Monday, August 22, 2011
It's a Boy!
My woman aka my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! On August 8, at 5am, she started having intense contractions and went to the hospital to give birth (YAY! Hospital!). It was day 6 of Ramadan, so I was told that they were taking her to the hospital when we were eating our pre-dawn meal. That afternoon, I visited her in the hospital, 30 minutes after she gave birth and was promptly handed the baby. He was so small and so young; it was an experience. I loved it!
This is the first time that my family has had a big event. All the other births and marriages occurred prior to my arrival. I get to be a part of the baptism! At baptisms, I usually give a little bit of money and a bar of soap, but since this was my sister, I went all out. I bought her 4 meters of fabric for her and 2 meters of fabric to wrap her baby in. It was so exciting and I told every person at lummo that this was for the new baby. The baptism occurs a week after the baby is born and it is at that point that they shave the baby's head and give it a name. They usually determine the name beforehand and that was the case in my family. They named the baby Sajo, after my brother who passed away in December (you may remember the depressing post). That name will now be associated with something happy, rather than the tragedy that occurred.
It was so much fun (but kinda boring) hanging out with my sister and her newborn. The newborn isn't allowed to be taken out of the hut until after the baptism. Since it's Ramadan, I'm super bored and spent everyday hanging out with baby and momma. The baptism happened on the 15th and my closest neighbor, Katie came to celebrate with my family. It was chill, but anticlimactic due to Ramadan- there was no dancing and fun drumming. But there is a new baby in the fam and I can't wait to watch him grow up.
I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back to the states and don't have a baby to play with. Seriously. Amadou is definitely my favorite person in village and I've watched him grow up and now there's Sajo. I love playing with babies, maybe I'll nanny again when I return home.
Peace & Babies
Thursday, August 4, 2011
GIRLS RULE!
Gender and Development (GAD) is a secondary project that is near and dear to many volunteers, myself included. The goal of GAD is to educate individuals (men, women, and children) on gender issues within the community and to empower individuals to strive towards gender equality. Many volunteers facilitate girls groups in village or at schools, where they create a space to discuss a variety of issues. In addition, Awa Traore (our homestay and cross-culture coordinator) conducts tourneys where she talks about gender issues. This past May, Awa presented at 8 different sites in Kolda and was an asset to the Kunkane Girl's Camp. As a strong Senegalese woman, Awa is a lot more qualified to talk about sensitive issues, such as early and forced marriage, gender roles, women in the work place, rape, incest, and unwanted pregnancy to name a few.
Every year, volunteers participate in the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship Program. What is this you may ask.... Well, the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship Program is named after a volunteer deeply invested in girls education and empowerment. Established in 1993, the scholarship provides money for school fees and supplies. Each school that works with a volunteer chooses 9 high performing girls to receive school fees. Once the school chooses those 9 girls, the teacher write a recommendation and provide PCVs with end of term grades. The girls then write an essay detailing why they should receive a scholarship. Lastly, the volunteer performs a home visit to interview the girls and to gain insight into their home life. From there, the volunteer chooses six finalists and the scholarship committee chooses three winners. YAY GIRLS!
This is where you come in!! We are currently raising money to fund these scholarships. This year, we worked with over 40 schools, which means we need to raise money to send over 360 girls to school! If you are interested in donating to this wonderful cause, click here!
Peace & Gender Equality
Every year, volunteers participate in the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship Program. What is this you may ask.... Well, the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship Program is named after a volunteer deeply invested in girls education and empowerment. Established in 1993, the scholarship provides money for school fees and supplies. Each school that works with a volunteer chooses 9 high performing girls to receive school fees. Once the school chooses those 9 girls, the teacher write a recommendation and provide PCVs with end of term grades. The girls then write an essay detailing why they should receive a scholarship. Lastly, the volunteer performs a home visit to interview the girls and to gain insight into their home life. From there, the volunteer chooses six finalists and the scholarship committee chooses three winners. YAY GIRLS!
This is where you come in!! We are currently raising money to fund these scholarships. This year, we worked with over 40 schools, which means we need to raise money to send over 360 girls to school! If you are interested in donating to this wonderful cause, click here!
Peace & Gender Equality
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Artsy
Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a very artistic person. I enjoy art and appreciate it, but creating it is not my forte. Going to museums and spending the day wandering around various galleries is one of my favorite pastimes. Since coming back to Senegal (and getting a new camera), I've decided that I will make a conscious effort to take more pictures. I've been fairly successful at accomplishing my goal and here are a series of semi- artistic photos to prove it! p.s. I have fallen in love with the macro feature on my camera.
