Malsi

26 Mar 12

The big dipper is upside down, pouring the contents of the Milky Way all across the sky. It’s appropriate as I feel my world is also upside down. But truly, in the grand scheme of things, I have absolutely nothing to complain about, for as long as I live. I hope that if nothing else, I can remember that. That in my first day at my CBT site I learned more about what I have to be grateful for and what to appreciate than what changes or “hardships” I had to overcome.

Things are different here, quite, compared to what I’m used to. But my job here isn’t to point out all the differences or even to seek how to “right” whatever “wrongs” my Western programmed mind dictates. My job here is to empower the men and women of this region (since I’m with the people of both Senegal and TG). And that empowerment comes from being one of them first and foremost. From living the same life, eating the same food, and trying my darndest to speak the same language. My job is to work with the people, to be with the people, to share and exchange culture, and in doing so, share and exchange knowledge and skills that hopefully will continue to provide future generations with the tools needed so that one day they can tell Peace Corps that it’s been great fun, but that they’ll take it from here (like Cape Verde!).

Today my LCF told me that his life was impacted by Peace Corps when he was a child. Volunteers taught him science and math. And now he’s here today working for Peace Corps teaching future volunteers the language they need to help us hopefully touch at least another life as his was, which in turn might touch many, as he has. He also wears a fantastic shirt that has a picture of a blackboard and in Wolof says that the greatest medicine is education and that everyone should take their medicine.

That was the light I needed today. And for when things get dark, if I can just try to remember that, that us being here might actually be doing something for somebody, someday, that’d be great.

On another neat note, we planted forty trees today (or started them). If every human being on the planet were to just plant one tree and see it too fruition, we’d have over seven billion more trees to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Israel is one of the only countries in the world whose average temperature has actually decreased in the last several years and I don’t want to say it’s because they’ve planted so many trees because I guess I don’t know that for sure but I’ll say coincidentally, the people in Israel adopted a tradition of planting a tree for a lost loved one, adding quite a lot of trees so that they’ve made an impact in the last several years... I don’t want to have to die for people to plant trees so I’ll just put it out there- plant trees! The need might not be where you are, but still I’ve got to think that every little bit helps. At least start a house tree (or tree house). House plants and trees are great especially if you’re living in the north where transpiration and thus carbon dioxide fixation only occurs a fraction of the year due to the cold climate.

Here, the need for trees couldn’t be more prevalent. And it only took three of us an hour and a half to get forty poly pots started using manure and sand and seeds, and water (the limiting reagent here if you will). If we can do it in sub-Sahara Africa- you can do it too!

One of the quotes we’ve received during PST is thus: as a volunteer your job is to plant the trees whose shade you’ll never get to sit under or something like that. The volunteer who taught my LCF mathematics years ago probably has no idea that he now works for Peace Corps and that he still reflects fondly on his experience with volunteers from way back when. As Americans I think we like to see our progress quickly (which may or may not be why people are discouraged from planting trees, if they are, I’ll drop it). At any rate, the need to see progress can actually limit the sustainability of one’s service if there sole motive is results. Thus, in order to truly be effective one needs to let go of the ego a bit, if you will, and really just focus on integration and learning the language so that maybe more thoughts and teachings get planted than actual trees, or whatever the project is, so that all those people can continue on once you leave.

So this is where I am, and I think that all of the above will serve me well to remember in the coming months and even years. I’ve only been here in West Africa for less than twenty days now and it feels like it’s easily been three months. Not sure what two plus years will feel like by the end of this.

Allhumdullilah.