Thursday, June 25, 2009
Disclaimer
After re-reading the following post, i would just like to comment that i am fully aware of the dangers surrounding me and do my best to stay out of the way of those dangers...so dont worry!
Its raining, Its pouring, The old man is snoring....
Monday night at about midnight the rains finally came! It was great.... The past week has been extremely hot and humid. During the next month, it will rain one or two times each day for an hour or maybe two. During August, the heavy rains will come and it will rain A LOT. A few other volunteers told me that last year it rained for 5 straight days without stopping. The rains in Africa are not comparable to rains in America. We get torrential downpours. It can be a super sunny day and within 5 minutes a giant storms blows over. I have already been caught out in the rain once and it was actually kind of scary. I am looking forward to a good rainy season though. I have plenty of work in the fields with the farmers and plenty of good books in my room. One huge down side to the rainy season is KAOLACK! Kaolack is the nearest small city from my village. Our regional house is there. Kaolack is the nastiest place in the entire world in my opinion. There is no form of waste management here whatsoever. One side of town is just a huge field of trash and sewage...throw a few feet of rain on top of that and im sure you can imagine what the result is. Lets just say its not pretty and does not smell good either. The gutters are always overflowing and the stagnant water is just a gian breeding ground for mosquitos (malaria!) I will do my best to stay out of Kaolack as much as possible for the next few months.
Another completely unrelated subject: Today i witnessed a horrible car accident. An ambulance with a person in the back actually flipped over and landed upside down. Let me just say this was the most disturbing thing i have seen in a long time, if not my whole life. Immediately people started flooding out of nearby cars and going to see what happened. As we pulled over, people started getting out. I didnt want to be just another bystanding getting in the way but i decided to get out and see if i could help. Police are basically non-existent in situations like these. Also i will say that i have only seen a handful of Ambulance vehicles in this country as well. Peace Corps basically tells us to stay out of situations like these. But i could hardly sit back and do nothing. Many other volunteers have found themselves in the same situation. One girl even delievered a baby on the side of the road last year! Im definately not a doctor but i have been trained in CPR and first aid several times and I thought i possibly could help more so than some others that were standing nearby. I walked up to see two men slaying on the ground. I basically just wanted to see if there were any open wounds and to see if they were breathing. They were both breathing and no rushing blood... a few broken bones were obvious though. I then noticed two men trying to pull one man off the ground and make him stand up. I finally figured out that this was the patient in the back of the Ambulance to begin with. I started telling them to stop and to leave him on the ground...or atleast just move him into another car and get him to the hospital. The man was so out of it...one second he was laughing and the next he was crying and then laughing again. I was so mad at what was going on and no one was listening to me. A man came over with a medical bag so i assumed he knew what he was doing and i got back into the vehicle was riding in. (By the way, i was riding in a very small bus..seats about 25). Anyway, the next thing i know, they throw the man in the back of our bus on the floor and people start piling in on top of him and around him. They were gettig back to their seats so we could go. I flipped out and caused a scene. At this point i was yelling in English and i dont know if anyone understood what i was saying but i know they knew i was MAD! I was trying to tell them to put the man in a nearby car and get him to the hospital ASAP... he didnt have time for all of the 2u46278623756 passengers trying to load back in the car. People continued to get in and then i started getting scared. At this point i was worried about my own life. I knew that if everyone piled in, then the driver would take off and try to get to Kaolack asap. I also knew that we would probably end up like the ambulance and be flipped over within 5 minutes. The buses are not made to have stuff piled on top but they always put baggage up there. The bus somehow always ends up being much taller than wide... i know this makes for a dangerous drive...and not to mention the roads here are dirt and there are pot holes everywhere. I grabbed my bags and started climbing over people to get out. If someone was going to die today, it certainly wasnt going to be me! At this point i was half in tears because i was terrified and also for the poor dying man on the floor of the bus. He was hysterical screaming and praying and saying he didnt want to die. As i got out, i convinced a man nearby to tell them to get that man off the bus floor and into a car. He realized what i was saying and grapped a nearby sept place (car for 7...station wagon). They threw the man in and off they went. We pulled out shortly behind them and i got a glimpse of him a few miles later. Part of me knows he didnt live to see the rest of the day. I hope i am wrong. Who even knows what happened to the other man that was on the ground hurt too.... Sometimes common sense just isnt that common here.
