Erin’s Sojourn in Senegal

Last week was all about the girls. On Wednesday, Awa, a Senegalese woman who grew up dirt-poor poor in a tiny village and now works full-time for the Peace Corps, came to Thilogne to talk to thirty 14 and 15-year-old girls at the school. Being that she is a Senegalese, Muslim woman, she had more credibility and was given more respect than I probably would have been given if I gave a talk on the same issues. She talked to them about taboo subjects here, such as girls’ periods, rape, unwanted pregnancy, and sex – things that should be taught in school, or at least mentioned between a mother and daughter, but are not. I first realized that there was a problem when I was teaching the HIV/ AIDS class and discovered that the majority of the girls did not know what sex was. I’ve heard of several instances here in which a teenage girl got pregnant because the guy told her she couldn’t get pregnant from having sex. Awa did a great job talking to the girls on their level and made everyone feel comfortable talking about these subjects that are swept under the rug.

On Sunday, the Peace Corps volunteers from the Matam region (5 of us) hosted a girls’ leadership conference for the region’s applicants of the Michelle Sylvester Peace Corps academic scholarship (around 25 girls). At the conference, we talked about the difficulties girls face in school, gender roles and stereotypes, self-confidence, and planning for the future. We had two women speak to the girls as well. One was Kumba, a 35-year-old woman, never married, no kids, who has a good job at the Matam radio station. There are very few women here of her age that are not married with kids, so it was interesting to hear her story. The other woman, Marie-Thérèse, used to have a high-paying secretarial position in Dakar, but she quit her job when she decided to have a baby. She said she would like to go back to work when the baby turns two. The main message given was that girls have a choice: they can be stay-at-home moms, they can work, or they can do a bit of both, but they shouldn’t feel destined to any particular life. When the projector wasn’t working, I stepped in as a distraction and led the girls in a short game that shows how quickly HIV can spread.  It was a little chaotic in the beginning but I think everyone learned something in the end. You can watch it if you click below.

Click Me!

Aside from that, the weather was nice for a couple weeks, and it was so cold at night that I had to sleep inside.  Now, it’s hot again, but Jeniba assured me that the cold will come back soon (please be right!).   Mon Amie is doing really well, and Demba continues to try to demonstrate his power by finding a problem with just about everything I do. He also hurt Jeniba when she tried to stop him from strangling his daughter, which made me extremely angry, especially since there was nothing I could do about it without making the situation worse. Anyway, I hope you all have a great Christmas! My parents are coming in just a few days, which I’m excited about for many reasons, one being that Demba will have to be nice to me when they’re here because I’m going to tell him that they are Obama’s personal friends.

This week I was in Thiès for a permaculture workshop, where there were about 15 other PCVs, representing each region of Senegal. Going back to Thiès is like seeing an old friend again - It’s where my Peace Corps life started, and it was nice to go back because I realized how far I’ve come in a few months. When I first got to Senegal, I thought Thiès was the filthiest, most disgusting place I’d ever seen in my life. Now, it’s paradise. I can get banana splits, diet coke, and chocolate; and there is less trash here than there is in Thilogne.

I am always worried about leaving Mon Amie with my host family, for obvious reasons. It’s like leaving my only child with a babysitter who throws rocks at kids, and thinks it fine to kick them. I called my host mom today and she said the dog is well, but one never knows. If I’ve learned anything about Senegalese culture, it’s that they would rather lie to you than respond in the negative, whether it’s about something simple, like not having a certain item on the menu at a restaurant, or something really serious.

The workshop was great because we spent only a couple hours in the classroom, and the rest of the time was spent actually building a bio-intensive garden that will last forever. A permagarden expert from Tanzania came to teach us a new gardening method that maximizes natural resources in a small space, close to the home, which yields bigger and better crops than the traditional method. Although there is more work in the beginning using the new method, the soil actually improves over time and requires far less work in the long run. When building a permagarden, we learned to plan ahead - observe the rain flow on the ground and start a compost. We double-dug the soil to enable the roots to go deeper, thereby allowing the plants to be planted closer together, eliminating wasted space. We added charcoal, ash, and compost to the soil in order to hold carbon dioxide and water, re-mineralize the soil, and enrich and compact the soil, respectively.

I would love to build a permagarden in Thilogne, but the problem is finding motivated workers who want to learn new techniques. I’ve noticed from talking to other PCVs and traveling to different regions, that the people in Thilogne are far less motivated than people from other areas. I think the main reason for this is the heat. The north, where we live, is not only the hottest region in Senegal, it is the hottest inhabited place on earth during certain times of the year. The heat is debilitating, and gardening is not in their blood like it is for people in the South of Senegal. That said, I will talk to the farmers and see if they are interested.  Even if they are willing to incorporate one of the techniques of the permagarden, they will benefit a lot, so I hope I can encourage even one person or family to try it.