23rd Trip around the Sun

I brought in my 23rd birthday on an uncomfortable overnight bus out of Dakar. My friend, Andy, and I caught the 10p.m. bus along with a slew of so many other people that all of the "flipdown" isle seats, which do not exist in America because of obvious evacuation concerns, were filled.

Ive always dreamed of the day I could have a birthday on a smelly bus in Africa! Regardless of the stuffy air because the Africans insisted on closing ALL of the windows, the continuous local music in the background (I love my ipod), and the unnecessary stops along the way for both ingestion and excretion of food, I suppose we had a decent trip. We did make it without any mechanical issues after all.
Thank you so very much for all of the birthday wishes from my volunteers and everyone from home!!

Birthday Wish

Compost Idea

The West Africa PC Volunteer Conference, also known as AllVol, has pulled together all of the volunteers from Senegal and Gambia. Returning to the Thies Training Center, which is where I spent half of my first 2 training months, is incredibly comforting. It feels like summer camp with my beloved stagemates within those walls. The purpose of AllVol is to share the best practices from the field (ideas, success, “lessons learned”). I went with my fingers crossed for inspiration (or at least to stay awake through the presentations).

The first presentation I attended, Waste Management, was a surprisingly valuable session led by a third year SED volunteer. I now intend to analyze my village, organized groups, and appropriate objectives. He spoke on waste management facilities in larger cities, but Im interested in making this project appropriate for a village of less than 500 residents. The major active organizations include the Women’s group, school children, and select motivated workers. The appropriate objective is to assess and create a plan for the control of organic waste via compost, and plastics by collection.

My village, Saare Meta, is small and not appropriate for a full on waste facility, so requires minimal input outside of village cooperation and donated food scraps. I would like a fenced concrete structure to collect compost that could be funded by an NGO or grant. I would also like the village to contribute a percentage to accredit the plan. I need to research the possibility of similar systems currently underway, but I don’t know of any nearby villages that are familiar with compost. For this idea to succeed, I realize that convincing people that compost is useful and beneficial is going to be an important beginning step. A MiricleGro-like comparison to show plant productivity with and without compost could be supportive, but may take too long to produce results. Regardless, I will prepare comparison plants with my personal compost. The secondary benefits of transforming the village waste to fertile material extends to a possible income source, increased garden productivity, and environmental education. The women’s group could use the compost in their gardens and with the trees that I plan on introducing. If the compost levels became sufficient, it could be sold to interested farmers or neighboring villages. Benefit distribution would depend on participant envolvment. I think that the initiative would also reach the kids because the adults heavily rely on them for housework. They could be involved in school programs and scheduled clean-up efforts in order to expose them to more environmentally friendly behavior. I don’t think that this idea requires a stiff business plan because it can be implemented without regular funding.

In a brief conclusion, I have an idea and a lot of backup work to do to see if it is feasible.

My Companion

After two months in village my counterpart/brother popped into my hut to ask if I liked dogs, which we shallowly discuss every time I play with wandering village puppies. When he came back 3 minutes later, I realized that he really meant "Do you want a dog?" So, here is my little furball, Puma. They dont understand why I carry him around or even more so why I would strap him to my chest like a baby. After a man joked about beating Puma, I asked if he wanted to be beaten himself... they found that hilarious. My job in village: 1. to sensitize people to the idea of feeding and treating animals reasonably, 2. comical relief.

Eyes Skyward

Ive spent an annoying amount of my time staring at the ground, not because Im lost in thought or afraid to look people in the eyes, but because Im trying not to fumble over sticks, immerging stones, litter of all sorts, or into potholes. Because of this inconvenient precaution, I often only see point A, the lovely trail, and resulting point B. Lately, Ive become more familiar with the roads and bush paths, so Ive been able to enjoy the most rewarding scenery.

A Couple Birds I saw during my bike ride this morning (typical of Sub-Saharan Africa):

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu: tsee-tsee call

Senegal Coucal: loud ook-ook-ook call

Long-tailed Glossy-starling: "grating" call
They are black at first glance, but these noisy birds show a metallic green upper and violet under.

Laughing Dove
Now if I can only sneak out of my hut around 6, before the village stirs and women pound the morning grain, Ill have a nice date with my handy dandy binoculars (Thank You Dr.L). My bird list is sure to grow as I explore the plains that I now live in.

