Movie Night

  
Every time I go to Kaolack and come home with a full computer battery I make a bowl of popcorn and host a movie night with my family. The kids love the cinematic adventures and I love listening to their commentary as they discover something for the first time. We've watched everything from Disney movies to Jurassic Park, and although I've tried to explain the concept of fiction to them, I think I've left them with a few false impressions of the world. My brothers and sisters are convinced that frogs and donkeys in America can talk (thanks to Shrek and Princess and the Frog), that white people can grow hair long enough to climb up (Tangled) and most terrifyingly, that dinosaurs still exist and regularly eat people. Its funny to watch them try and reconcile what they see on screen with their own world. They had a long argument over whether Aladdin was a talibe, a beggar child that attends Koranic school, or a Pulaar because his pants look like the traditional chaia that they wear. In they end I think they decided that he was a mixture of both.

Last week, having run out of fiction, I watched two episodes of the BBCs Planet Earth with them; shallow seas and great plains. It was especially entertaining to hear their commentary on the animals, which they tried desperately to categorize in terms of the things that they know. Some animals, like elephants and monkeys, they recognized, but most of them were too far outside their realm of experience so they tried to stuff them awkwardly into familiar boxes. Whales? Big fish. Not too much of a stretch. Lions? Large cats. Again, a reasonable extrapolation. Some things, though, were a bit off the mark. Seals became "dogs of the water," American buffalo were "Forest cows," and there was a long argument as to whether the Arctic Fox was a dog or a "cat of the forest." Any manner of gazelle was dubbed a "goat of the forest" and somehow a manatee and her cub became "water donkeys." I think they really enjoyed the fantastic imagery, although I don't think they always understood exactly what they were seeing. The views from space, for example, completely eluded them. Still, it is fun to try and broaden their horizons, even if they don't quite believe these things exist.

A Tale of Two Seasons

Hot Season

Rainy Season

Camp de Conaissance et Croissance

Group Photo, campers and counselors

At the end of June the volunteers of Kaolack region hosted a summer leadership camp for 40 local teenage girls who had just completed 5eme (8th grade) and were in the top 10 of their class. The purpose of the camp was to empower and inspire local girls and open their eyes to opportunities for their future beyond, or perhaps in spite of, early marriage. Each day involved leadership and team building games, crafts, sports and educational workshops that related to the day's theme. My main job at the camp was to work with the Seereer women in the kitchen managing the pantry and making sure meals came out on time, but I escaped the heat of the cooking fire to teach swim lessons and lend a helping hand with other sessions where needed. It was a long week, but worth all of the hard work to help provide such a unique and valuable experience for the girls. 

 Monday's theme was Identity, and journal prompts, discussions and sessions focused on how the girls viewed themselves and how they identified their roles in society and in their families. Individuality is stamped out of kids by the school system at a pretty early age, so sometimes it can be tough to get Senegalese people, especially women, to view themselves as unique. Group think is extremely influential in this culture and sometimes it can be difficult to get a girl to step outside the box and express original view or opinions, even about herself, that might be different from the crowd. The girls started off the morning with yoga (a daily occurrence at the camp) and then spent an hour personalizing journals with photos cut from magazines that expressed something about their personality. These journals were used each morning to record the girls thoughts, prompted by several questions relating to the days theme, and then again in the evening as part of group discussions with their Senegalese counselors. The first day went really smoothly, and as the day wore on the girls began to adjust to the rhythms of an American-style summer camp and really started to open up and enjoy themselves. We ended the day with a big camp fire and sang songs and taught the girls how to make s'mores.

The journal of Ami Mbodji, one of the girls from my village

Tuesdays theme was Health, and the big session of the day was an anonymous Q&A with several volunteers and a local midwife. Girls wrote questions on pieces of paper about everything from rape and violence, to sexual health and birth control, to pregnancy and periods and then they were read aloud to the group and answered. In a culture where sexual education is severely lacking and "general knowledge" is mostly just myths and superstitions, opportunities for women to receive accurate information about their own bodies are rare. The girls also attended sessions on making neem lotion (a natural mosquito repellent), fitness and exercise, and healthy cooking. The day ended with a spa night. Pedicures and facials and nail polish galore.

