Camp Koumbidia, April 2015

I was so inspired by the girls empowerment camp I attended last year that I laid awake, scribbling ideas for a similar camp by flashlight.  This past weekend, I was able to see what started out as an inkling turn into action at the Koumbidia Youth Leadership and Empowerment Camp.  Thirty Senegalese teenagers gathered for three days of  discussions, games, art projects, and volunteerism.  I taught a session on environmentalism and led many a game and ice breaker.  Eleven other Peace Corps Volunteers joined me to teach about basic health practices, the environment, gender relations, and how to be a leader in all these topics.  Every day the students took what we learned out into the community: planting moringa trees and educating local families about its health benefits, transplanting tree saplings and explaining the role of trees in safeguarding the environment, and doing a school-wide clean up.

It was a highly successful and personally rewarding experience for me.  Not only did we see the students fully grasp the concepts we presented them with, but I was able to see how the girls I'd taken to girls camp last year had grown.  Shy to the point of refusing to talk in front of the class last year; my favorite ladies led class discussions, volunteered to speak for their groups, and took vocal roles in their educational skits at Camp Koumbidia.       

Thank you to all who donated and offered emotional support while I planned this monstrosity of a project.  I feel I cannot fully express how wonderful the camp was and how proud I am, so I leave it to photos to do the talking.

Introducing the camp and talking about what it means to be a leader.  I was careful not to confuse the Wolof term for leader, njiit, with the word for scorpion, jiit!  

My co-director, Erica, teaching proper hand washing skills.

Putting those skills to use while getting ready for lunch.

Some of the ladies enjoying breakfast before sessions start.

We split the students up into teams who partnered with Peace Corps Volunteers for their daily community volunteerism.  The rowdy green team.  

While all the students spoke Wolof, the first language for many of them was Pulaar or Mandinka.  PCV Abby speaks Mandinka, so we paired her up with a Mandinka-speaking group.  Team yellow showing off their re-usable bags.

PCVs in action: two of my closest friends handing out name tags and taking names.

Naadhira (far left) was a hit with the students.  The West African perception of the United States is a bit like the homogeneous view many Americans have of Africa.  They think all Americans are white, and Naadhira never misses an opportunity to talk about the diversity of the States and explain how the African diaspora relates to African American identity.  

The average temperature was 110 degrees F.  With no running water that meant we were
constantly pulling water for drinking, showering, hand washing, and all our games.  

Me in my natural habitat, just teaching another session.

Me explaining 'blind person tag.'  All the games we played were a huge hit because the students
don't have any structured games or time to just play.  It's something we take for granted back home,
but here there is no recess and no fun games in PE class.  

In blind person tag, a team links hands while a blindfolded person in the middle tries to touch the
circle.  To evade being touched, the team must work together to move away from the
blind 'it' person.  Just like if you want to be a leader in your community you have to learn to see
 problems and work with others for problem solving.

In the classroom.  On the first day, the boys were most comfortable raising their hands or speaking in front of the class.  By the end of the camp, though, the girls were snapping their fingers and vying for our attention as well.

My lovely fellow PCVs who helped teach session, run errands, and keep me from going crazy!

At the end of each session we had the students journal about what they had learned.
By pausing to reflect on what we'd discussed, the students internalized the lessons
and created mementos for them to look back on them.

A camp favorite.  The "goobie, goobie, goobie" ice breaker.  Grab a partner and just follow the lead of the people in the center.  The students loved being silly and following along with our funny noises and body movements.  

Another game; malaria tag.  A mosquito is 'it' and the only safe place from them is under the mosquito net.  

Another game (which are of course the most photogenic moments).  Over the head water cup racing.  Each team grabs a cup of water from the pan in the center and passes it back down the line by pouring the water over their heads into the cup of the person behind.  The final person pours their water into the bucket at the end of the line.  Which ever team has the most water in their bucket at the end of five minutes wins.  There were a lot of wet heads and competitive kids!

On health day we taught about mosquito net beautification.  Simply sewing fabric to the bottom and top of a mosquito net increases its likelihood of being used.  We discussed this is a method of increasing the rate of mosquito net usage or using this technique as an income-generating opportunity. 

Tie-dying, always a fun time.

Walking to camp through the West African bush at sunrise.

Some last minute problem solving.

My Master Farmer, Omar Top, helped teach on environment day.  He explained how the environment has changed over the past twenty years. 

Kait and I leading a session on the environment.  When we first asked the students to explain their environment, they only listed buildings in the village.  We slowly drew out all the parts of a natural habitat like trees, animals, water, ground water, etc.  We then discussed how human interact with the environment through wells, farming, buildings, roads, etc.  We ended the session by talking about how deforestation impacts their lives.  In agrarian communities, the impact of deforestation is stark and immediately visible.   

Drawing elements of the environment as the students listed them.

We had the students split up into their teams and draw the environment in their communities.  (Notice that a tree was one of the first things Babacar drew!)

Drawing out the groups to think about other parts of their environment like insects, ground water, grass, etc.

Listening to local experts talk about deforestation in Senegal over the past 20 years.

Two of my girls from Girls Camp last year.  Oumou and Nafy were all-stars and always were ready to speak in front of the group.

The human knot.  Since these students have never been exposed to basic ice breakers before they thought this was such a novel game.  Never underestimate the competitive streak of teenagers!

