I survived the three month challenge!

Salaamaleekum! Let me start out by saying (again) that if you want more insight to specific cultural issues like gender roles, city life, other ethnic groups outside of the one I always talk about (Wolof), rituals, customs and norms of The Gambia, etc… consort the list on the left of my co-volunteers blogs!  I have taken time to read them, and they are VERY enjoyable to read because they each have a different experience here in The Gambia.  We are placed all throughout the country, in different tribes, learning different languages, some as health volunteers, others as environment volunteers.  PLEASE TAKE TIME TO BROWSE THEIR BLOGS.  They’re funny, insightful, and give a wide-perspective to this country.

So yes it’s been a while, but I have not forgotten about you all!  I have been up-country at my village for the “three month challenge” in Bati Njol.   For the most part, I have done exactly what the Peace Corps told me to do, which is… nothing too productive.  In my last post, I told you that our expectation for Peace Corp’s three month challenge was to sit, watch, learn the language and culture, and get to know all the people in the village.  In order to be successful here, you must assimilate and gain the respect of those you are trying to help.  That is exactly what I’ve done…

                My past three months have consisted of the following:

1.       pounding cere (cous) with my sisters and learning how to cook Gambian dishes (and reaping the benefits of both in my tummy)

2.       chatting, joking, and greeting my village in Wolof – studying language

3.       taking time to explore the bush surrounding my village, including bits of Senegal

4.       Yoga and meditation, writing in my journal, reading a book by Paramahansa Yogananda – my spiritual teacher, going on long walks just to think, relax and reflect, and climbing trees

5.       Visiting the two girls I am most close to, Emily and Meghan, meeting their villages and dancing Fula/Mandinka style!

6.       Thinking A LOT about my friends, family, and Geoff back home.. I get super lonely here.

The only “productive” thing I’ve been doing in terms of Peace Corps WORK is below:

7.       A village situation analysis (VSA).  This is basically a door-to-door interview with everyone in my village [[ the important men and women (village leader, religious leader, chairperson, etc), men & women, old & young… everyone!  ]]. We have been asked to conduct this survey to effectively analyze the needs of the community we have been placed in.

At first, I was like “ughhh I am not in college again,” but as I began to formulate the questions I thought would be needed for this assignment, translate them, and build up enough courage to actually start the challenge, it turned out to be fun and extremely helpful.  What I thought the village needed, based on my own observations were confirmed.  However, there were also a lot of things I could not figure out on my own.  This VSA allowed me to not only practice my language, but gave me motivation everyday to be PROACTIVE in figuring out what the people actually need here and not just assume their needs based on my own perceptions. 

The questionnaire consisted of questions about family and village structure/organization, environmental and agricultural difficulties, health difficulties, and a few other subjects.  So the way I did it was to catch people in their comfort zones, where they would be most likely to speak REAL to me and not just tell me what I wanted them to say.  Some women, especially the ones I have become closest to, really opened up to me about issues that usually aren’t talked about – they showed passion in their words and expressions.  Here are the results of my VSA..

Health & Environment/Agricultural needs (in no particular order)

1.       Access to healthcare: Bati Njol has a Child and Reproductive Health (RCH) clinic that is available two days out of the month.  During these clinics, women come with their children under 5yrs, to be weighed and given immunizations.  The women are given very little instruction or information as to the significance of the weight and immunizations; they know that coming to the clinic is the right thing to do and they even love getting dressed up for it, but there is little education involved with these clinics.

Outside of these clinics, if there is little-to-no extra money in the family budget,then there is no means of medical advice or care available for the people of my village.  What I mean is, there is no ambulances, hospitals nearby, doctors or nurses… there is the power of JuJu’s (talismans to ward off evil spirits), teas made from herbs and trees in the bush, and the healing power of Allah. So, when these methods of maintaining wellness don’t necessarily do the trick, there is little help when it comes to access of healthcare.

What I found out through the VSA is that the lack of access to medicine, medical attention/advice, or a permanent and nearby clinic, is the BIGGEST health problem.  Okay so… solutions.  There is a half built clinic just outside the village.  What I have found out is the Vice President of The Gambia has promised one permanent medical staff (probably a nurse) to be placed in the clinic if the clinic is finished being built.  So when was this clinic started? It was started over 5 years ago.  I really believe a lot of the issues with lack of a reliable healthcare system in my village could be fixed if we could find a way to finish this building.  This is a HUGE task, and will probably take the entire two years to figure out and solve, but I believe that I can brainstorm with the people in my village to make this really work.  MORE TO COME in the next blog on this one...it’s a toughie!

