You know you live in Africa when...

1. “Now now” can mean anything from a minute to a month.
2. The employees dance in front of the building to show how unhappy they are.
3. The national network advertises and shows highlights of the program you just finished watching.
4. You get cold easily. Anything below 85 Fahrenheit is Arctic weather.
5. You can sing your national anthem in four languages, and you have no idea what it means in any of them.
6. You produce a 2000 CFA note instead of your driver’s license when stopped by a traffic officer.
7. You can do your monthly shopping on the pavement.
8. The gas in your tank may be worth more than your car.
9. A bullet train is being introduced, but we can’t fix potholes.
10. You have to prove that you don’t need a loan to get one.
11. It rains for less than an hour and everywhere is flooded. But the people are over-joyed.
12. A game of hop-scotch attracts half the village.
13. Every toothpaste is Colgate.
14. Every soft drink is coca cola or Fanta.
15. You call everyone older then you uncle or aunt.
16. No running water for a day is just another ordinary thing.
17. Being an hour late equals being “on time”.
18. You have an over whelming urge to wash all your salad in bleach and add a bit of charcoal to your milk just to get the taste your used to.
19. You know never to question what you’re eating (even if it does taste good), cuz sometimes you just don’t want to know.
20. Football is played with some sort of ROUND ball and WITHOUT hands.
21. You make friends with the local Sheppard and know the goats by name
22. You watch the minibus driver's assistant try to climb through the front window onto the roof in order to fit another passenger in.
23. After your bus has blown a tire, the one it's replaced with looks just as bad and old.
24. You can sing Akon’s “Smack That” without knowing what it really means.
25. There are more goats on top of the car than passengers in it.
26. You could make your own weave from discarded pieces.
27. Most of your aunts and uncles are younger than you
28. You ask you mother to ask your brother to ask your sister to ask your cousin to ask you Dad if you can have money for something.
29. You know it only becomes stealing when the other person notices its disappearance.
30. You're cell phone has a flashlight
31. For safety, you make your donkey wear a reflector.
32. The entire village has seen your boobs.
33. You don't understand the value of the money in your hand, but you know what that colored coin can buy.
34. Kids think exchanging an mp3 player for a bracelet is a fair deal.

CSI: Candyland

One of my fondest memories growing up was hearing Bill Cosby's take on family and children. The best, by far, was his section on children and brain damage.

It's true. Children have brain damage. I had it. And childhood is one long recovery plan. You can sit something in front of them, tell them not to touch, and while you stare at them, they touch it. And when you ask them, "why did you touch it" they respond, "I don't know".

But in my case, I get to put up with "I don't know" in three languages. "Xamuma", "Je ne sais pas" and "I don't know" all have the derivative of from Phoenician to Greek to Latin meaning "I thought you weren't serious."

(Mom, this is my formal apology, I'm sorry)

Last night I noticed a line of ants in my room. After a several minute hunt (remember these are African ants) I found their source - a blow pop wrapper from a month ago that I never threw out. Feeling very Senegalese at the moment, I opted for the easiest method. I took the remaining suckers, crammed them into a clear bag, then left them on the table.

Therein lies my mistake. The next day the kids kept saying, "offer me candy," which is how we ask for things in Wolof. I kept saying I didn't have any and as the day progressed I started wondering why they kept asking.

Later on I decided to take a nap to recover from the carb coma I enter after lunch everyday. At the time of my repose there were several children in my room playing cards on my floor. Shortly after, all of the children except for one left.

Now, this child who remained, as cute and funny as he is, has his solar panel aimed at the moon, if ya catch my drift.

So I am laying in bed and I start to hear a crinkling noise. I wake up and see him slowly lift a blow pop out of the bag. We make eye contact and he stares at me like a deer in head lights and I yell, in Wolof "theif." Well the family comes running and makes a huge stink of it, which they should have.

I later called him into my room to explain why his actions were bad and I banished him from my room for a week. He's been sulking out of sight all afternoon.

I just don't get it. I don't know if this is goes back to the cultural point of the Senegalese having no boundaries with personal effect or if this boy's brain dun fell out. I have lived with him for a year now and he pulls this. Brain Damage!

Girl's Camp

Wow! It has been a long time since my last post. I left my site on 20 June for a Girl's Summer Camp and then I immediately left for a much needed three week vacation in Egypt. So this post will cover the Girl's Camp.

Development agents (isn't that a nice term) in developing countries have learned that in order to modernize or advance a country, women must be included and even focused on. In developed countries, the dispariaty between women and men is less and gender rolls are less absolute. Whatever your opinion is on the matter, this point is true. In places such as Africa, gender rolls are all but law. Focusing on women is a chance to make a difference.

