Pics: From the top

1. Bandafassi summer camp, victory laps and songs

2.Camp transportation.....I don't know if this would fly in the states

3. bringing the frisbee the senegal

4. Segou falls, raging from the rainy season, great trip out there for my buddy Dan's birthday

5. The hike up to segou, very Indiana Jonesesque I think

6.Bridge on the ride to Segou

7.Khossanto Storm and Sunset

8.Bandafassi summer camp, heated game of football

9.Sunset over the delta in Funjun

10.The car I take to get from Kedougou to Khossanto (when it works that is...)

11. Looking through the corn in my backyard at my hut

12.My sisrer Mariama, and brothers Lasana and Papa hanging out behind my hut

13.Rainbow over my hut and backyard

Hi everyone,
so I suppose all that talk of me being on the internet all the time, fixing up my blog and putting up all sorts of enlightening and witty remarks while I was in Thies didn't really work out the way I planned. I guess I kinda forgot about all of the tech and language classes we'd be having, not to mention the medical sessions and cross-cultural debriefings in between...things just got a little busy. In all honesty though my second bout of training went really well. I passed out of my Jaxanke class and as a result decided to take Pulaar as thats what is spoken in the majority of the Kedougou region. However I quickly realized that it is a challenging language to grasp to say the least, a very "rich language" as the pulaars like to say as a result of the sheer number of words (their are 24 articles!). Needless to my pulaar still needs some work.
Our technical classes were probably the best part of the training. We focused heavily on different strategies for tree nurseries, waste management, gardening, and integrating evironmental curriculums into the Senegalese school system. It was all a little overwhelming, but I feel much more confident about potential work projects in the village right now.
Honestly the greatest thing about Thies was seeing all the buddies from my stage and sharing stories about the first 3 months out. It's really amazing to me how even people only 10k from one another can have infinitely different experience depending on the smallest factors. Obviously things like access to water and electricity are fundamental, but in general it just makes me think about how much one's specific community and the individuals living there completely change one's perspective. While from an outside point of view two villages may look identical given their structure and daily routine, they could have completely different characters. I kinda like that.
Anyway it really was just great to have quality time to catch up with old friends and get a chance to spend some quality time with everyone again. Sort of weird to think that, as there is no official time we will all be together again before we leave, who knows when I'll see a lotta those folks again.
I've been back in Kedougou for a couple weeks now, catching up both with the volunteers here and my family and villagers. My corn in my backyard is HUGE and the ochre is coming along nicely too. It's pretty awesome, but as no one had been taking care of it for the last month it's completely over run with weeds. It took me 2 hours to hack a path to my toilet about 15 yards away from my hut when I got back. I did see a pretty massive monitor lizard back there the other day which was pretty exciting. I told my host brother and he said I should kill it when I see it next so we can eat it for dinner. We'll see about that...
I've just spent the last week in Bandafasi, a village about 15k west of Kedougou, helping run a USAID sponsored summer camp. And while I haven't worked that hard since I've been in Senegal it was extremely fun and rewarding. The kids were incredible, the teachers/ counselors were super motivated and it was a really uplifting week. For all you Aim Highers out there there were many moments that reminded me of those wonderful summers, and it was pretty cool to be able to bring out some of my old Issues and Choices activities and adapt them to a Senegalese perspective. We also taught about 50 kids to love the Frisbee and it looks like we might have a good ultimate team in the making for next summer.
On a sadder note as I'm writing this everyone in my family is attending my grandmother Gar's memorial service and as a tribute I would like to dedicate this entry to her. She was constantly supportive of my decision to come out here I can only say that I hope to embody her adventurous spirit as I continue my service.
Thats pretty much the news here in a nutshell. The rain is heavenly and refreshing and as corn is getting ready to be picked the villagers are in high spirits. It's a pretty nice time to be here I must say.
Much love to you all and again thank you so much for all of your support.
willie
p.s. many apologies about my lack of photos right now, I forgot my camera cord in my hut and will try to get some up next week. I'll let ya know

(pics: dindafello the highest waterfall in senegal, creek hike to segou waterfall, the 4 following are rapelling and hiking around the spires at Dande the village at the source of dindafello waterfall, next two are above and inside a grotto at Dande, Dan Braiden and I excited by the sunset, the fields in Khossanto, Khossanto sunset after a storm, circumcision ceremony in my compound, dead monitor lizard)

Well I wrote this post last week before leaving Kedougou but was having trouble getting it online. Anyway I am currently in Thies being thouroughly overwhelmed by the traffic, people, food, and class. Not to say that this city is anything like the US but, the slight reverse culture shock coming from a life somewhat simpler down south is definitely real and makes me think of the shocker it will be to be in the developing world again whenever that time may come. But despite the intensity life here is good, the food is indeed DELiCIOUS (see below) and it is wonderful to see so many friends from my stage and hear about there experiences. It is also great to jump into some technical training, from gardening to fruite tree grafting to various facilitiation techniques, I feel as though I will be in a very good place to begin work once I return. Anyway enjoy the pics and what not and I'll be in touch soon si alla jabbi.


