Well, I’m in one of my homes anyway. I made it back to Cambridge nearly a week ago, and it really has flown by. My last few days in Senegal were awesome. I did an interview with Viola Vaughn, the founder of 10,000 Girls. I’m basically obsessed with the program and I’m hoping to set something up now that I’m back between their girls there and the girls that I work with in Boston through Strong Women Strong Girls. I spent my last 2 days in country being a total bum…I got a room at a nicer hotel with a pool and just relaxed. I figure I had to ease myself back in to the luxuries of American culture.
And it really does seem luxurious. Public transportation is so modern! The streets are so clean! But I miss Senegal alot, from being offered food in a sept place (it’s rude not to offer food to the other passengers when traveling) to little children coming up to shake my hand on the street. This has been something of a rocky transition, what with classes starting 2 days after I got back to the states. Luckily, Mom came up to Cambridge and surprised me and helped me get my room in order. It’s still not perfect but it definitely looks way better than it could.
Despite America’s cleanliness, my new place does have mice in it. I guess this is just Cambridge’s way of helping to ease my transition. Haha. Anyway, I guess this is just a final “I’m alive and well” sort of update. I’ll try to post something before too long that gives a more succinct summary of my experiences. But for the moment, I think I’m going to go get some brunch!
September 6, 2009
August 27, 2009
So I successfully made it to Kaolack after a gripping day of public transport yesterday. There is apparently a bus that goes between Kedougou and Tamba (the first leg of my journey) which leaves at 4 AM, which would get me to Tamba in time to not have to wait too long to get a sept place to Kaolack. So I got up at 3:30 and a guy from my hotel led me to the place to catch the bus. Only when we got there, at about 3:55, it was completely abandoned.
“Vincent,” I said, “are you sure it leaves at 4?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“Every day?”
“Yes. Well, every day but Wednesday.”
Disapproving look. “Vincent, its Wednesday.”
So we trekked over to the Gare Routiere. Because its Ramadan, everyone is up around 4 to eat breakfast before the sun comes up. So everyone there was sitting around eating and having fun. And I sat on my pack, and ended up waiting for 4 hours for the first sept place to leave. I got to watch the stars for a while though…you could see every star in the sky and I saw 6 shooting stars! We went through the Nikolo Koba park again, which was awesome, and I made it to Tamba by about noon.
Where I got to wait for another 3 1/2 hours for the car to fill up. But it was actually fine…I had some interesting conversations with the guys at the gare. The road from Tamba to Kaolack is generally regarded to be the worst in Senegal, but I actually didn’t think it was that bad. The Transgambian highway, between Ziguinchor and Dakar, was much worse. I did have a James Bond like experience when my driver missed a detour turn and frantically spun the car around to miss the barrier…the back wheels skidded out and I thought he was going to lose control, but we made it!
Today I went and visited 10,000 Girls, a really cool organization here in Kaolack that basically runs after school programming for girls to help keep them in school. Their retention rate is amazing…the overall percentage of girls moving up to the next grade in Senegal is 28 percent…82 percent of girls in 10,000 Girls move on to the next grade. I’m meeting with the director in Dakar tomorrow so Im interested to see what she has to say.
August 25, 2009
The Daily Rainstorm
I’ve become really interested in issues of food security over the past few months, mostly in the movement of foodstuffs from the areas where they’re produced to the areas where they’re consumed. Usually, this isn’t very far…maybe 20 km max to the local market town on the day of the lumo (the local weekly market). There are reports of people in the cattle herding Pulaar regions actually pouring out milk because they can’t consume it all and they have no way to sell it, because all of their neighbors keep cattle as well. In the Casamance region during mango season (which I was lucky enough to experience!) you can get about 5 to 8 kilos of mangoes for about 500 CFA, the equivalent of $1 US. At the same time, however, in other regions of the country, people are starving. In Dakar, only the very wealthy can afford real milk, even as impoverished villagers are dumping it out in the south. The problem is lack of infrastructure; there is no system in place for people to sell goods any further than they can personally transport them.
