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!

Projects Galore!

Wow! What a hectic month.

Since my return from Dakar I have been up to my ears in projects. I've built a fruit dryer, been making progress on building the library, creating a girls' summer camp, and been swamped with the workshop.

First off, the fruit dryer. There is a womens' group associated with the church and they have been looking for new ways to make money. At a recent meeting they came up with several ideas, one being dried fruit. Surprisingly, I had been presented a design for one at a conference in Dakar and I was intrigued with the simplicity and cheapness of the model. I told the women about and asked to be give a couple of weeks to modify and build one for commercial use.

I called up the volunteer and asked about how it works and got his thoughts and opinions. Then I did some internet research to see how a dryer operates. I came up with a design of my own and I built it. I had to modify his design so it would produce more dried fruit. And my modification resulted in the wooden box I built.

It works very simply. Air enters at the bottom and is heated between the plastic and painted black zinc. Then the air enters in from the bottom of the box and exists through the top, thereby drying the fruit. The total cost was about $20.

My first attempt failed because I had a metal roof. So the air just lingered and humidified. I called up the other volunteer and he explained that removing the roof would correct the problem. He was right.

So far I have successfully dried: apples, bananas, mangoes, okra, peppers, and tomatoes. The tomatoes didn't turn out how I wanted. I took the skin off before drying them and I wound up with sun dried tomato chips. On the next attempt, I'll leave on the skins.

I presented the dryer to the women and they are interested. On Wednesday I have another presentation and then they will decide if they want to pursue it. If they do, then they have to do a market and costing analysis.

I emailed pics to my bosses and told every volunteer who would listen and already one volunteer has asked me to come out and build one!

The library is coming. I have a meeting with the church next week. More to come on that. The workshop is currently giving dying training and I'll report on that soon. The summer camp is moving along. I'm spearheading the activities committee and we finally got funding. We themed out each day and are working from there.

All in all, a very busy month and even a busier one to come

The infectious Infection

I landed myself a week in the medical hut at the Peace Corp's Headquarters in Dakar all due to a staph infection.

I'll spare everyone the oozy details and just say I got it from shaving with germ infested water. The water at site is amazing. The inside of my water filter is rust orange- a deeper orange than the shade on some modern cars. Yuck.

I contacted the Peace Corps doctors the day it started and 48 hours later (48 is a magical medicinal number) it wasn't any better and my butt was told -not asked- to get to Dakar. Luckily, there was a Peace Corps car passing through later on. Unluckily, 'later on' was 20 minutes later. I never packed so quickly.

So I've been stuck in the Med Hut for a few days as the doctors check over me. I've been on antibiotics and it is getting better.

Surprisingly, there is another volunteer quarantined with me for a staph infection and my boss' assistant has one too. Must be the water!

I was really reluctant to come. It's such a jarring experience to go from a rural town to Dakar. Not to mention, it's freaking expensive! Such that Peace Corps gives us a per diem for our time here. There's just no way to do really cheap here.

It hasn't all been unpleasant though. Casino, a very large supermarket is in walking distance. I've made spaghetti bolognaise and tonight we had chicken breasts with tomato basil sauce. And the Cheese! Oh the Cheese! I had forgotten about the cheese isle that is in all French grocery stores. It doesn't exist in the US. So good.

Tomorrow I will be released and I will make my way back to site, spending tomorrow night in Kaolack at the regional house.

Long Week

What a rotten week! They're rare, but it's times like these that make me want to come home.

I got a skin infection on my left cheek. It either came form spider bite or from when I last shaved. I tried sleeping outside for a few nights because it's so hot, so that may explain the spider. Either way, my cheek is swollen and it looks like I put on 50lbs. I'm on an antibiotic, but like all antibiotics, there are side effects - unpleasant side effects.

I've tried to minimize leaving the house to avoid the embarrassment, but wouldn't you know my boss passed through town yesterday and I had to walk to the center of the city to greet him.

If it's not showing signs of improvement in a day or two I'll have to go to Dakar for treatment.

In other news, my chicken died. A few days ago the neighbor's chicken spent the night in our chicken coup and passed along its sickness. My host brother's chickens got sick first and then my chicken caught it. Yesterday morning the kids woke up to find 3 out of 4 of my host brother's chickens dead and then later on in the afternoon my chicken finally succumbed to it. Funny thing though, she left behind unhatched eggs and the one surviving god-chicken decided to nest on those eggs. I foresee Senegalese Family Court in my Future.

I didn't know what to do with the body and I didn't feel like touching it. So I called over the 10 year old Go-fer and told him to get rid of it. I later asked out of curiosity what he did with it and he said he threw it on top of the communal garbage heap in the street. Remember there is no trash collection. Thank God it's burned every few days.

