Sorry if its been awhile but I definately went through a two week stint where I wasn't online once. I do live in Senegal, after all. I can't be too connected. Things are going really well and I've been busy.
Had my consultation with Saër, the entrepeneur last Wednesday and it went well. He wants to submit a business plan to a local bank to finance a fruit and vegetable intermediary business to get financing and so my first meeting with him we just reformatted the business plan and I gave him a list of things to add to the business plan, such as a SWOT analysis and marketing study, and will check back up on him this week. Actually made the appointment for today, but am in Dakar at the moment, so will have to call and reschedule.
Other than that I have been spending most of my time at the youth library. We hit the halfway mark last week. 2500 books entered in the last two months. Have I really been working on this for two months? I hope to really focus on this work and get the next half done in by the end of July. It could be my birthday present to myself: the gift of a successfully completed project! We'll see how that goes.
Spent an entire day last week at the high school where they were putting on a Café Litéraire, or a coffee-shop forum on a piece of literature by a Senegalese author. The students made presentations about the piece, everyone got coffee (it was actually coffee Touba, which they make with tea and I think is vile) and doughnuts and there was a huge debate. It went really well and even the mayor showed up to participate. I think the students were all very pleased. I am supposed to speak with Mme. Diallo at the high school about working with her on her girls group there.
Had another meeting of my girls group on Friday where we played a game on saying no to sexual pressure and then talked about making good decisions using little scenarios that the girls had to make decisions for. This week will be my last meeting with them until the start of the next school year. After work on Friday I went to Popenguine for a party with some other Peace Corps volunteers on the beach. An excuse to bum around on the beach, get away from site and to get to know the new kids who have just sworn in as volunteers last month.
Monday morning had my first meeting with the womens groups to teach IT. We had a two hour lesson and I am going back on Friday. I will be in Thiès twice a week for the next who knows how long. Looking forward to it. They are very nice and super motivated to learn, which makes my job just a little bit easier.
And thats what I do for a living. In Dakar at the moment hanging out with one of my friends who is leaving for the states this weekend. I will miss her loads. Looking forward to getting back to site today, picking up some mangoes and getting back to work tomorrow. OK, Im looking forward to the mangoes more than my work, but still.
6.18.2008
6.06.2008
Tostan Trainings
Today started off with the plan of coming into Thies to meet with the womens groups that I plan to work with here, pick up my two new dresses from the tailor and give a session on training Senegalese to work with IT at a training being put on for a local NGO. In true Senegalese fashion, one of those has worked out. My dresses arent ready yet, the woman I was supposed to meet with at the womens groups didnt show up, but luckily the NGO training went really well. There are 6 new volunteers in, one of whom was a pcv in Morocco recently, all of whom are really great, so Chris and I went over to their training and put on a two hour training session. We mostly discussed cultural differences that have to be taken into account when preparing training sessions here. It went really well. Afterwards had a nice lunch and then hung out before coming over to Chris's to use the internet and then planning on going home for some much needed rest.
Spent the day in Tivaoune yesterday with Daniel meeting with a womans group there who might be interested in doing some basic business trainings. One of the things the Senegalese have mastered is asking for things. Its mostly in jest, but if the Senegalese like something (say an article of clothing) they ask for it. I always tell them I will give them what they asked for as I keep on walking. Its really a kind of joke. So, thinking that I have this whole joke figured out, I comment on a womans earrings and ask for them. To my surprise, she takes them out of her ears and puts them in mine. To take them out would be a huge insult to her, but these are her earrings, I dont want to steal them!!! So now I have a brand new pair of pulaar earrings that are really cool, but I feel like I stole them from a woman who sells mangoes on the side of the road. I feel like such a jerk!! I was only kidding!! This speaks wonders about Senegalese generosity, as it should. People here truly will give you the shirt off their back if you ask for it. Or, as in this case, the earrings out of their ears.
Spent the day in Tivaoune yesterday with Daniel meeting with a womans group there who might be interested in doing some basic business trainings. One of the things the Senegalese have mastered is asking for things. Its mostly in jest, but if the Senegalese like something (say an article of clothing) they ask for it. I always tell them I will give them what they asked for as I keep on walking. Its really a kind of joke. So, thinking that I have this whole joke figured out, I comment on a womans earrings and ask for them. To my surprise, she takes them out of her ears and puts them in mine. To take them out would be a huge insult to her, but these are her earrings, I dont want to steal them!!! So now I have a brand new pair of pulaar earrings that are really cool, but I feel like I stole them from a woman who sells mangoes on the side of the road. I feel like such a jerk!! I was only kidding!! This speaks wonders about Senegalese generosity, as it should. People here truly will give you the shirt off their back if you ask for it. Or, as in this case, the earrings out of their ears.
