Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Brush fires


We've been having brush fires around my village lately. The make me nervous but no one else seems too concerned. I took these pictures the night before last.

Bubakar and his cow

My host brother Bubakar asked me to show these pictures of him and one of his cows to my friends in the US, so, here they are.


Project Pictures

When we began most of the "faucets" looked like this; Broken off and plugged with a piece of wood or plastic
Clearing the broken bits out of the pipes to attach the new faucets was a challenge.
The only working tap needed to be tied up to be turned off.

Starting the fence


The Chief helping out


The new faucets
Taking a break

Digging holes for fence posts


All done

Me with most of the crew

The finished fence. To get inside you need to step on the rock and climb over the low part.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

First Update in a While, First Major Project, Pictures to Come

I finished my first major project last week. I took plenty of pictures which I'll post when I get a more stable internet connection, in the mean time I'll do my best to describe it. The primary water source for about a third of my village (myself included) is a large water tank which is filled by a gas-powered pump from an underground source. The tank feeds into a large horizontal pipe which has faucets on either side. The water is used for drinking, cooking and washing. Originally, the pipe had six faucets, unfortunately, cattle would occasionally bump into them and break them off. As of two weeks ago we were down to one semi-functioning tap. The handle needed to be tied down with string to turn the water off and when it ran only a trickle came out. The places where the taps had broken off were plugged with sticks and pieces of plastic. I purchased four new taps at the hardware store in Kedougou for about $16. I spoke with the village chief and arranged a work day on which men from around the village would come to install the new taps and build a fence to keep out the cows.
I was excited to get started until I suddenly awoke in the middle of the night before the work day and realized that I had never checked to make sure the taps were the right size. I picked up a tap and walked out to the pipe with my flashlight and discovered that although the taps fit, the broken pieces of metal stuck inside the pipes made it impossible to attach them. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.
The next day we experimented with ways of removing the pieces from the pipes. After a few failed attempts we discovered that cutting the piece with a hacksaw blade and bashing it out with an improvised hammer and chisel made from old bicycle parts effectively opened up the pipe. I was certain that this method would destroy the threads but the new taps screwed in without much trouble. After a full day of work we now have four new taps (plus the broken one which the chief insisted on keeping in spite of the fact that he forbade anyone from using it) and a sturdy fence of wood and bamboo.
I currently have some project in the works at the school. I'll post details as they materialize and photos as my internet connection allows.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Pictures

I finally have an Internet connection good enough to upload images, I took these pictures with my new camera over the last few weeks. The people in my village, with one exception, love to have their pictures taken. For some reason a lot of people prefer to look serious in photos, this is unusual because they're always smiling when they're not in front of a camera. These pictures are in no particular order.For some reason all of the pictures are horizontal even though I flipped them in the proper position before uploading them. I try to fix this in the future, but in the mean time you'll have to deal with sideways pictures, sorry.

Corn is the main crop in my village

The roof of my hut from the inside

Isatu

Kadija

Buba holding a machete and a coconut

Habi, my host mother, and little Habi, who hates having her picture taken 

Girls braiding their hair

My host brother Bubakar in front of my hut

Samba

Inside my hut. The silver thing is my water filter. On the wall I have a world map and a map of Paris.

Husay with a gourd bowl

Sajo running our community's grain grinder

I forget this kid's name

Lama

Usman, He looks so sad in this picture but was smiling and laughing immediately before and after it was taken

My host father, the village chief Mamadu Djallo and little Habi who still won't look at the camera. 

Usman, Lama and Buba

This kid stopped me on my way to my hut and asked me to take his picture. For some reason he decided to pose with a broken gourd bowl around his waist .

A compound seen from the road. 

Our school, it has two classrooms, the teachers live in the nearby huts during the school year.

A mural on the wall of the school

This road runs through the middle of my village. 

The nearest health post 

Our mosque
These guys aren't from my village. They spotted my camera and asked me to take their picture.
My "bathroom"

The view from my front yard
Old men on Korite. 
My bike in my backyard, the plants on the right are hibiscus

Ladies on Korite, the women in the center is my counterpart Lamarana.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Happy Ramadan!


     It's Ramadan now and my entire village eats and drinks nothing between sunrise and sunset. The vibe is noticeably different, by the mid afternoon everyone is exhausted and just rests until sunset. I've been using this time to listen to the Olympics on my short wave radio. As I said earlier, I wasn't planning on fasting and stocked up on food to sustain me during the day. Unfortunately what I thought was a 2 week food supply lasted about three days, I spent most of my time in village eating nothing during the day. Fasting actually isn't as difficult as I thought it would be, still, I plan on hitting the market before I go back to my site this evening.
     A few weeks ago I attended a wedding in my village. Like the baptism, I didn't see anything resembling a ceremony, I wasn't even sure who the bride and groom were. I went to the wedding with the chief of my village. When we arrived at the compound I began to head over to one corner where there were musicians playing and a lively crowd, the chief stopped me and invited me to sit with him and a group on the opposite end of the compound. I spent the evening practicing my Pular with old men while they argued about local politics and chewed kola nuts. When the food bowl came I was excited, an animal is typically slaughtered at these events and I hadn't eaten meat in weeks. When the cover was removed from the bowl I recoiled when I saw a sheep's head, skin and hair intact, sitting on top of the rice. I ate rice from the bowl, trying not to look at the head, when one of the men peeled the skin off and began distributing bits of tongue, brain and eyeball around the bowl. At this point I said I was full.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Oops, finally...

