A taste of some of our PC training...

Other suggestions/personal favorites but not particularly in PC training:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/amy_smith_shares_simple_lifesaving_design.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html

:-)

A few minor adjustments...

19 Mar 12

Is one of the hand books sent to you with your invitation and welcome book that I never read. After visiting PC volunteers in a couple different countries and having traveled to some developing countries myself I thought the title probably said it all and that I didn’t need to spend already precious time on reading anything extra on top of graduate school. Maybe I should have…?

I’m not sure but was faced with an adjustment today that I had not really mentally prepared for which I probably should have.

We were sitting around waiting waiting waiting for something. I had just come home from my language class which is just a five minute walk away from my house at my LCF’s homestay house. After class there are about two hours before lunch which are the most trying two hours for me as breakfast occurred almost three hours ago and was just bread and butter and poor quality coffee with sugar.

I had been trying to integrate more by helping out with more chores and house stuff and had asked my mom if I could help and she had me pull up a bucket to sit on next to hear as we stare off into a bowl full of dry rice and peppers, smell it, and wait. I start to gather that we don’t have any matches to make fire to start lunch. Finally my 14 yr old sister comes by and is asked to go to the market and to take me and my 4 yr old sister with her (or so I'm guessing as my language is still a work in progress). My sister had just dawned on her uniform for school (beginning in the afternoon, probably so that the young women can help with morning chores), so we left in a bit of a rush as I could tell she was worried about being on time to school.

My four year old sister is carrying an empty sprite liter bottle which I figured was a toy. We go to the first bitek (shop) when my sister tries to get some sandals. Her and the shop keep argue over the price for a while. I wondered if he thought the shoes were for me and if he was giving her some "foreigner tax" on the shoes making me feel bad for interfering in the situation by just being there. But I know bartering is a common mode of shopping here for non-packaged items. My sister gives up and we leave when the shop keep calls her back in. I figure he’s going to give in. He reaches over the counter and grabs her aggressively and begins to scold her. This might sound really mild but it really startled me as I didn’t know what they were saying or why he was grabbing her and if it was going to go any further. I was so frustrated and shocked I didn’t know what to do but to say “hey! hey!” He looked at me just as stern and finished yelling at her and we left. I was so stunned and didn’t even know enough language to ask if my sister was alright. I knew how to say good or ok and phrase it in a question but didn’t feel like it would be appropriate to say “good?” right then.

She put her hands to her face and I wondered if she was wiping away tears. I put my hand on her shoulder lightly to ask universally if she was ok and she just marched on forward with a strong determined stride. We went into another shop when my four year old sister offered the sprite bottle to be filled with cooking oil. “Oh! I thought, that’s what we were waiting for!” My sister pointed me in the direction of home and went off with her classmates to school. My four year old sister walked me home holding the full bottle of sprite and looking at me questioning the whole way home. I called my LCF to express my concern and he said he’d come by after my sister comes home from school to clarify everything. I could tell from his tone that he did not find anything of concern and that I was probably overreacting.

After we clarified that this was the “joking” relationship that this family had with that shop-keepers family, and that everything was fine, I went to my room to cry a little bit dabbing my eyes with my quick dry towel. It wasn’t funny! And I think it really did affect my sister regardless of their cultural joking relationship. Some joking relationships, I was told, can seem very serious like fights but it’s just the way those families interact. And for me, coming not just from the U.S. but from my peaceful self, violence and aggression are so foreign and so difficult for me to digest that I struggle a little bit more when confronted with it. I realize that they are a part of human nature and that I myself can be angry and feel aggressive, but also being a pacifist (I am in the Peace Corps after all…) I never act on them and don’t know what purpose is served by acting on such emotions.

So that was rough but if that was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through I think I should count my blessings. My dad explained that he was very happy that I felt so defensive for my sister and that I did not react in an aggressive way as the way of our family was that of peace, peace only, and for the shop keepers family, aggression. It just seems like a sorry excuse to me to allow unnecessary behavior but that’s my own personal perspective.

