My apologies for not writing sooner, but I’ve been rather busy and the power cuts have been frequent. Where to start…
Good:
I held my first SED (small enterprise development) oriented activity – woo-hoo! I held a training to explain the benefits of having a bank account and had my PTA (program and training assistant) come up to host a game which reinforced what I was teaching, plus the importance of planning and quality. We had over 40 women participate; they were the presidents and secretaries of various groups within Dahra. Now why did I have this training in the first place, you may ask? Because most Senegalese do not keep their money in bank accounts. Most keep their earnings somewhere in their homes which leaves them vulnerable to multiple risks – theft, fire, having to lend/give money to other family members. The participants appeared to be quite receptive to the training, and I plan on doing follow-ups with each group that was present over the next couple of months.
- I have also started working with an association named “Les Amis de la Nature” and another women’s group. With these two groups, we were able to create a tree nursery of 1,730 tree sacks. Only time will tell how many of these will actually germinate… The plan is to plant most of these trees in the local schools, mosques, and other public areas.
- I have just completed all the paperwork for the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship. This is a Peace Corps initiated scholarship that is aimed at middle school age young women who earn good grades, are active in school activities, but lack financial support. Each dossier contains a short essay written by the candidate, teacher recommendation, home visit and an interview. I really enjoyed meeting each of the young women and their families. It was really cool to see all the different dynamics. The volunteers in my region will be hosting a two day workshop for all MSS participants and their parents at the end of September (this is different than the Girls’ Leadership Camp that I have been planning in Saint Louis).
- I held two separate Neem lotion trainings. Neem is a tree that is bountiful in Senegal, and one can use its’ leaves for a variety of purposes. For this training, the leaves are boiled in water (then discarded) to create a concentrate which is added to soap and a little bit of cooking oil (so as to remain “cream-like”) to create a lotion which acts as a natural mosquito repellent. This lotion is great and easy to make with local materials. One can use this lotion to protect their families or sell at the local market. The first training had 35 participants, and the second had 25 participants.
- I finished my first mural! This mural took forever...it's huge (over 6 ft x 6 ft) and the surface was really hard to paint on. However, I am now finished and I think it looks great :) It is of a dove with the word "peace" written in multiple languages.
Disappointing:
- Remember that beautiful green space project that I was so happy about? Well things have quickly gone downhill for several reasons. One, there is a problem with water at the school. Like the rest of Dahra, the school suffers from water cuts. Another problem though is that the school sets on a hill and there is not always enough pressure to get the water up the pipes to the school. This issue was not mentioned until we had already started in the project. I think the water situation is slowly getting better…the school received funding to purchase several water reservoirs and have held meetings with the local water company to find another solution. Second problem, the school guardian is lazy and does not perform his job well. He keeps the gates open all the time, which allows all types of livestock to enter the school grounds. The hedges and flowers planted were unappetizing to sheep, but goats got in and destroyed most of the area. Since then, the students and teachers have become discouraged and no longer care for the space (with a few exceptions). I have had several meetings with the school principal and the main teacher involved about necessary changes, but I am not sure if anything will come from our discussions. There is another mission team that is planning on planting some trees at the school. I will post again after that project…
- At the beginning of May, my host mother’s literacy group planted six different vegetable nurseries. Only two grew – eggplant and onion. Since then, they have also planted bissap, which has grown very well. Another issue is that their garden space has diminished greatly due to the construction of another house, so there is not enough room to transplant all the vegetables…Needless to say, this is still a work in progress, with lots of “roadblocks” along the way…
Travels and Goodbyes:
- I travelled to Saint Louis for a Girls’ Camp meeting and the Saint Louis Jazz Festival. Saint Louis is gorgeous! I stayed in a cute little campement right on the beach…such a nice, relaxing trip!
- I travelled to Thies to welcome the new SED volunteers and to help out with a little bit of training. It was so nice being back in Thies; the staff there is wonderful! It was also great getting to hang out with my friend Lyzz :)
- I went to Linguere at the end of May to celebrate Abby’s birthday. We had a Mexican extravaganza! It was wonderful and delicious! At the end of June, I returned to Linguere for our regional meeting. Afterwards, the Linguere missionaries brought over chips and queso (amazing!) and we all wished them safe travels back to the US (3 month furlough).
- I have also had to say goodbye to some of my missionary friends in Dahra. The missionary family returned to the US for a seven month furlough. The other missionary that I have worked with had to return home early due to some family illnesses back in the States. While I was sad to see them go, I know that I will be seeing the family again in January 2012, and can keep in touch with the other via e-mail. Also, they both let me raid their fridges before they left – it was like Christmas! I was able to stock up on all sorts of American goodies—yummy!
Well, I think that’s enough for now…thanks for taking the time to read all this!
