Language

Yesterday morning, my host brother walked into my room and plopped himself, as he often does, on my wicker couch.

He does this often, and in fact, he is doing it as I type this. Sometimes I think this is his way of getting something from me, or he's hiding from the women in the family who never shut up.

Anyways, I proceeded to make small talk and asked him what he was going to do for the national holiday that day. (Side note: there's always some national holiday) He said he would spend the day doing nothing, which I half expected.

I then asked about another member of the family and his whereabouts as I hadn't seen him all morning. My host brother said he had left for the auto shop where he works. I was surprised, as I thought everyone had today off. The schools were closed, and I knew the post office was shut. I asked why this was and my host brother said that anyone who works with the French language has the day off.

In the States, our division of labor is labeled by our collars: blue or white. In Senegal (and I'm sure most of post-colonial Africa) the division is labeled by what language one works with. It makes prefect sense. A command of the French languages generally implies someone is educated and most likely has a job that doesn't involve manual labor.

Working

It has been far too long since my last post. But I have been so busy and this heat is exhausting! At then end of the day, all I want to do is get lost in a movie and go to bed.

It's been so incredibly hot lately and I've been using my fan around the clock. I started feeling guilty that I was using too much electricity, so I started sleeping outside. Every night I drag out my foam mattress and place it on the terrace, then about 6:30 am, when the women get up and start bustling around, I wake up and take the mattress back inside and sleep for another two hours. But last night was so hot that I got up at 1 am and went back inside. I woke up with a headache. I must have sweat so much I dehydrated myself.

The fruit dryer is going well. The women's group decided to do a large market test to see if it is a plausible idea. Last Sunday was the inauguration of a new father at the church and so everyone was expected to be there. The women figured they could dry mangoes all week and then sell them after Mass. They started the Sunday before and on Wednesday, I stopped by to see how the drying was going. They had dried a lot of mangoes but hadn't figured out the amount and price per bag. So we did that on the spot and the potential profit was over 200% of cost. So Friday rolls around and I decide to check up on the drying. I stopped by the church to see the dryers and I'm told that the day before the women had decided to sell everything at the exposition for the national holiday. Now, I knew Thursday was to be a holiday, but I had no idea there was to be an expo nor that the women had sold the fruit at it. Anyways, I learned that the women sold out of everything they had dried for the week by noon and that they had run back and bagged up what was sitting in the dryers and sold out of all of that. I have no idea what they made in profit or how much they sold but I am excited to find out! The next meeting is tomorrow.

I also have been making a name for myself. There are several other volunteers who want to have their own dyer and have asked for my designs. I'm excited at how popular it has become.

Work at the center is going well. It's still going to be a long time until the girls are ready for international export on a large scale. But they are making strides. They've had a few training and are moving forward. There are many hands stirring this pot and I am having trouble balancing everyone's interests. I'm in a unique position being that I am a Westerner who lives near and works with the center. I am capable of making quick decisions and can easily be a voice for the other NGOs trying to help. But we're not all on the same page...*sigh*. One NGO had made an extensive business plan for the girls and will be a great asset. It gives the girls a model to works with and towards, as it explains costs and times to make many of the products the girls will eventually make. The problem is that they are far off from producing anything on a large scale. Not all the girls even show up every day.

In June, a consultant is coming to give a training. In preparation for her arrival, I met with the director of the workshop and we divided the business in plan into what the girls currently can and cannot make. For what they can make, they will prepare examples for the consultant so she can do quality control. They've started this week and I've been watching closely and been constructively criticizing. There are some issues with the work, but they are being fixed.

Today we installed 6 computers into the girl's center for future trainings on computers. I guess this is my responsibility as I am the only one who could teach them. But in typical Senegalese fashion, there were no desks or chairs for the computers. Add that to the list.

My reading room/library/innovation center or whatever I decide to call it has hit a bump. My counterpart and I met with one of the two fathers and the two leaders of the church's boy's boarding school. My counterpart and I had met with several masons and prepared an informal presentation to explain the financing. After introducing the room, the father looked at me and said "We don't need another room. I thought you were going to help with our library." I was so shocked that I was speechless. And a side note, the leaders of the boarding school were just as shocked. During our first meeting ever, all aforementioned people plus the church's head, a Senegalese priest, met to discuss collaborating on building a library because the boarding school needed the room. This Father must have misunderstood at the first meeting. My counterpart (thank God!) jumped to my rescue and attempted to set the Father straight, but it was to no avail. I'm no sure what to do but my counterpart said he would contact the other Father.

The summer camp I am collaborating on is coming along. But I don't think we are making progress fast enough and I am afraid that time will run out.

Last Thursday, my host brother and I painted and laid new linoleum down in my hut. It badly needed a new coat of paint and the linoleum was badly tearing. We did it all in one day and I think I nearly killed my host brother, but it needed to be done.

That about sums it up!I'm busy and loving it!