I was thankful for the resources I had from the host country nationals to help better explain these joking relationships to me and that even for them they are sometimes surprised as to how far they can go and that sometimes they think they can go too far. But they say that slowly but surely this is being recognized and that positive changes are occurring, but it’s a slow process.

CBT

14 Mar 12

(Community based training) If you’ve never been placed in an environment as far from anything your used to that you can imagine, let me tell you, there are some ups and downs.

Some of the downs: cockroaches running from your stream of pee out of the pit latrine (like five or six on the 1^st night!), mice scurrying about your room and imagining it’s a giant rat going through your bag (but the positive is that it was just a tiny mouse and not a big giant rat), not knowing any language but for a few greetings, blank stares, sharing a large bowl of food with a lot of people, not knowing anything, so much sand everywhere it doesn’t matter how much you sweep, lack of vegetation (I never imagined one could crave fresh cut grass, and just general green vegetation so much when surrounded by dessert sand, but one can), lack of vegetables, heat so hot and dry that if you don’t keep hydrated you develop dry scratchy eyes, a scratchy throat, a grumpy mood, and border heat exhaustion, five to six hours between meals, dried fish pounded into every food bowl (when your just not a big fan of fish or meat in general), and not as big of a deal, but poor sanitary practices can lead to major downs as well (fortunately I’ve been safe so far).

Some of the ups however include: patience and accepting from your family, having your own room with a locking door, a mosquito net and filtered water, being given one of the cooler rooms in the house, learning enough language to ask your sister to see what’s upstairs and finding an open roof top open to a cool breeze, singing to your sisters on said rooftop and having them legitimately enjoy your “talented” voice, sharing a large bowl of food with a lot of people, having your family learn that you like vegetables and begin to make delicious salads for everyone to share, learning Wolof from your persistent sister who won’t give up until you get it exactly (even if you have no idea what you’re saying which can also be a down at times but is mostly an up), not going through this alone, i.e., knowing there are 67 or so other trainees going through similar ups and downs as you and having that support network from fellow PCT’s, PCV’s, and your LCF’s (language and culture facilitators).

Typically I don’t like to dichotomize like that and like to view everything in a positive light but honestly, the first night in my homestay was a series of shocks as it was an environment I could have never prepared for. It feels silly now to recall how much the roaches and the mouse bothered me as they seem like mild deterrents now.

After that first night and getting over those minor adjustments, I really started to appreciate my house and could honestly begin to feel at home there. And this is where I think the Peace Corps really shines; that this U.S. government organization has the ability to ask two cultures that are oftentimes as far from each other as possible, to live together as a single family unit, and that they do to the point that those formed bonds can sometimes even last a lifetime.

In Senegal I’m Mbèn Tsèn (sounds like Ben Sen) numero do named after my fourteen year old sister. I have a yaay and a papa (a mom and dad), four sisters ages 4, 13, 14, and early twenty something, and two brothers ages 16 and early 20 something (I think). My oldest sister has two children which in this culture makes them my children so I have a three year old son and a seven year old daughter. And I believe my oldest brothers wife is the other woman in the house but it’s possible she’s my dad’s second wife but I think she’s my oldest brothers wife. My dad and oldest brother work in the larger city most of the week so I only see them very infrequently. Regardless of who is home there is still a fairly consistent ten to twelve of us sharing a bowl of food.

And regardless of who is who and what which is at first hard to wrap my mind around for this culture, they all seem like the most lovely of people and have been nothing but kind and loving to me. I love them all and truly feel like a part of their Senegalese family.

Wolof

Mar 11, 2012

We got our language and CBT assignments today. CBT is community based training and is where we learn culture and language by immersion. I head to CBT site in a couple of days and am really quite nervous. Our CBT is in Senegal but they placed us with a family that speaks our language. My assignment, which might not seem like a big deal but kind of really is in PC world as it will shape the remainder of my service here is (drum role, hint, the answer is in the title) Wolof. Wolof is spoken in the main city in TG and all throughout the country. That culture doesn't represent a huge proportion of the country as say Mandinka does. But I'm actually really excited as it's a pretty versatile language for W. Africa as it's spoken all throughout Senegal, some in Mauritania, and then enough in The Gambia to traverse the country.

