11th month Slump, Gammou and Moringa...Almost 1yr here!

My 11^th Month Slump…

The month of January was a very slow, trying month to say the least. I was definitely in a slump! I think it may have had something to do with going back to village after the holidays. Or maybe it’s just because we are so close to that 1 year mark that everything seems to be going in slow motion, like it’s taking us forever to reach that mark! Whatever the case may be, January was a very challenging month for me. And the thing was, I’m happy to say, that I wasn’t the only other volunteer to feel that way (thankfully). For me, it seemed like my language wasn’t improving. I was still having trouble understanding what people were saying, as well as difficulties with forming complicated sentences. I, of course, got the occasional few people in village who would say straight to my face “You don’t understand anything” just because I didn’t understand a word they used or what they were trying to get across. Senegalese people can be a bit abrupt. So of course that didn’t help with my frustrations.

Then there was my work, which felt like it was on standstill. I was getting nothing done. I had so many projects that I wanted to start but just no one to help (it also didn’t help that I was so frustrated with my Wolof). Yes, I had plenty of ideas… like helping the women in their women’s group garden, which apparently they don’t work in and don’t want to work in. So it’s just my one male counterpart doing all the work, but that’s fine for him because he doesn’t really want the women to come help him because he thinks they will destroy the garden (MEN)! So that’s just the start of my troubles.

My Doctor at my local health hut is a very busy man and I understand that he doesn’t always have the time to help me with my work, but he does try to do his best. However, I’ve been trying to get started with monthly health discussions with the village to try and help them further their knowledge in related health issues; but I cannot do that on my own. First of all, my Wolof is not that good. And second of all, that’s not sustainable. We have three matrons who are quite able and are actually supposed to be doing these health discussions anyway, but just choose not to. They are quite lazy sometimes and it seems that they are just too busy to help me (when really I know they aren’t). I think the main problem unfortunately is that they are just so used to people giving them stuff; like NGO’s coming through the area who build them a school, or give them a garden wall (but don’t show them how to garden), or build a health hut (without supplying it or giving training to the matrons). They are just so used to receiving things rather than putting in the hard work to make a change. Unfortunately they still associate me as a foreigner (NGO) who is here to give them things rather than to help teach them and share my knowledge, which is a far more sustainable concept. I think by far my toughest job has been motivating people to work, to come to my discussions, to work in the garden, to go to the health post for vaccinations or all their prenatal consultations. Coming on to my 1 year anniversary, I now know why they say Peace Corps is the toughest job you will ever love!

Well enough of my complaining… I don’t want to put anybody in a somber mood after reading this blog post. The good news is that things for me in February really turned around for the best…  I painted a new mural at the health post. Fae and I planned a nutrition causerie for the kids at school that we will be doing in March. Dr. Diallo and I came up with a game plan to start a Village Aunts program in Mboula to promote discussions about women’s health and we have been planting lots of Moringa tree's throughout the region! So things are starting to move along, slowly but surely. I’ve discovered the importance of celebrating every little victory. No matter how insignificant they may seem, every little win matters.

 I finally have beautiful eggplant growing in my garden and the salad is finally starting to show. Down below is a picture of some of the women helping to make tree sacks which will be watered for about 2 weeks and then can be seeded and hopefully healthy moringa trees will grow. Making tree sacks are so much fun...mixing cow poop with sand and water...just wonderful!

Erin and Fae with their dirty hands but what
beautiful tree sacks :)

Erin working hard to place the tree sacks in
the peppineer.

And of course I had to add a picture of baby Ida dressed in her brand new
outfit...Thank you mom for sending it, she loves it! I'd say she was born a
NOLE!

GAMMOU…

The good news is that the month of February also marked the end of Gammou season in Linguere region. Now you’re probably wondering “what in the world is a Gammou?” Gammou , also known as Mawlid, is a Senegalese holiday that celebrates the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. I referred to it as the end of Gammou “season” because every village in Senegal celebrates his birthday on a separate day. Actually, his birthday changes every year due to the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar moon. I’m still not sure why every village celebrates it on a different day; for example, my Gammou was December 18 while Fae’s village Gammou was January 7^th. Gammou  is the most important holiday in Senegal . Think of it as a Muslim version of a revival. It’s like a big religious learning session to celebrate the birth of Mohammad. If it’s time for your villages Gammou, your whole entire family, from Dakar to even the one’s who are living overseas, will come in to celebrate. My house had to have had at least 60 people camped out in it during Gammou.  The best part about that though, is they bring all the good food from the big cities with them. I had the best tasting fish at my Gammou along with plentiful amount of veggies and fruit!