Typo...

Fineally!

Two hours before I leave for my village and the internet has begun to work well enough for me to update my blog. Unfortunetly by connection is too slow for me to upload images at the moment but as soon as I have the chance I'll post images of my hut, my village, and our 4th of July party.
I successfully completed the 5 week challenge, actually staying in my village for 6 weeks. Life there is pretty relaxed for the most part. I get up every morning around 7 and eat breakfast with my host family. They are all awake by them, I'm not sure when anyone in my village sleeps, no matter how late I stay up or how early I wake up everyone is already out and about. We eat cornmeal with leaf sauce, made from Baobab leaves, at least once per day, and often have it for breakfast lunch and dinner. Lately we've been getting a bit more variety in our diet and occasionally eat rice with peanut sauce or cornmeal with beans. Ramadan starts on the 20th and I don't plan on fasting, so I'll be stocking up on things to eat during the day.
I attended a baptism in my village a few weeks ago, it was unlike any baptism I've ever attended. People from the surrounding villages came to our village and split into groups of women and men with the cheifs and old men sitting in a small group of their own. At some point a goat was sacrificed, I didn't witness this but I saw the goat being carried off to be cooked. I sat with under a thatched shad structure with the men drinking tea and eating from large bowls of rice which were brought to us periodically. One of which also contained some goat guts which were quickly snached up while a debated weather or not to try them. Everyone stayed in their groups eating talking and drinking tea until around sunset when they all went home. I never saw anything resembling a ceremony, I never even saw a baby, and I was there all day. I asked several people about this and was told its not unusual not to see the child during a baptism. I was unable to figure out why that is.
The 4th was a blast. I'm very lucky to be located in Kedougou, I didn't have to travel or find a place to stay. It was great to see everyone from my stage again, I haven't see most of them since install, and to eat potato salad and pulled pork. Unfortunetly, I ate a little too much and was nauseous for several days after.
I picked up a bag of seeds at the reigonal house today, when I get back to site I'm going to pland a live fence around my hut. People in my village are constantly maintaining their fences to keep their livestock under control and cut down the surrounding forests for posts. Live fences will not only prevent deforestation but last longer than traditional fences. If the trees used are papaya or moringa, they can be a food source as well.
I'll be at site for the next three to five weeks and I'll try to update whenever I'm back at the house. On August 21 I'll be returning to Thies for in service training. I'll be there for about 10 days and I'll (hopefully) have better internet access there and I'll be sure to post frequently.








Saturday, May 12, 2012

Swear-in and Install

Yesterday our Stage swore in at the home of the American Ambassador in Dakar and officially became Peace Corps Volunteers. The ceremony consisted of speeches from Peace Corps staff and volunteers, the Ambassador, and a representative from the Senegalese government. Most of the speeches were in French and I was pleased by how much I understood. After we took an oath 'to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic' (not exactly what Peace Corps is all about, but whatever,) We had a reception with excellent food. I ate past the point of being full knowing that soon my diet will consist of rice and leaf sauce.
Tomorrow at 6am we leave for our permanent sites, this means I have an 11 hour un-air-conditioned ride ahead of me. I get a few days in Kedogou to unwind and buy furniture for my hut before I officially move in on the 17th. After install volunteers are expected to attempt the "Five Week Challenge" which consists of not leaving one's site for the first five weeks of service. After this the average volunteer spends a night or two at the regional house a couple of times per month. I'll try to post again once I arrive in Kedogou but don't expect any posts for a while after the 17th.
Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier but my camera broke and I haven;t been able to take pictures since volunteer visit. I've got a new camera coming in the mail so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures as soon as it arrives.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Pictures!

This is Ben, the volunteer who hosted me during my stay en Kedogou, with a  couple of the many piles of mangoes I saw during my stay. 

I spent one night in a village similar to the one I'll be living in.  When we arrived they were putting a new roof on the chief's hut.  The chief is the man in the center of the photo, we ate lunch, rice with peanut sauce, with him after work was finished. 

Some workers adding the finishing elements to the roof. The  chief's hut is  is the largest in this village. I don't have a picture of my hut yet but it's a fraction of the size of this one. 

Me carrying a bucket of water on my head.

See above.

I wasn't able to take any pictures in my village during my brief visit there. This is a photo of another village nearby which looks very similar.

This was taken in the yard of my host family's compound in Sangalkam.  We had just finished making a batch of neem lotion, a sort of home-made bug repellent. From left to right: Anna, Katie, my host father Ibrihima making tea, and my Pular teacher Pape.