There's a lot I could say or vent about the Senegambian training. We had our first Gambia only meeting tonight as some of the Gambia staff leave in a couple nights and admitted that our CBT sites are quite different than they are back home (The Gambia) but on the same token it's a really neat and unique opportunity given to us PCT's to train and get exposure to two countries.

We left the training center for the first time the other day which was pretty overwhelming. We walked around Thies, saw heaps of piles of garbage scattered everywhere. I won't even get on the soap box as I'm preached out with regards to waste management. It's a problem everywhere and people don't know and I think they need to. My solutions to the problem are perhaps radical in where my suggestion is to go back to a simpler life style before plastic and processed food claimed our lives and took over the world (not to be dramatic).

We had a culture fair today where we walked around different stages to learn about Islam and other things foreign to Americans. I love that there is still a strong influence of traditional uses of plants for food and for uses as large gourds (those knots in trees) cut and hallowed out to make bowels with smaller ones made into spoons. That just really excited me as wood is a renewable resource where plastic is... honestly I'm not quite sure what plastic is other than an environmental nuisance and human convenience creating an unfortunate relationship amongst the two parties.

The reality of PC and the idea of 27 months is something that hits you slowly in waves. Everyday I feel like a bit more seeps in. Sometimes I'm scared, most times I'm nervous, but a lot of the time I'm excited to be here and try to continue to keep an open mind about the challenges that are to come which I will be able to write about much more after more than just five days of exposure to the Senagalese training site.

One thing that has struck me hard is the idea of emic and etic. If you've ever taken an anthropology class those terms probably resonate some chord of recollection. I wrote a report on my proposed study on The Gambia as a term paper before I got here from the Western academic world. I knew that the story would be different once I got here but after re-reading the paper as I've been preparing to give to one of our host country nationals, I was quite disappointed and disgusted with my initial judgements of this culture (namely with regard to gender roles). Living in Alaska has also been very humbling regarding dissolving these Western world ideals that we learn and grow accustomed to to the point that we judge anything that's different from what we know. I think this is very immature as well as childish and is something I find myself guilty of.

So, without diving into the differences now I'll leave it at that, that it's important to take a breath and a step before coming down on harsh judgements over something you don't know. This is true in America as we are a nation that prides ourselves on our diversity (or at least we do here in the PC/Senegambia).

I'm thankful for my health and good digestion every day. When I get to sit on a sitting toilet I feel like royalty. Finding cool water in the coolers is also a wonderful reward or getting to the food bowls in time before most of the food is gone. I go much of the day feeling hungry and we are spoiled here at site. I go much of the week being dirty but we have showers and running water here (I just feel guilty using so many resources in a country that doesn't have much). I'm thankful for so much here and am so lucky.

A good time to reach me is after 8:30-9 Senegal time (same as London time). Send me requests for skype dates via email or facebook if you'd like! I'm busy but I miss everyone and would love to talk in real time! I'll save the Wolof for Africa (even though it's such a cooler language than English! Just speaking it has so much rhythem that it makes you wanna dance!).

xoxo

PST

I began including a glossary of acronyms in pretty much all my research papers as every government agency or organization, including the non-governmental type (NGO’s) seem to love them. So I’ll include a glossary of acronyms here as well which can help you navigate through the post while enhancing its authenticity since PC uses a lot of acronyms. (Not all acronyms will be mentioned and consistency of using acronyms will not be followed since, this is not a research paper!).

PST- pre-service training

IST- in-service training

MST- mid-service training

COS- close of service

PC – Peace Corps

TG – The Gambia (also AF/TG, Africa, The Gambia)

PCV – Peace Corps volunteer

PCT – Peace Corps trainee

PCVL – Peace Corps volunteer leader

RPCV – returned Peace Corps volunteer

Pre service training is what I’m doing now in Thies Senegal. I’ll be here for six weeks (until April 11 from Mar 7) by when us Gambian volunteers will make the trek down to our country to finish PST. We’ll swear-in in The Gambia.

