Life in the Village

I am officially living in Africa Africa. My life in Dakar hardly counts compared my life in Bow, a small village 27km outside of Matam (which is a full day's drive outside of Dakar- up to Saint-Louis and east along the Senegelese River). Where in Dakar I had a bed, I now have a mattress pad on the floor with a hard as rock pillow. I wake up bright and early every morning to the cock-a-doodle-do of roosters and the children getting ready to go to school. In Dakar, I lived with a family of 5 and 2 of their relatives- in Bow, I live my host family  and almost all of their relatives. There is my host dad and mom (Oumar and Hule), 2 of Oumar's son's from his first marriage (Muhamed and Papa), Oumar's parents (neene and baaba), Oumar's sister (Ndiaya) and her children (I think she has 4 but I'm not quite sure exactly which children are hers), Oumar's sister-in-law (Hawa), and on the weekends another one of Oumar's younger sisters comes back to stay while she is not in school. On top of all these family members, throughout the day there are a number of people who come to eat meals and rest under the shade, aswell as the 4 men who come everyday to work on the house Oumar is building. Instead of a small TV, there is radio that broadcasts in Pulaar (the native language) and the use of my laptop and internet is limited to when I travel out of Bow to Matam (a 27km/16 mi road that in a developed country might take a bus 25 minutes but here takes almost an hour). The daily 2-3 electricity shortages has now develped into no electricity 24/7, except for the nightly TV watching at the neighbors (a time I can also use to charge my cell phone. The TV, I found out the other day, is actually run off the battery of a car that is hooked up to an electrical outlet which allows the children and teenager alike to gather every night and watch either American action films that have Spanish subtitles or Indian soap operas dubbed in French- I can't tell which they prefer yet: not being able to understand one words and seeing lots of good guys vs. bad guys chase after eachother with guns or being able to understand the horrid excuse for a TV show. In place of my toilet and shower are an outhouse and a bucket of water with a bar of soap. Over the past week I've actually come to enjoy the time I spend with a cup, spooning water out of the bucket, scrubbing the day's accumilated dirt off my body. Having to squat everytime I have to pee or worse is better that the harsher reality that my left hand has taken up the post of permanent asswipper as toilet paper is in no way an option when there is no flushing toilets.... I'll let that one soak in a bit for you as it took some time for me to embrace this aswell- you can even re-read the last sentence if you don't believe it's true.
  The first few days of all the changes were difficult- my mind actually tried fighting my body and it took me four days before I could actually take a poop (sorry if you don't like potty talk but this is part of my experience that must be shared). Now, I have become accustomed, not yet fully adapted, to life in the village. There is always people around and something to do. I have gone to the river, which Bow borders, to swim and help my host aunt and cousin do my laundry. It's just like you'd imagine, women of the village come to the river and do their laundry topless while the children (under 5) run around and play naked. One major cultural difference is that women's breasts are not some hidden secret only to be discovered in Rated R movies or when you get to 2nd base. Boobs are everywhere because they don't have a sexual connotation. They are not for play, they are for nursing your child (which they do from infancy until age 2). If the child is hungry, no matter the place or the company, the baby feeder is pulled out. I have yet to go topless at the river because I don't know how they would react to Toubab half-nakedness. I have also gone to the garden with neene a few times and picked the wild fruit along the way. It is the garder where I will be commencing my first project. The garden is run and kept by the women's organization of Bow and it is my first mission to help them improve how they govern and utilize the organization, to hopefully make it run so that the women can receive the maximum benefits a well organized group can produce. My project, however, has already come across a speed-bump: communication. The language barrier has hit its peek because the women don't speak French and my Pulaar is so minimal right now. I am hoping that sometime this week and can get someone to help me translate so I can interview the president of the organization and potentially a few members.
  In other news, sadly, to all those who advised me to go on a safari while I am here, it's not possible- there are no giraffes or lions for miles and miles. I have, however, traversed the desert in a large vehicle possibly similar to one taken for a safari and from what I have watched of Planet Earth, I can use my imagination to fill in the blanks! Until the next time I have internet sehil-am (my friends in Pulaar).

