The Beginning and The End

I got up bright and early this morning to leave the training center for the last time. I wasn't traveling alone on this trip, I was accompanying my replacement, Stanzi, to see her new home. She and I will be in Bambey until Tuesday touring around a really just enjoying all that there is to offer. It is exciting and encourages a lot of retrospection on my part. I remember seeing Bambey for the first time and, simultaneously, the city looked unique and indistinguishable from what I'd already seen of Senegal. I remember all of the questions I had so I'm trying to preempt them or at least answer them as well as I can. I honestly seems like just yesterday when I walked from my new house, down the main street, met Matar for the first time, and continued into town. I can't believe that my two years are up and that this is now Stanzi's new house, my old house; her first time meeting Matar, one of my last times with him.

Today we did a basic walking tour just so she could start orienting herself. We walked through the market to visit my vegetable lady while causing quite a scene the entire time (two Americans! Ridiculous!). At one point several women gathered round to exclaim how amazing it was that I was Kira (my ancienne volunteer)'s replacement and I was standing next to my replacement! Shocking! Amazing! SO MANY GENERATIONS OF VOLUNTEERS! Every vendor we've seen has also made sure that I told Stanzi she should shop with them.

We also visited Matar and I showed her all of the different designs. It seems like she has a ton of great ideas already - I'm so excited to see how the artisan network and Matar's product line grows!

Most importantly of the day was her introduction and interactions with the family. We walked in and there was a huge to-do because she was here, I'd come back from a long trip, and Awa (my host sister who was studying in Algeria) came back and I saw her for the first time today. She needed a Senegalese name so I told my host family and my host mom and dad thought about it. They finally suggested Khady because they know how close I am to the little Khady already in my house. After deciding that it wouldn't be too confusing to have two "Khady Falls" in the house, Stanzi got her new name! At the time, little Khady wasn't home but I was anxious to see how she would react to the new toubab that I had promised her. She was definitely shocked that the new toubab was here and was actually a real person. I think it took her even more by surprise when she learned that they shared the exact same name. Throughout the course of the day, however, little Khady went from being abnormally shy to her normal, sassy, bossy self. By this evening she was taking turns climbing all over Stanzi and I. I'm really happy that my host family seems to excited and welcoming of Stanzi. I had a feeling they would be but it's great to see that my replacement will be well taken care of for her two years.

One last thing, I had my last girls' group meeting today with the core group of girls and boy was that sad. It was really exciting to introduce them to Stanzi and to listen to them talk about what they want to do with her next year. Salamata (my favorite) even came early and gave me a pair of shoes which is so unbelievable nice, especially considering how poor her family is. She and I didn't have a ton of time to talk but she told me that her sister asked her dad if Salamata could live with and work for her sister for the summer. I'm a little worried that she won't be able to come back to school but she seems to think she will - I hope she's right. Saying goodbye to my little group of girl scouts was sad. They haven't been my largest project but they've become like members of my Senegalese family. I was getting a little choked up when thanking them for helping me and being so kind and welcoming to me.

But! Enough about today from my perspective... you should all go to Stanzi's blog (www.scatteringthemorningdew.tumblr.com) and read about her first Bambey day.

KO

Thrown A Bone

Senegal has thrown a lot of bad days at me. Sometimes it's because of work (or lack their off), weather, bad moods, rudeness, or even just too much heat and rice. Every now and again, however, I get thrown a bone and today was one of those days. My morning started slowly, sure the virtual Sunday paper might not beat a real paper and a bagel but it's become a nice ritual. Around 11am I headed towards the middle school I've recently been working in to meet one of my scholarship winners. After she came we quickly did the interview and then she told me she needed to run to the market before we went to her house. Though it turns out by "run to the market" she meant buy everything for her family's lunch - I actually didn't mind today. While we were in the market I ran into about 10 people I knew and, not going to lie, it made me feel kind of famous. Sure not in an "Angelina Jolie" way but in a "after two years, someone's come to realize I'm just a random, lost American" way. Yes, one of these 10 people was my host sister who was picking up things for our lunch - but it was still pretty awesome.

