The week in hindsight

Writing this to you while in bed. A bit sick, weak and tired. To top it all off I just walked about 7 miles, in 3 and half hours under this HOT BRULING Sun. I went to pick up the names of the scholarship nominees from the school principal, which OFFCOUSRE he did not have ready, and he told me this after two hours of waiting (he told me to wait). I tell you, OH SENEGAL

 This was a fun-filling week. I got to prove my competence, prove to my family that I am competent and I do know how to do things.

For some reason my family thinks, like they think of most volunteers that we are incompetent and we can’t do anything because we don’t know the language or are familiar with our culture.

This week however, I was responsible for two students; six in the end (will get to that later). I was their mouth, map, tour, eyes, and ears.  So who are these students, you ask? They are CIEE students, a study aboard program. They are in Dakar for a semester studying, mostly always speaking English. They visit volunteers for a couple of days, to see what they do and get a firsthand look at the Peace Corps world. And most had not seen the “real Africa” till actually been on these visit; because Dakar is like a metropolitan city that can be found in the US, minus a few issues.

Most of them still take showers, eat good food, live in house, have internet 24/7, have classes in English and only fall back on their French when it’s extremely needed. So I got to hang out with them for a quick, show them my life here and the “real Senegal.” I took them to the schools I worked at, showed them my projects, did their barraging, showed them around Velingera.

One day is took them to the grand market, like a farmers market were one can find anything. We went there on Wednesday, which is the grand market day, people from the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, all come to this market. It was pretty intimidating to them, HECCK to me as well, because there are people everywhere, BUT we all make it through safe and sound. They did some shopping as well.

On the last day six of them spent the night with me. And you wonder why? Because they got a car, taxi which is called 7place, here, back to Dakar from Velingera. The other five came from volunteers in the surrounding area. This allowed them not to spend a night at the Tamba regional house, which they said had lots of mosquitoes, one of my student’s have the marks to prove it.

So I arranged a 7place for them. On that note, the first time a Senegalese person has been on time. The 7place drive told us here would be at my house by 4am and behold he was there at 4am, maybe even before that.  Four of us slept somewhere else, like 5mins away and we woke up four and when we got here the driver was already here.. IMPRESSIVE.

So I spent them back around 430am on their merry way and they made it back safely.

My week was ended on a sad note because a little girl of about 5 died and she was a friend, always asking for candy. All she complained was a headache for about two day then she died. Before I found that out I also found out a guy that I had been working with to organize a week long formation, which was scheduled for next week went back to Spain without even telling me. I tell you these people. SO the formation has been cancelled and someone was coming in from Dakar. So I may have to put something informal together, so this man can still offer his training. 

Update

 It’s has been a while, so I just want to keep you guys updated on what been going on. I've been pretty busy getting some work done. Just update on work I've been doing.

The Exposition. Selling juice syrup

 On March 8^th for International Women’s day my supervisor and I organized a fair and a day for the women. This day included, guest speakers, debates, discussion, an exposition and OFFCOURSE dancing and food. We invited a couple of guest speakers to talk about health related issues for women and their kids, how the various women’s groups can become more cooperative. Later in the afternoon, we had an exposition of the various products women are working on, some women sold syrup juices, vegetables from their garden, bed sheets, etc. Then BOOM lunch was provided with music and fun. I also got a fruit dryer which I showed cased during the day, and the women seem to love it.

Selling local cereal and International Women's Day

I also offered a week long business class with the girls I work with. Its soo hard teaching here as students are just using to dictation, going home studying for the exams. No discussion, so it’s hard doing these classes as it requires participation. Needles, it was fun, I worked with the teacher and now she would be able to teach these classes in the future.

Students eating during my computer formation

Teacher eating during the formation

Ivie also done a couple of computer formations, which will continue throughout my service at the middle school. These formations are both for teachers and students.

I got my first package from a friend, it was book, so nice of her and soo unexpected and it came at a day when I had cried twice.. Ms. Payne made my day.. Thanks a ton Lady

What would I be working on this month?

I will continue my computer classes.  

