Differences

So I wasn't sure what to write this time until I had a conversation with my dad and he mentioned all the things that have become normal in my life that if you saw someone doing it back home you would think they were a little strange.  I'll start with a bigger thing and that is transport.  The mode of transportation in and out of my village is bush taxi, which is a pick up truck with boards across the back and you sit on the boards.  If my mother ever saw me riding in a car like that at home she would have a heart attack.  However, here it is the normal mode of transport because it is cheap and can fit a lot of people on.  Even "better" transport is a car that looks like it could fall apart at any moment. (don't worry mom!)  So needless to say, public transportation here is very different from home. 

Next, I get called Toubab every where I go in Senegal.  Toubab means foreigner.  Now, this can be just a way of getting my attention or it came be used as a derogatory term.  When it is someone just being kind and trying to get my attention I will still respond to it, although I would prefer Madame or Mademoiselle.  When it is used any other way outside of that I will not respond to Toubab because most of the time it is someone that is being rude.  Kids will think it is really funny to call you a Toubab even when they know your name.  It can be very frustrating.  On the other hand, I will always prefer Toubab over Xonq nopp, which means red ears.  Xonq nopp is a very derogatory racist phrase.  Some people don't know that and if you tell them that they apologize right away but other people are just rude and those ones you just walk away from. 

Now, here are some differences at the village level. I get a marriage proposal every day of my life here.  Mostly just because people want a toubab wife.  Some people also just want me to take them to the U.S. It is pretty hilarious.  My host dads friends will be like Kine talk to your dad and tell him you want to marry me and to offer you to me.  I just laugh and say I don't want a husband right now.  There is one guy that every time he sees me says Kine, you can be my third wife.....I keep telling him I don't want to be the third one I want to be the first and only.  ;-)  They also think it is hilarious that my husband will cook and I will not.  That makes many men not want to marry me anymore. lol.  Many pulaar men offer me lots of cows....I say I don't want cows, I want camels. 

another difference is that I do all my laundry by hand.  I fill two buckets with water and put detergent in one and nothing in the other.  I then put three or four articles of clothing and let them soak for a little while in the first one and then take one and scrub it with a bar of soap and then rub it between my hands and it squeaks.  I then put it in the other bucket to rinse.  then hang it up on the line to dry.  It takes an hour and a half to two hours depending on how much I have to do. 

The other big difference is the fact that my family did not really acknowledge Christmas or my birthday.  I told my siblings that it was my birthday and they were like, what's a birthday?  Many people in villages do not know when they were born so birthdays are not a big deal.  So it was kind of like, it's your birthday?  that's nice.  lol.  However, both were very pleasant days.  

Bush taxi!!!!

My nephew and best buddy mabdou

Village mosque

Elementary school

I am sure there are many many more differences but these are just a few for you. Other than that, things are moving along here, work is picking up, and we're almost at a year mark!

Travels

Hello again!  So I've been busy since the last time I wrote.  After the election I had a site visit from my boss to have a meeting about my baseline survey.  It went really well.  I think everyone at the meeting really understood what I was doing with the survey and everyone was excited to do it.  That was probably the easiest part of the survey.  I only had to do 12 surveys but it was so difficult to get it going.  The first day that we started to translate the survey was one of the most frustrating days of work I have ever had.  I got to the health post in the morning and my doctor started to translate the survey from french to wolof.  Getting someone to translate it was difficult as well because I asked my midwife to do it and she said no problem but then my doctor was like no we'll wait for this other woman, saa ka, who knows how to write in wolof.  I was sitting there going.....ah I know how to write in wolof.  But that didn't matter.  But so my doctor translated about half the survey before he decided he had too long of a line outside his office.  He told us to go to this other girl that knows french but that woman was out in the fields so she couldn't help us.  So we went back to Saa's house to start the survey.  It quickly became apparent that she did not know how to run a survey.  and when she got done with the translated part she was like ok I'm done.  I was like um....nope we still have three more pages and she was like well it's in french.  So then she went to go get another woman that works at the health post, Ndeye.  She came and finished the first one but then they told me to come back in the afternoon.  I came back after lunch and a girl came to help translate it.  She ended up crying because she couldn't do it.  So we went back to my doctor and he then asked my midwife to help us conduct the survey.......where I had started.  So she said she would help and we finally started it the next afternoon.  The first one took awhile just because my midwife had a lot of questions for me as she went but it was so much better than day one.  And we got all 12 done before I left for thanksgiving and Italy!  I was very surprised.  I also learned a little about my community.  In January I will be hopefully starting my first real project, although I am continually entering med records into my computer as well.