On a lighter note, tomorrow i am headed to Kaffrine. I will stay there for one night with some friends and Saturday morning the big trip begins. I am going on a cross country bike ride with several other volunteers. I am super excited about it and have been preparing for several weeks. I have been biking about 30 miles every morning to try and get in shape for the trip. We will be biking to Kedegou and then throughout the Southeastern part of the country. There are moutnains and waterfalls..and we will be going around a game reservation so hopefully we will see some cool animals along the way. This is the first real time that i have been able to travel for fun since coming here. I have done some travelling but it has all been for work reasons. I am glad to get out of the village for a few weeks and just forget about everything. All the volunteers head down to that side of the country for the 4th of July. We are having a big cookout that day. All you can eat and drink all day for 6 bucks! Cant beat that! As most of you know, i am prone to accidents and illnesses here so keep your fingers crossed for me that i make it back in one piece! I packed my camera so i will be sure to take some good photos. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Another completely unrelated subject: Today i witnessed a horrible car accident. An ambulance with a person in the back actually flipped over and landed upside down. Let me just say this was the most disturbing thing i have seen in a long time, if not my whole life. Immediately people started flooding out of nearby cars and going to see what happened. As we pulled over, people started getting out. I didnt want to be just another bystanding getting in the way but i decided to get out and see if i could help. Police are basically non-existent in situations like these. Also i will say that i have only seen a handful of Ambulance vehicles in this country as well. Peace Corps basically tells us to stay out of situations like these. But i could hardly sit back and do nothing. Many other volunteers have found themselves in the same situation. One girl even delievered a baby on the side of the road last year! Im definately not a doctor but i have been trained in CPR and first aid several times and I thought i possibly could help more so than some others that were standing nearby. I walked up to see two men slaying on the ground. I basically just wanted to see if there were any open wounds and to see if they were breathing. They were both breathing and no rushing blood... a few broken bones were obvious though. I then noticed two men trying to pull one man off the ground and make him stand up. I finally figured out that this was the patient in the back of the Ambulance to begin with. I started telling them to stop and to leave him on the ground...or atleast just move him into another car and get him to the hospital. The man was so out of it...one second he was laughing and the next he was crying and then laughing again. I was so mad at what was going on and no one was listening to me. A man came over with a medical bag so i assumed he knew what he was doing and i got back into the vehicle was riding in. (By the way, i was riding in a very small bus..seats about 25). Anyway, the next thing i know, they throw the man in the back of our bus on the floor and people start piling in on top of him and around him. They were gettig back to their seats so we could go. I flipped out and caused a scene. At this point i was yelling in English and i dont know if anyone understood what i was saying but i know they knew i was MAD! I was trying to tell them to put the man in a nearby car and get him to the hospital ASAP... he didnt have time for all of the 2u46278623756 passengers trying to load back in the car. People continued to get in and then i started getting scared. At this point i was worried about my own life. I knew that if everyone piled in, then the driver would take off and try to get to Kaolack asap. I also knew that we would probably end up like the ambulance and be flipped over within 5 minutes. The buses are not made to have stuff piled on top but they always put baggage up there. The bus somehow always ends up being much taller than wide... i know this makes for a dangerous drive...and not to mention the roads here are dirt and there are pot holes everywhere. I grabbed my bags and started climbing over people to get out. If someone was going to die today, it certainly wasnt going to be me! At this point i was half in tears because i was terrified and also for the poor dying man on the floor of the bus. He was hysterical screaming and praying and saying he didnt want to die. As i got out, i convinced a man nearby to tell them to get that man off the bus floor and into a car. He realized what i was saying and grapped a nearby sept place (car for 7...station wagon). They threw the man in and off they went. We pulled out shortly behind them and i got a glimpse of him a few miles later. Part of me knows he didnt live to see the rest of the day. I hope i am wrong. Who even knows what happened to the other man that was on the ground hurt too.... Sometimes common sense just isnt that common here.
