My village is located in the heart of Senegal's peanut basin and currently, it is peanut harvesting time. One by one, the villagers are beginning to unearth all the peanuts from their fields. Peanuts are a ground nut, so they grow in the ground attached to the roots. (Seems obvious, but I hadn't thought about the source of the category's name.) Thus, to retrieve the peanuts, the entire plant is pulled from the ground. The peanuts are then pulled off the roots.
The first time I passed essentially my entire village sitting in a field surrounded by piles of green, I had no idea what was going on. I was riding my bicycle, but I vowed to return to the field after bringing my bike to my room. On my way out the door, my mom handed me a bucket, asking if I was going to look for peanuts. I responded that yes, I am going to search for peanuts, glad to learn what the commotion was all about. I brought my bucket to the field and sat down amidst a circle of women. I then began pulling the nuts off, one-by-one, but the kids all laughed at me and showed me how to do it faster, pulling a few off at a time. I soon learned that it wasn't all about speed; joking, running, and dancing were all important aspects of the task. I filled my bucket and then prepared to leave, though everyone else was still hard at work. I now had an entire bucket of peanuts to share with my family and eat - delicious, fresh, and still wet peanuts (much different than the dried ones for sale in supermarkets).
Peanut harvesting is a social activity in my village. Women, children, and a few men go to the field in the morning and remain there all day. The day begins with the men and children walking through the fields and pulling out the plants. They pile these all up. When the women and more children arrive, they sit down in front of these piles using buckets, old cans, stools, or just the ground as their seat. They then begin to pick the peanuts from the plants and pile them into their buckets. It's a daunting task to harvest peanuts from a whole field especially during the heat of the day, but they have a fun time doing it. Women talk and joke with each other. Children run and jump into the discarded piles of peanut plants (like American children into piles of leaves). Sometimes a small coal stove is brought to the field to make tea. And, of course, a lot of peanuts are eaten in the process.
Generally, the field belongs to one family. The rest of the village comes to help them harvest when the crop is ready. At the end of the day, the amount of peanuts collected by each person is measured, and they are paid based upon the amount collected (and receive a small amount of peanuts to take home with them). This is a great opportunity for the kids who often get to keep the money they earn from working in the field to buy new shoes, an orange, or other treat. And they go out, day after day, to participate in the great harvest.
And then a few sidenotes with some updates/accomplishments:
-My grant for a water pipeline was approved by Appropriate Projects, so we can begin construction on it, and my village will be able to have a community garden. For information about my grant and project, you can go to: http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1332
-I can now carry my own water-just half a bucket of water at a time, but I can balance it on my head!
-I have successfully pulled water from the well. The water table in my village is 45 meters deep (very deep), so this task requires 2 people, but I finally participated in it. (Usually we get water from a water pipeline connected to a water tower in a neighboring town.)
-The 2 toddlers in my compound who used to be petrified of me (crying whenever I came near them) have finally fully given up their fear. This was confirmed 2 days ago when one of them climbed on my lap for the first time ever, refused to let anyone else touch me, and proceeded to follow me around chanting my name for the rest of the afternoon.
-About a month ago, I taught the sage femme (the trained doctor who deals with prenatal visits and baby deliveries) and her 2 assistants how to make neem cream to use as an insecticide; it prevents mosquito bites and thus helps prevent malaria. They were so enthralled by it that they have raved about it to other doctors and family members, and I have received many additional requests for the recipe and suggestions that someone should begin to sell it. Neem cream is catching on in my area.
-Currently, 58 of the 80 individual fencing needed for my fruit trees (to prevent animals from eating them) have arrived. Hopefully the rest will arrive by the end of the month. They are all hand-made by wrapping branches around several upright branches.
-I am receiving lots of compliments on my Wolof and being told that I finally understand Wolof! I still have much more to learn, but I'm making progress.
-And finally, my host mom is ecstatic that her picture is now on my blog and facebook. She tells me "Dem naa Amerik" (I went to America) and is completely impressed that her picture could be sent there. I tell her that she's now famous.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Langeen begge ma def?
About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I had meetings in my village to learn what they expect from me. I purposely set up separate meetings with the men and women to learn what each group wants. At first, they were surprised by this separation, which shows how democratic my village is: they don't need the groups to be separated to voice their opinions. But they eventually agreed that each group might come to different conclusions.