World Social Forum

Since this is the first time I've been able to use Internet for any extended amout of time (1 hour), I have so much to catch you up on. Although in my last post I thought I was leaving last Sunday for Matam, I ended up not leaving until Thursday (c'est l'Afrique, non?). But those extra days spent in Dakar were jammed packed with the excitement and events of the World Social Forum (). It started last Sunday with the opening parade through downtown Dakar and l'Université à Dakar. All of the orgnizations, most of which were NGOs, marched the streets holding banners sporting which human rights issue they were fighting for, among them organizations for women's empowerment, for improvement of the lives of the handicapped, for HIV/AIDS awareness, for the betterment of Africain scool systems, for African conflict resolution, just to name a few. Organizations came from all over the world: Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Cote d'Ivoire, France, Germany, the United States, Vietnam, China, and many more. At the end of the parade was a concert featuring two modern African musicians followed by a panel of enthused activists who gave their take on the world's current issues such as those in Egypt- some of what they had to say was a little extreme for me and I didn't like how they refered to Americans as all being capitalist and the negativity used towards the "Jews" occupying Palestine- but besides that I felt like I was back in the time of the 60s surrounded by others who are fighting for peace amongst all. In fact, the tagline for the World Social Forum was "Another World is Possible". If I had any doubts that fighting for the rights of others and a peaceful world for all was what I was put on this earth to do, being amongst thousands of others who have dedicated their lives towards making anoter world possible for all human beings has completely erased all those doubts.  The next day after the parade, the university was filled with stands each organization set up where you could learn each's mission, what they've accomplished, and what struggles they're having accomplishing their new tasks at hand. My favorite was walking up to a tent of women, from a variety of countries, giving their take on the women's issues that face Senegal and the rest of Africa. The entire discussion took place in French-as did all the other panels, round tables and workshops throughout the week- and while I could understand most of the aruement being made, when I couldn't I would imagine myself sitting in the exact same spot a few years down the road with a few more nothches in my education and experience belt being able to raise my hand and give my stance (all in French, naturally) on the matter at hand. Tuesday and Wednesday followed with not as much excitement as the first two days- I sat in on two panels that were given by the larger organization that Ngaari Laaw (the NGO in which I am interning) is a part of. The larger organization works to improve the non-formal education in Senegal and Mali. The panels allowed me to really pick up on the difficulties of one: pulling a country together to agree on something and two: why it is so hard in Senegal and many other African countries that were at one time colonized by Europeans to reach an outcome that all in the agree upon. When Europeans came in and colonized larger parts of Africa and constructed borders to establish what land belonged in their new country, they didn't take into account that the people were seperated already by their ethnicities. Take for example Senegal, colonized by the French. The country of Senegal is home to three main ethnicities who all speak a different language and they remain seperated like so even after years of being considered the same country. One of the problems my organization works to better is the literacy rates but how can you improve the literacy rates of a country whose people don't speak the same language.... it makes it very difficult. French is the official language but only those who have gone to school can speak it, meaning that the number of women who speak French is very minimal. This poses a critical problem for me. My first project is to work improving some of the women's  organizations in the villages surrounding Matam. I've begun work with organization in the village I am staying. Right now I can only observe, however, seeing as the women's French in the villages is mostly limited to "Bonjour, comment vas tu?". Pulaar being their first language (and now my 3rd), has made trying to communicate very difficult. I must have with me always my host brother or sister to translate. I hope that as my Pulaar improves, I can start interviewing soon- I might have to rely on my hand gestures and little drawing skills!