After signing autographs and kissing babies (obviously joking) in the market, we went to this girl's house. This girl's dad is actually one of the point-people at the University. Last week her dad told me that she was going to try and hide that fact from me because if she was worried that I wouldn't let her go to the camp because her dad has a good job. I explained to him that she had ALREADY won the invitation to the camp based only on her intelligence and hard work at school. I visited with her family for a bit and then she took me to another scholarship winner's house. This second girl sat while I talked to her parents and we did the interview. Sure, chatting with people's parents sounds like nothing but I love being able to praise these girls in front of their parents. Affirmation doesn't exist in Senegalese culture - my host sisters always say if you get a 19/20 you'll be made fun of for the point you missed - so it's nice to come in and provide a little bit of positivity. The two families I visited today seem to support their daughters' educations more than other families. Keep in mind that by "supporting" their daughter's education I mean, their daughters still do insane amounts of chores, care the younger children, all while studying on their own without help - it just means that their parents care that they're studying and know that they have good grades.

Around 1pm I knew I had to make my exit. Though it was almost the hottest part of the day and I was sure to get sunburned from walking home (which I did burned a little) if I stayed I would miss lunch at my house and have to eat with this girl. Sure it would have been a really nice thing for me to have stayed but my family is used to the little amount of rice I eat - this family would have been offended. The two girls that I had visited walked me home - which was pretty far. About halfway through the walk they asked if, at this year's camp, we would be doing skits and dances like they had heard about from last year's camp. Sure the image of middle school girls doing a HORRIBLY raunchy dance last year flashed through my mind but it was quickly replaced by joy that the camp was being talked about! These girls had heard about the camp and were so excited they got to go! They were so excited they were already talking about what skit themes or dances they could do! I was ecstatic that, a camp that didn't exist this time last year, is being talked about! I honestly think that, if there was the space, I could fill all 30 camper spots with outstanding girls from Bambey. I'm sure the camp will continue to expand and give more girls this great opportunity over the next few years.

Youssou's older sisters were randomly visiting (unfortunately he didn't come but they brought word that he is in peace aka the Senegalese way of saying "nothing's up") so we had chicken instead of fish today! Yes it was still accompanied with rice and, yes, because it was a "special occasion" the rice had so much oil you could see it pooling under the rice... but it was still chicken!

This afternoon I tried to have a girls' group meeting with last year's campers but only two showed up. One of them was, not surprisingly, the rockstar herself Salamata. I explained how the camp was going to work this year and told them about the meeting on the 19th. I also asked that, on the 19th, they explain the camp a little more to the new girls. My language skills are better than they were last year but I know that it will be more clear if the girls explain it themselves.

Today was one of those good days in Senegal which is like a roller coaster. When I have good days - they're outstanding and the bad days, when they hit, are wretched. Luckily today was one of the good ones which I'm hoping for come frequently during the last two months that I'm here.

KO

To Thies and Back

This morning I went into Thies to run a few errands and meet up with the girl posse. Alyssa and I did some banking and then bought fabric for Matar to turn into chic dresses (I’ll update you on how it turns out). We bought a TON of cheese, bread, and apples then met Jackie, Tamar, and her friend from home at the training center. After a lovely picnic I grabbed my COS packet and headed back to Bambey.

If I haven’t defined it before “COS” means close of service or continuation of service… depending on who you are and how you look at things. Some say that because I will always have fond memories of Peace Corps and I hope to continue spreading my stories of this adventure it’s a “continuation of service” just no in Senegal. In my mind one chapter is ending and another is starting so it’s a “close of service” which, besides, sounds way more exciting and way more like I’m done in 2 months! So today I got my COS packet, it contains all sorts of information about COS: paperwork to do, checklists to fill out, advice from former volunteers, and much, much more! The checklist is definitely my favorite part of the entire packet it makes it look like the 30 or so tasks I have to do before July will be a breeze. The next step is to attend my COS conference which will be in Dakar early next month. It’s three days with my entire stage (or the 40 some of us that are left) where we’ll learn all of the final details about how to get out of Senegal and end these two years.

