Ramadan is in full swing now. This means no eating or drinking from sunrise until sunset for a month. Let me tell you, it’s exhausting! I have been fasting with my family, although I still drink water, and I don’t do too much during the day. This is the busiest time of year for my family as they are planting and taking care of their fields. It is a lot of physical labor which is extremely difficult while fasting. Not eating hasn’t been too hard, it’s mostly the lack of energy. Breaking fast is a lot of fun, though. It’s like this exciting event that everyone looks forward to. As soon as the Mosque loudspeaker goes off at around 7:30 everyone rushes to drink water. The traditional way to break fast here in Senegal is with dates, bread, and café Touba. In my family we usually have these things and then we might have mangoes or a special fruit drink like bissap juice. We then eat “lunch” at around 8:30 or 9 and the food is extra special and delicious. My family then has dinner at around midnight but thus far I have not stayed up for that. Breakfast is at 5 am, before the sun comes up. I think my family views my fasting in a mixture of surprise and appreciation. They love to ask me each day if I am going to fast and tell me how hard it is. I give them a lot of credit.
After IST ended in Thies I travelled to Dakar for a couple of days of relaxation. We pretty much spent those few days eating and drinking. It was fabulous to have good food, friends, electricity, running water, and even the occasional air conditioning. Going back to village after having these amenities and being away for so long was a little tough. Re-adjusting to the pace of village life took some time. I spend most of my time reading, doing laundry, hanging out with my family and chatting, helping in the fields, and helping with the women’s group. Last week an NGO that works with my village women’s group opened a brand new building with solar dryers for food production. I observed their training in how to properly use and maintain the dryers as well as food processing and packaging. It was impressive to see all these women working together and be so proud in their new white uniforms. Hopefully it will be a sustainable project and be profitable for the women’s group. I am eager to see what happens.
I am currently in Kaolack for a moringa nutritional training. The Kaolack region is doing a Moringa Tournee which means going to 25 different villages throughout Kaolack, Kaffrine, and Fatick in two parts. Part I, which was last month, was teaching the communities how to prepare and maintain two intensive moringa beds. Part II, in September, will be a nutritional training on how to properly use the moringa leaves, why it is nutritionally valuable, and to make something to eat then and there. Moringa is a native tree here in Senegal and the leaves are full of vitamins and other nutritional benefits. It’s actually quite amazing when broken down: 17 times the calcium in milk, 10 times the vitamin A in carrots, 4 times the protein of eggs, 15 times the potassium in bananas! We are really trying to get communities to utilize this type of tree more to help reduce malnutrition and other nutritional deficits. I am really excited to do this training in my village and hopefully get people to grow and use moringa.*I lost my camera when I was in Kedougou, so no more pictures for a while :(