These days the rains are getting into full swing down in these parts and thats means two things: working in the fields all day and the end of the food stores that were saved from last years crop. All throughout the Kedougou department peanuts are just about done (the main staple protein for pretty much everyone here including yours truly). In my village we're out of millet and just about out of corn and the 50 kg of rice my family bought with my rent money is what we've been eating for the last couple weeks. Personally, as I have taken to making my own breakfast (bread, onions, and vache qui rit, oh delicious processed cheese), and have been otherwise supplementing my diet, I haven't been suffering too much, but to be honest this isn't a bad time to head up to Thies for another three weeks of training and DELICIOUS food. On the positive side with all the rain have come some really crazy fruit I'd never seen before. What they call kaba in Malinke, a fruit that you crack open and whos seeds you suck on, it's pretty tart and can benefit from a little sugar dusting if avaiable, but man they're goof.
Also with rain comes the mosquitos and inevitably the malaria. While I've been good about taking my meds, that is obviously a luxury the villagers do not have (not that it woud be healthy to take it continually, I think Larium for two years straight is probably even pushing it) there have been a number of cases in my village including one of my little sisters. If people recognize the symptoms early, a skill at which people seem to have gotten fairly adept, it is a simple process of going to the health post and getting a series of injections. As a result I don't know of any deaths specifically as a result of malaria in my village, although there have been several of both young and old people in nearby villages. There has been a big recent push by both local NGOs and the government to supply cheap impregnated mosquito nets to the region and it's encouraging to begin to see villagers responding postively. At the same time its not only just a question of having a mosquito net but using it, and using it properly. They are hotter to sleep under and present minimal complications when it comes to getting under them and keeping them tucked in. As a result even people who spend the hundred CFA to get them might not use them. Like everything else these problems are solved by a slow process of education, trial, and error, and there are several different groups working in the region on the educat ion piece. It is simply difficult to change hundreds of years of habit.
As for my life these days I've been working sowing rice with my host mom and sisters and have also been working on my own corn crop, along with some ochre and watermelon in my backyard. It's been some hard work but has been a great learning experience for me and has really boosted my status in the village. People are so genuinely appreciative that I spend time cultivating with them ( while in comparison I am a horrible farmer, they get twice as much done in half as much time and work four times longer than I do), and not only does that do great things for my reputation but I feel as though I am finally making at least a small contribution to my family and village in general.
My two brothers and one of their friends, all between 6 and 8, were circumcised a couple weeks ago and it resulted in a big celebration in my compound not to mention an eye openning experience for me. My host father who works at the health post was the one who performed the surgery and he tried to rope me in as his assistant at the last minute.... I respectfully declined. I'm not gonna lie, there was part of me that wanted to help and have that experience but I wasn't sure I had the stomach for it. And as my helping would've entailed holding down a screaming child as he has this very painful procedure perfomed on him with no anithestic, while the women outside the room are banging drums and singing wildly for purposes of celebration, but also to drownout the screams, I was pleased by my decision. As one might expect the kids were pretty whipped when it was all said and done, and despite my very stingy nature in the village ( to avoid the gift giving reputaion of the toubab) I hooked them all up with some chocolate cookies. It was very interesting though and for their week of recovery the kids were dressed in toga like outfits and lead around by older children begging for money and food in the community, part of the coming of age trial.
My extremely excentric host father, Niama, was very proud of himself when the whole thing was over and as I sat with him afterward he looks over at me with a smile and says in French "Farmara, when I'm hot, I can do 100 cricumcisions a day." I thought that was quote worthy.
The bad news is that we have lost the first volunteers from my Stage in Kedougou. Our dear friends Whitney and Darcy Connors have headed home due to family complications and while all of us down here are wishing them the best of luck it's pretty devastating to loose them. The family like atmosphere that has begun to develop between us all here has really been rocked by this sad turn of events, and is something we'll all have to come to terms with in our own way. Whit and Darce if you're reading this much love and we miss you.
Anyway I'm heading up to Thies here in pretty soon for the month. As I said I can't wait to eat such things as ice cream, pizza,and crepes, and it'll be pretty great to catch up with all of the others in my stage and see how there first three months went. Chances are I'll be online a little more frequently this next month and will hopefully get a good crop of pictures up soon. I do hope all are well thanks again for all your kind words and support,