After reading my entire COS packet on the ride back to Bambey, I dropped it off in my room then went to a meeting at the middle school. Today my scholarship girls met me at the school to write their essays for the application. The questions were simple: what do you want to be when you grow up? and what’s the largest issue facing girls in education in your town? One girl also did her interview and the rest of them picked times for me to visit their house and do the interview. After I’ve done that, I will recommend 6 of the 9 girls. A final committee of volunteers from other sites will pick the 3 girls that win $30 each to buy school supplies. My replacement will take those 3 girls shopping (which, if it’s like last year, will be amazing) and then pay $10 of all 9 of the girls’ enrollment fees for the school (the girls will be left with about $2 to pay themselves).

It’s up to me to figure out who gets to come to the camp from Bambey so I’ve decided that the 9 scholarship girls from this year as well as the 5 girls that went to the camp last year and have been actively participating in the girls’ group are guaranteed spots. For the rest of the spots, I’m inviting everyone that participated last year (but wasn’t part of the girls’ group on their own choosing), the top students from the other two middle schools, and I told this year’s scholarship girls they could each invite a friend, to my house on the 19^th. I’m going to have Salamata and Soukey (another OUTSTANDING camper from last year) present on what the camp was like so the girls get a better idea. Then I’m going to give them each a form to fill out and tell them to return the forms to me by a certain date. The forms won’t be that involved – it’s more of making sure they’re dedicated enough to actually fill out a form and return it. Last year I had to invite random girls at the last minute (which worked out but was unnecessary) because girls weren’t dedicated or excited for the camp. I think giving the girls a little bit of responsibility (writing their information, getting their parents approval or inviting me to talk to their parents, and maybe writing a reason why they want to go to the camp) will give them some responsibility and ownership of the camp. The camp will be the last week of September – so about a month after my replacement gets to Bambey. I’m so excited that my replacement will get to participate in all of these incredible activities at the beginning of their service – I hope it sets the tone for the rest of their two years.

One other awesome thing happened today, I was walking back from the essay writing and had this conversation with a random 8 year old girl:

Girl: How are you?
Me: I’m fine, how are you?
Girl: I’m fine. What’s your name?
Me: Fatou, what’s your name?
Girl: Ndeye. Will you give me 25cfa?
Me: Will you give me 25cfa?
Girl: But you should give me money because you’re so pretty.
Me: You’re also pretty.
Girl: Will you give me your hair?
Me: I can’t do that.
Girl: Look – I live over there. Bye!

The last thing today is just well wishes for my cousin and his fiancée who are getting tomorrow – I hope everyone has a great time at the wedding and I wish I could be there to see it!

KO

Salemata

I haven't been blogging recently because I haven't had much to blog about but I got great news a few days ago:

Last year I did a scholarship for the top female students at one of the middle schools. These girls were invited to the camp. Before the camp one of them, Salemata (who had the 3rd highest grades for the girls), called to ask me to talk to her older brother: her dad didn't want to let her go to the camp but if I could convince her older brother maybe he could convince her dad. A few days after I talked to her older brother she called to tell me she could go to the camp! At the camp participated a lot and was really outgoing during the camp. About halfway through the camp she found me one day and asked to use my phone. She took off running towards the dorms and started crying. I followed her and she explained that another girl had taken her phone and her shoes and hid them. Needless to say I was horribly upset at the bullies and I felt so bad for this amazing girl. We resolved the issue and Salemata's classmates really rallied around her which was great to see.

After the camp Salemata has been the most responsible and participatory girls in the girls' group. She always comes to meetings and she'll call if she can't come. For Tabaski (the big sheep killing holiday) she invited me to visit her house. This sounds pretty mundane but visiting people on holidays is a really huge part of Senegalese culture but I hadn't really felt like there was anyone that I was close enough to not feel like I was being a burden on their holiday celebration. I decided to follow up on Salemata's invitation and I went over to her house to hang out with her family for about half an hour. We just sat and talked, nothing big, but I was really honored that she felt comfortable enough with me to invite me over.

I really don't feel like I'm explaining her well but take my word - she's amazing. She's the girl that I think about when I need motivation to go to a meeting I think might be cancelled or when I had to go back to the University a million times last year while I was organizing the girls' camp.