Now leaving for thanksgiving and Italy was interesting because I had to tell my host family that I was leaving for so long.  My host dad and grandpa had no problem with it, they were surprised I was going so far away but other than that it wasn't a big deal.  Now the women in my family were a different story.  They didn't believe me at first and then they were like well are you going home?  and I said no I am going to Italy that's not home for me.

Well are you going to see your mom and dad?

nope they live in the U.S. and will not be coming to Italy.

oh. ok. well will you come back?

Yes I will come back, I'm just going for a visit. 

oh ok well then you can go.

That is pretty much how all the conversations with the women went.  and one of my aunts asked if I would get to see my mom and I said no she was like well after Italy you can go home for one day to see your mom and then come back.  I was like haha.  I can't do that but thanks for your permission to go home.  They also wanted me to bring all of my Senegalese clothes with me to wear in Italy.....I did not. 

Before Italy though, we had Thanksgiving at the missionary's house.  The night before Thanksgiving we had two live turkeys delivered to the house and that night we killed them ourselves.  It was an interesting event.  And then we had to hang them up high enough so the dogs wouldn't be able to get them.  The turkey's were delicious.  We had so much food and it was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Not as good as a family holiday back home but probably as good as I could get in Senegal.  We spent the afternoon at their house.  Most people left in the evening but a small group of us stayed and we got to watch thanksgiving episodes of friends, scrubs, and modern family.  We also got popcorn and brownies!  It was a great day, ending with skyping my real family during their Thanksgiving celebration.  That night I took the night bus to Dakar for my flight out to Italy!

Italy was absolutely amazing!  Airports on this side of the world are definitely less strict than the U.S. but it was easy to get through.  At the Dakar airport all the desk workers liked me because I speak wolof and am probably the only white person they deal with that spoke wolof.  I also met a Senegalese man that speaks perfect english.  He exchanged my money for me and I didn't speak any english to him first but then he just whips out his english and I was shocked first that he knew english so well and as I was walking away I realized that it was with no accent as well.  I wanted to go back and talk some more.  My flight into Italy got in an hour late but I made it to the train station to meet Cathy.  It took a little while to find her at the train station but we eventually hooked up and walked to the hostel we were staying at in Rome.  It was so great and strange at the same time to be in a place that I was normal in and with people I knew.  We had a great night in Rome and then found an episcopal church the next morning!  It was beautiful!  We also found a park to hang out in before our train left for florence.  It was so nice to be in a place with reliable public transportation and transportation that had time schedules.  We got to florence in the evening.  I met Cat's host family, wonderful people.  That first dinner was amazing.  We had delicious food and it was a sit down at a table family dinner.  I haven't had one of those in a long long time.  And I got to sleep in a real bed with a down comforter and another blanket and many pillows.  It was so comfortable.  I got a museum pass while I was there.  Great decision.  I went to many museums and got to see the original David.  I saw so much beautiful art and churches!!!  so many churches and all so different.  I got to go to another episcopal church the sunday I was in Florence.  The priest was so kind and inviting.  Florence itself was beautiful and I went on many long walks just wandering around.  They put up christmas lights in the streets and it was gorgeous.  It rained almost every day that I was there but I had my raincoat so that was no problem.  I went to a drawing class with Cat...I never knew how much work went into drawing.  Her teacher asked me if I was going to draw and I was like oh no I don't do the whole art thing.  and she was like well you could try and I was like, no no you don't understand I can't draw.  She said well you could just sketch and I was like I really can't draw.  She said ok........well you could try. lol.  but then later at a break she asked if I was part of their program and I said no I am actually in the Peace Corps and am just visiting Cathy.  I think she then understood why I couldn't draw.  The Italians were very nice people.  I also heard Wolof being spoken by Senegalese people!!!!  I had to do a double take just to make sure I was hearing correctly.  Overall though.....Italy, I definitely recommend to anybody.  I hope to go back and travel to more places around Italy.  I got my Christmas shopping done in Italy and this is probably the earliest I will ever have my Christmas shopping done before Christmas. 