2.       Environmental Sanitation:  trash.is.everywhere. seriously!  It’s not like The Gambia has curbside trash and recyclables pick-up every Sunday.  Even though there is WAYYY less waste produced in this country, the waste that is here is not managed… at all.  This includes human waste, trash, water waste… everything.  Okay so maybe I am just upset that it has been this way for centuries, but come on people – it has got to be obvious that it affects the health of everyone living in/around the filth and probably those living downstream and downwind as well… The rains are coming next month, and I am seriously concerned about this issue.  So, instead of people having designated areas to throw trash, things are either thrown on the ground right where the culprit is standing, in a huge heap right in the middle of the village, or in an even larger heap right outside the village. 

I know I mentioned this in the last blog, but I found out through the VSA that many elders and important people (elders, heads of village, etc) also think this is a huge issue.  I know, I know, we are all thinking THEN WHY HASN’T ANYTHING BEEN DONE??  There is a huge lack of structure/ organization in these small Gambian communities.  There may be “committees” for things, but really these are people that meet maaaaybe once every few months, sit around and drink green tea, greet each other, but maybe nothing will even be discussed in this meeting about any issues.  Something has got to be done… and it will..WHILE I’M HERE, DARNIT!! www.ihatetrash.com (don’t know if that’s really a site, but it’s a website in my heart) haha.

3.       No Market, No Community Garden, say whaaat? Every morning, after my routine cup of coffee, oatmeal and a dose of meditation, I strut on down to the market where the women sell their vegetables.  Each woman is usually sitting in the dirt, with assorted vegetables layed out on a blanket.  If she is lucky, she has a tiny table about a foot off the ground and an old tin can to sit on.  You get it.. there’s no market.  Through my VSA, I found out that when the rains come, there is no place for the women to sell their vegetables, so they cram under any rain-shelter available, which may just be a tree, and do the best they can to sell their goods. 

In conjunction with the lack of market, the only farming done in my village is during the rainy season.  Mostly, the women who have enough money for a donkey cart, trek to the next village that has a market to buy vegetables in bulk.  Then, they trek back to Bati and sell the vegetables for maybe a Dalasis or two more than what they bought them for (which is equivalent to like.. a few cents).  During the rainy season, they have enough water to farm the vegetables needed to live and maybe a little extra to sell for next to no profit.  In the dry season, there is not enough pressure to the pumps in the garden to sustain a large-scale community garden.

We already have a fenced in area right behind my compound, about a hectare, that has pumps installed throughout the land.  However, there is not enough pressure to pull the water up from the borehole to water anything, so right now it is just an overgrown area that occasionally has a brush fire.  Everyone has expressed that if there were a reliable water source, they would help to prepare the land, maintain the garden, and harvest all the vegetables.  This would enhance the nutrition of the entire village, putting at least a few veggies in every food bowl.  The extra veggies could be sold to raise enough money (over a few years) to build the market!!

Other issues that were thrown out by the community are listed below.  Although I think they are extremely important, and maybe I will be able to create a few side projects, these are the things that I do not consider to be “major projects” that I want to put 100% effort into, just because I don’t want to spread myself too thin.

** birth control and family planning (40% of the country is under 14), more farming equipment and animals for agricultural production, more materials for the Al Quran school, small business enterprise (such as the selling of fabrics, soap, crochet, etc), control of livestock in dry season – cows, goats, sheep, chickens and donkeys just roam around all day, pooping on everything while the kids play “lets beat this animal with a stick” .. not my favorite game to watch.

Most of the time, the first reaction of the adults when you say “what are the major health and environmental issues in Bati” they say “THERE IS NO MONEY!”.. .so, then I have to explain that I am placed here as a Peace Corps volunteer to implement programs and ideas into the minds of village members, so they can work with me to make sustainable solutions to the problems they are facing, not to hand out thousands of Dalasis (currency) to them so they can spend it all at one time.  Here lies the problem, the implementation of programs usually, in my experience, needs money to provide materials for the production of goods, thus creating profit.  A tractor would increase agricultural production ten-fold… but where is a tractor going to come from? MONEY.  A garden would provide proper nutrition and income for the entire village to construct a market and have more income.  Where does the irrigation system come from for the garden to sustain in the dry season? MONEY.  The world revolves around money, in terms of material production and sustainability of physical life.  It’s a fact that I do not have any as a Peace Corps volunteer.  So how can I even make a difference?

