A little bit of home

Namandyin, one of two  mothers I have here

Aramita and my Photoshoot!!

Isatou, 3 months old. I might not speak Mandinka but I speak baby!!

Lollipops are a form of entertainment!

Rice distribution (more on this later)

Ba and Isatou, sibling love!

5:03pm 105.0 degrees. You don't even want to know how hot it is at the peak of the day

MY HOUSE! Thatched roof, mud walls and all. Compared to local homes its especially nice, it has screen doors and screened windows and a cement finished floor. 

This is 30% tan, 70% dirt. Check out the new jewelry (its from the 'fula' tribe).  

Sihouette

The fields being burned in preparation for the coming rains, Cow just chilling out.

Aramita, my younger sister, adorable!

 The picture above captures the first moment of absolute bliss that I experienced with my family. It was wash day and there was a pile of clothes waiting to be washed, sitting on a mat. These three kids piled into the clothes and were tickling one another. This went on for hours and they still ask me to tickle them.

When Ba gets really happy, he kinda shakes and  his laugh is like a giggling cough. He was so happy here, that I couldn't capture it fast enough

Left to right, some of my siblings, Farfala, Ba, Aramita, Sible (a visitor),  Baramusa, and Comfatty. 

Neighhood small boy, Amadou, played so hard that he fell asleep right were the playing had stopped. 

Senses Enhanced

Weird things start to happen when you begin to lead a different life. I’m not sure if it’s the side effects of Malaria medication or simply that I am beginning to change, but my senses have suddenly become very intense, particularly my sense of smell and taste. I guessing that the very realistic and very odd dreams are due to the medication and the intensification of sense is reality. Let me explain. All ‘cosmetic’ items like shampoo, body lotion, conditioner and sunscreen suddenly smell incredible. They smell something like what they smell like in the U.S. but magnified by at least 50. Usually, I would smell how  ‘great’ lotion smelled right as I was putting it on and within say 20 minutes the smell would diminish, but when I put it on here the smell hangs around all day and eventually becomes intermingled with the smell of sweat(inevitable) but the smell is still around 8 hours later! Incredible, St.Ives you have blown my world. Gosh, I didn’t even buy the good smelling stuff, I have here “Mineral Therapy” it promises to “bring ‘me’ the best of nature with formulas that delight the senses as they leave ‘my’ skin with a soft, fresh feel. We understand that little every day choices we make help to better your life.” I couldn’t agree more. Seriously, I used to laugh at the marketing skills that these companies come up with; they must be getting someone in a third world country to write these things because from this perspective not only are they honest but they are insightful. Odder things have happened.

Now it’s time for the food. Because the diet, when we have food, is intensely bland and the consistence akin to the texture of baby food with mashed rice,(unless there is some dirt in it, very common, or fish bones, less common but there is no way around eating them) when I do eat or smell something DELICIOUS it’s like an explosion. Just the act of opening a bag of trail mix from ‘christmas’ packages or walking into a bitik that has bread is almost overpowering in how wonderful it smells. Then the tastes, man, I don’t think I can do it justice. In AMERCAA, you couldn’t get me to choose to eat dried prunes. Now, I dream about dried prunes, dried fruit and food of anytype. It’s a plus that the dried prunes have fun facts on the packaging, “Super Fruit Fact: are a low fat snack that aids in appetite control.” Nothing is better than have your tastes explode while being entertained by English words, thank you for a moment of joy Sunsweet, thank you!

Because I have so much time on my hands, it’s common for me to daydream about what I would be doing if I was in America right now. And I can say that right now if I were to fly back, the very first place I would go would be a restaurant, I don’t care what type as long as there was food available. But that would only be to add a layer of protection because the next stop would be a grocery store. Grocery store, I miss you. 