The meetings were held on 2 consecutive nights after dinner and each attended by about 25 people (men or women). I was given free reign to lead the meeting. Luckily, I had explained the meeting's intent to my host parents beforehand, so my host mom and my host dad each helped me to communicate my ideas to the group. (I have learned that speaking Wolof in the dark to a group is much harder than speaking it to individuals in the daylight.) I began by explaining that I'd just returned from my final 2 week training and was now prepared to begin my work. Prior, I had been working in the nearby town, but I want to work within the village to address whatever health or environmental concerns they have. I then asked what they expected from me. Langeen begge ma def? (What do you want me to do?)
This introduction was met with silence. They didn't know what they wanted from me because they were still confused about my role in the village. I had brought a woodlot, so maybe I was responsible for planting trees. But I also help at the health post yet claim I am not a doctor, so maybe I know something about health. They were all very perplexed and expressed this to me. So I began to list some of my project ideas. I was happy to learn that they supported all of them. This, then, meant that whenever I have a new project idea, the village will most likely be behind me on it. However, it also puts a lot of pressure on me to determine what the village most needs. At the moment, that task is a bit daunting, but I am sure that will become easier with time.
The village identified 3 main projects that it wants accomplished first. These are the creation of a village garden, bimonthly health talks, and the training of a "community aunt."
I have decided to tackle the task of a community garden first. My host dad immediately offered up the use of one of his fields for the installation of a dry season vegetable garden. However, this field (like all fields) is located outside the village while all the water sources are within the village. Therefore, my village suggested digging another well, and I heartily agreed only to learn later that this costs about $500,000 and is clearly not a feasible idea. My village then suggested extending the pipeline to their tapwater so that it reaches the field. Since the pipes would only need to be extended about 50 meters, this option seemed much more feasible. My host parents kept telling me to take everything slowly, not to rush into the project, so after the pipeline was suggested, I didn't push the topic further. But 2 days later, my host dad suggested we go to the town to talk with the water supply men about the creation of the tap. To my amazement, after meeting with them twice, the project has been approved, and my village keeps asking me when the supplies will be purchased. So much for Senegalese taking their time on projects; now my grant proposal to fund this pipe extension is causing the delays. But this is all very exciting news. After the grant money has been received and the pipe installed, a fence can be purchased and built and the garden begun. It will contain both vegetables and a tree nursery. The entire village is very happy with this idea, and people are constantly listing to me the types of vegetables they want the garden to contain. The vegetables will mostly be sold for profit in the market, and this money will be reinvested into the garden and divided among the villagers. I am so fortunate to have a community that shares so much among themselves without even thinking about the other option.
My host mom standing at the site for the new waterline, which will be in the middle of the community garden.
They are equally excited for the other two projects. I will be leading the health talks on topics such as malaria, AIDS, nutrition, handwashing, health advice for pregnant women, and any other health topic I can think of. They have left the determination of these topics to me because, as they have told me, they don't know anything about health so don't know what they should know. Women in my village keep asking me when these will start (I am waiting until harvest is over so that all the women will be available in the afternoon), men keep asking to be included, and some people keep relaying to me all the health information they know on certain topics. They are eager to learn. The only trick will be instilling behavior change; knowledge is not the same as acting on this knowledge, and I'm hoping to achieve both of these.
And finally, my host grandma has been voted as community aunt, and she is thrilled by this idea. She doesn't fully understand the responsibilities of this position (nor, frankly, do I at this point-it is a position created by the Senegalese government), but I am working to get her included in a national training of community aunts. She would then be able to provide health information to pregnant women and women with young children, would ensure that they are going for their necessary 3 pre-natal visits and taking their medicine, monitor health issues within the village, and essentially be a source of general counseling for women and couples. This program is extremely effective in Senegal, and I am glad that my village wants to be a part of it. I think it's a great way to ensure that the work I do here is sustainable; I essentially want to train her to look out for the welfare of the women and children in my community. And the other women in the community are excited for her to assume this role.
So these are my 3 current target projects for my village. They are subject to change and develop over time, and I am sure I will determine other project focuses as well. Additionally, once schools open at the end of October, I hope to do some work with the students. But I am glad that now I have some direction in my work.