Several of us volunteers in the Kaolack/Kaffrine regions of Senegal worked together to offer 27 young girls from 15-19 years of age a chance to learn, grow and have fun. The week long camp was organized and operated Peace Corps volunteers. Outside donors provided the funds necessary to supply the camp.

We held the summer camp in the city of Sokone, where we had found a camp ground with amazing facilities. Also, the campground was positioned in the delta and surrounded by brackish water and the Mangroves. The mangrove are an incredible ecosystem, but unfortunatley, they are being destroyed.

The camp was run like any other vacation camp seen in the US. After all, aren't the volunteers American? Each day we had leadership and team building activities, information sessions, health, arts and crafts, games and sports. We had some great activities and games and I am proud to say that my ideas definitely were a big success. (I have to give props to my mom for being a good example over the years)

The girls were given a journal and pen and everyday there was a journal topic to go with the theme of the day. Surprising the girls, were very willing to write and never needed to be encouraged. Some of the girls would spend all their free time journaling. I suppose it's a nice retreat from a world where one is never alone.

We also invited local teacher to come and play a role. The objective is that each year the Senegalese will play larger and larger roles until the point were the volunteers aren't needed anymore. Since this is the first year, they mostly watched how we interacted with the girls. They were, however, responsible for the daily 'debrief' sessions in which they discussed the day's going ons with the girls and basically made a summary of what went on

For the first two days I was in charge of the Leadership and team building activities. For day one, we played helium stick, a game designed to foster cooperation and communication. It was a blast! On day two we played tug-o-war and wow those girl got rough and competitive! We also did a water balloon fight which was a hit! We played several communication related game and quickly realized the soaking wet girls were the one's who don't listen.

For arts and craft we tried to give them activities which would allow them to be creative, think on their own, and act unhindered. Lack of creativity and initiative is a problem here in Senegal. And to prove it, I could line up volunteers, NGO employees, and other more educated Senegalese. Children here have so few opportunities to be creative. There are no junk drawers, no VBS, and Arts & Crafts don't follow snack time. And no one, I mean no one, thinks out of the box or let alone, is allowed too.

Our first craft involved cutting out pictures from magazines and using one side of a paper plate to describe who the girls are, and on the other, who the girls want to be. We provided pens, paper, scissors, markers, stickers etc. In the US, this would have been simple. Not here. They actually asked where to put stickers, what to draw, and where to glue pictures. I was floored. And one girl, who couldn't find a picture of a doctor for her collage, asked me what to do. I said, "figure it out" and she looked stunned. I also had to stop the teachers from telling the girls how to make their collages. This is typical, as creativity is copied here. UGH!

The most popular physical activity was swimming. The camp ground is on the bank of the mainland leading into the mangroves. They loved swimming. They played their own version of Marco Polo: Ceebu jen (fish and rice) HAHAHA!

The most popular health session was the one of sexual health. We recruited a health volunteer who speaks BEAUTIFUL Wolof and for two hours, they were glued to every word she said. Only the female volunteers were apart of this session, but every time I walked by, the girls had inched their chairs closer. By the end, they practically resting on the volunteer.

The best part of the camp was watching the girls come out of their shells. On day 1 everyone was timid and shy. By the end of the week they were loud, laughing, and all but uncontrollable. Today, I am visiting the four girls that I brought to see what they thought about the camp and to get their feedback. But I think it will all be positive, as I have run into their families and I've heard nothing but praises.

Success!

Can't Stop The Rain

Last night the rains came.

Remember the programs on the Discover Channel about the God-forsaken antelope scratching at dirt to find water and food, and then, *shazam* the next scene is wide angle view of rolling clouds.

Well it's actually like that.

I went over to my counterpart's house last night for warthog and on the way home I noticed lightening way off in the distance. I thought nothing of it and continued on my way.

Back at home, I went though my usual routine. I dragged the mattress outside onto my porch, locked up my room and went to bed. At 1 am, the wind picked up a little and soon after a drizzle started and quickly stopped.

At 2:30, again the wind picked up, and kept picking up. Half asleep, I pulled the blanket over my head and rolled over. A few minutes later, the cyclone hit! I swear, if it had been light out, I could have told you which mummy's face was in the storm cloud. With in seconds, the family was up and inside the house closing windows and securing loose doors. I jumped up, wrapped my blanked around my face and half blinded, dragged my mattress inside. Soon after the heavens opened.

The next morning, I looked at my floor and I could barely make out the design on the linoleum. It took the kids nearly an hour to get the sand out of my hut....

Welcome to the rainy season.

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!

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