Food Security

When submitting my Peace Corps application and accepting the offer to come to West Africa, I had images of what I might find when I got here and general ideas of how my life might change.  I know now as I am at the very beginning of service that what my expectations and stereotypes were are nothing of what reality here actually is. Sure, it’s ‘African Hot,’ I sweat like I’ve never sweat before (it’s sort of like living in a sauna) and hope to never sweat like this again, dirt is a general and permanent condition, and eating rice all-day, everyday is not enjoyable or nutritious. Being the only white person within 20K, I am a celebrity, a celebrity without the perks of V.I.P. invitations, great meals, red carpets, or beautiful clothing. My perks come ‘African style,’ when sad all I have to do is find a child; their happiness is contagious and radiating.  There’s something infectious about riding my bike across the African desert and having 50 small boys, dressed in rags, abandon their soccer game, just to run full speed towards me screaming my name, to simply shake my hand. It’s a starting theory that there are so many kids, not just because kids come as Allah wants them to come, but because the kids keep everyone happy. But even the adults seem to live unnoticing of their surroundings, my mom laughs constantly, at almost nothing! She’s starting to wear off on me, I have some hard moments where I would give anything to be in a grocery store or simply spend time with all of you at home, but I also have moments where I couldn’t image myself anywhere but here. Africa’s starting to get to me.

Hearing facts about people without food globally, when I was in America, is very different than actually living it. Here in The Gambia, the rains last year were terrible and the crop production was something like 75% below average (don’t quote me I don’t remember the exact statistic). The seasons are not only defined by weather, they are defined by hunger. In New England, we have spring, summer, fall, and winter. Here there is the wet season, the dry season, but also the hunger season. As the rains are suppose to begin any minute, and already have TWICE!!, we are in full blown hunger season. It’s not unusual for families in my village to miss one or two meals per day. And it’s not only my village, although I live in the Central River Region which is historically the poorest region in The Gambia. When I first started missing meals, I thought it might only be my family but was confused because that’s not the way society works here. If one family has little to eat, other families will help feed them. So, with the help of an English speaker in my village I conducted ‘compound-to-compound’ interviews with each family. I asked basic baseline survey analysis questions, ‘how many people live here?’ ‘how many children go to school?’ ‘what is the source of income?’ ‘do you buy rice by the bag or by the cup?’ ‘how long would a bag of rice last?’ I won’t go into the details, but I will say that it was a rough day. People are hungry and it’s common that they don’t know where their next meal will come from. My village is one of ten in The Gambia to be receiving funds from the U.S. Ambassadors Emergency Relief Fund. The amount of money is something that America doesn’t even blink to spend and is more money than my village has ever seen at one time. The money has been designated to be spent on food security items, among other things. Even with a small village of 33 compounds (200-300 people) the food security is so lacking that at this moment even with 2 bags of rice given to each family, it would only last some families 2.5 weeks.

Hunger is real, it is frightening, and it consumes all thoughts. I have a trunk of food from America (THANK YOU!) and there are times I feel so guilty that I have food that I can’t look at it. It took me about a week before I gave in and had a ‘trunk day’ were I ate until I was so full I just laid on the floor in a combination of being stuffed and being hot! Now I supplement my diet with small things from my trunk. I share small things with my family, I don’t have enough to feed everyone and it wouldn’t be sustainable if I did because then no one would have food. It breaks my heart to hear my younger siblings cry from hunger, to bike to work and have teenage students ask me for food. As a volunteer, it’s my job to be an outlet to exchange knowledge, to present ideas, to identify resources that could be more effectively, and to attempt new things to increase the level of food security and agricultural production. I won’t lie or try to lighten the truth, it’s hard, terrible, depressing, difficult, it physical hurts to be hungry, I think, I cry, I call my family, Evan, I call other volunteers, I cry some more, they support, advise, tell experiences, offer to come visit, we are here for each other at all times.

