Dakar, here i come

I left the village late yeaterday evening. I was planning to stay until today but started to feel the oncomings of yet another illness so i decided to get out before I got reall sick. Sickness seems to hit me HARD in waves so i decided i needed to be proactive. Im currently in Kaolack at the regional house. My counterpart recently had a baby and another volunteer and I are going to the baptism later today. Relgious ceremonies here are never too fun but they are a big deal so i think its definately important for me to make an apparance. I was sick last night and my family knew it so I a hoping i can milk it for whats its worth and sneak out a little early today ;)

Things in the village have been good the last week. My english club started out successfuly. We had about 35 people show up to the first class and about the same to the second. The club is currently just learning the English alphabet and number 1 through 25. I have tried to squeeze in some fun trivia also. Im trying to make the classes fun so people will continue to want to come. if anyone has any ideas about fun games or project for English clubs, let me know. We tried to play telephone at the last club meeting. We made it through 3 people and then they completely forgot what i had originally said. We tried again and then someone stopped us and said "Huh, why are we doing this?" They didnt understand at all... I need something simpler.

I worked out in the fields some this week. I helped plant millet and i also helped till the land in a sorghum field. They definately do not have machines for this. There were about 6 women including me bent over with a small little han-held hoe digging up a 2 acre field. I stuck with them for about 3 hrs. Its two days later and the back of my tighs are still quite sore. I dont know where the women get the energy to do this type of work. I am definately in better shape than any of the women working in the field that day, but they kicked my butt in the work dept. In general, people wont let me work in their fields because thay say i will get sick. I forgot to mention that one of the women working out in the field is about 7 months pregnant. I saw how hard she was working and told them that if she could do it, i could too... Really it sucked but i was trying to prove to them that i am not as fragile as they think... The next day, i got sick so maybe i am more fragile than i think lol...

I passed out all of the trees that I have been growing. I donated a few hundred trees to a local cemetary. A man is planning to transplant the trees and create a better fence around the cemetary. I also gave away hundreds of other trees for random fencing in other family compounds. I also gave out many Nebadie trees. This is just a fsat growing tree that has very nutritious leaves. Many people use the leave to make a sauce to eat with millet. People were very interested in getting the trees and i think next dry season, i will plant even more. I am in the process of talking to the director of PC about trying to be replaced in the village by an Agroforestry volunteer after i finish my service. I think my village would definately prosper from having a agfo volunteer instead of just ag.

I am on my way to Dakar tomorrow. I am DYING to get there. Dakar is like a little America and I havent been there for almost 2 months. My family was joking around yesterday saying i was sick because i missed the city...they have no idea...hahaha.. I am going to Dakar to work with the US Embssy teaching English camps. I will be working with high schoolers and have been placed with my friend Thomas. We have about 45 students I think the wee should be a good one. Also, I am excited to get to the city with my friends, eat some good food, and hang by the pool...

Oh, Senegal

What a week this has been. I came back to the village with hopes of getting things done. I have been having a tough time the last few weeks here because it is planting season and have i mentioned... I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FARMING????? I passed out all of the seeds and am following the progress of each field. There is no positive reinforcement whatsoever here so i have absolutely no clue if what i am doing is correct. Whatever.... ugh... anyway, I have decided to take it upon myself to keep busy doing other projects that i do know about. I have held classes each day this week on how to make insect repellent lotion out of neem leaves. People know about this repellent from the volunteer before me, but they dont seem to know how to make it. Its super easy and quite cheap to make. With the use of oil, neem leeves, water, and soap it is possible to cook up a lotion that repels insects such as mosquitos; therefore, reducing the number of malaria cases. Today i started the class with only 5 people showing up. Everyone kept telling me to wait and see if others would come. I decided to be hard-headed and go ahead and begin. Im tired of the Senegalese way of thinking that schedules do not matter. We cooked the ingredients and made the lotion at 10 am like i planned. We finished around 10:45 and soon after about 20 other people showed up. They couldnt figure out why i didnt wait for them... so i agreed to teach one more class on monday... Starting ON TIME!
I also got our Mangrove restoration project off the ground this week. We are planning to do a seed collection day on july 29th and have an out-plnting day on August 19th. I want to invite other volunteers and villagers to help with the out-planting. We are hoping to be able to plant several hundred trees in just one day. I am excited to find out that things are actually working out with this project.
Monday will be my first day of teaching an English Club. I have visited other English clubs in the area to see what the kids like to do. I went through the village and invited EVERYONE here so hopefully i will have a good turn out. Another volunteer is coming to help me get the club started. The first class will probably just be used to find out who exactly wants to study English and also find out English levels. i plan to break the club down into smaller classes for adults, students, and children... keep your fingers crossed for me because this is going to be a big project.... hopefully anyway!
Im trying to put in two more weeks in the village and then head to Dakar for a week. i am teaching English classes in the US Embassy... the next two weeks are going to be tough because its super hot still and its not raining much... wish me luck!