So for the great news part: I got a call from her a few days ago and we chatted like normal then she told me that she had just received her grades for first semester and she has the highest grades in the class. She doesn't have the highest grades of the girls but of everyone which is huge! I am so unbelievably proud of her and I wish that there was more I could do to continue to encourage her but she seems to really be rocking the world on her own.

That's my good news! In other events I'm finishing my middle school business classes tomorrow and I'm starting classes at the elementary school (including with my 12 year old host sister) Tuesday!

There are also only 66 days left of this adventure!

KO

Radio Stars!

Salamata, Ndeye Coumba, Soukey, Erin, Safie, Ndeye Awa, and I

Erin, in the middle, an ag volunteer living in a small village outside of Thies, has started working towards a Peace Corps radio program. Other regions of the country work with local radio stations and volunteers' topics range from explaining American culture to talking about work/teaching even reading children's stories in the local language. We were brainstorming topics for this potential Thies radio show and I decided to get my girls' group involved.

When I mentioned that they could be on the radio all of my girls jumped at the opportunity! They immediately started brainstorming skit ideas which were eventually narrowed down to a single skit discussing AIDS, early and forced marriage, abuse against children, and the environment. After that meeting we decided to take a break and get back together the next week to start working on the script. The next week I showed them a basic plot diagram (intro, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion) which they had never seen before. I was able to convince them to drop the multi-themed skit and do two skits with one theme each: abuse against children and forced/early marriage.

They started writing the abuse against children script to present to me. When they were finished they explained the plot and let's just say it was WAY too inappropriate for 14 year old girls to be talking about. I hated to censor them but I couldn't have them talking about things that were culturally inappropriate especially not under the Peace Corps name. We decided to take another week break and come back together the next week. The next Sunday they had two great scripts to present and we started practice!

The first skit was about a girl who's mom wants her to get married to a wealthy man so her family can have money. Eventually the girl's friends convince her mom to let her finish school and everything ends happily. The idea might seem far fetched but unfortunately, the only far fetched part is that the girl didn't have to get married. Sometimes girls are married off at really young ages because their family can't support them or doesn't want to anymore.

The second skit is kind of the Senegalese version of Cinderella: an orphaned daughter (of a second wife) is forced to do all of the housework by her dad's first wife until the first wife's friend comes over and points out that the orphan shouldn't be abused, that she has rights, and that the actual daughter of the first wife doesn't know how to do anything because she's never had to do any chores.

Erin came out to Bambey yesterday to record the skits and the girls' introduction. To make it seem like more of an event I bought a few bottles of soda and we had a little party. I've attached some photos from the day! Erin's going to edit the piece and I'll have a copy to play for the girls May 1st!

Erin handing the mic off

Hammering out last minute details (and Salamata is hiding from the picture because she said her hair was ugly)

Practicing before the recording

My internet has finally been fixed! I promise I'll blog more now that I don't need to email my postings to my parents and have them post (thanks parents).

Things are moving along in Bambey - nothing too exciting to report. On Saturday the opposition parties (there are several smaller parties) held a rally in Dakar and a few other large cities. There wasn't a rally here but everyone watched the Dakar march on tv. It's just interesting how life still goes on even through something that people were thinking might be huge (Reuters' Article Pre-Rally). Everyone still had to go to the market and do their chores, they just did it with the tv on in the background. So far there hasn't been any follow up.

Yesterday I had a girls' group meeting - we're working on a radio show project. The girls are writing radio scripts and in two weeks another volunteer is coming to record them. The other volunteer, Erin, is arranging a deal with a local radio station for a "Peace Corps Hour" a few times a month. Hopefully my girls' skits and discussions can be on the radio someday! They tried to write a script last week but it was horribly confusing and a little inappropriate. For this week, I started with a basic plot diagram (intro, rising action, climax, concluding action, resolution) which none of them had seen or been taught before (that creative writing isn't taught here shouldn't surprise me at this point). Using that, they were able to put together one skit and are working on the other skit during the week. They have two weeks until Erin comes to record so hopefully everything will be ready.