When I become overwhelmed, I take a moment to center on why I am here, the beauty in the landscape, the beauty in the people. Or I take a moment to attempt to be American, to have a hip-hop dance party with my younger brother who loves Eminem J , to visualize a typical American day, or lay in the heat of the day and read a book. Then comes moments that make me realize that I couldn’t leave now even if I wanted to, I come into the compound and my younger brother, Baba, who is 2, screams with this half-toothed grin, “ISATOO NAATAA” ‘Isatou came.’  Africa is always here. 

Off to the Bush

Pre-service training is complete! We "the red-headed step children" are all headed to site for 3 permanent months of dedicating ourselves physically and hopefully mentally to our service. Swear-In was a success and a wonderful day. Post-swear in was appropriately celebrated. I am in love with each of the people who swore in along side of me. They are incredible people and I am lucky to be on this journey with them. Not only will they be my constant source of English companionship, but the people with whom I laugh until I cry and cry with until I laugh. And I am overwhelmed with the support and the love show to me from friends and family back home. Thank you, you will make this experience easier. 

I will return to the land of communication at the end of June for an all volunteer conference. Until then, have fun and think of me sweating in the African heat.

Site Visit...Check

The sight that I woke up to on the first morning.

Site visit complete, Tenengfara is a 30 compound village with approximately 200 people. My father’s name is, Babo Fatty, mothers are Yamati Camera and Bandi. Yamati has 3 children, Aramata (5), Baba (2.5), and Isatou (2 months). There are a few older boys living in the compound but I haven’t yet figured out how they are related to the family. My dad makes bamboo furniture; I’ve got the HOOK UPS! Check out my Bamboo recliner chair, hello relaxation! The Alkalo (village leader) is very nice, his name is Mama Konteh, he checked on me each morning to make sure that I had had a peaceful night. There isn’t much agriculture happening currently but the women are very interested in a village garden and the men are very intrigued with the idea of beekeeping in a nearby forest. I will be learning greetings in all the languages because Serehule, Mandinka, Pulaar, and Wolof are spoken in my village. Oh, and its hot. Hotter than you have ever imaged. Like living in a sauna, the air you breath is hot, the wind is hot, the sun is death. Food= rice. Although my family did butcher a chicken as a welcome meal, I was so honored! 

Donkey's playing in the dirt

Donkey's!!!

Fula Girl, everyone loves my camera and wants their photo taken

Gosh, this boy kills me and his mother is so nice she keeps checking in on me! 

My little brother, Baba. He really likes juice and Mangoes. 

 I have tried several times to compose a literary image for everyone back home of my village but because it is a completely different world and I haven’t yet figured out the similarities I will share a story. I had brought an apple from breakfast the day I first went to site visit. I cut it up and began sharing it with my family. They asked me what it was. It hit me that they had never had or even see an apple. I told them to eat it, they loved it and Yamati who only takes one of anything I share took a second piece. There are so many things about me that are foreign to them; an apple is only the beginning of our differences. I feel humbled by the depths of their hearts to open, not only their home, but their hearts to me. My younger siblings will think of me as their older sister. I am so lucky to be part of their family.

yes! thats right, asked for a special chair and got it the next day! 

Thank you to everyone who has sent me mail. I truly appreciate everything, all the food, the letters, the magazines, the AMAZING neck cooler! Ahhh its amazing. Very excited to begin in Tenengfara. Friday is Swear in day, official day I become a Peace Corps Volunteer. 

Coming Home

The refugees have come home.  This is the way that I have felt the past month in Senegal. It was wonderful and the people were amazing, but the 12 hour car ride from Thies, Senegal to Farajara, The Gambia felt as if I was a refugee returning to my homeland. This was an odd feeling to have since I had never been to The Gambia before. The Gambia is nicknamed the ‘smiling coast of Africa’ and it is a great way to describe it. The majority of the people I have met so far are smiling all the time with an aura of peacefulness about them. 

Western side of the Atlantic, Day 1 in The Gambia

In the Gambia, I was staying in Madiyama with the Darbo family. They were a great family with many young children running around. One young boy, Omar, about 1 year old laughed every single second I was around. It was this gurgling, bubbling over with pleasure and pure glee laugh. How can you have a bad day with that kind of joy around all the time?