I have a weeklong formation coming up. It would be for all women in a community rural (an entire village community). This formation would include health topics, getting women to make healthy foods for their kids, which will end with some business classes. After this formation I would go back and work with each group in trying to sell the baby foods and just helping them with their various businesses. I’m getting some help with this form other volunteers and a business teacher.

I also would be working with Sam to do a formation about how to use solar fruit dryers, she found a guy who already does this and is pullar, so he would know how to explain better than us.

I would also be working on scholarship applications for girls and local middles schools.

And then April, I get to go HOOOME (Sierra Leone) for two weeks. It should be an eventful two weeks because its Sierra Leone 50 years, Easter and the Boo’s bady…

 I hope your months goes as swell as mine

My Counterpart/work partner 

Solar Fruit Dryer

Lunch time

More of the women

Lunch

More of the things the women show cased.. Incense pots

More Discussions 

AND

“Don’t believe the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing-it was here first”

Baptism: Senegal Style

Just came back from a baptism. It has been quite a long day. One of my sister’s many little sisters (just someone of the family) had a baby. The baptism takes place a week after the baby is born. It an opportunity for us to all get dressed up, so I took out my best outfit.

The Mom breastfeeding the baby

So my sister has been talking about this for a while, I said I’ll go with her. This would give me the opportunity to visit the village of my family and see what really goes on at these ceremonies; NOT MUCH, I was highly disappointed.

Baby's big sis and mom breastfeeding

So we were supposed to live the house at 8 and OFFCOURSE that did not happen, we ended up living the house around 9:30. My sister was waiting on someone to give here fabric, which will be given to the baby’s mom as a gift. Well this someone never came, so we went to about four different houses, after we got tired of waiting for this lady to look for fabric. We finally got one. Then we left for the garage. We had to sit there for another 2hrs waiting on a car/driver. Supposedly it was prearranged the day before that we will meet at the garage at 8 and leave.. BUT this is Senegal NOTHING ever goes as planned. So we sat and kept moving around to various shops/restaurants (restaurant meaning someone has a table with some kind of shade structure selling food).

So the driver came and we finally left around 11ish. Got to the village around 12ish. There were six of us that left my city to go, all cramped in one car, which we had to pay about $2 each, which I think is too expensive, based on the distance we traveled.

Me, trying to hold her.. Sirra

We get to the village/house, we greeted the family and people already there, and we went straight to the mother’s room. We were there just hanging out, 20mins later rice and peanut sauce was brought so we could eat. I did not… OH SOOO VERY RUDE OF ME. After that more hanging out and I just fell asleep on the bed. Woke up and more hanging out. Then I got talked into telling the baby’s father that I would be doing the mother’s hair and it would cost him about $10. The father and I bargained and got it down to about $6.50. Why this, I don’t know, I was not doing the lady’s hair, it was my sister and her friends that would be doing it. They did not know what they were doing either, so luckily another lady came that knew how to do weave and saved the day.

After that more food was brought, this time it was couscous, made out of corn with sour milk. That again I did not eat. I don’t like that type of couscous, so I just tasted. After that they brought me some sour milk and crackers, ate the crackers and drank just a little bit of the milk.

GOT IT!!

After that more hanging out, IN THE SAME ROOM. We still hadn’t moved. So I spelt some more, while they did the mothers hair. After the hair did, they got the mom all dolled up with makeup. Here after putting on makeup the women just look like clowns, SERIOUSLY. The mom was all dressed up in her outfit; she changed about three times the entire day. The other women twice.

 After she was dressed we left her and went to another house, this involved more sitting around OFFCOURSE. We were all in one room again. My family members that were all there put all the gifts they brought for the baby and her parents together. Each person would give what they brought to the eldest in the room; she would then go around calling each person’s name and showing/telling telling them what gift the person brought.

