Keeping busy

The hardest part of being a volunteer is that while you're in village, you're always on the job. There's no 'clocking out', as a volunteer you start a new life as an occupation. It's a very different arrangement to the 9-5 type of jobs I've experienced, but in many ways it's also refreshing. Sitting with friends and talking, learning Pulaar, is my job. Going out to greet various members of my community, maintaining good relationships (I've jokingly referred to this as "maintaining good PR" given that I am the village celebrity..) and hanging out with people (and playing with their babies) is how I spend a huge chunk of my time. That is not to say that I don't do any 'resume-building' activities, we do have to submit quarterly reports of our activities to our boss, though these can range from attending Pulaar literacy classes to collaborating with NGOs to finally starting your big project-- be it a community garden, health hut construction, latrine construction or any other development project you can think of. I've moved on from just learning Pulaar, and have started doing little things around my community.
As an environmental education volunteer, I am placed to work with the schools, and given the past of NGO activity in my village (a lot of money has been thrown around, and my village tends to have certain expectations when it comes to 'development work') the schools are really the most effective place I can do good work. I have done some smaller things both at the primary school in my village, and the middle school in the village next to mine. Additionally, as we are encouraged to collaborate with other volunteers, I have helped a volunteer in my region set up a women's community garden in the village near me (where we will be placing a volunteer this coming May! I am so excited to have another volunteer a mere 2km away from me, currently my closest volunteer is 15km) and as a region we are currently planning the girls' leadership camp which many of you have graciously contributed to! In other words, despite all my 'sitting around' I'm keeping pretty busy..

Here's a world map mural I painted at my middle school:

And some pictures from the tree planting I did at my middle school:

Some kids who helped clear the area for the women's garden:

Don't worry, it's not all work no play! Here's what my birthday "cake" looked like this year! (Beignets, or donut-like fried batter, is the only cake-like treat easily found/made in Senegal.) I made a huge batch at gave them out to friends in village.

I know to many of you at home, the 2 year commitment I made to be here seems crazy. "It's so long!" I often hear. But realistically, to do something more than just a cookie-cutter development project, as PCVs, we need this time. First to adjust, learn and acclimatize; then to research and understand the community and its needs; and finally to design and implement a sustainable, constructive and useful project for our communities. A lot of NGO's throw money at communities or problems, and the long-term effects of this are various, though rarely positive. I enjoy the fact that I get to learn a language, so I can (hopefully) better understand the people, to do something more than just the typical development projects. This is not to say that building a lot of latrines in a community that doesn't have them isn't a good thing either.. but addressing the 'why' and not just the 'how' is very important. 

In other words, I'm doing well over here and at this point the 2 years isn't all that daunting. I'm pretty comfortable with my Pulaar, I've made some good friends in village, I'm finding good work partners, and I am starting to figure out what the rest of my service may look like. (Not sure yet, but figuring it out is half the battle!) I'm also already thinking of post-PC life (I can't believe that I already have to!) which is also exciting. Between my mini-projects, my daily learning, and planning for my future both PC and beyond, my 2 year commitment is going by quite quickly so far. I know I still have over a year left, but the way the last 10 months have flown by.. I'll be home in no time!