Today I had a meeting with Wula Nafaa, a USAID-funded organization that works with rural populations to teach them how to add value to products that they are already cultivating or gathering from the forest. It is common for people to gather and sell “monkey’s bread” (in French, pain de singe), the fruit of the baobab tree. If you go one step further and produce a powder from the fruit, you can make more than double what you would have from just selling the whole fruit. Wula Nafaa teaches people to add value to their products, and goes beyond that to teach them how to manage their money, ensure quality control, and effectively market their product.
But this is not the most important aspect of their program, in my opinion. What is important is that they establish connections with buyers in Dakar so that there is a stable market for the products with relatively fixed prices. The products can then make their way to the capital city and even beyond; some buyers are international. Hopefully, this is the start of a system that will allow people to sell their products further than their local market. This way, there is a stable market, and maybe Senegal can reduce the amount of food it imports. Currently, about 80% of the food consumed by the Senegalese is imported. The distribution of the country’s natural resources to those who need it most seems like a smart move to me, and I hope that Wula Nafaa is able to expand all over Senegal.
Today is my last day in Kedougou, which seems very strange. Tomorrow I take a sept place or two up to Kaolack…it’s over what has been repeatedly called the worst road in Senegal (the “highway” between Tambacounda and Kaolack) so I’m not super pumped, but apparently they’ve been working on it and it’s gotten a little better. I only have one more organization to look at, and then it’s back to Dakar and eventually to the States. I’m excited to see my host family again, even if just for a day (I can’t stay with them because they already have someone there for a semester abroad).
I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access again, so to tide you over I’ll include a link to an article I stumbled across in the New York Times today about the state of things in Senegal. It’s over a year old, but I think it gives a remarkably accurate picture of the way things have been playing out here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/world/africa/18senegal.html
August 24, 2009
Its all interviews all the time here in Kedougou, with only a few days left before I head up to Kaolack. Saturday I met with Tostan, an amazing organization that I’ll get to in a moment, and then Saturday night Mme Diallo (who I interviewed on Friday) invited me to her family’s house for dinner. It was really cool because I got to experience the breaking of the Ramadan fast with a family, even though I definitely cheated because I wasn’t fasting. They break the fast with this porridge that they usually eat for breakfast, and then have their normal dinner. Because they had a guest (me!) they made this avocado and tomato thing that basically tasted like guacamole…it was awesome.
Anyway, on to Tostan. I have heard Tostans name approximately every 3 or 4 days since I came into Senegal…it seems like every organization I’ve spoken with has, at some point, partnered with Tostan. The word means “breakthrough” in Wolof and the organization was started in the 70s by (shockingly) a Peace Corps volunteer. Basically their whole operation is about teaching people in the villages about human rights and giving them the necessary tools to change their situation however they see fit. In other words, in the most basic sense, they are teaching people to fish. It works alot like the Peace Corps (they send a facilitator and classroom materials to the village, and in exchange the village agrees to house and feed the facilitator) but its all about going through the human rights and literacy curriculum. The village then forms a “community management committee” who are charged with different focuses, such as education or the environment. Tostan lets the community itself decide what projects it wants to undertake, so theres none of the issues about doing projects that aren’t what the community needs. And other NGOs have found it much easier to work in villages where Tostan has been because they already have a system set in place to decide their priorities.
The most amazing thing to me is that recently a bunch of villages have come together to put out a statement against female genital mutilation. This is one of the areas in which the practice is most common, and the fact that a movement has come from within the villages themselves to stop the practice shows that the human rights education is really hitting home.
I had an interview with an NGO called La Lumiere today that ended up being a little further out of town than I had expected, but it was good to see a bit more of the area I suppose. I asked for directions at the gendarmerie (police post) and they were all from Dakar and had no idea where it was. Then the 2 little girls who had been walking ahead of me the whole time turned around and were like “we know where it is.” Lesson learned…when in doubt ask a local, even if its a little girl!
