One Year!

Today marks my first full year in Senegal. I arrived early on March 7, 2012, and really had no idea how my life would change (though I knew it would be in a big way...). Here I am one year later, unable to believe so much time has passed, yet able to see that I am a different person than she who stepped off that plane. I am different in terms of my daily life and amenities, the people I spend my days with, and the language I converse in. I have expanded my perspective beyond my imagination, and somehow adapted to this life.

It's been an eye-opening year. Some trials and tribulations, some self-reflection, and a lot of growth. I am excited to see where the next year takes me.

I think I've done enough "reflection" blog entries lately, so I'll keep this one short and sweet... with some more pictures to show exactly how my life over here looks:

My room! Which I painted myself.

My clothes storage trunk and mosquito-net covered bed.

My bathroom. Yes, I shower out of a bucket.

My laundry equipment.

Food prep doesn't always happen in a kitchen... And cutting boards are not a thing here.

My "kitchen"... 

My water filter.

Raabi, one of my good friends in village, and her 6 month old son (who is 'named' after my dad). 

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! 

Back from a holiday whirwhind

I have just returned to my regional apartment after the holidays, during which I did a 430km bike trip. It was an amazing experience, and while prior to leaving I thought what I could really use was some Dakar luxuries (i.e. good food), seeing a new place and connecting with new villages reaffirmed my desire to be in Africa. People were so hospitable and helpful-- from Pulaar women on the road (upon hearing me greet them) saying a few blessing for our journey, to a village taking us in for the night if we were in between hostels on the road. The people truly made our journey both bearable and worthwhile. We saw some amazing new scenery, and while the continuous biking was at times tough, the whole trip was well worth it as we dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean on New Years Eve.

And despite the fact I am finally feeling so at home here in Senegal, the holidays inevitably make one think of  family, friends and that other home across the ocean. I want to take this time to thank all of my blog readers that came out of the woodwork to send some Christmas greetings in the mail! I was so touched by all the cards.
Dziekuje bardzo za mile swiateczne zycenia! Pozdrawiam wszystkich, i przesylam naj serdeczniejsze pozdrowienia w Nowym Roku!

Also, thank you so much to everyone who supported and donated to our Girls' Camp! We are fully funded and will be able to put on the camp in March.

Matam Girls' Leadership Camp

It's the holidays, a time for giving... (And it's the end of the year, last chance to squeeze in a tax-deductible donation..) Looking for a cause? Help the Peace Corps Volunteers of Matam, Senegal put on a Girls' Leadership Camp to empower young girls in our region. In a region where girls are growing up very young--many are cooking and cleaning for their households by age 10, and marriage can happen as young as 12--we are looking to provide these girls with a positive environment to discuss their lives, set goals, and empower young girls to follow their dreams. We've made a short video we hope you'll check out, share, and donate if you feel so inclined.

You should also check out my friend's blog, who helped a girl avoid early marriage: http://voicilesoleil.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/give-for-the-girls/



Go here to donate: http://1.usa.gov/YV6533

Thanks for your time and support! We truly appreciate it.


Happy holidays from Senegal! Wishing all of you and your families all the best!

6 months in site- a reflection

Six months as a sworn in PCV, nearly six months since install in my village. I've read about 25 books (and taken about as many mefloquine (anti-malaria) tablets). I've grown markedly more confident and comfortable in the language, with the people, and my role here. Listening to the newly arriving volunteers makes me smile- all those worries I had in the beginning have faded away. Sometimes I even have to remind myself that I'm living in Sengal, that I've made it to Africa- the massive continent romanticized as a single location. I also keep staring at world maps, both pondering ways to see more here, give my time 'in Africa' more legitimacy, and also staring at new, unknown corners of the world, with newfound confidence to venture there. At times my life here feels stagnant, each day passing quickly but seemingly unproductive. Yet each day provides amusing moments-- from having to run to a stranger's latrine, to finally having the vocab to tell someone off when they insist you should be married for the 100th time, to taking horse or donkey charrettes to most nearby destinations-- things that now seem normal yet still ring of foreign-ness when compared to my previous life. The life where I'm not eating lunch at Teesbar and getting home before Futuro, the calls to prayer that structure my schedule. The life where laundry doesn't leave your knuckles raw. The life where my knees are tan. Do I miss that other life? Sometimes, definitely. I've been day-dreaming about a cold, fresh nectarine for weeks now. But then I realize I've got the best job ever- hanging out with people, learning a culture, and becoming part of a community that I can eventually contribute to. So despite the difficulties I'm going to sit back and enjoy it. There'll be plenty of nectarines whenever I get home.

