Almost a Volunteer...

Hi Friends.

Well, I'm approaching literally the last day of Peace Corps Training. I've made it through (almost). Tomorrow is my last day of language class until IST and then we probably have a culture and last tech class (an important last tech class at a local restaurant and PC haunt). Today was the LPI (Language Placement Interview)and then all of the PCtrainers and training staff and APCDs locked themselves in a training room and talked about all of us for about 3 hours. It was nerve-wrecking to think about, esp since I didn't feel like my LPI went very well. Two weeksago, during the site visit, I tested into the minimum level required to become a Volunteer, which is awesome, but you have to be continually improving. Yesterday was not a good language day for me and most of the questions I received during my LPI were not things that I had been studying, but rather aspects ofthe language we only covered in class within the past two days. Great, huh? Plus, many of my questions were about my job and how I would handle different things that I don't even know how to convey in English, let alone Serere. Anywho, it made for a not very good day as we waited around for the results and I was in a bit of a bad mood and thus did not want to hear my results. Well, then around 4:30 or so, the loud and boisterous parade of language trainers come out of the decision room and people swarmed them, well, kind of. I kind of avoided it, not wanting to know how poorly I did and especially not hear in front of other people. I tried to wait for my language trainer to be apart from the group and when I did, I totally lost her! Anywho, almost an hour later I found her while standing around waiting to leave and the trainee/trainer soccer match creating general chaos. A fellow trainee "encouraged" me to ask my level and by "encourage" I mean asked for me, in Wolof even, haha. At least I had the vocabulary to joke back in Serere and explain that she wanted me to know, haha (thanks AZ, and just wait until you start you Serere training!) Anyway, it was a good way to break the ice and put myself at ease and I even wound up, by some grace of God, testing a level higher than I did two weeks ago,which is rockin'! Tomorrow I will actually hear feedback about it and I'm sure I only attained that level based on my performance last week and not from the fact that I kept confusing verb tenses during the test today...oh well. It's a good feeling and weight off my shoulder, in anticipation of Installation (see: Abandonnement by a PC rangerover) on a Mefloquin day (notoriously bad days). My family tells me that my Serere is good, but I'm also comfortable with them and their accent, but in just a few days I return to the crazy accent of the Delta!

Friday is Swear-In at the US Ambassador's Residence, alongside Korean and Japanese Volunteers who are starting their own various terms of service. After Swear-In in Dakar, we return to Thies for a party with our families and then our stage starts parting ways early Saturday morning. I myself, leave my family Saturday, head to Kaolack with 2 others Sunday and spend Sunday and Monday shopping for thingsfor my new home, and am officially Installed on Tuesday. Prayers, thoughts, and phonecalls would be really appreciated that week and the following weeks as I adjust to life as a Volunteer in a village of about 500.

A shout out to all of the family and friends who have sent letters, emails, and carepackages. I really really appreciate them and they will basically become the mental health savers during my two years of service in Ndiomedi.

Here's a picture of me with the "special" present in the package from my fam

And now for some education...

Here is an article about an all-too-real issue I encounter everyday. Ireceived this articlein a PCSenegal/Gambia list email.It's interesting and depressing at once.

Islamic schools lure African boys> into begging > By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer> Sun Apr 20, 6:46 PM ET> >

On the day he decided to run away, 9-year-old Coli> awoke on a filthy > mat.> > Like a pup, he lay curled against the cold, pressed> between dozens > of other children sleeping head-to-toe on the> concrete floor. His T-> shirt was damp with the dew that seeped through the> thin walls. The > older boys had yanked away the square of cloth he> used to protect > himself from the draft. He shivered.> >

It was still dark as he set out for the mouth of a> freeway with the > other boys, a tribe of 7-, 8- and 9-year-old> beggars.> > Coli padded barefoot between the stopped cars, his> head reaching > only halfway up the windows. His scrawny body> disappeared under a > ragged T-shirt that grazed his knees. He held up an> empty tomato > paste can as his begging bowl.> >

There are 1.2 million Colis in the world today,> children trafficked > to work for the benefit of others. Those who lure> them into > servitude make $15 billion annually, according to> the International > Labor Organization.

It's big business in Senegal. In the capital of> Dakar alone, at > least 7,600 child beggars work the streets,> according to a study > released in February by the ILO, the United Nations> Children's Fund > and the World Bank. The children collect an average> of 300 African > francs a day, just 72 cents, reaping their keepers> $2 million a year.> > Most of the boys — 90 percent, the study found —> are sent out to beg > under the cover of Islam, placing the problem at> the complicated > intersection of greed and tradition.

For among the> cruelest facts of > Coli's life is that he was not stolen from his> family. He was > brought to Dakar with their blessing to learn> Islam's holy book.> > In the name of religion, Coli spent two hours a day memorizing verses from the Quran and over nine hours begging> to pad the pockets > of the man he called his teacher. It was getting dark. Coli had less than half the 72> cents he was > told to bring back. He was afraid. He knew what> happened to children > who failed to meet their daily quotas. They were stripped and doused in cold water. The> older boys picked > them up like hammocks by their ankles and wrists.> Then the teacher > whipped them with an electrical cord until the cord> ate their skin. Coli's head hurt with hunger. He could already feel> the slice of the > wire on his back. He slipped away, losing himself in a tide of> honking cars. He had 20 > cents in his tomato can.