The meetings were held on 2 consecutive nights after dinner and each attended by about 25 people (men or women). I was given free reign to lead the meeting. Luckily, I had explained the meeting's intent to my host parents beforehand, so my host mom and my host dad each helped me to communicate my ideas to the group. (I have learned that speaking Wolof in the dark to a group is much harder than speaking it to individuals in the daylight.) I began by explaining that I'd just returned from my final 2 week training and was now prepared to begin my work. Prior, I had been working in the nearby town, but I want to work within the village to address whatever health or environmental concerns they have. I then asked what they expected from me. Langeen begge ma def? (What do you want me to do?)
This introduction was met with silence. They didn't know what they wanted from me because they were still confused about my role in the village. I had brought a woodlot, so maybe I was responsible for planting trees. But I also help at the health post yet claim I am not a doctor, so maybe I know something about health. They were all very perplexed and expressed this to me. So I began to list some of my project ideas. I was happy to learn that they supported all of them. This, then, meant that whenever I have a new project idea, the village will most likely be behind me on it. However, it also puts a lot of pressure on me to determine what the village most needs. At the moment, that task is a bit daunting, but I am sure that will become easier with time.
The village identified 3 main projects that it wants accomplished first. These are the creation of a village garden, bimonthly health talks, and the training of a "community aunt."
I have decided to tackle the task of a community garden first. My host dad immediately offered up the use of one of his fields for the installation of a dry season vegetable garden. However, this field (like all fields) is located outside the village while all the water sources are within the village. Therefore, my village suggested digging another well, and I heartily agreed only to learn later that this costs about $500,000 and is clearly not a feasible idea. My village then suggested extending the pipeline to their tapwater so that it reaches the field. Since the pipes would only need to be extended about 50 meters, this option seemed much more feasible. My host parents kept telling me to take everything slowly, not to rush into the project, so after the pipeline was suggested, I didn't push the topic further. But 2 days later, my host dad suggested we go to the town to talk with the water supply men about the creation of the tap. To my amazement, after meeting with them twice, the project has been approved, and my village keeps asking me when the supplies will be purchased. So much for Senegalese taking their time on projects; now my grant proposal to fund this pipe extension is causing the delays. But this is all very exciting news. After the grant money has been received and the pipe installed, a fence can be purchased and built and the garden begun. It will contain both vegetables and a tree nursery. The entire village is very happy with this idea, and people are constantly listing to me the types of vegetables they want the garden to contain. The vegetables will mostly be sold for profit in the market, and this money will be reinvested into the garden and divided among the villagers. I am so fortunate to have a community that shares so much among themselves without even thinking about the other option.
They are equally excited for the other two projects. I will be leading the health talks on topics such as malaria, AIDS, nutrition, handwashing, health advice for pregnant women, and any other health topic I can think of. They have left the determination of these topics to me because, as they have told me, they don't know anything about health so don't know what they should know. Women in my village keep asking me when these will start (I am waiting until harvest is over so that all the women will be available in the afternoon), men keep asking to be included, and some people keep relaying to me all the health information they know on certain topics. They are eager to learn. The only trick will be instilling behavior change; knowledge is not the same as acting on this knowledge, and I'm hoping to achieve both of these.
And finally, my host grandma has been voted as community aunt, and she is thrilled by this idea. She doesn't fully understand the responsibilities of this position (nor, frankly, do I at this point-it is a position created by the Senegalese government), but I am working to get her included in a national training of community aunts. She would then be able to provide health information to pregnant women and women with young children, would ensure that they are going for their necessary 3 pre-natal visits and taking their medicine, monitor health issues within the village, and essentially be a source of general counseling for women and couples. This program is extremely effective in Senegal, and I am glad that my village wants to be a part of it. I think it's a great way to ensure that the work I do here is sustainable; I essentially want to train her to look out for the welfare of the women and children in my community. And the other women in the community are excited for her to assume this role.
So these are my 3 current target projects for my village. They are subject to change and develop over time, and I am sure I will determine other project focuses as well. Additionally, once schools open at the end of October, I hope to do some work with the students. But I am glad that now I have some direction in my work.
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