My classes resume today because, theoretically, the strikes are over.

Also, it's the hot season like whoa. It was cool in Dakar and when I got back here it was hot. I'm talking about almost unbearable hot. The kind of heat that takes your breath away when you walk into the sun. The kind of hot when a gallon of water isn't enough during the day (yeah that's not a joke). This should stay until it starts raining in July, and it's still cooling off at night enough to sleep without a fan so that's a success! Speaking of heat though, I should go fill up my water-bottle! Happy Monday! I hope all of your brackets are doing well!

KO

Girls Scouts: Senegal Style

I was a girl scout (technically a brownie) when we lived in Texas. As you can see, I wasn't a very good Girl Scout (there's disagreement over whether I never earned a merit badge or if they just didn't make it onto my sash):

Regardless of my poor performance as a Girl Scout, I really do see the importance of women and girls in development. In the US women's groups when done correctly (girl scouts, sororities, book clubs - you name it) can have a million positive impacts on the lives of the members (I consider myself among the lucky with my amazing sorority). Internationally, these groups have a lot of potential, so I believe, at changing the members but also doing development work. The girls' camp was a great week but I'm not willing to let it end there so I invited all of the Bambey campers to my house for a meeting today. After chatting about the camp (they all emphatically claim they've done yoga since the camp), we got down to business. I asked if they would like to have a girls' group for the school year, we would be doing the same sort of things that the camp did just for a couple hours a month instead of compacted. Everyone wanted in! When I asked who they wanted it to be, just them or invite their friends, they all agreed that it should just be the girls who went to the camp. While I don't agree with their exclusivity, I told them it was their group and they could decide - and I'm going to suggest we open it up at the start of the year to new members. We then elected a board for the next 3 months (that's what we decided a term would be), and ended up with a tie for President. The two presidential candidates decided to split the term (they wouldn't agree on being co-presidents, "that just can't happen!").

Next we talked about my big, kind of a long shot, dream project: doing a 3-day day camp for younger girls and having these girls act as the counselors. They thought I was crazy but they loved the idea! When I told them that I would organize it all but would expect them to teach the classes they all started talking at once. I admit, the project has a huge chance to never get off the ground or, if it does start, blow up in my face. Having 10 middle school girls teach a camp to 9 year olds? Crazy! But if it worked, it would be amazing and, for that reason, I have to try.

While I do my behind-the-scenes organizing work for these day camp, the girls' group (what I'm calling my girl scouts) is moving forward! At the end of our first meeting, after agreeing the next would be next week, same time, same place, I tried to explain "kudos" to them. At the end of every meeting, my sorority would have time for "kudos," it was basically a time to go around and give people props for awesome or nice things they had done during the week. They always ranged from, "congrats so and so on getting your internship" to "I was having a crappy day on Monday and so and so cheered me up - thanks." It was a positive way to end a meeting. Well, the girls didn't pick up kudos today, but I wished them all good luck (the first actual day of school starts tomorrow!) and I'm going to try with the kudos again next week.

In other news, I totally won over the 2 or 3 year old that now lives in my house! I let her play with my hair, then she held my hand and not her sister's (who's maybe 10) when we went to get me light bulbs (I'm not exactly sure they the kids had to accompany me down the street but I appreciated it). Khady (the little one) then sat on my lap while I read. We're besties now.

KO

Certificates

Today I handed out certificates for the class and we took a class picture:


I also had a meeting with my scholarship girls and tried to arrange things for the summer. I asked a few of them what types of programing or things they would like me to try and organize over the summer. They all agreed on basketball and when I asked if they had anymore suggestions one said, "you mean we can do more than one thing?!" Things like that make my job easier. Two of the girls stayed after the meeting to help me grid the mural and one of them (the rest have class) is coming tomorrow morning to help me paint.

Other than things at the middle school today was more getting ready for leaving, some cleaning, laundry, and studying. Oh! The sheep now only bleat when someone walks by their area. If they start bleating when Youssou walks by he bleats back at them. These evening after the sheep and Youssou exchanged several rounds of bleating he yelled, "hahaha your mom is dinner somewhere!"

KO