Coming back from Italy was another adventure.  First, the lady at the desk made me check my duffel bag since I also had my backpack.  This wasn't a problem at first and I really didn't feel like giving her a problem over it cause it wasn't a big deal.  However, I had a 4.5 layover in Algeria which was mostly spent watching 30 Rock because I had finished my book already.  Then we got into Dakar an hour late so I got in at one in the morning and was not looking forward to arguing with cab drivers about a price to the house because they like to charge white people more in general and then when you are coming out of the airport it's even more.  And then I waited for my bag for about half hour and was told it probably wasn't there so then I had to go wait in line to claim my bag and tell them it wasn't there.  This took forever!  I was at the airport until 4 a.m.  And then had to get to the office in the morning by 9 for a doctors appointment......I was late.  And I was told I had a lung infection.  So I have been hanging out in Dakar for the past few days.  but it is all better now so I get to go back to village and I got my bag back on saturday!!!!!!  It was a very happy moment when the lady on the phone told me they had it and I could come get it because I had realized my new scarf was in there with my chacos and all my jewelry.  And now I am getting ready to head back to village for about a week before I leave again for Christmas!!!  Hope everyone is in peace and have a very merry Christmas and happy new year!!!!!  xoxo

Religion Craze

So let me start off by telling you all that my skin infection is gone!!!!!  Everyone has been telling me I look beautiful again.  It's been lovely.  My host family and all my neighbors have noticed it gone too.  Although I did get a lovely parasite in my arm but I got some meds and got rid of it.  My skin is back to Senegal normal!!  The next big thing that happened was our health summit in Thies.  This is where all of the health volunteers in Senegal go to Thies for two days and talk about projects and best practices.  The first day was mainly discussing our baseline survey that my stage has to do starting November 12th.  It is exciting to finally be able to do it.  The second day was a day of presentations from second year health pcv's and other people such as NGO's or people affiliated with Peace Corps.  It was very productive and I came out with many project ideas.  However, I don't think I'm going to start any major projects until after the holidays in January because I will be in and out of village too often.  I am currently working on med record data entry right now in village.  It has been a great learning experience with the health system.  My midwife has explained everything in everyone of her books to me and has even been having me right in the information for her.  It helps so much with my understanding of the information.  I will be doing data analysis once I have it all in my computer. 