August 22, 2009
Flamboyant Tree with butterflies in it, next to my hotel
So this morning marked the first morning of Ramadan, the month-long Islamic holiday in which they don’t eat or drink anything during daylight hours. They also have to refrain from any pleasures, which includes smoking and drinking. Most people don’t drink, but pretty much every male that I’ve met here smokes so it should be interesting. I know it has much greater significance and meaning for people, etc etc, but what it comes down to is that everyone is grumpy. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard…so far I honestly haven’t noticed much of a difference, save one thing.
Drinking tea is basically the main pasttime here in Senegal. Men brew it for hours on the street and drink it basically all day long. Yesterday, between being at the internet cafe, the tailor’s shop, and an NGO, I was offered 4 cups of tea. I’ve already explained the basics of the situation earlier, but now this isn’t allowed to happen because of Ramadan. The devout Muslims neither eat nor drink during the day, and this includes tea. I’m not really sure what the men are doing with their time now that they aren’t making tea all day…probably just sitting around and talking, which is what they mostly did while making the tea. But it is strange to see, for sure.
One weird thing is that my phone company is having all these special deals for Ramadan. I got a text at midnight saying that in honor of “the blessed month of Ramadan” all the phone credit that I purchased today would be doubled. Needless to say, I stocked up. At the end, they wished me a Happy Ramadan, which I thought was kind of weird. I may not understand the finer details of the holiday, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a super happy event.
Last night I was talking to a guy at my hotel and he told me that I had to do the Ramadan thing for the rest of my time in country, so that I could get the full experience. I told him I might, but I’m pretty sure that being a diabetic makes it a bad idea. Even so, I’m glad I’m here to experience part of Ramadan, because it is apparently very different.
One observation is that, as in the US, young people are definitely not as devoted to the practice as older people. This morning as I ate my breakfast (long after the sun came up), one of the hotel employees sat down next to me and had his breakfast too. And I have definitely seen more than a few lit cigarettes. But plenty of businesses have shut down early, and there are fewer people wandering about the streets. I dunno, I’m only here for like a week of it, but I’m interested to see how it goes.
In terms of work, I have been keeping pretty busy. I had a great meeting this morning with an organization called Tostan (details to follow) and I’m hoping to do 2 more in the next few days. Then it’s up to Kaolack to look at another organization, then back to Dakar and suddenly back to the states. Work always seems to pile up at the end, but it’s nice to be busy and feel like I have work to do. It’s just getting me ready for the craziness that will be school once I head back to the states.
August 21, 2009
It is hard to travel in Senegal without constantly coming up against the concept of Terranga. Roughly translated, it means “hospitality,” and it has become the unofficial motto for the growing tourism industry here. I have not yet visited a town or city that didn’t have at least one “Hotel de Terranga” and “Restaurant de Terranga,” and the Senegalese national football (soccer) team is known as the Lions of Terranga. In other words, it’s kind of a big deal.
The thing is, most of the time that terranga is mentioned to me, I’d like to tell the person exactly where they can shove their terranga. I’ll take good old American indifference any day. Terranga is the excuse that people in the city offer for pretty much constantly harrassing you. “C’est le pays de terranga!”…and so you are expected to buy things from their shop, let them guide you to your destination (and then ask for money, though you already knew where you were going) or accept their offer to stay in their house rather than at a hotel. This last offer came exclusively from young men, so I think you have a pretty good idea of what that’s all about.