What else? I’m not sure how much to share or how much is interesting so I’ll err on the side of caution and dance on the border of potentially too much information and not enough information.

So I’m able to post at all because today was just our site and medical interviews. Senegalese volunteers also had a language interview/test since the official language in Senegal is French and Wolof is common throughout the country. In TG however, we just need English and one local language to get by which is why we have no test yet. But after today we dive into our language, tech and culture training so I probably won’t have much time to post after this.

I’ve been punctured in both arms with typhoid and meningitis and started talking Mephalqquine and Doxycycline for anti-malarial treatment (and have been bitten at least five times which isn’t too bad). Mephalqquine is the stuff that can give you vivid dreams and/or mild psychosis (…cool), and is taken once per week which is why we are taking Doxycycline every day for two weeks while we let the Mephalqquine slowly work its way into our bloodstream. I was hesitant to try Mephalqquine as I already have quite the vivid imagination and dreams but wanted to give it a go because it would be nice to not have to take malarial meds every day as is needed with the Doxy. Taking malaria meds lightly, i.e., not taking them can separate you from Peace Corps; they’re quite serious about us taking every prevention possible against malaria which I’ve heard (so is not necessarily true as it’s hearsay) can infect as much as fifty percent of African volunteers in Senegal and/or The Gambia. And while malaria can be treated in most cases, it can also progress quickly in the case of falciparum malaria which is the most dangerous as well as the most predominant in W. Africa (according to the W. Africa Lonely Planet). This one is dangerous because it can cause cerebral malaria putting you into a coma and can lead to death, not to scare anyone. Like I said, Peace Corps makes your safety their number one priority to make it our number one priority. In addition to the shots (first of many) and malarial drugs we were issued a huge medical kit packed full of goodies that will help combat most stomach upsets (bound to happen) and practically every other kind of upset. PC also provided us with one of the best water filters available which uses porous ceramic and activated charcoal. For times of hiking and travel there are fifty issued iodine tablets but this is the least and most expensive preventative measure given to us, and doesn’t produce great tasting water. I also brought a Steripen back home which is 99-100% effective in killing parasites and viruses using ultra-violet radiation. We also got a dropper for chlorine to add to the water as an extra cautionary measure (with the recommendation of three drops per liter of water).

But my stomach is going to get upset. I just hope I can stay as healthy as possible during PST which is probably our busiest and craziest time of service. I’m really thankful I was able to hit up a natural food store before service, (even though it was expensive!) as I think the wellness tablets have really helped with, well, my wellness :) They are packed full of awesomeness including garlic, Echinacea, zinc, etc. (and no I have not researched where all the ingredients come from, I’m sure it’s full of stuff from around the globe). I’m just very grateful to feel as good as I do for the lack of sleep I’ve had, and for the region that I’m in and the amount of stuff we’ve been doing.

Heat exhaustion is the other primary concern. They recommend at the very least three liters of water per day which equates to three large Nalgene bottles worth. Staff and PCVLs try to drink 4 L per day and if you are outside doing laborious work, you double the amount. It gets really nice and even kind of cool in the evenings and well into the mid ninety’s (deg F) in the day. It is a dry heat which is nice but potentially dangerous as it doesn’t always feel as hot as it is, at times. This worries me a bit as it’s technically winter. I’ve heard it can get up to 130 deg F in the summer but again, that’s just hearsay for the moment.

What else? There are about sixty four or so active volunteers in TG and about twenty in our PST group. There are about fifty Senegal PCT’s where that program maintains around 250 active PCV’s. We go to site, aka begin our service in May as volunteers that have been in for two years prepare for their COS. This is the first year that TG and Senegal have trained together for the first half of PST. The training site here is quite posh for PC. I share a room with seven other girls. Each bunk is equipped with a mosquito net. We have consistent electricity and running water. People can take showers every night if they wanted to (in a separate building, also separate from the flush toilets). I’ve only washed my feet since coming to country and don’t plan on taking a shower for a few more days. The flush toilets have sprayers attached to the side of the wall. We are encouraged to use no more than four squares of toilet paper per flush. The sprayer was researched compared to wiping with paper and was found to be much more hygienic. It uses more water but renders less need for paper which helps keep their plumbing clear. Tree roots are a problem with plumbing here in addition to toilet paper.