Time for in-service to roll around, so I can get my knowledge on.  I need access to materials and money to help these people out.  I can unite and motivate the people, but in the end, all production will be rooted in the need for financing and outside aid, because I damn sure do not have any Dalasis to spare.

So.. I’m done blogging for now. Sorry if it was a downer and all with a list of “THINGS THAT ARE WRONG”.  And here I just told Geoff, I have GOT to make these posts more saucey, but in reality, my blogs are my exact thoughts and feelings of my Peace Corps experience here in the Gambia.  I could write more about things I do throughout the day (or don’t), about gender roles and issues, the religion and culture of this country, etc.. but in the end, I want you all to be involved in this whole planning process for the work I want to do here. Last blog, you all sent in ideas and brainstormed with me on the things I was interested in.  This process and experience can only happen slowly, slowly.  So, THANK YOU.

Peace and Love.

Why do I have so much energy??! OH yeah, I'm in Africa!

Let me start out by requesting that you follow the blogs of other volunteers in my group (see my blogs that I follow), because I just read a few and they are doing a WAY better job of describing the same things I am seeing.  Some volunteers are up country, where I just visited and almost died from the heat (close to 115 during the day).  Some volunteers are in Kombo, the tourist capital of the Gambia, where there are Europeans flooding the streets with the witty Gambians ripping them off left and right (sooo funny by the way, but kind of annoying to be mistaken for one of these toubabs).  Some volunteers (like me) are in the middle of these two extremes, where it's pretty freaking hot, no tourists, jussssst right.  I must say, i've been away from site for one week now, and I am missing my family, my cat "Bena", the bush (which is pretty much Senegal), my drum, and yes.. even the heat. It's 78 degrees here in the city, and I'm a bit chilly.

****random note: MY BAG WAS FOUND by a young Gambian man named Lamin Touray.  He returned my bag from about 50 k up the road from Kombo, found me on facebook, sent me a message, and returned my bag WITH ALL OF THE BELONGINGS (including camera and journal yayyy), and didn't ask for a single penny from me.  By the way, it was about 550 dollars worth of stuff, which is about 15,000 delasis (could feed a family for a year).  See, guys.. not everyone in this world is a BAD guy!

I wanted to spend a few short paragraphs on some ideas running through my head for projects in my village.  Granted I have only been there for a month, and I am still getting to know the villagers and where I place among the people... but I think all of the volunteers EVEN after month are getting itchy feet... we are ready to start seeing progress :)  I mean we are Peace Corps volunteers!

So in Bati Njol, I have amazing, strong, and confident women who pretty much are behind all the work of the village this time of year.  We have a functioning women's group that I have YET to tap into, but I have met most of the women who make up the group and the "head" of the group - it's a start! We have a skills center, which I am just now discovering and will soon venture into.  We don't  have a school, but there is one in the neighboring village who's students are some of the children in Bati Njol.  We have a large population of young boys and girls who are energetic and helpful; i've seemed to have bonded with both groups (boys.. football / girls.. cooking, braiding hair, fashion, etc).  Also, I have had time over the past month to walk around, greet everyone in the mornings and at nights, and just plain "chill" with many smiliing Gambians, who really just want me to play my drum, shake my booty, and laugh.  Could I really ask for more???

How about those ideas, now? STRICTLY brainstorming.. nothing is in stone!  I want your input. Now that you have a background of my village (see above), you can understand my brilliant ideas (bolded stuffs below) BWAHAHA.

1. Find the 12-year old girl in my village who told me that she taught herself how to take recycled plastics from bags, old cassette tapes, etc. to make BAGS and stufff.  I think I can help her age group gain confidence in their creativity by exposing her mastery of this skill!  I should have her teach me how to make these bags, which are very durable and quite trendy looking ( i have one myself that i bought in the city), then we can both hold workshops for women of all ages (and boys .... hah i wish).  Maybe, over time, with a little elbow grease and trips to the dump, we can use these bags for income generation and waste management! EVERYBODY WINS!