Tug-of-war

Wednesday was all about the Environment. In the morning we sent the girls off on a pirogue (boat) ride through the mangrove forest to a protected island with a local environmentalist, earning those of us who got up at 5am to cook pancakes for all 60 people at the camp a much needed break. In the afternoon the girls learned how to make a tree nursery and a container garden, and then participated in a team Olympics. We topped the day off with the movie Fern Gully, dubbed in French and projected onto a bedsheet along with popcorn and juice.

Counselors taking a hard-earned break

Thursday we spent the day talking about Gender. Girls were asked to contemplate what it means to be a woman, and were pushed to challenge conventional gender roles in society. In Senegal being female, especially in a small village, makes you little more than a baby-making machine. Many girls are pulled out of school early and married off at a young age, to men typically 10-15 years older than them. My 15 year old sister in Sambande has been married for over two years now, although she doesn't yet live with her husband, and my 29 year old brother just married a 17 year old girl. Women are the ones who cook, clean, work in the fields, take care of children, wash clothes and cater to the husbands every whim. Men are the ones who "provide for the family" by farming during the three rainy months of the year, or working as masons, taxi drivers or shop owners. We asked the girls to re-think traditional gender roles and consider the possibility that girls might be able to play sports and men can do laundry and cook. The girls spent the afternoon making friendship bracelets and tie-dye Tshirts and we taught them how to play softball and ultimate frisbee. In the evening a local drumming group came in and we held a Sabaar (dance party) for the girls.

 

A Fire eater at the dance party on Thursday night

Friday, the last day of camp, was career day. Building on the foundation of the day before, we examined opportunities for girls to do something other than pop out babies for the rest of their lives. We had several guest speakers talk about their own lives and careers, including teachers, midwives and business owners. One of the first questions the girls always asked was "are you married?" They wanted to know if it was possible to be someones wife and still have a career as a strong, independent woman. The answer was an inspirational "yes." The girls also discussed various jobs that were seen as either for men, for women, or for both and counselors gave examples of women performing and succeeding in male-dominated professions. The girls talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up, and there were some surprising answers. The most popular answers were teacher and midwife, but girls also expressed the desire to become lawyers, doctors, policewomen, firefighters and entrepreneurs. At the end of the day each group of girls performed a skit that they had worked on with their Senegalese counselors all week, based around one of the themes of the camp.

I think the girls that attended camp got a lot out of the week. They made some good memories, lasting friendships and learned valuable lessons, but most importantly they had fun. Girls in this country rarely get the opportunity to just have a good time, because as soon as they get home from school they have to take on the responsibilities of a grown woman...cooking, cleaning and collecting firewood while their brothers run off and play. It was nice to give these young women a chance to get away from their responsibilities and give them time to learn and grow and think about their futures.

Happy Birthday Amerik!

Kedougou has an ice cream man...who knew?

 This year I celebrated the 4th of July in Kegougou, a region in the south east of Senegal with a couple of waterfalls, some modest hills and a lot more green than anywhere else in the country. About 100 volunteers descended on the regional house for a weekend of all-American fun. There was a pool party at a local hotel, bike trips to local waterfalls, horseshoes, beer and a good old fashioned pig roast. Nothing says American like a cold can of beer and a plate full of pork, two things extremely hard to come by in a muslim country. In honor of the occasion, I've compiled a short list of things about America that I didn't realize were so amazing until I spent a year in Senegal.