So I missed my car yesterday and as a result couldn't get back to my village until today, but lucky for you all that leaves me a little time to get a post up. Life has been good, the rains have been coming on a semi-regular basis and things around here are turing pretty lush. The beauty is only augmented by spectacular sunsets behind massive thunderheads or crystal clear stars in a freshly washed sky.
As for the village I have been doing my best to speak and keep myself busy. I have started an informal english club with my sisters and some of their friends resulting in many "gooood morning"s and "how are yooou"s throughout the day. It's pretty funny, but has also turned out to be a big challenge as their French is still minimal not to mention their literacy. The motivation and desire is defintely there but I may have to rethink my strategy on exactly how to facilitate learning that will be beneficial for them.
Otherwise I have been working a lot on my community assesment projects. I have a pretty decent map of the village at this point, and have been working on compiling information about everything from its economic relationshîps with the surrounding villages and the different income sources of the villagers, to identifying the different plant and tree species in the area (thats gonna take a little time...). I've also been doing my fair share of reading and hanging out with my family. The kids continually crack me up and are generally a pretty good antidote whenever I get into a funk. Juggling has become the prefered mode of entertainment for them these days and frequntly as I am sitting outside reading or writing one will come up with either three rocks or three dead batteries (hmmm....?), and slowly hand them to me. They have begun to learn but the lack of instant gratification is frustrating and, I suppose like language or anything else, we have a long road to hoe.
There are two large mining operations near the village, one Australian and one Canadian (I'm getting a ride out with the Canadians today), and recently one has shut down one of the operations as it was not productive enough for them. Apparently this has happened before because as soon as the news came in everyone and their mother was heading for the hills. I went out there with my friend Bakary and the scene was wild. There were litteraly hundereds of people covering this hillside digging up rocks and busting them open with hammers looking for gold flecks. The rewards are rare and pretty minimal but a couple of times during the day someone found enough to get roughly a hundred bucks or so US and thats some real money. The most interesting part of it all was the regulation of the trench the miners had left behinf. A group of men were put in charge (how I don't know) of all the digging in the trench and what was found. Because the trench is obviously where the most gold was found many were interested in getting a proverbial piece of the action. As a result the men began what I can only describe asa kind of co-op where one could work in the trench, or donate tools, food, or tea for the day and then they split whatever was found. I thought this was a pretty impressive system honestly. They all thought I was crazy for not joining up, but not only was it all kind of weird and surreal, I didn't feel it was really my place (making money off their gold that is.....). Anyway, wild times.
Had a cool little excursion for the 4th this year and visited what was by far the most beautiful part of my region yet. My friend lives in a village south of Kedougou-meme and nearby is Dindafelo, a village at the bottom the biggest waterfall in senegal, not to mention Dande a village at the top with ridiculous cliffs for climbing and viewing. We took a couple days to tour the area on our bikes and I've never been happier to be where I am. I can't say that the pictures truly do it justice, but with troops of baboons and chimps howling in the canyons and some unbelievable hospitality from the locals it was a truly breathtaking experience. It was also nice to get some climbing in, something I hadn't done in a number of months, and something that reminded me so much of great times back home.
I think I've rambled on long enough here, and while there are more stories to tell I think we all need to get on with whatever we're doing. It's been so great to get mail from all you, it really picks me up when things get slow out here. I'll be in my village through the end of the month and then head back to Thies for 3 more weeks of in-service training. I'll be in touch on the other side. Much love to you all,
willie

pics: my mother and grandmother sitting in my compound, My two sisters fanta and mariama and a Traore a maribou who lives with us, Dan and Braiden (my two closest neighbors at 38 and 55k respectively) and me hanging out in my hut at night, Dan helping Bacary the blacksmith keep his forge going with a bicycle wheel attached to the bellows, views from my hut pre, post, and during storm (sweet lightning shot huh).

