we were as we had all told them we were at each others houses since Muslims don't drink. Eventually one kid was bribed by the promise of peanuts to take the stick out of the door. We didn't give him any peanuts and told them they were all bad kids. They started yelling "fuck you" in English and "I'll kill you" in Wolof. They threw rocks and actually hit me with one. Finally, my favorite trainee friend decided we needed backup. He went to the nearest house and in the small amount of language and lots of gesturing we can do told an adult what was going on. The adult asked what kids were doing this and began to beat them one by one. First by hand and then with a stick. the kids didn't come back to the school. I am more scared of children in this country than adults.

Sibling Rivalry

Today I noticed my little sister MamDiara, definitely spelled wrong, fights the most with the siblings closest to her in age. I grew up in a family where I was by far the youngest and there were no kids around. When I was a kid my brothers and sisters were teenagers. I don’t think I really ever fought with any of them, but if I did it would have been Valerie, the one closest to me in age. I guess it’s the same across cultures.  I thought about this more today and realized my irritation with my littlest brother may be due to the fact that I’m just not used to living with a baby. He is a little over a year old, he is always sick, and has vomited on me. He screams all the time. Sounds like a baby right? Although he does have a few unique characteristics which I feel make him more annoying. He pinches. I hate being pinched! He also has syphilis which as far as I know cannot be transferred by skin contact but the lesions on his skin are still gross enough that I don’t want him to touch me. I heard my dad on the phone tonight and he was talking about the pharmacy so I think they are getting him medicine tomorrow.  It is definitely an adjustment going from the youngest to the oldest even though I had a little experience with my awesome nieces and nephew it’s not the same as actually living with little people.

            My older siblings don’t fight with each other at all. I guess they don’t have anything to fight about. They have very few clothes and are different enough in size that they don’t share or steal. They have no toys except what they find in the garbage piles. There is one board game in our house and it does cause some commotion. It is currently in pieces due to the last scuffle. They are competitive, but since it broke the house is a much more peaceful, though I actually enjoyed watching them play and sometimes joined in. I had a feeling they were changing the rules as we played. The game is pretty much a version of sorry with no cards, dice only. They play friendly games of shoot ‘em up with the neighbor kids using plastic they find discarded.  They do know a little about having more things because they have a tv and there are soap operas from different countries, not North American, dubbed in French. They seem content though. I don’t know enough of the language to say they aren’t complaining but they smile and laugh a lot.

            The tv only works when the electric does. It’s a big problem in Senegal. Tonight for example, I am sitting typing in my room in the dark because the power has been out for hours. It goes out on pretty much a daily basis. The country has too many people using electricity and only one power source. If you have something important, or rather if you have a lot of money, you have a generator for backup. In the training center there is a generator so we never noticed the problem with the electric until we were in our home stays. My permanent site doesn’t have electric at all so it won’t matter to me then.  The only thing I really miss electric for is light. Candles just don’t do it. My friend said I could have his solar flashlight since he has electric and that might work out. I’ll let you know! I have a solar charger which I should be able to use for my camera, ipod, and phone. My computer will be staying at the regional house in a nearby city called Kaolack. It has electricity so I won’t have to worry about charging it at site. I will have to travel about 3 hours to get there and will probably stay the night when I do to make the trip worth it. The city has Americanized restaurants and the house has internet access. I will probably go once a month to clear my email and throw some new stories on the blog.

Day to day in Training

Until now I have blogged about some general topics to give something of an overview of the culture here. I think from this point on I will just be writing about things that happen to me. The last week was spent visiting current volunteers at their sites. I visited another sustainable agriculture volunteer and got to see the work he did. His site is in Nganda. We also took a trip to the village which will be my permanent site. My village is named Ndioudiene. In his site he has electric from 5pm to 7am. My village does not have electricity. We both have a robinet, I’m not sure if that’s spelled right. It’s a water spicket in the yard so we don’t have to pull water from the well. His site is pretty close to mine I could bike there in less than 2 hours. The boutiques in Nganda have processed packaged cheese, cookies, phone credit, and assorted toiletries. In Ndioudiene there is a little less variety so I will have to stock up a 2 or 3 week supply whenever I go to the city, also a few hours biking, or to Ben’s site.