Two pigs in the ground, one for the grill

1. Anonymity- In a country as racially diverse as the United States it's pretty easy to blend in with the crowd, even in predominately ethnic neighborhoods. Its not uncommon to see a black person in Chinatown or a Mexican in Harlem and most people don't give it a second thought. As a white person living in Senegal, however, its impossible to remain anonymous. As soon as I step out my front door I stick out like a sore thumb. Even if I dress in traditional clothes, speak three local languages and suck dirty well water out of a plastic bag that I bought out the window of a public transport vehicle I will never be mistaken for Senegalese. I stick out like a sore thumb and from the moment I leave my village people shout Toubab ("white person") at me from all directions, small children cry at the sight of me and street children follow me around like a pack of wild dogs pinching my skin and throwing rocks.

2. Cleanliness is next to Godliness- Hand washing. Trash disposal. Sterile medical facilities. Food sanitation laws. After a year of watching kids poop next to our food bowl, grown men mine for gold up their nose next to me on the bus and raw sewage flowing freely through the streets of Kaolack, American's penchant for over-regulating, over-sanitizing and over-medicating doesn't seem so bad.

3. Punctuality- In America you call a meeting and people show up five minutes early. In Senegal you call a meeting and people show up two hours late. In America now means now. In Senegal now means any time from 2-10 hours later. In America public transport operates on a schedule. In Senegal public transport barely operates and you should expect to wait 2-5 hours for a car to fill up and leave.

Large hills

4. One price for everyone- I can't wait to go shopping in a country where the price of an item doesn't depend on the color of your skin, where its illegal to charge someone 4x the fair price for vegetables just because they're white, and where people don't exert a "toubab tax" on public transportation.

5. Racism is wrong- In Senegal, racism is a way of life. You could never get away with addressing someone as "white person" in America as if it was their name, or shouting "xonknop" (red ears, the Senegalese equivalent of nigger) at them from across the street. People don't throw rocks at people who look different, charge different prices for different races or force white people to take the worst seat on public transport. I have so much more respect for MLK jr, because after a year of almost constant harassment because of my race I don't know how much more I can take.

6. Things that work- Senegalese people break EVERYTHING. Give a child a stuffed animal and they will immediately start dismembering it. Wheels fall off of moving cars, huts collapse in the rain because they aren't maintained, the only ATM in the city remains broken for weeks, and massive power outages cause riots in the streets.

Termite Mound

7. Common courtesy- Americans can wait in an orderly line. If a pregnant woman or old lady gets on a bus young men will give up their seat. If someone spits on your foot while washing for Friday prayers they apologize profusely. People say "please," "excuse me," and "thank you" regularly. No one demands you give them money / a present / the shirt off your back. These things are AMAZING.

8. Work Ethic- The American Dream means working hard to improve your life. People respect hard work and most people don't feel good at the end of the day unless they've accomplished something. The Senegalese Dream is to sit around under a tree drinking tea until some NGO shows up and gives you something for free. People refuse to do any work that does not have an immediate pay-off...investing in your future is not a wise decision since it involves hard work without visible results.

9. Women's Rights- I can't wait to move back to a country where I don't get asked to become someone's third wife on a daily basis, where my male friends don't get asked to sell me to some gross old man, where I can sit in the front seat of a vehicle, wear pants and "do sports" without getting yelled at by some sexist old man. A country where I don't have to explain to people why I don't want to be married with three kids at 23 years old, where people don't constantly remind me that my biological clock is ticking and where my worth is not based solely on my marital status.

10. FOOD!- God bless the land of variety. Mexican, Chinese, Thai, German, Vietnamese, Japanese, Diners, Italian...the list goes on and on. In Senegal you can choose from one of 10 ethnic dishes, although they all contain rice, fish and oil so why even bother to choose. God bless the land of availability. Supermarkets in every city, convenience stores on every corner, farmers markets in every yuppie neighborhood, 24 hour drive throughs, grocery delivery services. In my village I have to walk 2k to the nearest boutique and if I don't get the vegetables I need on Tuesday market I don't eat them all week.

ANTS!