2. Soap Making!  My family, as of now, does not use soap for bathing or washing hands before meals or after bathroom.  So I can only assume that if the family housing the toubab doesn't use soap, then most of the village is following the same trend.  All the more reason to learn how to make soap on the super cheap with natural materials (and maybe some help with scents).  Then, once we make the soap, sell it in our own village and maybe neighboring villages.  With this purchase comes a FREE demonstration on proper hand-washing!

3.  Garden much?  My village has a huge backyard, it's called "the bush".  It has also been known as "the wild", "Senegal", or "alle bi" which is "the bush" in Wolof.  Yes, my backyard is a few miles of straight bush, complete with animal carcasses, barely any trees, no water, and occassionally.. a wildfire.  One of the good things about this particular bush is a few beautiful acres of fenced in area, free from all of the above.. but there is still no water.  Here lies the problem.. a perfect area for a community garden or tree nursery, but no irrigation for anything to grow!  Solution, growing something that doesn't need alot of water, because trying to get grants and funding for an irrigation system is seriously out of my league.  I recently came across a bible of sorts, called the "Moringa tree manual".  Go to http://www.miracletrees.org/ PLEASE.  It will explain why I am crazy about this tree and will get it tattooed across my face. It will cover nutrition, water purification, fertilizer, curing illnesses, etc.

4. I've decided that it's not the most sanitary practice to throw trash "outside" the village in a huggge pile for the kids to play on and goats/sheep to poop on.  When the rains come in June, I can see the trash flooding into my compound and causing diseasssses.  Therefore, I have gotten really interested in recycling and proper waste management.  I like to go on random walks in and around the village to scope things out and try and muster up an idea or two about things I'd like to see happen differently (with consent/agreement from the village folk of course).  One thing I've thought of is trying to get people interested in reusing AS MUCH waste as we possibly can and maybe recycling some of the materials that won't decompose well.  For example, taking empty metal <tomato paste> cans and poking a dozen holes in the bottom to use for water cans in garden beds.  Simple, yet so effective.  Myyyy fav!  Recycling center anyone??  I can learn some carpentry in the process.

5. (last one i promise)  FOOTBALL FIELD!!  I always want to play soccer with the younger kids in the village, but we end up pissing off the women trying to sell vegetables in the meeting area because it kicks up too much dust and dirt onto their BEAUTIFUL vegetables!  Therefore, we should work together on clearing some bush (tee hee), clearing a field, and making some goals out of wood posts.  Hell, if these kids will get off their butts to help me with this project, I will even buy the soccer ball  - they are kind of out of price range for 5-15 year old boys... go figure.  What I want to accomplish with this field is starting a tiny little 6v6 soccer league with BOYS AND GIRLS on co-ed teams (unheard of here).  I mean.. girls can't play sports.. kidding!!!  I really think it will show the boys that girls can play soccer too.  They need confidence boosters just like any other young female in this world.  It's hard here for them to find their confidence sometimes just because of gender roles in The Gambia, but that's for a later blog.

So kids, thanks again for reading.  I'm getting ALOT of positive feedback from all of you, and even some letters. OH MY GOD I LOVE SNAIL MAIL.  Thank you mom, dad, christoph, ray ray, laura, and many others who have written me so far!

Peace and Love.

ps. i love exclamation points.

Adjusting...

Salaamaleekum!

I hope this entry finds you all in good health, sound mind and peaceful surroundings.  I am currently visiting the Basse transit house, one of most Eastern points of the Gambia that Peace Corps is occupying.  My girlfriends, Emily Jen and Meghan, decided that we should take a mental break and travel the country.  I keep in touch with them everyday - we are keeping each other sane and at peace with our surroundings.  It's inevitable to come into a new environment and develop this rollercoaster ride of emotions; every single moment can shift your energy and mindset, flowing from euphoria to misery.  I understand there has to be a balance, but it sure is exhasting mentally and physically to ride this rollercoaster. 