Three years ago, a man wearing a skullcap came to> Coli's village in > the neighboring country of Guinea-Bissau and asked> for him.> > Coli's parents immediately addressed the man as> "Serigne," a term of > respect for Muslim leaders on Africa's western> coast. Many poor > villagers believe that giving a Muslim holy man a> child to educate > will gain an entire family entrance to paradise.> > Since the 11th century, families have sent their> sons to study at > the Quranic schools that flourished on Africa's> western seaboard > with the rise of Islam. It is forbidden to charge> for an Islamic > education, so the students, known as talibe,> studied for free with > their marabouts, or spiritual teachers. In return,> the children > worked in the marabout's fields.> > The droughts of the late 1970s and '80s forced many> schools to move > to cities, where their income began to revolve> around begging. > Today, children continue to flock to the cities, as> food and work in > villages run short.> > Not all Quranic boarding schools force their> students to beg. But > for the most part, what was once an esteemed form> of education has > degenerated into child trafficking. Nowadays,> Quranic instructors > net as many children as they can to increase their> daily take. > > "If you do the math, you'll find that these people> are earning more > than a government functionary," said Souleymane> Bachir Diagne, an > Islamic scholar at Columbia University. "It's why> the phenomenon is > so hard to eradicate." > > Middle men trawl for children as far afield as the> dunes of > Mauritania and the grass-covered huts of Mali. It's> become a > booming, regional trade that ensnares children as> young as 2, who > don't know the name of their village or how to> return home. > > One of the largest clusters of Quranic schools lies> in the poor, > sand-enveloped neighborhoods on either side of the> freeway leading > into Dakar. > > This is where Coli's marabout squats in a> half-finished house whose > floor stirs with flies. Amadu Buwaro sleeps on a> mattress covered in > white linens. The 30 children in his care sleep in> another room with > dirty blankets on the floor. It smells rotten and> wet, like a soaked > rag.

Buwaro is a thin man in his 30s who wears a pressed olive robe and digital watch. The children wear T-shirts black with filth. He expects them to beg to pay the rent, because there are no fields > here to till. But their earnings far exceed his rent of $50. If the boys meet their quotas, they bring in around $650 a month in a nation where the average person earns $150. Buwaro expects the children to suffer to learn the Quran, just as he did at the hands of his teacher.

So when Coli failed to return, Buwaro was furious. He flipped open his flashy silver cell phone and called another marabout who kept a blue planner with names of runaway boys. The list stretched down the page. He added Coli's name.

Diouf Diouf Diouf!

My hut..two doors, no windows, latrine in progress, fence and screens not yet completed...
Ndiomedi, my future village. You an see the well, mosque, garden...my compound is on the other side of the garden. The Delta is beautiful! I will be just a few km away from this super salty shisto-free river inlet.
In Africa, you wait a lot.
Befor we left...Simone, Chris, Khady...we had no ideawhat lay ahead!

Hi friends. Please forgive this post as I am not currently able to adjust thelanguage and properly write about my experiences without major typing errors I predict. Ok I hope it works now...

Awesome Things:

Seeing my hut and future village

Meeting my counterparts and future family

Learning about the Serere culture and meeting the King,even if he's just a crazy old man sitting outside his hut

Seeing my Poste de Sante and watching consultations, even if one was tying off a baby's sixth fingers to cut off a few days later, eww...

Dancing!!!! I totally gained cred from the women of Pethie the first day by dancing with them

Getting to know the people of Pethie who will be connections, friends, and family for the next two years bc they are only one km away from me

Really experiencing Senegalese "teranga" (hospitality) for the first time

My other Serere trainee and our substitute language trainer for the week were awesome

Learning to appreciate an afternoon bucket bath in the bright sunlight

Learning to really appreciate my Thies host family

My new dress and jewelry my Pethie family bestowed upn me

Experiecing village life and Africa Standard Time

Not So Awesome Things:

Being force-fed 5 lunches all the same afternoon, within an hour or two.

Having people complain when I didn't eat or didn't eat much and then harass me about it

The heat

Animals everywhere, esp roosters, goats, donkeys, etc. I may offer a reward to people who kill the roosters in town, and then serve it for dinner...

Having bugs crawl on me the same night that I took my mefloquine so I had bugs on me while also having crazy dreams about bugs...ew

Roaches by the toilet/in my room

Senegalese couscous everynight for dinner with milk

Our sept place running over a sheep while going through Kaolack and really, the entire drive to and from...septs places suck!

Back, but not much time

for a post. I'm back from CBT, which was great and difficult at the same time. I did thankfully have the opportunity to see my future village, meet my family (like 50 people!), and see my hut that is currently under construction, plus meet me counterpart and observe at the Health Post I'm assigned to work at. I also received a dress from my host family for the week, which maybe I will try on and post along with other pics from the week.