After this, I made it back to Affe in time for Tabaski.  Tabaski is a muslim holiday.  In Arabic it is Eid-Al-Adha and in English it is the Feast of Sacrifice.  It is the day that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his first son before God provided a ram for him.  So in honor of this people kill a ram and eat it on Tabaski.  My host dad killed four rams.  They were not all ours but it is common for important men in the village to kill other peoples rams as well.  The day of Tabaski was very uneventful.  In the morning we didn't really do much up until the point my dad killed the rams.  The men went to the mosquee to pray and then my dad killed rams and the women started cooking.  I finally got to help cook without a big fuss from my family.  I just started cutting onions with me sister and slowly the rest of the women came over and mentioned that I was cutting onions but that was it.  After lunch, we got dressed up around 5ish and walked around the village.  That was about it for the first day.  The second day, I wake up and there are my uncles and other men sitting outside on a mat reading out of the Qur'an.  I was very confused but apparently we were having some type of ceremony.  I was called over to cut onions again.  :-)  So they must think I can do it.  The women cooked again and the men sat and chatted.  Then everyone gathered together and some of the men gave speeches or said prayers.  I sat with my 19 year old aunt and she talked me through what was happening.  It was interesting to see the attention of the men as opposed to the women.  The women sat in the back and sometimes chatted among themselves.  That went until about 11:30 and then everyone was served lunch and left!  That evening we dressed up again and walked around to different compounds and drank some soda then went home.  The third day things seemed to be over but my sister was cooking dinner for her husband-to-be and posse.  This was going on most of the day.  I was told to watch them so that when I go home I can cook dinner for my mom.  Mom.....I think you would rather eat your cooking.  ;-)  They cooked pasta with chicken and onion sauce.  We had a different dinner at the normal time but then after dinner I fell asleep and as I was going into my hut to go to bed the husband and group were just getting to my house around 10.  I was then woken up by my host mother at 12:45 am to eat a second dinner, the dinner my sister was cooking  all day.  It was delicious and I got a soda with it but my body wasn't awake enough to really enjoy it.  My host mom, when she gave it to me, told me that I had to eat it now and couldn't leave it until the morning.  I ate it and then went straight back to bed.  After this event though life returned to normal.  Tabaski is an interesting holiday to experience with a Senegalese family.  I then got back to running and working, which was nice to get back to my routine.  Except for a neighborhood Gamou that we had!!  A gamou is a gathering of people where they pray a lot and sing a lot and give alms.  However, the singing is more shouting into the microphone and it gave me a headache.  The Gamou I went to started at 12:30 am!  and I stayed until 3 before my mom told me to go home and go to bed.  But everyone else stayed until it was finished which was the wee hours of the morning.  The next day nobody did much except sleep and lay around.  I enjoyed it.  I then started preparing for my visitors.

I am currently hosting American exchange students that are studying in Dakar.  This was the only way I could get out of village without a big fuss from my family.  At first they were upset that I was leaving and then I told them I was bringing back two visitors and they said that it was ok to leave.  These students live and study in Dakar for a semester and are required to do a rural visit.  So I have two girls hanging out with me right now and tomorrow we will be going to village for them to experience life in the bush.  We stayed in Linguere tonight to watch the election!  There are American missionaries that live in Linguere and they get world cnn for the election and they invited us over to watch for the whole night!  It has been fantastic.  I've gotten caught up on what has happened while I've been out of the world and eaten good food (spinach dip, carrots, and onion rings). 

I will be back on thanksgiving for dinner at the missionaries and then head to Dakar for my Italy trip!!!  I'm so excited to go to Italy and see Cathy Kaye.  It is a much needed break and I've only heard great things about Italy.  I will be staying mainly in Florence.  The election is exciting and a little nerve racking but I'm glad I get to watch it. and I voted by absentee a couple weeks ago!!!! Also, we were walking down the street in Linguere today and a Senegalese man chanted OBAMA!!  OBAMA!!  with his hands in the air.  It was wonderful!   Everyone should go vote!!!  Good luck and Good night. 