6.03.2008
June is Off to a Good Start
First off, congratulations to Sarina for finding my blog. I was beginning to worry about you. My address here is:
PCV Mandi Kimberly
B.P. 360
Thies, Senegal
West Africa
Packages are always warmly accepted. :) I will tell you about everything if you send me an email at mandikimberly at yahoo.com. You didnt give me your email address, you know.
In other news, yesterday was really crazy involving a meeting with the principal of the high school to discuss a sexual health weekend to talk about aids and other STDS and promote awareness (something desperately needed in this country as the Senegalese are very squirmish about talking about sex at all. Its very taboo). Its not going to work out this school year, since the students are really busy planning for their exams, but hopefully towards the beginning of the next one. After that I went to the youth library where I seem to have sabotaged my own work by accidentally deleting one of the columns and am just now catching back up with where I left off. Damn.
After lunch I had a meeting with my girls group where we did skits on how to react to peer pressure to drink, smoke and have sex. It was of course after the meeting that someone pointed out that in Senegal it is taboo for women to either smoke or drink, therefore they will probably not be pressured to do so. Perhaps I should have made the lesson more culturally appropriate? At any rate the girls were silly and had fun and if nothing else the sex one was relevent. One out of three is good, right? I found out there are two more weeks in the school year here until summer vacation so I only have to plan out two more lessons. Im actually a little dissappointed, but I know there is no way these girls are having enough fun to sign up to come into school once a week over summer vacation. I am not that inspiring. Or intelligible when I speak. Spent the rest of the evening at the library trying to fix my mistake.
Today am in Thies working with one of my neighbors on a two hour presentation we are giving to American volunteers who have just gotten into Senegal to work with a local NGO on how to train Senegalese in IT. Should be fun. I will head home after lunch and have a consultation with an aspiring entrepeneur (not sure of what, havent heard his idea yet) and then more library fun. And thats my life these days.
PCV Mandi Kimberly
B.P. 360
Thies, Senegal
West Africa
Packages are always warmly accepted. :) I will tell you about everything if you send me an email at mandikimberly at yahoo.com. You didnt give me your email address, you know.
In other news, yesterday was really crazy involving a meeting with the principal of the high school to discuss a sexual health weekend to talk about aids and other STDS and promote awareness (something desperately needed in this country as the Senegalese are very squirmish about talking about sex at all. Its very taboo). Its not going to work out this school year, since the students are really busy planning for their exams, but hopefully towards the beginning of the next one. After that I went to the youth library where I seem to have sabotaged my own work by accidentally deleting one of the columns and am just now catching back up with where I left off. Damn.
After lunch I had a meeting with my girls group where we did skits on how to react to peer pressure to drink, smoke and have sex. It was of course after the meeting that someone pointed out that in Senegal it is taboo for women to either smoke or drink, therefore they will probably not be pressured to do so. Perhaps I should have made the lesson more culturally appropriate? At any rate the girls were silly and had fun and if nothing else the sex one was relevent. One out of three is good, right? I found out there are two more weeks in the school year here until summer vacation so I only have to plan out two more lessons. Im actually a little dissappointed, but I know there is no way these girls are having enough fun to sign up to come into school once a week over summer vacation. I am not that inspiring. Or intelligible when I speak. Spent the rest of the evening at the library trying to fix my mistake.
Today am in Thies working with one of my neighbors on a two hour presentation we are giving to American volunteers who have just gotten into Senegal to work with a local NGO on how to train Senegalese in IT. Should be fun. I will head home after lunch and have a consultation with an aspiring entrepeneur (not sure of what, havent heard his idea yet) and then more library fun. And thats my life these days.
5.25.2008
Girls Night
Being in Peace Corps Senegal can be really stressful and sometimes you just need a litte break, some time alone, to regroup before you can even think about continuing to live and work here. Enter girls night. Christyne, another volunteer in my region, offered to have three of us over for a nice relaxing girls night. I showed up yesterday morning and she had filled up an inflatable swimming pool in her back yard, which we filled with ice and sat in all afternoon. Then we watched chick flicks (PS I love you, Juno and Atonement), while eating chips and salse. For dinner we made burritos, and then we spent the night hanging out in the pool and talking. So much fun. None of these activities are possible without buying something from the foreign import store here, and all are things you can only do with other Americans. This morning when we got up we made pancakes with realy syrup that she had in her kitchen. Real syrup!! They were amazing. I am full of pancakes and not at all well rested because I was up too late but I am happy. I am refreshed and renewed and happy.