She is soo tiny

After that the women changed outfits and they went over to the baptism house. I think that’s when they presented the gifts to the baby’s family.  BUT off course, my crazy ASS sister did not want to go, she wanted to eat. SO the both of us stayed behind and ate lunch. Lunch was brought over in two big bowls from the baptism house. One was rice (cheb) the other was white rice with a macaroni tomato sauce base. I ate with my hands as there were no spoons.. SO MESSY

After we ate we went over to the baptism house, while walking over the others were walking back to eat lunch.  So back at the baptism house, we went back to the same room, hung out drank some more milk and the baby pooped/peeped on me EEEWWWWWW…L

So we waited till the car came and picked us up, it took about 30mins for us to say goodbyes. On our way back, we stopped at my family village to say hi and then headed home..

Baby Sirra taking a nap after she Pooped on me

SO overall it was an interesting, long day, I’m still not quite sure what baptisms are all about…

Dakar, where dreams are made: WAIST 2011

Me trying to swing

This past week was the West Africa Invitational Softball Tournament (WAIST). It’s basically where all the West African Volunteers come together for a weekend of fun, for us to relax, chill, and share ideas and best practices, in theory. However it was a weekend of partying and just OUTRIGHT fun, involving lots of alcohol..

I went down to Dakar last Wednesday, an all day trip. I had a med appointment the next day. All the Senegal volunteers, that requested, got home stays, which is staying with expats, people that work at the embassy. They are soo kind opening their homes to a bunch of us, (as much as they can take for the weekend). My home stay mom was AWESOME>>SUPPER AWESOME>.

She took in 10 of us, all girls and opened her home to us. They were just required to give us a roof over our heads for the weekend and nothing else BUT mine went all out. First, she let me move in earlier, like two days before schedule, provided food for us, all the days we where there. There was no need to go out and eat in Dakar and spend a bunch of money we had it all at home. I only ate out for lunch as I was at the fields “playing” softball. Our house was soo conveniently located near all the madness, a 10miniute from all the fields and club Atlantique (we call it American Club). Which is like a recreational/YMCA, that has pool, tennis, volleyball, food court. etc. Americans use this club and pay for it but us volunteers get to go in for free.

Kolda Region Team

So the only rule at her house is “make yourself at home.” Everything is up for grabs, expect dinner, that the cook prepares before it served. The first night there, I just had leftovers of fish brochette, rice, with a tomato sauce. It was yummylicious, I will take leftover there any day over food at site. The next night was cheeseburgers, with everything; I repeat EVERYTHING needed for a cheese burger, with onion soup. I don’t even like soups but Jean (their cooks) soups are AMAZING. The next night was taco night, AGAIN with all the right toppings.  Another night was lasagna, carrot soup, then another night keeshe, chicken pot pie and yummy desert, and the last night was pesto pasta, with BIG ASS SHRIMPS. For breakfast I usually ate leftovers or cereal, with real milk.

SO she fed us, opened her pantry to us, even used some of her goods for a bake sale we had, with proceeds going to our women empowerment initiative. We used her washer and dryer, my clothes smell like Amerique once again. Funny story on that note another volunteer and I put the clothes in the dryer to wash instead of the washer LOL.. How shall we function back in the U.S. lol. HOT SHOWERS, with nice shower heads. Door-to-door services in a hummer. YES A HUMMER here in Senegal.

So for WAIST, Friday was All-vol, which is where all the volunteers got together to showcase what they are doing by region and sector, with each other and NGO’s and then in the afternoon, the NGO’s did the same. That night was a talent show and a club, open only to us.

The next day was softball, in which we all had different costumes by regions; my region was space corps. The games were fun as we were just playing for fun. We won two games in total and lost two.. My region has not won a game in years. The two games we lost were to a Senegal team, that took the games super serious and we had to play by the rules NOOO FUN.

Saturday was a party/auction at the Marine house. A couple of male volunteers got auctioned up to help SENGAD, which is our gender awareness aspect. The night was ended with partying and a lot of girls in rural villages would be sent to school.

The next day was more games and a party at a club called Oceanium, which was also just for us, Djed by our region. THAT WAS AN AWESOME PARTY… too much went down to even mention but all in the name of fun. The next day was a pool party at the American club, but people were too over partyed from the night before to enjoy. SO most people like I just went for a while and left; some did not even show up at all.

I ended my night/stay in Dakar, hanging out at the richest hotel in Senegal, maybe even West African…

HAHAHAHA wouldn’t you like to know what happen.