fun, friends, and frustrations

Jigeen Gem sa Bopp....Girls Believe in yourself!  That was the cheer of my team at our wonderful girls camp.  The week started off with a bus ride from Dahra to St. Louis.  The girls didn't talk with each other at all and were looking at the crazy volunteers in the back singing and dancing.  We got to the University and proceeded to stay up until midnight playing name games and such.  I was exhausted on the first day!!  The next day was our business theme.  The Peace Corps staff member that is in charge of our small business sector came and played a game about making and saving money with the girls.  They seemed to love it.  Oh!  and everyday before breakfast we did about half hour of zumba!!!  and we also danced to Beyonce because she's great and everyone here loves her.  We also had a panel of college students that day.  The next day was environment day.  We took a field trip to a PCV garden and they learned about composting, planting trees, and making nurseries.  After the garden we took them to the beach, which could have been the best part of the whole week.  Most of the girls have never seen any body of water let alone the ocean!  The loved it!!!  they were picking up garbage and finding plastic bottles to have people put ocean water in for them.  and then we let them put their feet in and they freaked out!  Fantastic!  We also played the Lorax for them with translation.  The next day was women's rights day.  We had a speaker that came and talked about going to college and the fact that women have all the same rights men do.  Then it was health day which was a great hit!  We had a mini olympics in the morning and a midwife come in the afternoon for a question and answer session.  The girls loved it!  A volunteer also gave a nutrition talk and played a game with it and it was interesting to watch because the education system here is very different than the education system in the U.S.  Here they just memorize things, so when it is time to apply what they learned it is very difficult.  That night we also had a bonfire, which was insane.  We just ran in circles around it while singing songs and people kept getting closer and closer.  I had a mini panic attack at one point.  Oh speaking of mini panic attacks, we used whistles all week to call girls to do something and it drove me up a wall because whistles have never meant good things for me.  So when girls would just blow whistles for ten minutes straight it drove me up a wall!  But so the last day was gender and development day.  This was another great day.  We watched a movie about women that grew up from similar backgrounds as these girls and have great success stories to tell.  And then we had one of the women in the movie come and talk to the girls!  Awesome.  We also did Theatre with the girls and they are great actors and hilarious!!  Then that night we had a talent show and gave out cake and certificates at two in the morning because things just went so late that night!!  Overall, fantastic week!!  The next day we had a bus ride back to linguere with the girls being much more talkative!  The girls just blossomed over the week and it gives me so much hope that they will do more with their lives.  I wish there was a way that we could keep up with all of them but its up to them now.  :-) 

So that was the fun and friends part......infections and PC doctors are frustrating!  I have had a skin infection for the past monthish and tried to see a doctor two weeks ago but couldn't get in.  So I finally sent pictures and description to one of the doctors and she was like you need to come to Dakar asap.  So I got on the night bus, which is by far the easiest way to get to dakar from linguere, after a lovely birthday party for one of the missionaries daughters.  She turned five.  We had delicious lunch with homemade cake and ice cream afterwards.  But so I get to Dakar and I settle into the med hut and one of the doctors comes gets me to go to the dermatologist.  I went with two other girls and we were waiting outside and they asked me if I was going for a mole removal too.  In my head I was like seriously!!!  Do you see my skin??? Do you really think I'm going for a mole removal.  but to their faces I was just like nope I have this lovely skin thing going on.  and they were like oh ok.  If you all could have seen this infection you would think the same thing I did.  I had bumps all over my face and chest and shoulders and neck.  It was a ridiculous question.  But one good thing that came from this was that I got to spend the week in the med hut with AC, internet, hot showers, and good food!  I also got to skype with so many people and it was wonderful.  I also got to run along the ocean and I don't want to leave.  Dakar is wonderful with the ocean and I don't want to go back to where everything is about to die.  But I will get through and get reacquainted with the desert.  It will be nice to see my host family again.  Oh and the PC doctor told me that this whole thing started from a bug bite and told me to see how I could avoid bug bites in the future and I was like I live outside!  I can't avoid bugs. lol.  But real work is starting now which is very exciting.  Hope all is well in the good ole U.S.A.  until next time.