Suffice to say, terranga is not my favorite. I think it’s grossly overused and basically an excuse for exploitation. My thoughts on the concept changed dramatically, though, this weekend when I was traveling. We were visiting a small Bedik village, and as we toured through we gave kola nuts to the inhabitants as a thank you for letting us see their homes. (On a side note, I also tasted kola nuts over the weekend, and believe me you are not missing out on anything.) We gave one elderly woman a few nuts, and she insisted that we sit down at the best seats in her compound, and the guide translated as we talked for a bit. As we sat down, the guide remarked “This is the country of terranga,” and for the first time, it didn’t seem like a trick. I realized that I have been benefitting from Terranga basically my entire stay in Senegal, but when it’s the genuine article they usually don’t call it that.
Terranga is my host family in Dakar sleeping in 2 rooms so that I could have a room to myself. Terranga is the insistence of the villagers in the Kolda region that I sleep and eat in their village, while not accepting a dime of payment. Terranga is the men in the tailor shop insisting that I sit down every time I go in there, even if only for a minute.
I will admit, I am definitely still wary when someone approaches me claiming terranga as their motivation. But I have come to realize that the concept is based in a reality that perhaps only exists in rural Senegal, and that I have been lucky enough to experience.
Sorry to be several days between posts…the entire city of Kedougou was without internet access for the past 3 days. Yay small towns! This has made it exceedingly hard to do my research, but hopefully today I can catch up. I only have 4 more days in Kedougou, and plenty of work to do! I’ve got 10 days left in Senegal total, which seems unreal, but I guess time flies…
August 18, 2009
Rush Hour in Downtown Kedougou
The caption of the photo isn’t a joke…this is the only paved road in Kedougou and this is the most traffic I’ve ever seen on it!
ARDs, or Agences Regionales de Developpement, are governmental bodies that are unique to Senegal, as far as I can tell. Basically, the job of the ARD is to coordinate NGO activity in the region. They are located in the larger cities, with smaller anntenae bodies which operate in smaller towns. Kedougou, for example, has an antennae body, though Kedougou will soon become its own region and will be a full fledged agency. The office was nearly impossible to find…you have to go way outside of town, past the point where the road is no longer paved (the paving on the road just literally stops, it’s pretty funny) past a compound of several hotels, and then behind one of the hotels and through a fence. It’s ridiculous. Interestingly, World Vision has moved into the same building as the ARD here in Kedougou. This is a really bold and interesting step towards collaboration with other organizations, which I think is fantastic. Basically, the problem with NGOs trying to get in touch with eachother and call conferences and work together and stuff is that alot of times (all the time) they are competing for the same resources. So it’s hard to come together on neutral ground; if an NGO calls for you to collaborate with them, there’s a chance that they will put the project under their name and they will get more credit for it and then they will get the funding. Ridiculous and petty? Yes. The NGO world is alot like a clique of 7th grade girls sometimes.
This is why an agency like the ARD is so important. It can call meetings and get people to come together and meet on neutral territory. It also serves as a way for people in villages to get funding for projects; if you want to build a latrine in your community, you can come to the ARD and they will help set you up with an NGO that does that. Apparently the Peace Corps can also help collaborations, to a certain extent, because they aren’t competing for resources. It is necessary to have bodies that can help spur collaboration without causing mistrust. Which is why ARDs seem so forward-thinking, in my opinion.
The real question is, why hasn’t anyone else hit upon this? Of course maybe they have and I just don’t know about it, but it seems like this would be a great idea for any country that has significant NGO activity going on in it. Mind you, all of this is aided by the fact that Senegal has a functioning democracy, which is not the case in many countries with lots of developmental aid. Coordinating aid programs isn’t really a priority of most juntas, as far as I can tell.
Of course, the agency isn’t super efficient, and it definitely has its issues, but it is a step in the right direction. In a recent interview, a discussion came up about the way that NGOs will come into a community and do some sort of work without even asking what the people want. The person I was interviewing referred to this as recolonization, which I thought was a very interesting and strong way of putting it. But this seems like a way to avoid that, because it connects people who need something with people who can provide it. It’s like Craig’s List, but for developmental aid. At the moment, it’s not perfect, but maybe in 10 years it will truly be a force in the aid environment of this country.