On a lighter note, tomorrow i am headed to Kaffrine. I will stay there for one night with some friends and Saturday morning the big trip begins. I am going on a cross country bike ride with several other volunteers. I am super excited about it and have been preparing for several weeks. I have been biking about 30 miles every morning to try and get in shape for the trip. We will be biking to Kedegou and then throughout the Southeastern part of the country. There are moutnains and waterfalls..and we will be going around a game reservation so hopefully we will see some cool animals along the way. This is the first real time that i have been able to travel for fun since coming here. I have done some travelling but it has all been for work reasons. I am glad to get out of the village for a few weeks and just forget about everything. All the volunteers head down to that side of the country for the 4th of July. We are having a big cookout that day. All you can eat and drink all day for 6 bucks! Cant beat that! As most of you know, i am prone to accidents and illnesses here so keep your fingers crossed for me that i make it back in one piece! I packed my camera so i will be sure to take some good photos. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Rain, Rain... where are you???
Its is a HOT, dreary day here in Senegal. I am on my way back to the village today after a few wonderful days in Dakar. Have i mentioned before how GREAT Dakar is? I think so but i just want everyone to get the full effect. Things on this side of the world have been good lately, but still no rains! I have been waiting anxiously for weeks for the rains to finally arrive. When the rains do come, the weather will cool off dramatically. As for now, i am sitting in the regional house sweating. The thermometer in the house is reading 102 (It is only 9 am here!)
The last few weeks have really been productive for me and the village. I finished the mosquito net disribution i have been working on since January. I distributed over 300 nets to three different neighborhoods. These nets should directly effect between 700-1000 people because NO ONE in the village has their own bed. Usually there are 2-4 people piled in one. One mother in my father has 5 children sleeping together. I am thrilled that i got all of the nets out before the rains with no problems. The actual distribution was somewhat different than my family would have liked. The volunteer living in Diagle before i came told me that she had big problems when she did a nets distribution. She sat at a table at the local health hut and had the villagers come by to get their nets. In any western society, this sounds like the only logical way to pass out hundreds of nets..well not here! People came by and took mor nets than they should have and i think even shorted her money. African people RARELY know how to stand in a line and wait to be serviced. I cant imagine how hectic it must have been for her. I decided to take another approach. I bagged up about 50 nets and drug the sack out of my compound. I decided i wanted to go from door to door to pass out the nets that way i could do it as slow as i wanted and not have to deal with 300 people harassing me at the same time. My family saw what i was doing and was horrified. One mother immediately jumped up and told me i couldnt distribute nets like this because the sun was out and it was too hot. NEWS FLASH: the sun is always out and it is always hot!.. The family all began shouting at me at once telling me to pass out the nets the way the other volunteer did because i would be soooo tired if i did it my way. I ignored there advice and explained to them that the other volunteer ran into many problems doing the distribution at the health post and continued on my way out of the compound. And just so you know, dragging around a bag full of nets really is super heavy. It took me 3 days, but i went to every single family compound with my bag of nets and my list of names and passed out the nets. Yes, after three days, i was sunburned, tired, and my arms were very sore; however, i did not have any problems with the dirtibution and all ran smoothly.