The Rains down in Africa

Just got back from inservice training and Dakar.  Inservice training was much more useful than pre service training.  All of our sessions were much more applicable to what I am going to be doing.  I got a lot of project ideas which is exciting and I am also really excited to start my baseline survey.  However, I can't start that until the end of October because Peace Corps is just now standardizing our baseline surveys so they can actually compare the data we collect.  So because of this D.C. has to approve the questions and they haven't done that yet but I have other things to keep me busy until than.  Before IST was good as well.  Ramadan has finally ended!!  Korite was kind of a let down.  The morning was good.  We made beignets in the morning for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning cooking for lunch which was delicious!!!  My dad slaughtered a goat for lunch and dinner as well in the morning.  But other than that we sat around our compound and people came to say hi and ask for forgiveness for any wrongs they may have done you.  And also to show off their new clothes.  My mom and sister made me a new outfit for Korite which was super nice of them!  However, the next day I did laundry and washed the outfit and my sister saw and told everyone else.  I forgot you aren't supposed to wash new clothes until after the third time you've worn them and so I got a lot of grief for that one all day.  Even my dad made fun of me for it!  I have also decided that I never want to be in a room full of teenage-early 20 year olds again.  My sisters husband came over the night of Korite with a bunch of his friends.  I was settling in my bed outside for the night to watch the stars before dinner and my sister came out of her room to tell me that they all wanted me to go in there and hang out with them.  So I did....bad life choice.  I went in there and the conversation never left me.  The boy I sat down next to decided within two minutes of me being there that he loves me.  He told me in English once he found out I was american and then when I didn't say anything back he was like you don't understand me....then said it in French.  I was like I understood you the first time!  My first language is English!!!  Then they all decided that they wanted me as a wife but I had to break it to them that I'm a selfish girl and I don't want to share my husband with three other women.  They all tried to tell me that they didn't have any wives yet but my sister had my back and told me that all but one of them had at least one wife already and most of them were 18.  Crazy world I live in.  But then one of the boys asked if I could drive a car and I said yes then he asked me to be his chauffeur.  haha!  I told him I didn't know how to drive cars in Senegal...which is technically true because they are all stick shift and I don't know how to drive those.  I then had to go eat dinner which was a nice relief but they told me to come back after dinner.  I sat with my mom and rest of family after dinner for a couple minutes and told them that all the boys want me to marry them.  My mom was like just tell them they don't have any money or they need to have a lot. lol.  Then I got grief the next day as well for that.  I also think my family can have the shortest memories ever when they want to because my family and I talked about me leaving the next day for at least 15 minutes.  The next day when I was sitting on my bush taxi, my dad walked by and asked where I was going.  Then my aunt walked by and asked where I was going.  goodness. 

After spending ten days in Thies for training, I went to Dakar for a few days and it was great!  I got to eat good food and swim in the ocean.  I also stayed with a friend that lives in an apartment overlooking the ocean....great way to wake up.  I didn't want to leave but I am headed back to village tomorrow.  It will be great to see my family again.  And I can't wait to see how my garden is doing. 

I am also going to add a plug for one of my projects again.  I am currently trying to raise money to buy computers for my school in village.  Each computer costs $75 and my school director would like 7 computers.  Computers and the ability to access the internet are becoming more and more important especially for kids in villages that don't have any other access to educational resources.  For these children the internet will help them progress farther in their studies.  So please consider donating...https://npo.networkforgood.org/Donate/Donate.aspx?npoSubscriptionId=1004912 

until next time....

Life Lottery

So not much has been going on in the past month but I do have a few things to write about.  First I'll recap my adventures.  I have mainly been in my village where nothing really ever happens, especially now because we are in the middle of Ramadan.  However, I did get to go to the big city of Richard Toll for a week and then to the ocean city of Saint Louis.  Both were fantastic.  Richard Toll has a beautiful river that you can look across and Mauritania is on the other side.  My friend and I decided that we are going to take a boat across sometime to Mauritania.  We thought about swimming but then decided that that is a sure way to get schisto.  I also got to go to church with my friend Maureen who lives there.  It was wonderful and the church is on the river so we went down there after the service one night and stood on the dock as the sun set.  It was very soothing and relaxing.  I only wish I had a place like that to go in Affe.  Her priest is from Nigeria so he speaks english as well.  He also told me when I left that if I don't come back he is going to blame Maureen for it.  Her apartment is very nice as well with an actual shower which was nice to use. 