I have also leaarned to draw. Here is an example of one of my visual aids. Before coming to Senegal, I thought that I couldn't draw to save my life. Here, my village thinks I'm a fantastic artist and tells me to draw things. LOVE it!
Peace & Art
I have also leaarned to draw. Here is an example of one of my visual aids. Before coming to Senegal, I thought that I couldn't draw to save my life. Here, my village thinks I'm a fantastic artist and tells me to draw things. LOVE it!
Peace & Art
Monday, July 18, 2011
Apologies
Dear Readers,
I know I promised you new blogs back in April, when I had high hopes and access to internet, but I failed you all. Since that point, I've been meaning to write a series of blogs, but the more I procrastinated, the more daunting the task became. I have hopes of catching you up on all my comings and goings, however, life keeps happening. SO, I'm writing a cliff notes version of the noteworthy events in my life since April and including pictures! Forgive me and enjoy =)
We left off with me getting funding for the well, so lets start from there.
The well commenced. I purchased 20 sacks of cement and lots of rebar thanks to Appropriate Projects and Six Senses Resort & Spas (who funded my project). There was singing and dancing when we began. It was completed before I left for America.
Baby Amadou turns 1!!! I can't believe I've been involved in almost every step of his life this year. I've never watched a child grow up (in an everyday capacity). I was there when he learned to sit, when he learned to crawl, when he learned to stand, and when he took his first steps. I don't know what's going to happen when I come home and don't have him as a constant companion (maybe I'll just take him home with me....).
Kolda Foire. The three volunteers in Kolda organized a fair in Kolda to bring together people from various sectors in the region of Kolda. It went really well and our country director Chris Hedrick came down for it.
Demyst. I had the pleasure of demysting one of Kolda's newest volunteers, Sharon. It seemed like yesterday that I was visiting my village for the first time. I didn't feel remotely qualified to talk to a new volunteer about life as a volunteer, but as time went on, I realized how much I've learned in this past year and what progress I've made.
Dakar. After Demyst, I went up to Dakar for my mid service medical examination and to catch my flight back home. It was a bittersweet time in Dakar because a lot of the older volunteers were COSing (Close of Service) and leaving Senegal. These were my mentors, the people who taught us about building mud stoves, wells, and latrines. It was at this point that I felt that I was an "older" volunteer.
HOME! Home was amazing! I'm just going to repeat my facebook status...778 hours, 2 weddings, 3 birthdays, a graduation, the glee concert, a baseball game, tons of great friends, a bunch of delicious drinks, lots of good food, and 7 pounds. So good!
I'm BACK. I return to the land of peanuts and mangoes at the end of May. I went to Malaria Boot Camp for a day to support my Amanda Wybolt in the first of many trainings. She is working on the new Stomping Out Malaria initiative which is working to eraticate Malaria in 25 countries in Africa. It was really inspiring to see volunteers from other countries involved and working towards the same goal.
Well #2. I returned to Senegal a millionaire. I wish this was actually true, but I did have a million CFA in my bank account due to the fact that my grant money came in for my garden project. I return to my village and frantically coordinate the beginning of my garden well. The well needed to be dug before the rains commenced, while the rest of the project didn't need to be completed urgently. The first week I was back, I held multiple meetings and bought all the supplies, and was a flurry of activity.
Wedding Season. It's wedding season in Senegal! One of my really good friends in village married another one of my friends in village in the middle of June. This was the first time that I was a part of the entire three day celebration. Usually, I see one day of it- either when the bride leaves the village or when the bride arrives in village. This was the best wedding I've been to in Senegal. There have been two other weddings in my village, including the wedding of my best friend. It's upsetting because my friends keep leaving me.
INDEPENDENCE! July 4th involves a trip to Kedougou. I wrote a post about this last year. This year, I went and saw a waterfall and had a fabulous outfit (I know...I look like wonder woman).
Sick. This past week in village has been miserable. I've had work to do, so I needed to stay in village, but I was sick with a 102 fever at one point. That day, I was laying in bed in the middle of the afternoon and my family would periodically check up on me. When I told them I had a fever, they told me I had Malaria. I didn't think I had Malaria until the third person said so, and then I became slightly worried. I consulted our "Staying Healthy in Senegal" Manual and it said that when on Prophylaxis, flu like symptoms could be a early sign of Malaria. I also had the symptomatic chills, fever, and sweating. That night, I seriously considered calling med claiming that I had Malaria, but thank goodness I waited because the next morning I realized that I had convinced myself that I had Malaria and that I probably didn't have the disease (I did send off a frantic text message to a friend though).