It's Easter time and so in the spirit of "Teranga" or "hospitality" Christians and Muslims are exchanging tokens of friendship. Teranga is extremely important here and is more of a way of life than a concept. There is a Wolof proverb that says: "A visitor or stranger is a king and should be treated as such." So far, they've been exchanging an runny peanut butter mix and I have accumulated about a gallon. I really don't want it, but I have to accept it. I'll just give it to the kids.

Today I made a Rocket Stove.

A Rocket Stove is "is a type of stove combining the air-intake with the fuel-feed slot in an opening terminated by the combustion chamber, further leading to a chimney and heat exchanger. A rocket stove is signified by ease of construction and simplicity of building materials while accepting small-diameter fuel such as twigs or small branches, yielding high combustion efficiency and directing the resultant heat onto a small area."

Thank you Wikipedia.

Basically, it's a cylinder surrounded with insulation that draws and preheats air though the fuel slot, thereby making the fire hotter and the air more combustible, or something like that.

I had a friend show me his design and I attempted to recreate it. I decided I wanted to try and not pay for anything, which is possible. I wound up paying 500F ($1) to have the cans I used welded together, which in retrospect, wasn't necessary. I found or was given all the other materials.

I started by finding three tomato cans which I hollowed out to make a cylinder, I then added the smaller perpendicular fuel access can. Then I slapped some mud on a piece of wood to create a base. I enclosed the cans with a sheet of zinc and the filled the gap with ash.

The overall point is to create a more efficient stove and avoid using charcoal. Because the of increased heat and combustion, it works far more efficiently.

My host family said they would test it for me and see how it works. It did manage to boil two liters of water in 10 minutes. I thought that was impressive for only using a few sticks.

Solidarity and Vacations

Just when I think African solidarity couldn't possibly become any more intrusive... it does.

Not only what is in my wallet, fridge, and medicine cabinet not just mine (remember the borrower's right to receive is greater than the lender's right to keep)my vacations come under attack.

Yesterday, I was sitting in the courtyard reading, as I often do to not seem as if I am always in my room, when one of the women in the family, out of nowhere, asked me if I am taking any vacations back to the US. Now, the family knows a lot of what volunteers do, having hosted a volunteer in the past. And let's be honest, it's a reasonable question to ask. I figure I can't get away for weeks on end without telling them. They'll just call Peace Corps, and then I'll have to answer for it when I'm back.

So I reflected for a second and decided there isn't any harm in telling them I'm going to Egypt. It didn't quite work out that way.

As usual, the conversation immediately turned to how the family doesn't have money. So much stems from that one mentality and it's incredibly frustrating. It's always, "we just don't have money," which is a very reactive response. We use this reply in the States, but dig a little deeper and this is where our cultures diverge. Ask someone why he or she doesn't have money and the answer will be different. In Senegal, I never hear someone use debt (good or bad), budget constraints (but how I wish!), or savings. When I ask why they don't have money, the response falls along the lines of not having jobs or things are expensive.

It's rarely, "I had too many kids in an economy with no jobs" or "I didn't finish school and don't speak French" or "I was socially obligated to give what I have to friends/family." I do get these responses, but it's usually by someone who learned a little too late.

I wasn't hounded or harassed, but the conversation moved in the direction of the only family member with solid job and income who is sending money to so many family member. I was told that if he wanted to take a vacation outside of Senegal, the family would call him and say that he was throwing away money because the family has needs and the money could be spend better elsewhere.

Ain't that some shit...

End of Training

Finishing up the rest of February and a few days into March was my In Service Training (IST). This is a technical training held 3 months after becoming a volunteer, which for me happened in October.

It was very informative, and at times, very boring. One presentation followed another day after day and it seemed endless. The worst presentations were given by the Senegalese and the best was given by an importer from the US.

The Senegalese like to talk and talk and talk and then discuss. And subsequently, this transfers over to presentations. Watching a Senegalese presenter present to a group of Senegalese is tantamount to watching a dance. The presenter has to relate his subject to the audience while allowing everyone a chance to comment or offer their opinion. And I mean everyone. And if the presenter fails to allow enough people the opportunity to offer their (usually useless) opinions, his or her evaluation suffers. People raise their hand simply to reiterate what the presenter just mentioned or they do my favorite, get the speakers attention and then point at the person who just spoke and say, "I agree with him." Seriously, Why?

Now take this presenter who is used to the Senegalese non stop verbal assault and place him with a group of Americans who have been sitting in a dark room for a week. And what do you get? Lots of crickets chirping. Often, it became awkward because they would address the audience looking for a comment and they would get silence.

The best presentation, in my opinion, was given by a lady who owns a small business on the West coast and imports products from all across Africa. She offered consumer sided information on the products that she has sold and what she is currently looking at for future imports.

Since IST has finished, I've been thinking of the projects I'd like to work on. I have listed, a vegetable garden for the boy's boarding school, a few technical trainings on computers, trainings in accounting, and exportation. Hopefully I'll stay busy!