Each of our experiences are unique - different family and village dynamics, mostly.  However, we are each seeing some trends that are unifying our experiences, and allowing us to deal with everything.  A few quick examples, the heat is cripping and at times unbearable.  All four of my girlfriends are posted in the center of the country in the "central river region".  We are not close to any major cities, because they are mostly located at the western and eastern most points of the country.  So, we cannot get icees on demand or any form of cold drink for that matter.  It is cool (and by cool I mean between 80 and 90 degrees) in the mornings and starting at about 7pm.  From about 2pm-6pm, no work is done by anyone.  The only thing that is possible is to sit under a tree or find some form of shade, make some sugary juice mixture, braid hair, and pray to the gods that a breeze will come to brush your skin, which is usually drenched in sweat.  I believe during this time it is somewhere between 100 and 120 degrees..... I know right....unreal.

Another thing we are each learning to cope with are the many many cultural differences between Gambian culture and a more developed culture.  Another example, animals are completed extremely different here.  Yes, in most places, cattle, horses and donkeys, are used for labor.  Harmless, right?  Hardly.  These animals can be old as dirt, pregnant, sick, or in any other debilitating state, but still they are worked for most of the day for transportation, carrying ridiculous loads like carts full of firewood, rice bags, and whatever else you can think of.  If they are not moving fast enough, they are whipped or smacked with sticks and ropes.  From what I've seen in the States, animals are treated with more respect and care.  Meghan witnessed the beating of a donkey to death by it's owners, recently.  Hearing this story tore us all apart,  but then again, most Peace Corps members are bleeding hearts anyways ;)  ... 

So, the story is the donkey was being forced to do something against it's will one too many times.  There was a young boy trying to put a bridle in it's mouth, but this donkey was NOT having it.  It took a bite off this kids finger, almost to the point of him losing the tip of one of his fingers.  The kid was hysterical, so his dad came over to discipline the donkey, but was quickly kicked in the leg.  So Meghan got to see about 5 men beating the donkey with sticks, and any other tool that would "teach this donkey a lesson".  But, it didn't stop after one day.  They let the donkey wallow in physical pain over night, and returned to beat it some more the next day.  Later that night, it died from it's wounds.

Now, is it right that this donkey lost it's life for harming it's owners?  I'm not really the one to say something is right or wrong, when I am not necessarily involved in the situation.  But... Meghan was horrified by the events and once I heard the story, I was as well.  And further more, dogs and treated like SHIT here too.  Most Gambians are either scared of dogs or just have this innate hatrid for these animals.  So, all day they are running away from kids throwing rocks, cans and other objects and them and their puppies.  It's the same situation for cats, goats, sheep and chickens.

I can't say that I want to EVER get used to these types of situations, to the point of not feeling the pain for these harmless and scared creatures, but I can't help believing that over time I will become less sensitive to it.  And these are just two examples of things I am learning to cope with.. it's all I can do, because I can't change the mindset of every Gambian.  I am here to learn a little, teach a little, laugh a little, cry a little, and hopefully help develop sustainable projects that will promote healthy lifestyles for the villagers and future generations. 

That's all I can hope for.  Everything will get better with time, but I named this blog "adjusting" because it's the only word that could possibly sum up how I feel at this very moment in time.  The only constant is change.. and I'm always doing just that...  it's a beautiful thing really.  I have my ways of coping that are helping very much.  Every afternoon, when the sun starts going down, I take my jimbe (i can never spell it right), walk into the bush away from all human beings, close my eyes, and drum my little heart out.  No matter what negative energy that was surrounding me at the time, it immediately disappears with the blend of my hands on the that rough goat skin.  I always come to this amazing euphoria that reminds me that I am here, now, and that everything is on it's right course.  It's an unexplainable cosmic bliss that rejuvenates my soul.

To leave on a more positive note... I am mostly happy in Bati Njol.  The villagers see me as there own, treat me like famly, help me when I need it, and always crack a huge smile when I come to greet their compound.  Like I've described today, there are some things I am coping with, but every night I take a bucket bath,wash off the filth of the day...mind and body.  It's all I can do to stay sane!  I am taking good care of myself, staying active, keeping in touch with loved ones, and waking everyday with new eyes.

So I hope you all are happy with your own lives.  Because you have to realize that every moment is different, and whatever that may be bothering you in a single moment will eventually balance itself out in the next.  Stay healthy, live well, love much, and for shit-sake... LAUGH more.

Peace and love!