After the net distribution was finished, i started to get bored again. I worked a little on seed distributions. I distributed rice, two types or corn, and two types of sorghum.Peace Corps gives ag volunteers improved varieties of seeds to distribute to farmers. I am supposed to give any given farmer one kilo of seeds and after the harvest, the farmer is supposed to give me two kilos back. Next year, i can use the seeds that were returned to me to extend to another farmer. The farmers are also supposed to save some of the improved varieties to replant the following rainy season. This sounds like a great plan, but i feel it has MANY glitches. For example, proper seed storage is very difficult and many farmers do not do it. When i moved into the village, the former volunteer left me a bucket with several kilos of seeds in it that she had returned to her at the end of last rainy season. I put the bucket under my bed and have not done anything with it until last week. I pulled out the bucket and opened the lid to find thousands and thousands of bugs eating away at the seeds. The bucket has been closed for months and somehow bugs still managed to get in. If the Peace Corps volunteers cant even store seeds properly, how can we expect others to do it???? (Not that i am blaming the other volunteer for poor storage). Also, bean seeds are extremely hard to save. Many people know it will be a failure and dont even waste the kilo to begin with. They just cook it then and there at the end of the rainy season.. i cant say that i blame them. Another problem with this system, Peace Corps leaves it up to the volunteer to choose who we want to give seeds to. I am using about 5 farmers that the previous volunteer used and about 5 new people. Many volunteers use the same farmers year after year. What does this teach the farmers? In my opinion, this teaches them that the American government will come in and give them improved variety seeds for free every rainy season and they dont have to do anything to get them. I did give my village father seeds this year just because i felt obligated to do so. I really have no desire to work with him but felt he would be super offended if i did not give him the seeds. He told me this is the 5th year in a row that a volunteer has given him seeds. As far as i know, he didn't save any seeds from last year's harvest. Why should he continue to get the golden opporunity year after year?Volunteers are supposed to be here to teach techniques that are supposed to help improve yield numbers for each season. Do you think a 24 year old white girl from America knows more about agriculture than these people here that have spent their entire lives working out in the fields??? I am not going to answer that question! We are also here to teach about crop spacing and monitor the fields with improved varieties each week. If a farmer is excelling, it is our job to take other farmers to look at the best fields so they can learn what they should have done to get the same effect. This part of the job, i can do. I just dont feel completely comfortable knowing that my main job here is a job that i am not qualified to be doing. Anyway, after the seed extension was finished, i got realllly bored. All of my projects are kind of at a stand still until the rains come. Nets distributed.....check, seeds distributed....check, tree peppineres all planted/replanted and growing...check, my work with the school garden and well project finished...check, bee hives finished and baited and waiting for a swarm to move in....check.
All in all, my work for the dry season has been quite successful and i am ready to get into the new season. After the rains do come, i will be working closely monitoring some of the fields with improved variety seeds. I also will be direct seeding thousands of trees in the women's garden. I have been saving seeds for a few months and the women are really excited about it. We will be using trees to creat live fences. The women all have garden plots in his beautiful valley that has horrible fencing. Cows and goats sometimes get in there and eat the crops. The trees that i will be helping them with this year are a thorny type of tree that doesnt get very tall. The trees are planted abou 50 cm apart. When they grow, the branches weave together creating a live fence that animals wont bother. This is more efficient than just buying a barbed wire fence or a metal sheet fence because the trees will live a lot longer than the other fences can last. And, this wont cost any money to do and will never cost money for maintenance. The women will be able to prune back the trees themselves. I am anxious to get this project going!
I hope everyone at home is happy and healthy. I havent heard from many of you in awhile. Send me an email and update me on your lives!!! Also, i want to give a shout out to Thompson's Chapel Church for donating money for my bee project and for mosquito nets!! It is very appreciated! Thank you all very much!
The last few weeks have really been productive for me and the village. I finished the mosquito net disribution i have been working on since January. I distributed over 300 nets to three different neighborhoods. These nets should directly effect between 700-1000 people because NO ONE in the village has their own bed. Usually there are 2-4 people piled in one. One mother in my father has 5 children sleeping together. I am thrilled that i got all of the nets out before the rains with no problems. The actual distribution was somewhat different than my family would have liked. The volunteer living in Diagle before i came told me that she had big problems when she did a nets distribution. She sat at a table at the local health hut and had the villagers come by to get their nets. In any western society, this sounds like the only logical way to pass out hundreds of nets..well not here! People came by and took mor nets than they should have and i think even shorted her money. African people RARELY know how to stand in a line and wait to be serviced. I cant imagine how hectic it must have been for her. I decided to take another approach. I bagged up about 50 nets and drug the sack out of my compound. I decided i wanted to go from door to door to pass out the nets that way i could do it as slow as i wanted and not have to deal with 300 people harassing me at the same time. My family saw what i was doing and was horrified. One mother immediately jumped up and told me i couldnt distribute nets like this because the sun was out and it was too hot. NEWS FLASH: the sun is always out and it is always hot!.. The family all began shouting at me at once telling me to pass out the nets the way the other volunteer did because i would be soooo tired if i did it my way. I ignored there advice and explained to them that the other volunteer ran into many problems doing the distribution at the health post and continued on my way out of the compound. And just so you know, dragging around a bag full of nets really is super heavy. It took me 3 days, but i went to every single family compound with my bag of nets and my list of names and passed out the nets. Yes, after three days, i was sunburned, tired, and my arms were very sore; however, i did not have any problems with the dirtibution and all ran smoothly.