Waterfall Holiday

Christmas is Kedougou was a great idea that manifested into nothing less than an unforgettable trip. On my way out of vil, I met 4 volunteers from different regions and a traveller from Colorado to share the cozy ride from Tamba to Gou. Going to the garage is always an event, so we started out strong at 7 am by buying out the sept place (7 passenger car). The garagemen twiddled their thumbs, our driver didn't come for another hour, and they still had the nerve to ask for more money for our baggage. After much banter, we were on route and did not pay a cfa more.

The 232 Km road is under construction, which begins to explain the creatively masked volunteers, but to fully understand, you have to see the clouds of dust that are kicked up and consequently caked onto our once (somewhat) clean clothing. Kedougou is beautiful and has a much more curvaceous landscape than Kolda (my region), but with that also comes this orange Georgia-like clay.

Christmas was merry, warm, and involved a volunteer style gift exchange. Several gifts (like Frank's bike seat cover hat and small shorts) were rather comical, as depicted. My first gift of girly bin bins (tummy necklace) and a skirt wrap were stolen, naturally. I became a gift thief in return and made off with 4 pair of toe socks that I can concider pairing with my chacos, Christmas lights that I donated because I dont have electricity, and a spongebob shirt that surprisd me with creepy glow in the dark eyes. We had live music from the very best Gou volunteers and plenty of shared treats.

The day after Christmas may have been a relax (or perhaps recover day), but we still planned a 20 Pizza dinner feast (which may have surpassed Christmas dinner). We made an impressive assembly line through dough and veggies to our outdoor oven pit. My nana would have fell out if she saw the kitchen aftermath.

More funfilled activities followed during our holiday week. We biked southwest of the city for about 2 hours to Dindefelo, which offers a little hike to waterfalls! We stopped several times along the way to ask locals if we were headed in the right direction. Although we made it, we still didn't follow the fun bush path that we wanted. Dindefelo is an odd city that has a surprising amount of tourism and as a result, a load of grumpy locals. We stayed with the patron man of the town. Within his compound sat at least 50 locals, surrounding a small tv. This man runs town. He offered us a hut, dinner, broken Engish conversation, and breakfast the next morning. Because I was so tired from biking and hiking, bed was the only thing entertaining my mind.

The next day we were somewhat recharged and able to visit the 2 nearby villages that house new volunteers. Its always refreshing to see other sites, what they have going on, and to talk to a different set of people (or at least try). Old men that sit under shade trees seem to be the best teachers. They have all the time in the world to sort through my nonsense. We kicked off with our bikes just before dark for a beautiful sunsetting ride that ended under the moon, just after fighting our way up what I complained to be a series of ten-minute hills.
I love Kedougou.

Christmas in Kedougou

Summer seems to have drawn out over my nearly 4 month stay in Senegal, but it is now December. Although it may not feel like it for several unfamiliar reasons, its Christmas time!
Being away from my family for the holiday has phased me a few times, but spending it with people that can relate and cooking deliciously fatty food all day makes a world of a difference.
--Merry Christmas--
Im somewhat of a traitor to my region of Kolda (dont let them hear that thought), I have ventured out for yet another holiday to visit my distant neighbors in Kedougou. I've been spending this time lounging in hammocks and sharing marshmallows (sent from the States) by the fireside with a handful of volunteers, all dusty from their persistent Kedougou dirt.

Marathon for Education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8xgXyXBo4

Help the young women of Senegal! We are having a Peace Corps Marathon in the picturesque city of Tambacounda (Tambacounda Marathon)to raise money and awareness about the importance of keeping the rising leaders of Senegal and West Africa in school, especially the young and inspiring Senegalese female students (because as Beyonce put it in her catchy song, Girls Run the World). What we truly need from you is your support and even the support of your company. It has been made easy to donate, just follow the link and click "donate" with the comment memo section reading "Marathon for Education." Dont forget that this is Tax Deductable!
Our goal is to raise lots of mula for girls' scholarships, leadership camps and youth groups. No amount is too little or too big!

For donations:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&p...
*Click on donate and write 'Marathon for Education' in the comment section.