That’s not to say that bad days didn’t happen. They did. My language group and I got food poisoning. The things one’s body does with strange food inside of it is something I never thought. I will spare you the details this time but next time I’ll give you the full story. It’s like a get out of jail free card. But being sick is exhausting, all we could do was lie around for 3 days while we got our strength and hydration back. Then we went on MARATHON MARCH! Which is absolutely my thing, it’s like hiking mountains only flat. It was 20K across the varieties of terrain that Gambia offers us. Salt marshes, forests, desert, ocean…the landscape was spectacular. But we also had to squish our way through the mangroves which involved swimming so I didn’t bring my camera, thus no photos. You will just have to trust me that it was breathtaking. Also, I have this huge problem with the feeling of squishy things seeping between my toes. Walking through about 10K of this type of ground will cure anyone’s issues. After my toes got so cramped with me trying to curl them together to prevent the mud to squish through, I just had no option but to let them relax and accept that this was a change that was going to happen whether I wanted it or not. Toward the end of the march, I started to get sick again.

Spent the next few days trying to convince myself that I was fine, which I wasn’t went to the medical office, ran some tests. Went back the next day for extreme dehydration due to diarrhea and vomiting, and got some handy IV fluids and THE WORST SHOT OF MY LIFE (WORSE than the 3^rd Gardacil). It was for nausea, and I have no idea what it was but it was terrible. It immediately made me fall asleep for several hours and any time I woke up for the next few hours I feel as if I was drunk but glued to the bed, a very heavy feeling. Turns out I had a parasite of some kind, took 4 pills of some parasite killer drug and after a few days of good rest, I’m as good as new.

Although being sick is by far the hardest thing that has happened to me so far. I felt like death and I didn't have my care system, my mom, friends, Evan, around to help. So not only did I get sick but I got depressed for familiarity and comfort. Comfort people and comfort foods. The med office has a hot shower, which is incredibly valuable in times of depression. And I had phone calls from my parents, my sister, and Evan all in a row. They were coordinating in the states as to whose turn it was to talk to me. I was loved and cared for even across the ocean and can't thank them enough for their help. Also, my PCVL (PC volunteer leader) brought me a veggie panini. The wonders that good food can do for one's body and mind. The fellow trainees also support one another immensely. We've known each other for about 2 months and I feel as if I have known them forever. 

Said goodbye to the Darbo family, I’m not sure if it’s getting easier or more difficult to transition. I didn’t connect to the family here as much as the Mangung family of Senegal. Partly, because I was sick and lying in bed the majority of the time I was with them. Plus, the family of Senegal and I had this amazing ability to communicate with charades, and we really understood each other. After a few days, I felt like I was family. Here I still felt like a guest. But it was a much more relaxing atmosphere.

On Wednesday, all the trainees get to go to their Permanent site.  My permanent site…..drum roll…..Tenengfara! It’s on the south bank about halfway between Basse (the western ‘city’) and Kombo (the eastern ‘city’). I have heard it’s about as stereotypical Peace Corps experience as one can have.  I will have a one room mud hut, straw roof, with a mud fenced in backyard and latrine area. No internet. No electricity. Very hot. Very dirty. But its sorta kinda near the river, and an island called Baboon Island which ….has Baboons on it. You can’t go onto the island because it’s a sanctuary but I can take a boat tour and see them. Anyways, I will blog all about my site visit when I return.

TODAY! I received my first letters and packages. Two letters and two packages! It was a glorious victorious day. I feel so loved and am so happy with all the food I got.  There is something wonderful about receiving letters and packages that I didn’t know were coming. The surprise factor is very high and I will treasure everything I receive. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent or is sending things. I promise that I will soon add a list of things that I would appreciate having here. But I also love being surprised. Fashion magazines, news magazines, protein bars, water ENHANCERS with no sugar but electrolytes are at the top of the list right now.