THere are only two weeks left of training, which is crazy and unbelievable all at once. We go to Dakar for the day on Monday and then THursday starts a three day counterpart workshop where we all meet our counterparts (people in our communities we will be working with and who are kind of responsible for introducing us to our communities) and the following week is Swear-In, crazy!!!!!!!

I will try and post more about CBT soon, when I'm not borrowing someone else's computer.

Email Frustrations, Integration, Leaving Town,etc

This is me integrating...sideways, sorry. Thecomputer I'm using today isespecially horrible...boo! This isa picture of me integrating in my new Senegalese complet...like it? I wore it to the Centre today and itwas quite the rage, haha. I love the fabric and while the zipperisalready broken and I need to resewsomething, it's supercute.

Hey. So Iwrote a huge mass update email with details about my site assignment, but both gmail and this computer are not working for me, so I had to waitabout 20 minutes forit toNOT open thedraft email. This meansI will notbe sending out official details about my site assignment until I get a good internet connection, which may not be for anothertwo weeks, sorry. Just know that I'mgoing to the Delta and will benear Foundiougne, my department capital,solook it up. I'll have to take a Ferry between Foundiougne and my village of just 300 people.

I'm heading out of town tomorrow morning for ten days on what is called Community Based Training, basically 10 days of intensive language trainingwith my fellow Serere, and a language teacher (not our normal teacher who is very pregnant) to visit and stay with a current volunteer and see what village life is really like. Thisis the first timePC Senegal has done something to thisextent...they usually do a 3 or 4 day thing at the start oftraining, so it's a bit of a logistical fiasco, but we are all super excited and scared (trainees and trainers alike). I'm going to meet the Volunteer who will be my closest neighbor thisnext year and hopefully see my future site!

Love you and miss you! Also,letters should stop inabout two weeks and Iwill mailout a newaddress formail when Ireceive it.

Popenguinea and Serere Land, almost

The beach...yes, the Atlantic Ocean
32 of us crammed into this bus...yea...5 across
Because people will be upset if I don't include one of myself on the beach
The sun SETTING over the ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!!
The view from our house, right next to the beach!

More details later about the trip and more about Site Revelation and where I will be spending the next two years of my life in a few days (Wednesday, j'espere). Thursday I go on a site visit to the Delta (my future home) for 10 days away from technology and stuff. Love ya!

Khaadi or Khady...fam keeps chnging it!

Ndigil Ndigil?

Really? Really?

My host brother loves when I say "Ndigil ndigil," which means "really?" or "Is that true?" or "Yes, it's true!" Apparently it sounds funny the way I say it...just try it out...deegal deegal...haha

Well that was my reaction today when I found out from a Volunteer who has now completed his two year service (whom my fellow Serere speaking trainee, now known as my "Serere brother," will replace), that when I swear in (Inshallah!) I will become the first EVER Serere-speaking Health Volunteer in Senegal! Whoa! I confirmed with my awesome language teacher and APCD that this is a fact. That's a lot of pressure, huh? Now what does it mean, exactly? Well, I will receive my official site placement on Friday (woot!), but I think it means I will probably be at a new site that has never had a Volunteer before (or if they did, it was agriculture or environental ed). Health volunteers are grouped in regions, so it's possible my site will be a small Serere village in a mostly Wolof region or on the edge of one of the Serere regions or something like that, meaning I will not be the only Health Volunteer around my neck of the woods, but I may be a ways away from them, but I'm totally just speculating right now. It also means that I will have to work with my Language Trainer to create a list of health vocab in Serere, since the other languages already have them. There's going to be some groundbreaking and it will be tough as the only Serere Health Volunteer in Senegal, but I'm also freakin' excited about it. I really love the sound of the Serere language, so this will definitely encourage me to kick up my language skills as fast as possible, which isn't yet happening to the degree I want.

Along those lines, this week is our first week of evaluations. PCTs are evaluated during weeks 4, 6, and 8 (right before Swear-In), to check our overall progress in training, to make sure our language skills are at the basic level required, to check our cultural integration with our host families, to check our understanding and competancies with the culture and our fields (health, for me), and check our medical and safety/security understanding. We are always in a constant state of observance and practice, but things are kicked up with tests and such this week. This morning was my language evaluation and while I don't know exactly what level I tested into, talking with my trainer, I didn't do as badly as I had worried about (esp after an off-language day yesterday) and actually did pretty well, but it was good knowing that both she and I recognized the same problems I am having and can work on targeting them. Not surprisingly, I have the same issues with certainsentence structures and not paying enough attention to certan verbs, that I have with French, lol. Things to work on. Language will come, but it's definitely the main focus of PST and I actually find myself sad and annoyed days that we only have one language class. I definitely wouldn't have predicted that at the start of PST! I'm such a nerd, haha.

We've also started to getmore into our subject/technical fields, which is exciting. I will try and post soon about my daily life and more on the health tech classes, but that may be another few days.

Thanks for the mail, prayers, emails, good thoughts, etc. I miss and love you all!