Good thing because tomorrow is going to be a busy day. My meeting on Friday with my girls group went well. 30 girls showed up, the rest will probably show up at the next one. We have dvided the girls up according to grade and I will meet with the older students on Mondays and the younger girls on Fridays. So I will now be at the middle school twice a week, every week. Much as we tried to explain what it is we want to do with these girls in this girls club, they are all still really confused, and quite frankly so are we as we figure out what to do. There is a female teacher who will be the chaperone and liaison for us. She is really great and motivated and she will be very helpful to me by speaking Wolof when I cant and also making things culturally relevant for them. Sometimes its hard for me to think these girls will take anything I say seriously when I have next to nothing in common with any of them. So my first "real" meeting is tomorrow after school and I will spend the morning in Thies meeting with potential work partners. One of these days I will also find time to get back to the youth library and keep working on that project. This should be a nice, busy week for me in Pout.
Good thing because tomorrow is going to be a busy day. My meeting on Friday with my girls group went well. 30 girls showed up, the rest will probably show up at the next one. We have dvided the girls up according to grade and I will meet with the older students on Mondays and the younger girls on Fridays. So I will now be at the middle school twice a week, every week. Much as we tried to explain what it is we want to do with these girls in this girls club, they are all still really confused, and quite frankly so are we as we figure out what to do. There is a female teacher who will be the chaperone and liaison for us. She is really great and motivated and she will be very helpful to me by speaking Wolof when I cant and also making things culturally relevant for them. Sometimes its hard for me to think these girls will take anything I say seriously when I have next to nothing in common with any of them. So my first "real" meeting is tomorrow after school and I will spend the morning in Thies meeting with potential work partners. One of these days I will also find time to get back to the youth library and keep working on that project. This should be a nice, busy week for me in Pout.
5.16.2008
Golden Anniversary
This is my 50th blog posting, so for both of you that read it: congrats! Things are going well here in Senegal. Trying to get back into work at site has been a little frustrating after I got back from vacation because nothing happened while I was gone since I wasnt there to nag people into doing things. Oh well. I have since started going to the youth library every morning again and will continue to do so until what feels like the end of time, or until all 5000 books are entered. Whichever comes first. Havent gone to the middle school yet as classes are cancelled in preparation for the big cultural festival this weekend. There will be a huge party tomorrow night and I get the feeling its going to be the Senegalese equivalent of the prom. I am planning on going, but God only knows.
As I have very little work to do today, I came into Thies to hang out with Daniel and Chris for a little neighborly bonding. We cooked chili for lunch which was sooo good. Chris's host family tried it and didnt like it even though the Senegalese have a dish thats really similar called ndembe. In the words of Chris's host sister "it tastes good but I dont like it because I dont know it". That is the perfect way to summarize the Senegalese feeling towards any food that isnt Senegalese. That means anything. They eat cebb u jenn every single day for lunch and that is perfectly ok with them. Its really the only way to go about it. Introduce something else and it throws off the whole balance of things. The Senegalese are very comfortable with the familiar and its just interesting to see their attitudes in comparison to my American desire to try any and every type of new food I can. I love ethnic food and have really enjoyed getting to know Senegalese food, but I now understand that they do not want to know or appreciate my food in the same way.
My host family has requested hamburgers for dinner tomorrow night and I am going to cook them with fries, but I am hesitant about them liking it. I may very well end up eating all of the hamburgers by myself, which I know I can do after eight months in country.
As I have very little work to do today, I came into Thies to hang out with Daniel and Chris for a little neighborly bonding. We cooked chili for lunch which was sooo good. Chris's host family tried it and didnt like it even though the Senegalese have a dish thats really similar called ndembe. In the words of Chris's host sister "it tastes good but I dont like it because I dont know it". That is the perfect way to summarize the Senegalese feeling towards any food that isnt Senegalese. That means anything. They eat cebb u jenn every single day for lunch and that is perfectly ok with them. Its really the only way to go about it. Introduce something else and it throws off the whole balance of things. The Senegalese are very comfortable with the familiar and its just interesting to see their attitudes in comparison to my American desire to try any and every type of new food I can. I love ethnic food and have really enjoyed getting to know Senegalese food, but I now understand that they do not want to know or appreciate my food in the same way.
My host family has requested hamburgers for dinner tomorrow night and I am going to cook them with fries, but I am hesitant about them liking it. I may very well end up eating all of the hamburgers by myself, which I know I can do after eight months in country.
5.12.2008
St. Louis Jazz Festival
Just back from St. Louis (Senegal, not Missouri) where tere was a big internatioal jazz festival. Read all about it at www.saintlouisjazzfest.com. As Peace Corps Volunteers we couldnt afford to go to all of the formal shows which were kind of expensive to get in to, so we just played around on the beaches all day and then at night, after the official concerts were over, the bands headed out to the bars and EVERY bar in St. Louis had live music. Sometimes people in the bars would just step right up and join in on the guitar or drums. One drunken Mauritanian volunteer did some scat on the microphone and refused to give it back to the band, which was possibly the funniest thing about the whole weekend. Im not a huge jazz enthusiast but the music was really grea, there were loads of Peace Corps Volunteers from all over Senegal and from Mauritania, our friendly neighbors to the north, and it was a really great time. A great vacation.