Rice harvest- Take me to the river

As many of you more geographically oriented (or those who have google mapped my location) know, my village is relatively close to the river which borders Mauritania. Many families have land up on the river to grow rice, and right about know is harvesting time, meaning that about half of my village now lives on the river to gather their stores for the next year. A friend of mine took me out to the fields the other day, and I spent the day observing and helping out with the gathering (kind of, mostly just sitting in the shade with the babies).

The process boils down to this:

The men use their hook-looking tools to cut down the rice stalks. 

Rihanna's playing on one of their phones in the background

After the entire paddy has been cleared they bundle up the stalks and the women carry these on their head to the cleared location. 

This is a bundle I was rescued from (I made it 50 ft or so)

The skyline is always filled with walking bundles

There they lay out a large tarp, and grab handfuls of the rice stalks and bang them against the ground to free the rice grains. 

The grains are poured against the wind to sift out the debris.

The grains are pounded.

Rice is ready to be cooked! Add a little fresh fish, and you've got yourself a Senegalese staple.

Lots of fish available by the river!

It's a lot of work, but these few months of harvest provide most families with enough rice to last them the year. It was a great experience to go see my fellow villagers at work, and much more appreciative of the bowl of rice I eat for lunch daily. 

Tabaski- How much sheep can you eat?

I have recently experienced my first Tabaski, or Eid al-Adha as it's known throughout the Muslim world. It is essentially the Muslim equivalent of Christmas, and by far the largest holiday I will celebrate in Senegal with my host family. Most holidays and celebrations here boil down to 2 things: wearing fancy Senegalese clothes and eating lots of meat (sheep or goat). Because this is a larger celebration, we did these 2 things for 3 days. The premise of Tabaski is the sacrifice of a sheep, symbolic of the story of Abraham, who was willing to kill his first-born in God's name, but was provided by God a ram to sacrifice instead. Our family has had the marked sheep picked out for months; it's been tied up to various shade structures in my compound, getting fattened up for the big day. I was also in Dakar the days leading up to Tabaski, and the images of hundreds of sheep by random intersections was quite a sight, but everybody who can afford it is in the market for their own sheep that time of year!
On the big day I threw on my (thus far only) Senegalese complet and sat with the women of my house. I witnessed 3 sheep getting killed and skinned and prepped for cooking. We had meat for 3 meals that day... and for the next 3 days. Needless to say, I'm a little sheeped-out. Quite frankly, I think I could never eat sheep again and be perfectly happy.
It was great to see everyone in my village in their finest complets coming around, greeting and forgiving/asking for forgiveness. Most people spend a lot of time with their "fedde" or age group, essentially hanging out with their groups of friends, drinking tea or juice, and hanging out. The younger fedde's have some music and dancing, the older fedde's mostly sit around. In village my real age rarely corresponds to my companions, so I spent a lot of time hanging out with the older women.
Other than dressing up, greeting, hanging out and eating meat, there wasn't too much more to the holiday, and as I'm still a bit of an outsider to cultural things, I found myself with a bit of down time throughout the holiday. It was definitely an experience and interesting to see, though honestly I don't know if I'll be sticking around village for meat-a-thon 2013.

In other news, school is starting up again so I'm looking forward to working more at the primary and middle schools, where I think I'll base the bulk of my projects. When I first arrived, I was intimidated by the fact that I'll be spearheading projects on my own, but after being here for 8 months, assisting in other volunteers' projects, and really getting used to life here, I'm naturally finding avenues for work and am excited to start some good projects in my village!