Breakfast is from 7-8am and consists of French bread and spreads and hot tea. Today there was a pre-lunch/ late morning snack of French bread and spicy beans and Nescafé or tea. I don’t know how common that is but it was a lovely boost and source of protein as that first breakfast doesn’t last long. Tea is just the Lipton black stuff in individually wrapped paper but for some reason tastes wonderful with the bread and jelly and butter. Lunch is served in large bowls. Four or five people can sit around a bowl (shoes off, sitting on the floor). Meat and meatless options are provided. The bowls are filled with rice and vegies and meat (unless vegetarian) in the middle. You eat what’s in front of you and can take from the center to put in front of you to eat. When eating with a family, the host mom can portion things out for you. You can use a spoon or your hands. Whatever you use it’s only with the right hand. The left is for wiping and is not used for eating or greeting or anything else (I wonder if there are left handed people here in these countries or if they always just learn to be right handed…?). At dinner we had our own plates that we could serve ourselves on from the larger serving plates.

Our first dinner was spaghetti noodles with parmesian (for the vegetarians) where cheese is an expensive luxury in Africa that can’t be afforded by many volunteers. Also served was a spicy sauce and salad. So far I love the food here! It’s flavorfull with just enough spice. The spice is too much for some volunteers but I love it and couldn’t be more pleased and grateful for the food we’ve been getting here.

My site interview was really exciting for me. This determines, or helps to determine where I’ll be living and working for the next two years so it’s kind of important. I don’t know if I just had super low expectations when coming in (which I kind of did after hearing stories from so many other PCV’s) but so far I’ve been really impressed with the organization of these programs. I mean, I’m not at site yet so that statement could change but the PCVL and country coordinator seemed very excited to have me on their team and more than eager to work with me and my prospective research ideas for the best placement. They asked how I feel about the bush and I told them about Fairbanks and they said I’d be perfect. Our PCVL also loves the idea of peeing in the snow and how it stays out there for about nine months until it melts unless you cover the yellow with more snow and making yellow patterns down the edge of snow banks etc. I’ll be assigned my language tomorrow which will be Mandinka, Wolof, or Fula.

I’m really happy! I had no idea what it would be like to be here, obviously. How scary or difficult or foreign, and oddly, just like with India, I feel kind of at home here which is good since I am home, well close to it, for the next two years (excited to get to The Gambia!). PST here has been a really nice and smooth transition as there are plenty of staff that speak English and plenty of amenities. I was prepared to be launched into a host family’s house without much of anything for this training. But they give us a couple weeks of language before that so that we won’t be absolutely worthless regarding the language. By the end or our 9 week training we have to pass a proficiency test and score at least an intermediate level in the language. By the end of service, it’s possible and likely to be fluent, depending on how often we use it.

I think that’s all. I know I’m not there, wherever there is for those reading, but I am still here and would love to stay updated with all of your day-to-days to. If you don’t keep a blog you should send me emails or letters! All of the love and support mean more to me than you can know and is probably a big part of the reason why I can feel so good to be where I am right now.

I’ll try to keep this updated as often as I can. From the sound of it though I’ll probably be in the bush. I never could figure out my solar charger and it was too large to take. People here have awesome little solar chargers that do work and that can fit in the palm of my hand. I don’t think any of them are powerful enough for a laptop computer though. If you don’t here from me for a while and can’t stand it I do have a cell phone number, courtesy of Peace Corps, while in Senegal as part of the safety precautions with the upcoming second round of elections here. I believe if you want to make a call from a landline you dial +221 or 001221 (you can google it too) and then 77 883 8486. I hear that it’s only two cents per minute on Skype which sounds great! But I have no credit to call anyone now and don’t know when I’ll be able to get credit. I think it’s quite a bit more for me to make international calls. So, I’ll leave it at that. That phone number will change when I go to TG. Will try to keep you posted before then, hopefully!

Love and Peace and hope and rainbows.