Same Country, New City

Whoa, back in the Peace Corps already!

Perhaps it's time for a post on what I am doing and where I am living back here in Senegal?

I have been delaying this post basically because I keep forgetting to take pictures of the front of my office and my home here in Senegal...oh wait, I'm still at the Training Center (er, back at the Training Center).  Whatevs, I am in Senegal and thus happy!

So, about my job...

I am working with Plan International in Senegal on their Youth Economic Empowerment Program.  It's basically a program involving youth village savings and loans groups (a type of micro-finance project-ish).  The groups have been in existence for awhile now, but Plan wants to add specific financial literacy and Life Skills program to improve the activities of the group and make sure that their work lasts longer than the length of time agents spend in the field.  The NGO Freedom From Hunger is in charge of the financial literacy program development, while Peace Corps (me currently) is in charge of the life skills component.

Now what is Life Skills, you ask?
   Well, it's an education program aimed at youth (but able to be used for any type or age of group, in school and out, old and young) that means to give people the skills necessary to improve their lives.  These include skills in communication, good decision making, promoting gender equality, developing and maintaining relationships, resisting peer pressure, self confidence, and avoiding risky behavior.  The original idea is that once armed with these skills, or abilities, they will lower their risk for unwanted/early pregnancy, forced/early marriage, drugs, alcohol, and STIs (especially HIV/AIDS), among other things.

How am I supposed to do that?
  Well, Peace Corps has an excellent and comprehensive Life Skills training manual (which I used in Djilor a little with my peer educators) that is serving as the basis for the curriculum I will be developing, with the assistance of some documents Plan Senegal already has at their disposal.  Plan Niger worked with Peace Corps Niger to develop a document last fall that I am using as a guide, but adapting to the needs of youth in Senegal.  To begin with, I had to do research and plan what is known as a needs assessment (the subject of a future post).  Upon completion of the needs assessment in the field, I have to analyze the results and translate them into certain themes and "modules" that I will use to develop a curriculum to be used during a Training of Trainers (TOT).  The goal of the TOT will be to train agents who will then facilitate the Life Skills curriculum with our youth groups over a period of 6 months.  Eventually youth leaders will be trained and the information will be spread across all of the Plan groups over the next few years.  My work is just up to curriculum development and planning the TOT, then my replacement Lisa steps in for the next two years.  I know it's complicated, but this is the simplest explanation I can give right now.

Sadly, Thies is not a Serere town (and the Serere communities nearby are such a different dialect that it's a different language), so the lingua franca is Wolof.  Though many people at Plan speak a little English (and many Plan donors are North American or Northern European), the office functions in French and Wolof.  After my 6 months in Semur, I'm not super keen on turning my French back into Fr-olof, so I'm not necessarily working hard to develop my Wolof skills.  I understand a lot, and yes it's tough to be in the field and not really communicate with the youth in their language, but it's nice to continue to use my French for my work and notice the great strives my language skills have made in the past year(s).

I do miss speaking Serere though and love being able to talk to some of the Serere PC staffers here in Thies.

Quite the change from my bush village in the Delta, I now work in an office (with occasional A/C and water) on the Route Nationale in Thies.

My desk: that's my chair and my
counterpart is usually on the other side
plus the new PCV is on the edge.
That's right: 3 people, one desk

The beautiful view outside my office
(sarcasm)

Lisa, the new PCV who will work with me
and then take over when I leave in August.

My Plan mattress, broken up
table, bag of winter clothes,
and random other stuff
waiting for a new house.

Bed, food bucket, and suitcase/trunk

I'd post pictures of my housing, except I'm still somewhat "in transition."  I've been saying "homeless" but that's not really true.  I'm staying at the same place my Senegal journey began over 3 years ago, and my second job site during my Service: the Peace Corps Thies Training Center.  I was temporarily housed in a couple's house in Thies, mainly to host Lisa for a week while she learned about her new assignment, but it wasn't the best arrangement and so PC told me to come back while they find me something else.  In that time, I've been all over the place doing my needs assessment, meetings in Dakar, and breaking into the movie biz.  It's actually not a bad arrangement: a 15 min walk to the office, 5 minutes from a track I can run on (before 8am), 15 min to the market, plus running water (even when the rest of the city's water isn't running), electricity (through a backup generator), a fridge for my mangoes and yogurt, and internet.  And friends here, even if I can't really unpack/decorate yet.

It's not my village, mais c'est pas mal!