Things are going pretty well so far, other than being constantly aggravated by not being able to do my work for one reason or another. Luckily I’m starting to get things moving…I have a meeting (hopefully) with someone from Peace Corps tomorrow to talk about their malaria net distribution, and another on Friday with another malaria net organization called Animatrices de Sante. In a charming turn of events, I found out the hard way last night that this hotel, once again, has bed bugs. Which is great, because it’s the only affordable hotel in town and I’m here another week. Luckily, I have my sleep sheet, so I’ve decided to turn the fan on high directly on me, so that I get cold enough to sleep in the sleep sheet. There’s a solution to every problem, I suppose.
August 17, 2009
At the Dindefelo Waterfall, after going up and over the mountain
…or maybe I am. This weekend, I emptied the “Mom and Dad fund to let Becca do cool things in Senegal” and went to some Bassari villages (namely Iwol and Bandafassi) and the Dindefelo waterfall. Little did I know what this actually meant. I ended up spending my weekend climbing two 500 meter mountains. Straight up. I couldnt tell you the grade, or anything like that, but I was definitely not equipped for this. Luckily, there was Ousman. As far as I can tell, the guide quickly realized that I was no mountain climber, and assigned Ousman to make sure I didn’t fall. And for the last bit, to practically drag me up the mountain. I was pretty embarrassed because the others in my group (a Spanish couple and an Italian couple) were close to twice my age but were having no trouble at all. I was definitely the weakest link.
The first day’s climb was definitely the most difficult, as it was literally straight up the mountain. None of this snaking side to side stuff, just straight on up. I made it, but nearly puked many times and my legs were shaking by the time we got to the top. It was also pouring rain. The village was really great; very friendly people etc. But I found that I much prefer visiting a village and living with the people for a few days to just going as a tourist. Which I guess isn’t that strange. Of course then, there was the coming down the mountain part, which was even more challenging for me. I always thought of myself as rather surefooted, but not so while trying to go straight down a muddy mountain. Ousman again came to teh rescue and held my hand the whole way down. Unclear how much of that was because i needed help and how much because he wanted to hold my hand.
The next day we were going to the waterfall, which is what I really wanted to do. The water is a 2 km hike through the forest from the Campement where we were dropped off. But of course, we had to climb the mountain, walk around at the top, and then pretty much slide down the loose rocks on the other side, and THEN go to the waterfall. I have never understood the concept of climbing something just because it’s there…there was really nothing much to see at the top, just a terrifying drop off. Throughout the whole hike I kept a running monologue in my head of how ridiculous it is to climb things. I was pretty worked up and angry by the time we got to the waterfall, but after a swim in the ice cold pool and a rest out on the rocks, I was in a much better mood. Note to self, before agreeing to a trip, make sure the guide doesnt list it as “only for those who enjoy steep climbs.”
Work is going slowly here in K-gou. Apparently it is common for NGO workers, much like the French, to take off the entire month of August. Thank you, World Vision, for making my life hard. Anyway so I’m in the process of trying to get in touch with people, but its proving much more difficult than it has been before. Hopefully I’ll be able to get in touch with at least one or two organizations here!
August 14, 2009
Now that Ive been able to spend some time in many different regions of Senegal (and Mali!) I feel like I have a much better grasp on the different areas of the country. Dakar is, and will always be, big and bustling and crowded. The urbanization happening in Senegal is a huge factor in peoples lives, and even though there’s alot of illegal immigration from Dakar, there will always be more people coming in. After seeing Bamako, I understand that it is much more cosmopolitan than most West African cities, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Perhaps had I been able to explore the infamous nightlife I would have enjoyed it more, but as I’ve already mentioned I’m not a huge fan of Dakar.