            There are cars and busses that pass our sites on the main road. I could take a car or bus between 6 and 8am and take one home later in the day. They only leave in the morning so it does restrict my schedule. They pack them as full as they can and people even ride on the roof of the busses. Ben told me a story about a bus with some holes in the roof, sheep on the top, and the sheep started to pee. The pee was dripping through the holes in the bus and he was moving around trying to avoid it.  Busses also stop frequently to drop off and pick up passengers. Cars usually are more direct and less problematic. Although whatever type of transportation you take it is a possibility it will break down. The roads are either just dirt/sand with potholes and muddy areas. There are a few major highways which resemble American roads but even these are sometimes pretty rough riding. People often drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid large holes.

            I have an idea now of the work I will be doing and have met one of my counterparts. A counterpart is a native who lives at my site and will help me if I’m having trouble communicating. My counterpart is also my dad and the chief. He has a nice piece of ground set aside in the compound which I can do my work in, and the previous volunteer left a chicken coup. She also left some beads to make jewelry. I will have those things to work on when I get to site as well as continuing to practice my language skills. I am really happy about this because I’m ready to start doing something training is really boring and restricting.  

            While visiting Ben I got to do some technical stuff and saw some cool things. I transplanted a banana tree, turned compost, and looked at a lot of Ben’s fields and gardens where he has extended seed. One evening while at his familys’ compound I went outside to photograph a rainbow but ended up taking pictures of a goat instead. This is because the goat was eating their clothes off the line and it was hilarious!

            

Hard to Stay Healthy

Health is a major issue here whether it is due to lack of food causing malnutrition or lack of knowledge on germ and parasite transmission. I have not witnessed malnutrition yet in my time here as I have been relatively sheltered. My family does not often wash their hands properly and some people do not wash their hands at all. They wash their hands out of a bucket before eating dinner with their hands. They put food on the ground and still eat it. My little brother is always sick with congestion and a cough and throws up every other day at least. He coughs and sneezes on food which we all are meant to eat and is allowed to touch whatever he wants. He has been fed from a spoon which was then put into my food or drink. My family sees nothing wrong with any of this but wonders why I get sick. This is a lack of knowledge on disease transmission and not their fault. I do not have the words yet to teach them what is going on.

            I have had both bacterial and parasitic intestinal infections. The bacteria was no doubt due to bad food preparation practices on my family’s part. Parasites are transmitted through contaminated water and feces. I may have gotten them from under bleaching my water or from eating fruit which was washed with contaminated water. If I want to remain healthy here I must be more diligent about refusing things which have not been washed in filtered water and must avoid contact with my little brother at all costs.

            People here cannot afford to be on prophylaxis for malaria and only some can afford bed nets. There are also vaccines for many of the infectious diseases here which cannot be afforded. This contributes to the number of people whom are ill and unable to work on the farm or earn money in other ways. Providing people with sustainable agriculture techniques can improve yields and long term productivity of farms. With a healthy diet and increased income there is more money for vaccines and more time for education on disease transmission.

Religion Rules

Islam is a time demanding religion which affects how day to day life operates. It dictates what they wear, what they eat, when they eat, when they pray, and how they interact. They are required to pray five times a day. Their god is incorporated into daily greetings and everything they do. Currently, Ramadan just ended on so some members of my family didn’t eat all day until 7 pm and then had bread and tea and a normal dinner late around 9:30. It is rude to eat or drink in front of fasting people. Sometimes pregnant women fast thought hey know they risk losing their baby because they don’t want to make up fasting later when other people aren’t fasting. Fasting probably originated because this is the hungry season and people don’t have much food anyway.

            In this society men are clearly held as more important than women. Only men can lead prayer. Men are allowed under the rules of this religion to have multiple wives. My father apparently has another wife in Dakar. It is a big thing to talk and joke about marriage last night my father asked me if I wanted to be his third wife. I laughed and didn’t really give an answer it’s just entertainment to them. In my friends family her sister in law is always asking her if she wants to be her “wujj”, her husbands other wife.

