Erin’s Sojourn in Senegal

In Northern Senegal, people sleep outside for most of the year (February-October) to escape the unbearable indoor heat. Because they don’t have the necessary equipment to properly hang their bednets, they either do not use them or they hang them ineffectively. I observed several compounds using sticks to prop up their bednets, which proves a feeble structure, and several other compounds had only two corners of the net hung so that the bednet was touching the person inside, meaning he/she was not protected from the mosquitoes, as shown below.

I decided to propose a project to the US Army’s Humanitarian Assistance Team, which would help reduce malaria in Thilogne by providing a sturdy yet portable structure to suspend the bednets. I proposed that we build 200 sets of “legs” that would stand at each corner of the bed. The base is made of cement, and in it there is a steel pole that stands upright with a loop at the top. We use these “legs” at all the regional houses in Senegal, and they have proven themselves to be effective and necessary.

My proposal was approved, and last week I went around to almost 100 compounds, handing out tickets for these “bed legs,” explaining to each family that they had to contribute one bucket of water to the project if they wanted a set of “legs.” Everyone seemed very excited and promised to come on the given day with a bucket of water. When the project was underway, however, not even 25 families brought the water; I still have people coming to me with their tickets asking for the “legs,” though they contributed nothing. Most people respond, saying, “sorry, I forgot.” In fact, I’m glad that the majority of people forgot because the project did not go according to plan, and we ultimately made only 40 sets, instead of the proposed 200.

The problem was the mason (pictured below). He was by no stretch of the imagination a professional, and he did not understand basic arithmetic. Even though, on the day the project began, there was a great translator who explained the project to the mason (after I had explained it to him countless times with pictures and detailed descriptions), and helped the mason determine how many supplies to buy, the mason did not understand. He was told he had three days to complete 200 SETS of “bed legs” but in the end he only made 150 LEGS. He used all the materials, though, because he made the base way too big and he built a metal “grid” for each leg, which was unnecessary and not part of the original plan.

Now, our yard is filled with these bed legs because only two families who brought water have come by to claim their set. It’s been three days since the project has been completed, and people were supposed to have come on the 21st. I’ve been trying to spread the word that they’re finished, so hopefully people will start taking them away.

Nonetheless, I want to wish all Americans a Happy Thanksgiving and all Muslims a Happy Tabaski! We will be eating goat meat with potatoes and onion sauce, and if it’s like Korité, we will eat the same un-refrigerated meat for about three days afterward. I bet you wish you were here to celebrate!

After several weeks of planning and preparation, I was able to bring art to Thilogne this week.  Using the art supplies donated by teachers from White Oaks Elementary School in Virginia, I taught a total of 150 7th grade students the very basics of color and line.  More importantly, the class gave them a chance to experiment with crayons and markers - a chance they’ve never had before and most likely will not have again.  Here in Thilogne, students are sometimes taught art theory, but it does not go farther than that.

The first class was two hours long and after the first hour the kids would not stay in their seats and would not stop talking.  For positive reinforcement, I had been putting some good drawings up on the wall.  However, these students are not used to positive reinforcement, they are only used to getting beat if they do something wrong.  So after I had put a few drawings on the wall, kids starting shouting at me to put theirs up as well, and before long kids were putting their own drawings on the wall themselves .  On top of that, the kids had no idea what to do when I said “be creative and use your imagination” because they have never been told to do that before.  What happened, was everyone ended up just copying the example I did on the board.  It was basically out of control, and when I got home I was so traumatized all I could do was stare at the wall for a half hour.

Thanks to the advice of my music-teacher mom, I shortened the following classes to one hour, simplified everything, and took out the things that didn’t work, and they went much more smoothly.  Since each student who participated received a small bag of new crayons, I now have every kid and her mother asking me for crayons.  Crayons are non-existent here so I can see their appeal, but I really didn’t like how the majority of students did not say thank you and instead asked for more crayons or complained that they didn’t get markers as well.  The problem is that people here have learned to expect things from outsiders because they have been given things by development workers their entire lives.  Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of people not being grateful for things, since they think they are entitled to it.  In any case, the kids seemed to enjoy the art classes.

All the left-over supplies (and there were tons), I donated to the pre-school, which has almost no supplies to work with, and I imagine the kids do not do very much the four hours they are there.  This week, I also started teaching an HIV/AIDS Prevention and Gender Development class to a small group of girls ages 14 and 15.  I’m looking forward to working with these girls, as they seem eager to learn about the subject.  Thank you to everyone who helped make the art camp possible!