Ziguinchor, and Casamance in general, has a completely different feel from Dakar and Cap Vert (the peninsula where Dakar is located). It is definitely more laid back, and has a feel that I would normally associate with the islands. Though to be fair I haven’t really spent much time on the islands so I can’t say this for sure. Because its near the beach, there are tons of Rastas, who are basically the bane of my existance as a single female traveling alone. There was this one area of Ziguinchor that I passed every day on my way to either work or the cybercafe which I called Rasta corner, because they literally just hung out there beating their drums and yelling at me as I passed. That being said, I really enjoyed Ziguinchor. It was much easier to get to know in a short period of time and I felt a definite connection to it by the time I left.
Now, finally, I find myself in Kedougou. Kedougou is small. Like, really small. I should be able to navigate it pretty easily by the end of the weekend, I bet. This has both its plusses and minuses. On one hand, there are almost no rastas. We are really far from the beach and while there are some tourists, it’s definitely not a huge industry. And really, I dont get yelled at or proposed to almost at all, though I have gotten a few of the sly “is it madame or madamoiselle” comments. (The answer, of course, is always madame). One problem with this is that I’ve had trouble finding places to eat, for example. Other than the dibeteries (grilled meat stands that serve as West Africa’s major fast food option) I have only been able to find one food option so far. My guidebook claims there are others, but because there is no map I haven’t been able to locate them. Hopefully after a few days exploring I’ll be able to find them. I’m also having trouble finding credit for my cell phone, because I have a relatively new provider that doesn’t seem to have broken into the market here yet. But other than those few minor inconveniences, I actually love it here. I have already figured out the layout of the market, and have found a tailor where I’m planning to get some clothes made. It’s really nice to feel like I know my way around. I’m in the process of trying to get in touch with some aid organizations here, so hopefully by early next week I will be able to tell you all about that. I only have 16 days left in Senegal which seems unfathomable…where has the time gone? Here’s hoping I can get everything done!
In other news, it is misting rain here today, but not really enough to get out an umbrella. So I didn’t. So when I got to the cybercafe and tried to plug in my ipod, I shocked myself like 3 times. It’s not a big deal or anything, it just shocked my hand a bit, but I felt pretty dumb. Note to self, when carrying electronics, use your umbrella.
August 13, 2009
Emily Making Pancakes
So I finally made it to Kedougou after several days of travel. I ended up leaving Mali a few days later than expected because I got kind of sick and was not really into being in a bus all day while ill. So I hung out with Emily some more, which was awesome. While in Mali, I actually did some interviews with Peace Corps people there about the village based training programs that they do. Instead of doing training at a center, they send their volunteers into the villages so that they are prepared for what is to come when they actually go to their sites. It seems like a good plan and I found that volunteers felt they were better prepared for their work in Mali than they had in Senegal. Mostly, though, it was just awesome to see Emily and meet her friends and see what her life has been like there. Everyone is encouraged to visit and send her mail and packages!
I left on Tuesday and was only able to make one leg of my journey, from Bamako to Kayes in Mali. Here, I had to spend the night, not only because it was dark, but also because the river had flooded and there was no way across. In the morning I took a taxi to the river, a pirogue across the river, nearly fell into the river trying to get myself and my luggage up the steep, muddy bank, and then got a taxi to the gare. From here, I took a minibus to the border…a minibus with all the seats taken out and a bunch of wooden benches in the back. 21 people in a 12 passenger van is always charming…but we made it eventually. From there it was just a taxi across the border, a sept place to Tamba, and then a remarkably enjoyable sept place to Kedougou. You go through the Nikolo Koba Park in this ride, which is a huge wildlife reserve, and I saw baboons, warthogs, porcupines, and monkeys out the window on the way. Once we actually had to stop the car to let a troop of baboons cross the road.
Kedougou is a little more challenging because there is no map of it in my guidebook. Im trying to find what I can but its been more difficult. My hostel is awesome though…I have a huge hut to myself with a shower and sink inside, though toilets are in a different locale. Still, so nice! After spending a week getting acquainted with the Malian nyegan, Im excited to be back to toilets again.
Emily and I making pancakes together
