A Month to Celebrate Accomplishments in Senegal

(Click image to see presentation)

Extending for a Third Year

When I came along two volunteers had been recruited to coordinate efforts between volunteers in Senegal, and those working in other participating Africa countries. My first assignment was to develop a website that would showcase the work being done by volunteers across the continent, and give volunteers a chance to share ideas with one another. Having set this up, my next job was to train volunteers how to create and publish their ideas during Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a 10 day intensive malaria training hosted in Senegal three times every year. Volunteers and staff from other countries fly in to learn...

Blog About Malaria Month (BAMM) 2012

  April 25th, 2012 will be World Malaria Day. Stomping Out Malaria in Africa (a Peace Corps initiative), USAID, The Presidents Malaria Initiative, Malaria No More, Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts in 22 African countries have declared April Blog About Malaria Month (BAMM). Volunteers will be using BAMM, Blog About Malaria Month, and Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday as blog titles.  Those using twitter to raise awareness will be using #StompOutMalaria, #BAMM2012, and @StompOutMalaria.  Facebook badges with the month's logo can be downloaded here. A list of participating...

Stomping Out Malaria in Africa

I've moved to Dakar to work with a new initiative, Stomping Out Malaria in Africa. For the time being I'll be shadowing two volunteers, the Communications Manager, and the Presidents Malaria Initiative Liaison. When I'm up to speed my full time position will very likely be taking over one of the two positions (or some sort of combination of responsibilities). I'm attending a 10 day training with volunteers from 11 other Peace Corps countries in Africa right now. Take a look at the link above to see day by day photos of the training. Below, you'll find some more information about the project and what...

Health Theater

Planning a health theater event. Apparently the first thing to do is find a community that wants you to visit. Senegal’s health system includes a network of volunteers, called ‘relais’, who are responsible for calling meetings and assisting a health agent with vaccinations, baby-weighings, nutrition trainings, ect. So we spoke with a number of communities who agreed to announce our arrival, help cook the afternoon meal, and generally help deal with crowd control. The photo above was taken in Gouloubmou, where we performed for primary and middle school students. The school director was very...

Project Implementation

HIV/AIDS Theater Tour

Research has shown that adolescents, the world over, perceive their peers to be among the most legitimate, trustworthy sources of information. How better to address sexuality and behaviors that lead to the transmission of HIV than by training youth to train one another? The theater group in Manda Darou Salam has been independently working for years to do just that. With no outside funding, they have been able to deliver comedy, music, and accurate health information to hundreds of people at a time. Over the next 5 months I will be working with the group to bring their act to 10 villages...

Maternal & Child Health

It’s difficult to convince families in West Africa to educate their girls. Fathers point out that many middle school age girls get pregnant. Mothers worry about teachers taking advantage of their daughters (a very real threat). Girls themselves point out that education doesn’t always lead to employment. They are all right. The odds are against girls’ education in most West African countries. This is certainly true in Manda Darou Salam, Senegal. Behavioral studies among adolescents throughout the world show that young people respect and listen to young people. When your friend encourages...

Community Health Baseline Survey

I've been working on this community baseline survey for eons. Every day Mamadian and I wonder out and play dot-to-dot throughout the sprawling and confused assembly of huts, family compounds, paths, and fields that make up Manda Darou Salam. Some days it rains and we spend a lot of time yanking our sandals our of the mud and trying to jump from one dry spot to the next. Hot days we hurry as fast as we can from one shade hanger to another. Mostly we talk with the women of the household. How ironic that we have to ask them what their husbands do for work, when their husbands are in town drinking...

Malaria Prevention

In Francophone countries we call informational meetings “causeries.” As a preventive health volunteer I am responsible for holding a certain number of health-related causeries every year. We are in the middle of the rainy season right now, and malaria in my village is rampant. Despite Peace Corps’ recent universal coverage bed-net campaign, malaria is a huge issue in Manda. Mosquito nets alone can’t solve this problem. As I’m sure you can imagine, Senegalese enjoy nightlife. People are observing Ramodon right now- which means fasting during the day, but eating special foods at night...

In Service Training

In Service Training (IST) happens somewhere three to four months after a volunteer is installed in their village. Its a time to meet back up with volunteers from your training group, discuss the first few months at site, and learn technical skills related to your sector. We learned how to dig latrines, graft mangoes, work with radio stations, locate appropriate funding sources, conduct causeries (short, informational talks), teach integrated pest management, and more. There was also a Non-Profit Organization fair where volunteers networked with local organizations. During our latrine digging...

First Project

Garden Training So I met with a few ladies who know a thing or two about making money. Quite a bit, actually. Women’s groups in Maanda sell produce at a weekly market that draws people from Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Gambia. A newly paved road will connect these countries as early as Early August, 2010, and many speculate its completion will draw much of the business from one West Africa’s largest weekly markets (in nearby Diowbe) to the Maanda crossroads. While working with different neighborhood groups to become fully incorporated many women asked me about could be done...

Installation

Your first trip to site, the day you move in, is called installation. On our way to Manda a large metal trunk with most of my personal belongings tumbled from the roof of the Peace Corps car. Inside this trunk was a large can of blackboard paint. So we arrived in Manda, in front of a crowd including the village chief, the Imam (local religious leader), village dignitaries, representatives of each women’s group, youth group leaders, and my counterpart, with black paint-stained hands. No one bats an eye, installation goes well, all are happy, and I have a great deal of dark colored personal affects. In...

Swear In

 Volunteers give speeches in their newly acquired languages, the Ambassador says a few things, our Peace Corps director talks, and then our Assistant Program Director hands us some Senegalese government form letter. Then you’re in a car on your way to the next two years of someone else’s life. I like looking at 41 new good friends and picturing the changes that will make them different people than their family and friends knew. In Niger we had beer and roast mutton on a field overlooking the Niger river. In Senegal they served pizza rolls and orange juice next to an ornamental pool. I prefer...

Learning Pulla Futta

I got passing grades in French all 3 years in high school and couldn’t speak a word. I did the same with Spanish in college. After spending two years in Niger as a Peace Corps volunteer I tested advanced high in Zarma (the ACTFL oral exam). If I can learn a language, and learn it well, anyone can. Learning a new language felt like learning to see a new world. It was easily the most challenging and rewarding experience in my life. I’m thrilled to be in a time and place where I can do this again! [youtube url="http://youtu.be/ydRX--_or1w" width="720" height="480" autohide="0" autoplay="1"...

Packing for Peace Corps: A Minimalist Guide

This is a list made for West Africa. I've served in Niger and in Senegal, so this list won't be full of country-specific items. Please send suggestions! This list will be sorted into Necessary items, Comfort items, and Things You Shouldn’t Pack (but probably will). Necessary Items: 1. One or two changes of business casual clothing (include one pair of dress shoes). As you read your Peace Corps invitation kit you’ll see that formal attire is required for in-country training. This is not a suggestion! There will be times when you will meet foreign and U.S. representatives of State and religious...