Fae's giant Mosque right next to her house

The actual celebration of Gammou doesn’t start until 1am and lasts until  6am. This means sitting and listening to people screaming scriptures of the Koran in Arabic into loud microphones all night long! I made a little appearance at the big learning session but could only handle it for about an 1 hour before my head started to heart. It all felt very sacred and holy. All the women were dressed in white and in Fae’s village they all had to wear head wraps to keep their heads covered (even us). Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep that night and it was even worse in Fae’s village since her house is right next to the mosque! We had to listen to high pitch screaming “music” (more like noise to me) all night long. The day however was spent going around and greeting the people in your village as well as their guests in your fancy Senegalese clothing. People went all out with their clothing too! Very Fancy! It was actually quite pleasant during the day. I just couldn’t believe how busy my village was. It transformed into a very busy, crowded city overnight!o

We had to cover our heads for the religious learning session

All the boissons we drank

the cow they killed for Gammou

The best part for me was having some of my fellow Team Linguere volunteers come to Mboula to help me cope with all the commotion and celebrating. I don’t think I could have survived without them with all the greetings, cutting and peeling potatoes and onions, listening to all the Arabic screaming and eating all the bowls of cheeb u jen I was served! They were amazing and looked absolutely FABULOUS in their Senegalese Clothing…Love u guys!

Moringa, Moringa,Moringa…Read All About It.

 Team Djolof was at it again saving lives and planting MORINGA trees. We set out into the Sahel bush to promote the use and production of Moringa. The leaves of a Moringa tree are very nutritious to eat if pounded into a powder and sprinkled on top of food. In 5 days, we visited 15 villages, including mine. We had theatre once again, which people just absolutely ate up. We showed them how to plant Moringa, as well as the production of its leaves. Also, we showed them how to make the powder and had a discussion about its nutritional value. Did you know that just 2 spoonfuls of Moringa has more Vitamin C than 6 oranges and more Vitamin A than 4 carrots? It also has more protein than 1 egg , more potassium than 3 bananas, and more Calcium than half a cup of Milk. We really should be eating this stuff back in the states.

We had lovely visual aids- thanks to our artsy volunteer Erin, who drew them all out. There was a chant to get people pumped and excited for Moringa, as well as a song and dance to the “Waka Waka” song that Fae and I came up with. It’s pretty ridiculous, but people love to dance hear and they love that Waka Waka song! We also had our wonderful Tijane there to help support us and reiterate everything we were saying, not to mention drive us all over the Sahel bush! He was amazing. After each discussion, he would get up and address the crowd and clarify to the crowd what we had just gone over. This is so important and really seals the deal, because they understand him so much better than us when we try to speak Wolof and it helps to have that reinforcement from a Senegalese person giving it that much more credit. We are so grateful for him and could not have done this tourney without him. He’s a life saver and we have asked Peace Corps to give that man a raise, as well as holiday (I’m sure he needs one after dealing with us crazy bush volunteers).

Our lovely Theatre

Tijane...he is the BEST!

 

Andrew made a new friend

Kim showing how to dig a moringa bed



Me playing doctor while Andrew plays
Fae's sick baby



Part of our lovely dance





The mornings heading out to villages was soooo cold sitting in the back of the truck...Colder than

                                                                   FLORIDA!!!!         

With only a few snags and logistic problems, I’d say our tourney turned out just FABULOUS! I had a good amount of people show up to our discussion in my village and when I returned they were still buzzing about Moringa. So I say that would be a success. Also, this tourney was very bittersweet, yet special, for it marked the last tourney we will be doing with our 4 amazing older volunteers:  Justin (who literally has saved both Fae and me on numerous occasions- I mean the kid did retrieve my cell phone from the douche; I don’t know what we are going to do without him!), Kim, Ann Marie, and Emily, who are heading back to the U.S this April, after completing their 2 years of service. They were like parents to us who held our hands throughout the beginning of our install and helped show us the ropes. Now it’s time for us to stand on our own as we become the big dogs of Linguere! I’ve grown so close to each one of them and will truly miss them all! I wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavors.  Development Complete J

ANN MARIE!!!



KIM!!!

JUSTIN!!!

 WE LOVE U

SUPER-STAGERS

EMILY!!!!

 TEAM DJOLOF!!!!!!