Hello all,

just about outta time at the old cyber here so I'll make this a quickie. Life is wild and wonderful out in the bush. I'm really beginning to settle in and get comfortable with my life here. I feel as though I learn so much everyday, so much so that each day it is hard for me to understand how I got by without this knowledge the day before. We've gotten some incredible storms that are not only extremely cool to watch but that bring the temp to a delightful level. I've also gotten into the habit of taking some beautiful early morning bike rides to great view point nearby, pictures to come soon. I'll get a more complete upate in a couple of weeks but until then, all my love and happy summer to all.

willie

Pics: Swearing in and recieving my volunteer status, Dan in celebration, all our language tachers, the new Kedougou crew, the Jaxanke boys x 2, PC car on the way to installation (yes thats a lotta stuff), my bathroom, my hut, red monkey who lives next door, my father Nyama and his buddies, my village after a storm

The first weeks

I realize, again, that it has been a while since I've been in touch and for that I apologize, but let me assure you all that it seems like a lifetime from this end. Just getting into town a couple days ago was so surreal and at first it was hard to know exactly what to do with myself. Even coming into such a small and mellow town as Kedougou (i finally have the spelling right) I was still blown away by the hustle and bustle, the people, motos, etc. Indeed, while it was only a couple of weeks in the bush, there was both constant stimulation in terms of communication attempts, meeting an entire village's worth of people, and those funny anecdotes that inevitably arise in situations like this, and some very slow, "what on earth am I doing in this village out in the middle of the African jungle" moments as well. I think my dad put it very well at one point before I left when he said, "you are going to develop a very different sense of time out there." This is unbelievably true and I am trying hard to work on that development.

To some it all up for everyone, I headed out to my village May 15 after a grueling 2 day journey south from Thies. It was a wild few days as we swore in in Dakar on the 12th (a ceremony involving the US ambassador, and Senegalese Minister of Development, made me feel pretty important) had one last night at the training center, and took off at dawn on the following day. We made it to Tamba to go the bank and get some of our bigger ticket items like propane stoves. Said good by to those in our Stage remaining in the Tamba region, and the 6 of us headed to Kedougou. Meeting up with the current volunteers at the center in town we got the lowdown on our department and they helped us do the bulk of our shopping (bed, mats, trunk, kitchen stuff). Early the next morning we met all of our departmental officials i.e. the Prefet, the Captain of the Police, Education Minister, etc. And then we loaded up the car and headed out........



About the village: My village is called Kossanto and is about 90k northeast of Kedougou. I am by far the farthest from town out of all of the volunteers in the department. This makes for some interesting transportation issues, but does add to the "out there" quality of my life in the bush. My village is pretty big though and has several boutiques at which I can by things like bread, sugar, and soap. We have a decent sized health center with a permanent MD who will do consultations throughout the week. My father, who I am living with works at the health post as a med tech, dressing wounds, giving shots, etc. It's been a pretty eye opening experience to see some of the procedures he undertakes and the questionable sanitary conditions under which he performs them. He is a very interesting guy though and speaks french very well which makes communication between us infinitely easier. As I am the first PCV the village has ever had I do not think that they really had any idea (or really STILL have any idea) what to expect of me. At first there was a lot of appeals to me for money and gifts and while I don't expect that to ever go away completely I have taken a pretty hard line and at least my family has begun to realize that those things are not my primary reasons for being there.



My hut is big and very nice despite the fact that both of my doors fell off the first full day I was there. This was frustrating and somewhat trying although it also forced me to get out in the village and talk to masons and frame builders to get them to repair it. The first rains came at the end of my first week in and as my backyard really does not belong to me but rather to my family's goat heard, as soon as that rain started to fall my hut filled with goats! This happened at about 1am and imagine my surprise waking up with and goat stampede raging in my hut. Needless to say I doubled my efforts to get my doors fixed the next morning. However now all is fixed and I not only have doors but also screen doors on each side of my hut, so I'm feeling pretty Patron as they say around here.



The most difficult challenge has not been the culture shock or difficulty with language and communication, but it is simply the heat. I have honestly never experienced heat and humidity like this in my life and it is truly unbelievable. The night before the rain came I was so hot lying in bed I had to soke a tshirt and drape it over my back in order to fall asleep. It is also pretty draining on the energy stores, and is really just a consistently added challenge whenever trying to get anything done during the day. The early morning is the only respite and has been when I've been doing all of my biking and any kind of exercise. I did the 40k ride to my friend Dan's village (my closest neighbor)after a week in and it was truly a beautiful ride. I saw a number of monkeys on the road and the sunrise was pretty spectacular. I think this will be something I will have to start doing on a regular basis.