            There are buildings here called mosques. They are like churches with loud speakers on top that men get on and sing horribly and remind people to pray. If you live near one of these you probably don’t get much sleep. People must occasionally go here for some prayers which they cannot lead themselves. In mosques you will find important men in the community. These are maribouts and Imans or something that sounds like that. These men can hold a lot of power in the community and direct peoples lives and decisions. Imans can also make herbal remedies for sick people. Little boys are sent to live with these men to learn the Koran and are often forced to beg on the street to earn some of their keep. These boys are called Talibes.

            I’m not interested in religion so this isn’t that great of an account of what it means to them. I think the important thing to note is that here everyone follows a religion involving the Christian god and they don’t understand that some people don’t believe in god. Religion is universal and broadcast on TV, there are people in the US who would have a fit about being overexposed to it. Islam truly dictates the way people live life here. I will have to plan technical demonstrations which could feed starving families around prayer and religious holidays.

Daily Duties

In my family there are a few people who do most of the work and I think it’s that way in most of Senegal. My grandmother puts mburaaky, mashed peanuts and sugar and bread, in little bags and sells it to kids in the neighborhood throughout the day from our house. My mom does my laundry and folds everyone else’s’ laundry when it’s dry. She also takes care of the youngest because she is still breast feeding him even though he is almost a year old and he is not potty trained. He doesn’t wear diapers and just pees anywhere. I have only seen him poop when he has pants on thank god. When she doesn’t want to deal with his constant and loud whining she passes him off to one of the kids. It is usually one of the older ones but it doesn’t seem to fall on anyone kids’ shoulders more than another’s.

            The kids have some distinct jobs. My oldest sister Awa does the majority of work here. She does some of the laundry and all of the cooking for the whole family. In the morning she helps sweep and remove trash from the yard. Awa also goes into town to buy bread for the “ndougo” breaking of the fast. My sisters Fatou and Awa bon doo don’t seem to really have much responsibility. Penda has to do the dishes every day and goes shopping. She also makes a run for ice in the evenings.

            The boys sleep in and play all day, though Mohammed is occasionally put in charge of the baby for a short period during the day. He acts as the man of the house. Sometimes he eats separately from us and he always leads the girls in prayer. Gender roles need some work here for sure!

            My father works in the biggest city in Senegal, Dakar. It is a 2-3 hour drive from here. He comes home only once in a while. His job is to drive a car. I’m assuming he is a taxi driver. This is what makes the main income for the family. My family lived in Dakar until about a year ago when they came here. It is probably cheaper to live here but make big city money. They have a lot of family in the city including his other wife and older children who I met during Korite.

            My family has a small garden. The garden includes bissap, a plant grown for tasty juices, peanuts, watermelon, beans, and a little corn. It is relatively free of weeds so someone must do some maintenance, and while everyone claims to be the one doing this work I never actually see anyone out there. Maybe when I have more language skills I’ll figure out what’s going on. 

            That is all my family does. We wake up, shower, eat, laundry, clean, eat, play/nap, eat, play, eat, and sleep. It’s a simple lifestyle here. I am here during the of school time of year so maybe roles are a little different during the dry season. 

Whats for dinner?

Today I would like to tell you about food and eating in Senegal. Here the family generally eats out of a single bowl set in the center of a circle of people who are seated on the ground. Most of the family members will eat with their hands. Children who are very messy eat with a spoon in my host family. My father and grandmother are given separate bowls or plates to show respect. I often as a guest share a plate with Grandma when she is here. She has been in Dakar visiting family for a week or so. In some families the men eat in separate rooms, but my family all eat outside together.

            Currently, it is Ramadan. My family does not eat breakfast or lunch with me because they are fasting. I am excited to see what it will be like when this long religious holiday is over. My grandma and I are the only ones in my family who eat breakfast now. Breakfast is usually an 8 inch piece of French bread with either butter or last night’s leftover breaking fast food. This could be vermicelli or macaroni. I was getting served coffee which was literally half sugar and milk. I began to refuse it and now am served hot powdered milk with an excess of sugar. It’s not as bad as the coffee though I don’t understand why anyone would want to drink something hot when the weather is so humid.