I've been doing a lot of neem lotion and malaria talks and will be helping out with a Malaria tournee next week. That's the extent of things in my life- Cliff Notes style.
Till next time (which hopefully won't be 3 months from now).
Peace & Health
I know I promised you new blogs back in April, when I had high hopes and access to internet, but I failed you all. Since that point, I've been meaning to write a series of blogs, but the more I procrastinated, the more daunting the task became. I have hopes of catching you up on all my comings and goings, however, life keeps happening. SO, I'm writing a cliff notes version of the noteworthy events in my life since April and including pictures! Forgive me and enjoy =)
We left off with me getting funding for the well, so lets start from there.
The well commenced. I purchased 20 sacks of cement and lots of rebar thanks to Appropriate Projects and Six Senses Resort & Spas (who funded my project). There was singing and dancing when we began. It was completed before I left for America.
Baby Amadou turns 1!!! I can't believe I've been involved in almost every step of his life this year. I've never watched a child grow up (in an everyday capacity). I was there when he learned to sit, when he learned to crawl, when he learned to stand, and when he took his first steps. I don't know what's going to happen when I come home and don't have him as a constant companion (maybe I'll just take him home with me....).
Kolda Foire. The three volunteers in Kolda organized a fair in Kolda to bring together people from various sectors in the region of Kolda. It went really well and our country director Chris Hedrick came down for it.
Demyst. I had the pleasure of demysting one of Kolda's newest volunteers, Sharon. It seemed like yesterday that I was visiting my village for the first time. I didn't feel remotely qualified to talk to a new volunteer about life as a volunteer, but as time went on, I realized how much I've learned in this past year and what progress I've made.
Dakar. After Demyst, I went up to Dakar for my mid service medical examination and to catch my flight back home. It was a bittersweet time in Dakar because a lot of the older volunteers were COSing (Close of Service) and leaving Senegal. These were my mentors, the people who taught us about building mud stoves, wells, and latrines. It was at this point that I felt that I was an "older" volunteer.
HOME! Home was amazing! I'm just going to repeat my facebook status...778 hours, 2 weddings, 3 birthdays, a graduation, the glee concert, a baseball game, tons of great friends, a bunch of delicious drinks, lots of good food, and 7 pounds. So good!
I'm BACK. I return to the land of peanuts and mangoes at the end of May. I went to Malaria Boot Camp for a day to support my Amanda Wybolt in the first of many trainings. She is working on the new Stomping Out Malaria initiative which is working to eraticate Malaria in 25 countries in Africa. It was really inspiring to see volunteers from other countries involved and working towards the same goal.
Well #2. I returned to Senegal a millionaire. I wish this was actually true, but I did have a million CFA in my bank account due to the fact that my grant money came in for my garden project. I return to my village and frantically coordinate the beginning of my garden well. The well needed to be dug before the rains commenced, while the rest of the project didn't need to be completed urgently. The first week I was back, I held multiple meetings and bought all the supplies, and was a flurry of activity.
Wedding Season. It's wedding season in Senegal! One of my really good friends in village married another one of my friends in village in the middle of June. This was the first time that I was a part of the entire three day celebration. Usually, I see one day of it- either when the bride leaves the village or when the bride arrives in village. This was the best wedding I've been to in Senegal. There have been two other weddings in my village, including the wedding of my best friend. It's upsetting because my friends keep leaving me.
INDEPENDENCE! July 4th involves a trip to Kedougou. I wrote a post about this last year. This year, I went and saw a waterfall and had a fabulous outfit (I know...I look like wonder woman).
Sick. This past week in village has been miserable. I've had work to do, so I needed to stay in village, but I was sick with a 102 fever at one point. That day, I was laying in bed in the middle of the afternoon and my family would periodically check up on me. When I told them I had a fever, they told me I had Malaria. I didn't think I had Malaria until the third person said so, and then I became slightly worried. I consulted our "Staying Healthy in Senegal" Manual and it said that when on Prophylaxis, flu like symptoms could be a early sign of Malaria. I also had the symptomatic chills, fever, and sweating. That night, I seriously considered calling med claiming that I had Malaria, but thank goodness I waited because the next morning I realized that I had convinced myself that I had Malaria and that I probably didn't have the disease (I did send off a frantic text message to a friend though).
I've been doing a lot of neem lotion and malaria talks and will be helping out with a Malaria tournee next week. That's the extent of things in my life- Cliff Notes style.
Till next time (which hopefully won't be 3 months from now).
Peace & Health
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