Making Changes

I know its been a week and I apologize, with work picking up mixed with bad timing for electricity cut-outs it's been difficult. I also know it's been awhile since I just wrote about what's going on with my life, I've been sticking to digesting the culture and politics. But it's time for a change because my life is about to do another 180. Although life in a developing country has taken some major adjusting and I've had plenty of moments where I second guess why the hell I chose to come here instead of somewhere a little more glamourous, after exactly one month of being here in Dakar the fact is I've found my groove. I have made friends (Paulette and Bira), I take dance classes with two awesome girls (Awa and Faly), my host mom (Hawa) and I have a connection (even though our conversation is limited due to some major language barrier, there is a sense of understanding, friendship, and protection we share for each other), I've finally mastered the bus system (well, almost) so I don't have to rely on taxis, and I can finally hold decent conversations in French (as long as the person I'm conversing with is patient). Along with the day-to-day life, Dakar also has it's share of tourist options which are nice escapes on the weekends and also allow me to see fellow toubabs.  I've visited Ile de Ngor a few times which is my favorite!  It's a great place to pass the day relaxing on the beach where surprisingly you can get a plate to Thieboudienne for just $2! Last weekend I visited La Maison des Esclaves which is where the West Africans were kept before they were shipped to the United States, sometimes staying in the cramped quarters waiting for up to 3 months. It was separated by designated rooms, one for each men, women, children, young girls, and even smaller one for those who would not comply (can you blame them?).  I also spent sometime one day in the centre-ville which is downtown Dakar. SO AWESOME! I love the hustle and bustle of a big city and for the first time I really saw diversity. Most places where I see other toubabs are tourist hot spots but centre-ville is mixed with many foreigners who work and live there. I've always felt that diversity is key- a combination of races, nationalities, religions, clothing styles, and food- in most Senegal, diversity is very very rare. And I'm about to be exposed to an town where the only non-Senegalese are other interns/peace corps workers like myself.
  When I had planned my trip/intership, I was supposed to be in Dakar for only two weeks to take a language intensive class and then leave for Matam where my internship takes place. However, due to the difficulty of traveling from town to town here, I have had to wait in Dakar for an extra two weeks- allowing me to visit awesome sites, improve my French, grow close with my host family here, and make friends. Now on Sunday I will be parting ways with Dakar and moving my suitcases to Matam but the thing is I didn't think it would be this hard to say goodbye to Dakar after only being here for a month. I've grown attached to the beaches, the buses, my fruit stand vendor, and most of all the few people I've had the pleasure of  spending my time with.
  I have to keep in mind the purpose of my trip- to improve the lives of those living in the rural Fouta region (where Matam is located). My boss man person arrived in Dakar yesterday so that we could travel to Matam together on Sunday and he asked what my goals were that I wanted to accomplish with my internship. I replied with something of the likes to I want to understand what it takes for a small non-profit organization to run, how it operates, how it raises funds- I want to help with the projects that Ngaari Laaw is working on- I want to know if working with a small non-profit is what I want to do with the rest of my life, figure out what I want to do after I graduate- I want to improve the lives of the women I will be working with by bringing them awareness (I also mentioned trying to empower them- but this idea was quickly shot down). My answer was "unacceptable" he said "I want to know what you want to accomplish, what you are telling me is some sort of vision, you are to broad". So my assignment was to come up with real goals by Saturday that I could share with him and two of the other men who will try and help me accomplish my goals best possible. I really respect that he wants to hear what I want to do here and that I am not just here for him to tell me what to do and use as an assistant.  My original thoughts of empowering these women and showing them that there is more for a woman to do with her life than clean, cook, and raise children Ouman explained was out of the question and I can actually see why- although that doesn't mean that in my spare time I won't try to give them a voice, even if its just a little. Oumar explained that it is so engrained in there traditions that men go out and work and bring in the income and the woman is in turn provided for and has time to do all the house chores. In such a region as Fouta the people are not looking to be liberated from their way of living, they are looking for ways to improve upon that way. It means that I will not be informing these women that an education is important so you can work and provide for yourself, it means helping them start a plantation or making them aware of different forms of birth control to prevent HIV/AIDS- simpler things that will change the quality of the life that they are already living. Now that I have a better understanding of what I can achieve here my goals have become more simplistic yet at the same time much more effective. This is truly the experience I have been needing to realize that making a difference doesn't necessarily mean uprooting long standing traditions or battling corrupt politics, those things take years and years and since I am only here for four and a half more months, I'll be making a difference on a level that I can accomplish and probably be able to accomplish much more on a day-to-day basis.  Maybe one day I'll be able to change the grander scheme of things but for my time here I'll be helping with the smaller things which is A-O-K by me :)