            Lunch is usually grandma, the kids, and me. We eat either fondae, a rice or millet porridge, it can be very good to very bad. Sometimes we have yassa, a rice dish with onion sauce, veggies, and meatballs. Not sure what kind of meat it is and it gives me stomach issues every time, but I am so deprived of protein that I always eat it. Occasionally we will have ceeb u jen, spiced rice with veggies and fish. This is the national dish of Senegal. We usually eat lunch indoors because it is so hot outside in the afternoon.

            During Ramadan we break fast around 7pm. This includes more hot milk and everyone sitting outside eating bread with butter, mayonnaise, macaroni, or vermicelli. I have brought them dates which most families eat to break the fast but I don’t know what they did with them.

            For dinner we frequently have ceeb u jen. The first night I was here we had macaroni and chicken. I have not seen chicken since. One night we had beans in with our rice. My family is relatively poor and these protein items other than fish are apparently too pricey. Maybe they don’t like them but I think its more that they can’t afford them.

            The Senegalese love oil. All of the rice is made with excessive amount of oil. I can feel it on my hands and face after every meal. So with the almost entirely carbohydrate diet and excess of sugar and oil, I have gained at least 5 pounds. I was also been deprived of exercise initially as we could not leave the training center and now my daily activities are controlled by my families norms. If I were to go jogging they would think it very strange. I have begun to do some gardening which includes a small amount of exercise and a lot of sweating also I do crunches in my room. My final site will be a better place to create an exercise routine because I will have more vocabulary to explain my nutritional and health needs, as well as the fact that I will not want to spend two years being in an unhealthy state. I will purchase a gas stove and cook one or two meals a day for myself to include more of the food pyramid. So that’s food and nutrition in Senegal.

Introduction to My New Life

I have joined the Peace Corps and moved to Senegal in West Africa. Am I crazy? I still ask myself that. And I still think I might be. Senegal is a beautiful country with amazing people, food, and problems. I have joined as a sustainable agriculture extension agent. My objectives as a Peace Corps Volunteer are to provide the people of Senegal with the technical skills and knowledge in agriculture that will allow the people here to provide income and nutritious diets for their families. I also serve as an educator in culture. I will share with the Senegalese what the USA is like and share with Americans what Senegal is like.

I am living with a family of 12 in a 5 room house. Not a 5 bedroom house a five room house. None of those rooms are a bathroom. That is outside behind a piece of sheet metal. My family is very kind and generous. They share everything they have. I’m sure if I asked they would share their clothes! I have a Grandmother, Penda, Father Mol, Mother Mariam, and 9 brothers and sisters, Awa mac, Mohammed, Fatou nan, Awa bon doo, Samba, Penda, Motaala, Manjara, and Singfalu (These are all spelled wrong). Awa mac is 14 and Singfalu is 1. There is noise at my house from 4:30 am till around 11pm. This is mostly due to their religion, Islam. It requires they wake up and pray before 6am and there is a man on a loudspeaker at 4:30 am across the city calling people to pray. I am not thrilled with this aspect of the culture and how it completely dominates their lives, but I remind myself to open my mind. They probably think it very strange that I do not pray on a mat every few hours.

The food is very good, very oily, and very carbohydrate rich. I have gained an easy 7 or 8 pounds in two weeks. I do eat a lot of sand but it’s hard to cook outside and not have sand in your food. I have also been very sick, probably from some aspect of food preparation. I eat mostly rice and bread and I drink water and powdered milk. I do get a little bit of fish and few vegetables. When I am at the training center in Thies I get fed like a queen. J They have some westernized dinners and chocolate spread at breakfast. They also have showers which are not present in my home stay.

All of the above mentioned topics need expansion and stories to go with them. I will make my next entries focused on some of those topics and what I have experienced personally so far. Wish this crazy lady luck!