After the net distribution was finished, i started to get bored again. I worked a little on seed distributions. I distributed rice, two types or corn, and two types of sorghum.Peace Corps gives ag volunteers improved varieties of seeds to distribute to farmers. I am supposed to give any given farmer one kilo of seeds and after the harvest, the farmer is supposed to give me two kilos back. Next year, i can use the seeds that were returned to me to extend to another farmer. The farmers are also supposed to save some of the improved varieties to replant the following rainy season. This sounds like a great plan, but i feel it has MANY glitches. For example, proper seed storage is very difficult and many farmers do not do it. When i moved into the village, the former volunteer left me a bucket with several kilos of seeds in it that she had returned to her at the end of last rainy season. I put the bucket under my bed and have not done anything with it until last week. I pulled out the bucket and opened the lid to find thousands and thousands of bugs eating away at the seeds. The bucket has been closed for months and somehow bugs still managed to get in. If the Peace Corps volunteers cant even store seeds properly, how can we expect others to do it???? (Not that i am blaming the other volunteer for poor storage). Also, bean seeds are extremely hard to save. Many people know it will be a failure and dont even waste the kilo to begin with. They just cook it then and there at the end of the rainy season.. i cant say that i blame them. Another problem with this system, Peace Corps leaves it up to the volunteer to choose who we want to give seeds to. I am using about 5 farmers that the previous volunteer used and about 5 new people. Many volunteers use the same farmers year after year. What does this teach the farmers? In my opinion, this teaches them that the American government will come in and give them improved variety seeds for free every rainy season and they dont have to do anything to get them. I did give my village father seeds this year just because i felt obligated to do so. I really have no desire to work with him but felt he would be super offended if i did not give him the seeds. He told me this is the 5th year in a row that a volunteer has given him seeds. As far as i know, he didn't save any seeds from last year's harvest. Why should he continue to get the golden opporunity year after year?Volunteers are supposed to be here to teach techniques that are supposed to help improve yield numbers for each season. Do you think a 24 year old white girl from America knows more about agriculture than these people here that have spent their entire lives working out in the fields??? I am not going to answer that question! We are also here to teach about crop spacing and monitor the fields with improved varieties each week. If a farmer is excelling, it is our job to take other farmers to look at the best fields so they can learn what they should have done to get the same effect. This part of the job, i can do. I just dont feel completely comfortable knowing that my main job here is a job that i am not qualified to be doing. Anyway, after the seed extension was finished, i got realllly bored. All of my projects are kind of at a stand still until the rains come. Nets distributed.....check, seeds distributed....check, tree peppineres all planted/replanted and growing...check, my work with the school garden and well project finished...check, bee hives finished and baited and waiting for a swarm to move in....check.
All in all, my work for the dry season has been quite successful and i am ready to get into the new season. After the rains do come, i will be working closely monitoring some of the fields with improved variety seeds. I also will be direct seeding thousands of trees in the women's garden. I have been saving seeds for a few months and the women are really excited about it. We will be using trees to creat live fences. The women all have garden plots in his beautiful valley that has horrible fencing. Cows and goats sometimes get in there and eat the crops. The trees that i will be helping them with this year are a thorny type of tree that doesnt get very tall. The trees are planted abou 50 cm apart. When they grow, the branches weave together creating a live fence that animals wont bother. This is more efficient than just buying a barbed wire fence or a metal sheet fence because the trees will live a lot longer than the other fences can last. And, this wont cost any money to do and will never cost money for maintenance. The women will be able to prune back the trees themselves. I am anxious to get this project going!
I hope everyone at home is happy and healthy. I havent heard from many of you in awhile. Send me an email and update me on your lives!!! Also, i want to give a shout out to Thompson's Chapel Church for donating money for my bee project and for mosquito nets!! It is very appreciated! Thank you all very much!
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