I am now in Dakar where I am hanging out with my university student tha came to visit me last month and is headed back to America on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will head back to Pout, buy a big bag of mangoes, check in on my kitten who most likely has come down with cabin fever, and get back to work. I dont have any official work until Wednesday when I have a meeting at the middle school about my girls group and a computer course at the preschool. Then things will just kick back to the normal swing of things and it will probably feel like I never left.
In other exciting news, the new volunteers who got here in March swore in on Friday and are now in Dakar hanging out with us until they go to their sites next week. They are all pretty nervous about it. I remember those days. It appears that I am now a seasoned Peace Corps Volunteer and am expected to know stuff when the new kids ask about it. Hmmm.....didnt I just get here last week?
8 month anniversary in Senegal tomorrow, btw!! V. exciting
I am now in Dakar where I am hanging out with my university student tha came to visit me last month and is headed back to America on Wednesday. Tomorrow I will head back to Pout, buy a big bag of mangoes, check in on my kitten who most likely has come down with cabin fever, and get back to work. I dont have any official work until Wednesday when I have a meeting at the middle school about my girls group and a computer course at the preschool. Then things will just kick back to the normal swing of things and it will probably feel like I never left.
In other exciting news, the new volunteers who got here in March swore in on Friday and are now in Dakar hanging out with us until they go to their sites next week. They are all pretty nervous about it. I remember those days. It appears that I am now a seasoned Peace Corps Volunteer and am expected to know stuff when the new kids ask about it. Hmmm.....didnt I just get here last week?
8 month anniversary in Senegal tomorrow, btw!! V. exciting
5.02.2008
Business As Usual
In response to the questions, Ellie eats cat food I buy from the foreign import store and drinks milk. I gave her water instead last week and she stuck her nose up at it. My cat is a snob already. Oh well, so am I in some ways.
As far as work, the home interviews with the girls continue. I had my first one on Tuesday, one tonight and ten this weekend. It should be a long one but the first one went so well that I am looking forward to the rest of them. I dont know how I am going to narrow it down to four when they are all amazing!! I have been asking if they would be interested in forming a girls club and all signs point to yes, so tomorrow I am headed back to the school while the girls have class to talk to the principal about how I would go about getting sponsorship. I am very excited about this project.
I have spent two mornings this week at the youth library working on the inventory project. Two hours this morning and I only ended up entering 115 books. There are 5000. I will be there a lot in the next month. M. Diallo (the supervisor) is supposed to be entering book information in the afternoons when I am not there, but has not actually started yet. I will go check on him tomorrow. I will not do this alone. After all of the books information is in the database, we will use Access to check out the books and I will spend a week or so showing how to use and maintain the database. Should be fun after all of this horrible, tedious data entry is taken care of.
So thats how I spend my time. Sometimes (like right now) I take breaks to meet other volunteers in Thies for lunch and eat ice cream. I dont care how much weight Im gaining here, some things are just plain necessary to mental well being. Also, I am going to St. Louis next weekend for the international Jazz fest which I have heard really good things about and am super excited to get to go to. I will let you know how it turns out.
As far as work, the home interviews with the girls continue. I had my first one on Tuesday, one tonight and ten this weekend. It should be a long one but the first one went so well that I am looking forward to the rest of them. I dont know how I am going to narrow it down to four when they are all amazing!! I have been asking if they would be interested in forming a girls club and all signs point to yes, so tomorrow I am headed back to the school while the girls have class to talk to the principal about how I would go about getting sponsorship. I am very excited about this project.
I have spent two mornings this week at the youth library working on the inventory project. Two hours this morning and I only ended up entering 115 books. There are 5000. I will be there a lot in the next month. M. Diallo (the supervisor) is supposed to be entering book information in the afternoons when I am not there, but has not actually started yet. I will go check on him tomorrow. I will not do this alone. After all of the books information is in the database, we will use Access to check out the books and I will spend a week or so showing how to use and maintain the database. Should be fun after all of this horrible, tedious data entry is taken care of.
So thats how I spend my time. Sometimes (like right now) I take breaks to meet other volunteers in Thies for lunch and eat ice cream. I dont care how much weight Im gaining here, some things are just plain necessary to mental well being. Also, I am going to St. Louis next weekend for the international Jazz fest which I have heard really good things about and am super excited to get to go to. I will let you know how it turns out.
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