The Team

BUT NOW I’m Back L to Maro (rice) tan (only).. and its soo much hotter down here than it is in Dakar.

It's Already been six months

Me and my gene pants

 Today marks my 6 months anniversary in country, four months as a volunteer. Can you believe, almost half a year gone already?  It all seems like yesterday, I was getting off the plane and been hit by blistering heat at 5am in the morning. As I’m writing this, I’m in bed sick. In the afternoon I threw up a couple of times, I have a headache, stomachache, possible diarrhea. My first sickness/diarrhea since been in country, the diarrhea has been going on for about three weeks, BUT today was just a shitty day. I’m stuck drinking O.R.S, YUCK.. But thanks to Mike my AWESOME site mate, he made it tasty.

 

My awesome Mike planting me trees

On that note its soo funny how I’ve grown fond of Mike and we can tolerate each other now. We’ve come a long way since training. I mean after all, we are all we got. He has been awesome in giving advice; although his means are bit crazy he always comes through in the end. Like for example as soon as I told him I threw up, he was here before I hung up. He made me O.R.S, filled my filter, told me what to do and came back later to check on me. And I’m pretty sure he’ll be here in the morning too. I’m so grateful for having a site mate so close. I think we are the closest volunteers in country. Others have their closest neighbors 15k away, mine is just a two minute walk away.

I have also learned to rely on my Peace Corps family, as they have helped me go through the hard times, sometimes they are there to keep the candle morning, when it almost goes extinct. We have all joined the land of hospitality, sharing, giving and so helpful to each other. I’ve become good friends with people I will never consider friends in the U.S. I guess that all the part of growing, a cycle, people change and the things they learn to love and appreciate also change.

Not too   diminish the efforts of you guys back home, my friends and loved ones, all my lovers. Thanks to you guys for checking on me, kind words, words of inspiration and keep be updated on the U.S. I won’t be able to do this if you weren’t there to keep my sanity and know I have something to look forward to after these two years are up. I feel like I’m here, life is passing me by. You guys are all growing up, getting jobs, Masters, and moving o with your life. Just DON’T FORGET.. I’ll be BACK to claim m spot!!!!

These six months I’ve gotten extra close to my mommy. It so funny, I never knew that was possible. Don’t get me wrong I always loved my Mommy but I was always daddy’s girl. But when my dad died she took his place and now been here I have really really depended on her. After the PC family, which will never understand all, she is my confidant.  I find myself calling her more often, when I have a bad day, need to let out some frustrations, she kind of always knows what to say to get be going. After all I am her baby so, she is taking extra care with me.

Knowing and been from Africa, I did not know this experience would be so hard. Although most things don’t surprise me, I had never had to experience it before. Yea I knew people took bucket baths, had no plumbing, used outside bathrooms in open space, used water for toilet paper, eat with their hands, get water from the well, eat the same thing over and over, don’t use soap. BUT I had never had to experience or do these things myself. Now I found myself doing most of these things, sharing a cup, spoon a bowl with five or more people, eating with dirty snotty children.

I find myself doing this I thought were crazy, making funny sounds, avoiding the sun, not respecting time, following the sun to plan my days, sit around talking and drinking tea, playing with kids that are not always so clean. I find myself making new friends every day. I thought it would be hard working here, been black and people thinking I’m Senegalese.  Although I don’t get the Toubab and much of the harassments that my colleagues do I am still respected after people are convinced I am really American. I found people talking to me, remembering me just after an encounter. I get some special treatment, like extra salad from the fish salad lady, shop owners selling things I want.

I don’t think I’ll however get use to people not been motivated, been so noisy and not respecting personal space. They ALWAYS want to touch you, THAT, I don’t think I’ll get use to, heck I don’t even like hugging my friends. Here you are just not allowed personal time, or time to oneself, people automatically think something is wrong, they get upset and think its all their fault, When I may really need is some alone time. I always have to explain, where I’m going, why I’m going and all that. It’s like been a child all over again but I have to report to about 10 different people.

