And Then It Poured

Many people have been asking me what it is exactly that I do here. Surely after close to a year I should have an answer to that. Well...it's a bit complicated. So for simplicity's sake, I can summarize for you. I'm working with a few different small business owners, women's empowerment groups, and artisans to innovate, plan, record, and generally improve their ideas/businesses. It's a huge challenge since many of my work partners do not think about business the same way I was taught. So that means I must essentially throw out the degree I just spent four years earning and rethink my approach. I have to craft a balance between technical aspects of running a business and the informal way of life that constantly pervades. For instance try to think a little about how you would teach marketing principles in a place where their go-to method of advertising is yelling, "Hey! Come buy some mangoes." It's certainly been frustrating, both in terms of misunderstandings and in that my priorities get confused. But it's work, kinda. 

I've also been taking heavily to gardening. Both personally with a container garden on my roof and especially with my Master Farmer. We are preparing for an upcoming "open field day" to show other farmers in the area and the Peace Corps how things are coming along. Recently we have been trying to get our millet, corn, and beans planted but we've been waiting on the stubborn rain. Until finally we just decided to plant and pray. So with the help of nearby volunteers and some other farmers from Mboro we got our white corn and white beans planted. Then it rained. But only a little and not the downpours I've been promised since mid-July. So we went out again yesterday to get some more done. It was a cloudless day which here means it was HOT. We ventured out to the field in the afternoon so we could catch a break from the high heat. We worked for about an hour plotting and digging. And right after we finish preparing an area for red beans I felt a gust of wind on my back. I turned around slowly to a black sky and turbulent scene of shaking trees and flying dust. I look to my right to where Cheikh (the Master Farmer) was just a second before but he's gone. He grabbed the seeds and ran for shelter. I followed. After we found cover in his tool shed we sat there for about another 40 minutes while the storm roared and waned. Finally we saw our chance to finish the work and head back home. But once we could see the town, Cheikh noticed something was off about the town. The wind had knocked something around and the city's electricity was out. Everywhere. When it rains, it pours. And it's been pouring since. 

I'll have more updates soon as to what kind of work I'm doing exactly. A lot of my time has recently been spent on the scholarship/girls camp I'm doing and to organize this open field day. But in between and after that I am doing some other exciting work. 

Turtle Watch

This past weekend I had a great opportunity to travel to a beach south of Dakar named Samone. A group of 10 PCVs and I were guided by a local eco-guard to look for sea turtle tracks in the sand. The purpose is to monitor and protect these animals so that their populations can be prolonged and the Reserve can lobby against further development of the land. Unsurprisingly we didn't see anything but a few possible tracks on the morning watch. Despite that dissappointment though, it was a great experience and the true definition of an eco-tourism weekend. Low negative impact, locally empowering, and even damage reversing, this trip showed me how possible and positive an excursion like his can have on an area. I encourage all who are planning vacations to take some time and seek out at least a day for garbage collection, nature monitoring, or education. I assure you it will deepen your relationship with and weirdly enhance the relaxation at your favorite spot. Plus you could have great moments like the ones highlighted by the photos below. 

Getting stung by a jellyfish!

A really nasty jelly fish...

Soothing pregnant dogs!

And "sleeping" outside to the sound of the tide coming in. 

I hope you're all getting out to some sunny destinations this month and resetting your brains, responsibly of course. Happy vacationing!

Eid al-Fitr

It's called Korité here and it's a holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Like every other gathering I've been to here it was characterized mainly by the gathering of family and eating of a lot of food. It seemed people really enjoyed drinking water in public in the middle of the day, something they haven't been able to do for a month. One part I really enjoyed was that the standard greeting upon seeing anyone was "baal ma ak" which means "forgive me." You respond by saying "baal naa la" which means "I've forgiven you." This and the visiting of friends and family while dressed especially nicely made the holiday fun to be part of. Of course there was lots of praying all day and kids walking around dressed flashy, asking for money. Overall it was a great way to end a spiritually and physically challenging month. I presume things mostly go back to normal as we wait for the much needed rain. 

Here are my host siblings and cousins dressed up to walk around town.