We then headed west to Saint Louis for a day.  It is a beautiful french town and it used to be the capital of Senegal when the French were here.  It is right on the ocean and the Peace Corps apartment has a balcony that looks out on the ocean and it was beautiful to sit out there and watch the sun set.  I got to go to a cute little cafe where I ran into a surprising number of english speaking people.  Then for dinner we went to a restaurant on the water and had delicious pizza.  I kind of wished that I was a volunteer in Saint Louis but when I got back to Affe I realized I would rather have my little village experience because I have plenty of time to live in a big city with cute cafes when I get home.  And now I have just spent the past two weeks in village. 

Ramadan started two weeks ago and I have been fasting with my family which is quite difficult but it makes break fast at sundown that much better.  I also really like the idea behind fasting.  For our breakfast we have a cup of cafe first and then drink lots of delicious, cold bissap juice.  My family then prays and then we get bread with butter and more cafe and cold water!!!  Everyone buys ice for break fast during ramadan.  It is so fantastic.  I also have to wake up at 5 am to eat my breakfast though.  but then I just go right back to sleep and sleep in a little.  Ramadan has given me lots of time to think though because no one does anything.  We all just lay around all day.  I have officially been called crazy by my family as well because the rains have come and so my backyard is now green and they want me to dig everything up but I won't do it and they think it is crazy that I want it all back there. lol.  

So I was talking with Maureen one day and we decided that we have won the life lottery for many reasons.  The way this all started was by learning some new information about members of my host family.  I found out that my favorite sister-in-law, who is 19 and already has two kids, is pregnant with her third.  Her current youngest is also only 7 months old.  The other piece of info that I found out is that my 14 year old sister has a husband.  Now she doesn't live with him yet so they may not actually be married but just betrothed to each other but still thats crazy.  It made me think about how I think this would be more ok if these girls at least had the option of doing something else but they don't.  It is what is expected of them, to get married and have kids.  So I decided that I won the life lottery especially as a woman by living in the U.S.    Just by this fact alone I am given so many more opportunities that women here don't even think about.  However, there are plenty of people in the U.S. that do not have wonderful lives, so I have also benefited from having an amazing family that encourages me to do the things I love and pursue anything I want.  Just the fact that I am in Senegal shows the great support system I have back in the U.S.  Many women here never even leave their village for their entire life.  And some women may move when they get married but never leave the city they move to after that.  It is very sad for me to watch my sister-in-law because I know that if she were in the U.S. she most likely would not have three kids at 19.  She still acts like a kid herself.  She acts how I acted when I was a sophomore in college.  That is something that I would like to change here but that takes more than a written grant or asking for money from home.  Even in the states, it took a whole movement to get women to where we are at today.  Senegal is slowly moving towards that but very slowly.  So maybe someday when I come back here my sister-in-laws granddaughters will be able to go to college and it will be a normal thing.  who knows...but we can dream.

Camp Gem Sa Bopp

In the U.S. girls have many opportunities to become and do whatever they dream.  Here in Senegal girls and women do not have that luxury.  If they have grown up in a bigger city then maybe the will create a life outside of the house for themselves.  However, many women in my village of Affe will never leave because they do not have the opportunity.  They also do not have the support system in place that many girls in the U.S. are lucky to have.  Many girls are expected to get married at a fairly young age and begin a family.  These women are some of the strongest women I have met.  They cook and clean and take care of children all day without the modern conveniences the western world has.  However, many girls drop out of school when they are teenagers either by choice or by outside pressures.  Men do not have those outside pressures to drop out.  In fact in most cases they are pressured to finish school.  When asked what they would like to do when they grow up, many girls say doctor, midwife, teacher, or something similar.  They have the same dreams that little girls in the U.S. do but do not have the same liberties to realize these dreams.  In September a group of Peace Corps Volunteers, myself included, will be holding a camp in Saint Louis for 12-15 year old girls.  The camp is named Gem Sa Bopp, which means believe in yourself.  This is an amazing opportunity and experience for Senegalese girls to get outside of their village and meet successful women.  I have included the website of the camp.  Please take a look at it and consider donating even five dollars, every little bit helps.

http://campgemsabopp.wordpress.com/donate/