I cannot get use to been second class as the women here. People always asking me why aren’t I married and have kids by now. Although here, I am considered higher than a women, because I’m not from here, but I am still not equal to man, and sometimes I am more superior and have all the answers because I am American. (Just had vomit break).

Needless to say, I have loved my experience thus far. Yesterday I had e visit from our security guy and our doctor. The doctor asked, on a scale from 1-10, 1 been worst and 10 been happiest, where I am I with my whole experience I said a 9. Thinking about it maybe a 8, lol.. BUT I do love it here expect for my mom and dad’s compound I’m enjoying it. Taking in the seconds, minutes, hours and days as they go by.  Obviously there are days, I just want to tear the heads of my family and the people I work with BUT Hey, that would happen anywhere I am, TIS LIFE.

So for now, I’m still here, I hear no ET (Early Termination) bells. I’m here and would  be here till the very end.

Love you all!!!!!!

At the beach

Pam, the Painter

Computer screen

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I got to demonstrate my poor art skills. I mentioned I would be offering some computer workshops to students, professors, and some parents at high school, in a nearby village. In the computer room, I painted some murals, just to beautify the room, and help as a teaching tool for the classes. The work was mostly done by another volunteer, Charlene, she is such an artist. She did everything free hand, and all I had to do was color in lines. Even that I messed up, lol… BUT Charlene saved the day and made it look beautiful. Now the salle (room) is beautiful, so let the formations (workshops) begin. Everyone in the school was happy with the paintings and OFFCOURSE them being Senegalese, they want more.

I funded this out of pockets; it was around $35 for everything. I still have some paint and stuff over, so I may do other paintings, or just try and beautify my room a bit. I’m so happy it turned out lovely and everyone likes is. And more grateful to Charlene for all her hard work.

To add on to this I have schedule two weekends, one in February and in, March in which I and the technology teacher would be holding computer workshops. One day would be dedicated to teachers and the other to the students.

back of the computer

My plan for making this suitable is teaching a group of about 12 students, which was already formed into a computer club; and also the teachers. After that the students would become teachers and teach their pairs, with the help of the technologic teacher. But it will be mostly the students teaching. I had proposed to the principal that he gives each student 2hours each month dedicated to computer lessons, BUT he said no as that would take away from the academic calendar, in which computer lessons are not programmed. But he did offer that maybe twice a month; for the two hours students have in class, the classes would break up in two, one classes could be in the computer lab and the other in regular classes, after an hour they switch. I’m also encouraging the teachers to give students homework that require them using the internet and Microsoft Office. This was the students can mess around on the computers on their own time.

comp, the front

I love this school. The people here are soo motivated and willing to work, they are the one actually pushing everything, I just offer what I can. The most motivated set of people I’ve have worked with thus far. SO I will keep you updated on this work.

keyboard

Charlene hard at work

I Got to watch the Super Bowl too

I was not left behind in the festivities of Super bowl 45. A bunch of us got together in the Kolda regional house to watch it. It did not start till around 1:30am, our time here but, we were all patriotic, so, we stayed up till around 4am just for the super bowl. One of the volunteers has his parents use slingbox (I think that what’s it’s called) to stream it to us throw the internet. When the game started everyone was kicked off the internet so we can have the real time experience just as if we were in the U.S. It was projected on screen, well for us on a wall.

We also had a big feast to go along with it, so it was a super bowl party Senegal style. We had grilled pork, which I carved mac and cheese, baked beans, devil eggs and apple cobbler. The food was soo delicious, ate soo much that I could not even move for a while.

The projector had a bit of a glitch but that was fix..THANK GOD.

Needless to say it was fun getting to hang out with the volunteers. This super bowl however, seemed quite patriotic, any particular reason why? I was also not that impressed by the commercials. They all seem boring, outdrawn and some just did not make any sense.

OH I was extremely happy that this Sierra Leonean player won some award that was presented in the beginning, due to his humanitarian.

Well now I have to catch up on my sleep. I’m panting a mural tomorrow, at a school, in a computer lab. I will be working with this school in rendering some IT classes to students, teachers, Admin and some parents.

OH CONGRATS Packers :)