The food has also been somewhat challenging, and I must say there have been some hungry days so far. Especially as it is the end of the dry season and the stores from the harvest are running out. My regular meals consist of either rice or millet couscous with a peanut butter sauce or maybe just some oil. While simple this isn't bad by any means, only that the portions are a little slim, it is somewhat repetitive, and especially as I'm in transition at this point it is a little difficult. Also a little short on certain elements of the old food pyramid, but having a better idea of what my life and situation are like I have a better idea of how I can supplement my diet by bringing things in from town, and should thus be a bit more comfortable in the upcoming weeks. I have also found that dropping by the teachers compound around lunch time is a GOOD idea, as they make decent money for the village and eat much better than most everyone else. They're also from all over Senegal and thus have a better idea of what it is like to be an outsider to the village (to a certain extent anyway). The teachers are very friendly and supportive and I have been spending a decent amount of my time with them, visiting classes, and attempting to figure out the dynamics of the school system there.

This maybe getting a little long winded so I'll try to wrap things up here. The life here is as intense and overwhelming as I expected and probably more so. At the same time I have met some fabulous people and my Jaxanke/Malinke is coming along slowly, but is coming. I am confident that the village is going to have a variety of niches in which I will be able to work including the schools of course, potentially the health post, a very active women's group, and some interesting NGO funded projects generally dealing with the environmental degradation in and around the nearby goldmines. These all have great potential for my umbrella category as a volunteer for environmental education. As school is ending in a couple weeks and the rains have already begun to come I will most likely spend most of my summer helping sow peanuts, millet, and corn with the majority of the village, and do a variety of community resource mapping, and needs projects to bring to my technical training in the middle of August. There I will focus on a few specific projects the community and I have identified as the most crucial and realistic.

I do hope all is very well with all of you back home. Looking back on this post I realize it may sound a little negative at times, but rest assured I have been spending the last few days eating steaks and warthog sandwhiches, drinking COLD drinks, relaxing around the beautiful training center we use as our regional house here in Kedougou, so don't feel too bad for me. I am feeling energized by this little break and am very much looking forward to getting back out the village. Please send my love to all, the memories of the experiences I've had with everyone of you are sometimes the things that really keep me going in the heat. All my love and be in touch when you get a chance.

Last thing really: I love mail... and now I have a PO box so send me something funny or tasty at:

William Adams
PCV
BP 37
Kedougou, Senegal
West Africa

I guess I'll also throw out my phone number here although it only works when I'm in town: country code 221 then 258 6094

I'm having trouble with pictures on this computer but I'll try again before I head out to my village, there are some good ones.

Hi friends,

again apologies for not getting more up more often, the cybers in Thies have been having some power difficulties as of late. I'd say things will get more consistent on the communication front, but training finished up yesterday and, assuming all goes as planned, I'll be heading to Kedegou early Sunday morning. As electricity seems to be something of a rarity down there we might all just have to be a little patient when it comes to the life and times of Willie.

It's pretty wild preparing for my site. There has been so much prep and talk and training over the last 2 months and I've been so antsy to get out there and now that it's staring me in the face it's a little overwhelming. At the same time I am incredibly excited. A couple teachers from my village made it up here last week (800 k treck) for our 2 day "counterpart" workshop. They will be my village liasons so to speak and the idea is that I will work with them and through them on things like curriculum development, lesson planning, environmental clubs, etc. They were extremely cool, and open, and excited for my arrival, and this eased my anxiety a lot. I also got a chance to check out a bunch of pictures from my region and it seems to be a pretty incredible place. I'll be arriving just at the start of the rainy season which is nice for the most part as the vegitation will explode and it will cool things off a little, although when its not raining I think it's gonna be pretty humid and could hit 130° or more.......sweet.

Got a couple pics here, I realize that it pretty much looks like I spend all my time at the beach, and how I wish that were true as it is truly amazing. However in all honesty we've done a few weekends out there and that just seems to be where I take my pictures. I really have had to go to class from 8-6 everyday during the week and spend most o my nights hanging out with my family.

As for all this subscribing to the blog confusion I apologize, again this is a little new to me. But I took down the false directions (those were meant to help ME set this whole thing up). I might appeal to the talents of Mr. Austin Evers and either ask you sir to just post some directions here on my blog or let me know what to do and I'll do it, thanks bud.

Hope all is well with everyone and for all you school types best of luck with the end of the semester.

Much Love,

willie

Pics: Jaxanke hangman with chalk on the basketball court, Leigh and kids, Lauren and me, patio view at Toubab (yes Toubab) Jalau, Ping Pong (and yes for all who are wondering I dominated the PC center tourney)