It's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened in good ole Senegal. Ramadan was going well except for this infection on my foot that I had for the past month in a half. Luckily I got some antibiotics and it started to finally heal, however not soon after I developed chest pains and was not feeling too hot. After spending a week in Dakar at the med hut the doctors decided I had esphogatis. Apparently the fasting had perpetuated it, causing the acid in my stomach to come into contact with my esophagus which is quite painful. Thankfully after getting medication and rest it feels fine. I came back to village at the end of Ramadan, after an adventure in Senegalese transportation. I should have known not to travel the day before a Senegalese holiday, in this case Korite. Korite is the celebration after the end of Ramadan and people are traveling home to celebrate the end of fasting and eat delicious food. I took a "mini car" since there were no actual cars at the garage and crammed in a small van with 18 other people. After five breakdowns, the sliding door falling off twice (had to tie it with rope to keep it shut, then they just took it off completely and put it on the roof) switching vehicles, and 7 hours later I finally made it to Kaolack. After spending the night in Kaolack I headed to Kaffrine the next morning. I was so glad to be back in village to see my family and celebrate with them. I helped my sister and sister-in-law cook lunch, which is the special meal of the day. We had sheep meat, macaroni in a garlic and onion sauce, french fries and bread. It was so good, the best meal I have had in village thus far! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, listening to music on the radio and just joking around. Later that evening children went around the village and asked for small change, kind of like Halloween in the States, and people apologize to each other for their transgressions, making a fresh start for the new year.
After Ramadan I was happy to be able to start a few small projects. Since the moringa tournee was coming to my village I went to my Caste de Sante and had the villagers dig two intensive beds and plant three trees. In my broken Wolof I attempted to explain the importance of double digging, adding amendments to the soil like manure, green matter, and ash, and planting and watering. The villagers were very receptive and did all the work themselves. A few days later two Peace Corps volunteers came to my village to do the second part of the tournee. We had a good gathering of women, children and even a few men. Under the huge neem tree in front of my family's compound we talked about how to harvest the moringa leaves, wash, and dry them. Then we explained the nutritional content of the leaves and why it was especially good for children. We had visual aids to help explain all the information, which my host mom promptly asked for so she could make her own visual aids and teach the information herself. It was really inspiring to know that the people learned something and were really motivated to use the what they had learned. We then made moringa powder from the leaves and cooked up a simple porridge using ingredients that are easily accessible in village. The porridge was a huge success and everyone loved it! My family and community were so happy and enthusiastic the whole day and I really felt that they were interested in what we had to say and will hopefully use moringa powder in the future in their own households.
The next two days after the very successful information session I participated in a baby weighing at the Caste de Sante (village health post). World Vision, who has an office in Kaffrine, trains a local to administer the baby weighing and record the results. I hung out all day with one of the midwifes and another worker and we weighed the babies and took their arm circumference to make sure they are not malnourished. I was in charge of putting the babies in the harness for the scale that hangs from a tree provided by UNICEF. Some of the babies could care less and just dangled complacently, while others screamed and cried and swung themselves attempting to get away from the scary toubab (white person). Overall it was really interesting and I got to see first hand how healthy the children in my village are. While we only had two babies in the red out of about 50 we still had quite a few in the yellow. After the baby weighing World Vision hosts a week long nutritional session for babies that are malnourished or on the cusp. This offers the children and their mothers healthy food as well as lessons on proper nutrition and resources. It's really a great program that I hope to become more involved in.
After my busy week I spent time with my family just hanging out and doing some of their day to day activities with them. I went to the field with my moms and sister and I even carried my five month old nephew Ibou on my back, just like a Senegalese woman! Everyone loved it and thought it was hilarious! The main crops in my area are peanuts and millet. Everyone is busy trying to keep up with the huge amount of weeds from the rainy season and harvesting. Last Saturday however, I got sick again! This time I have amoebas, a stomach parasite that is pretty common among volunteers in Senegal. I am in the regional house on the meds now and recovering. It's been a tough month health wise, but I feel like I am finally getting to do some real work and it has been so rewarding. My next projects are to paint some nutritional murals at the Caste de Sante and start a garden at the primary school in October when school starts up again. It is hard to believe that I have been in Senegal six months already. The days are long, but the weeks and months just seem to fly past.
Thank you to everyone who has sent me letters, cards, packages, messages, love and good thoughts my way. It is very much appreciated.
After Ramadan I was happy to be able to start a few small projects. Since the moringa tournee was coming to my village I went to my Caste de Sante and had the villagers dig two intensive beds and plant three trees. In my broken Wolof I attempted to explain the importance of double digging, adding amendments to the soil like manure, green matter, and ash, and planting and watering. The villagers were very receptive and did all the work themselves. A few days later two Peace Corps volunteers came to my village to do the second part of the tournee. We had a good gathering of women, children and even a few men. Under the huge neem tree in front of my family's compound we talked about how to harvest the moringa leaves, wash, and dry them. Then we explained the nutritional content of the leaves and why it was especially good for children. We had visual aids to help explain all the information, which my host mom promptly asked for so she could make her own visual aids and teach the information herself. It was really inspiring to know that the people learned something and were really motivated to use the what they had learned. We then made moringa powder from the leaves and cooked up a simple porridge using ingredients that are easily accessible in village. The porridge was a huge success and everyone loved it! My family and community were so happy and enthusiastic the whole day and I really felt that they were interested in what we had to say and will hopefully use moringa powder in the future in their own households.
The next two days after the very successful information session I participated in a baby weighing at the Caste de Sante (village health post). World Vision, who has an office in Kaffrine, trains a local to administer the baby weighing and record the results. I hung out all day with one of the midwifes and another worker and we weighed the babies and took their arm circumference to make sure they are not malnourished. I was in charge of putting the babies in the harness for the scale that hangs from a tree provided by UNICEF. Some of the babies could care less and just dangled complacently, while others screamed and cried and swung themselves attempting to get away from the scary toubab (white person). Overall it was really interesting and I got to see first hand how healthy the children in my village are. While we only had two babies in the red out of about 50 we still had quite a few in the yellow. After the baby weighing World Vision hosts a week long nutritional session for babies that are malnourished or on the cusp. This offers the children and their mothers healthy food as well as lessons on proper nutrition and resources. It's really a great program that I hope to become more involved in.
After my busy week I spent time with my family just hanging out and doing some of their day to day activities with them. I went to the field with my moms and sister and I even carried my five month old nephew Ibou on my back, just like a Senegalese woman! Everyone loved it and thought it was hilarious! The main crops in my area are peanuts and millet. Everyone is busy trying to keep up with the huge amount of weeds from the rainy season and harvesting. Last Saturday however, I got sick again! This time I have amoebas, a stomach parasite that is pretty common among volunteers in Senegal. I am in the regional house on the meds now and recovering. It's been a tough month health wise, but I feel like I am finally getting to do some real work and it has been so rewarding. My next projects are to paint some nutritional murals at the Caste de Sante and start a garden at the primary school in October when school starts up again. It is hard to believe that I have been in Senegal six months already. The days are long, but the weeks and months just seem to fly past.
Thank you to everyone who has sent me letters, cards, packages, messages, love and good thoughts my way. It is very much appreciated.