The other environmental session, teaching how to combat the changing environment.  PLANT TREES! (and other stuff)

A moment of fun.

PCVs struggling with our own games.

Unsurprisingly, the students didn't struggle the way we did.  They communicated flawlessly and even were able to maneuver around obstacles or talk each other through the exercise blindfolded. 

PCVs always ready for an ice breaker or a laugh!

Prepping the students for transplanting trees out in the community for their daily volunteerism.

My name is Yacine and I can carry anything on my head.  Just another Senegal skill.

These cuties.  

Erica and I doing some last minute lesson planning.

Reusable bags we made on environmental day.  Everything is sold here in small black plastic bags, so we focused on using bags like this to limit trash when shopping.

Erin Kelly, camp coordinator.  Passing out papers and giving instructions.  

Hanging up the finished tie-dyed shirts.

Aziz, from the Peace Corps staff, came to talk to the boys of the camp about gender relations.

The incomparable Mama Awa (another Peace Corps staff member) spoke with the girls.  It was inspiring to watch her interact with the students.  She was able to goad them into debates and push past their comfort zones.  

Me and the girls we took to girls camp last year.  They were the inspiration for this camp and continue to inspire me with their growth.  Oumou (left) is no longer afraid to speak in front of the class and frequently speaks up for the Pulaar ethnic minority at her school.  Nafy (center) is the newly elected president of the student body at her school.  Sofietou (right) is the host sister of a local PCV and teaches her about Mandinka language and culture daily.  They are the reason I love my job.  

Preparing to hand out the certificates at the camp (right before all our cameras died).  What a successful and tiring experience! 

Cold Season Photo Essay, March 2015

The searing heat has begun: blistering, sand-filled wind whips across the landscape and barrages your eyes.  Sadly, just two weeks ago it was chilly enough that I woke up wrapped in a sleeping bag.  In an attempt to remember that ephemeral, miraculous phase of the year, I present a collection of photos from the cold season.

Sunset in the bayobab grove.

Finally, a photo of me in my natural habitat.  Me, biking, while
eating food, and making funny faces.

Pounding millet; the millet harvest is done, the heads have dried, and now
the entire female population of my village pounds the millet for our daily dinner. 

Millet heads, local variety.

Pounding the millet with the heavy wooden mortar and pestle.  

After the pounding, the chaf and millet grains are mixed together.
To separate them women pour it from one container to another, letting
the wind blow the lighter chaff away and allowing the heavier millet
grains to fall into the container underneath.

Mboure Community Garden; one of my main work projects.  In the cool season
it is in full swing with women from the local women's groups who
have their own plots of hibiscus, tomatoes, eggplant, moringa, casava, etc.  Trees in the
garden have been a constant debate between me and the community.  

Inter-cropping and amended garden beds are two of the technologies
that I have successfully extended in the garden.  Here's Saliou Ndiaye's
onion, tomato, and lettuce beds. 

More inter-cropped beds, not many people eat the lettuce we grow so many of them have bolted.

Not all the lettuce bolts though, here's my host mom preparing a head to sell at the local market.

Zai holes with 'baby' hibiscus. 

Moringa leaves (you may remember moringa the miracle tree from my moringa tour post from December).

Cashew trees are starting to fruit.

Flowering and young fruit 'n nut.

A mature fruit 'n nut.

My backyard, don't mind my 30 foot tall moringa tree.  In all honest, I am proud
of all the trees I've been able to grow this past year.  Last year, my backyard
was bare and in another year there will actually be SHADE!

Papayas!  My host brother peeling and cutting up a papaya from our family's trees. 

The newest addition to my host family, a baby donkey!

More attempts at attaching bulky, unwieldy packages to Peace Corps bikes.  

Mangos have arrived!  

I am now a mango cutting expert!

I hosted two American students studying abroad in Dakar for a semester.  They had a week of pulling water, banal Wolof greetings, and helping me with work projects.

Painting a mural of the Senegalese map with my visiting study abroad students. 

Fallow fields from the rainy season.  Above: a fallow peanut field.  Below: a fallow
millet field.  Notice the stark difference between the amount of crop cover
there is between the two.  The peanut field will suffer far more during the windy
hot season, with the top soil blowing away.  Peanut production is subsidized by the
Senegalese government, my job is to encourage growing cereals (i.e. millet, sorghum)
which are better for the Earth and the population actually consumes.   

It was lovely while it lasted, but unfortunately the sun has set on my final cold season in Mboure. 

Camp Koumbidia Calls!

As anyone who talked to me in the past year knows, my favorite experience of my Peace Corps service was last year's Kaolack Girl's Empowerment Camp.  I was so inspired by the excitement shown by the Senegalese girls and Peace Corps Volunteers who attended that  I decided to branch off the idea and start another youth camp at the high school near my village. 

Fatou, Umou, Nafy, and Safiatou, the girls I brought to the Kaolack Girls Camp, approached me and asked if we could do a similar camp in their community.They wanted to share the knowledge, support system, and enthusiasm for their futures with their peers- and they wanted to see if I could make that happen.  Seven months later, my co-director Erica and I have coordinated with the school, students, Peace Corps, and Senegalese National Board of Education to create the Koumbidia Youth Leadership and Empowerment Camp, or 'Kamp Koumbidia.'  

Starting a program like this from scratch has been both an exhausting and confidence-building experience.  Fortunately, one of my neighboring Peace Corps Volunteers, Erica (another MSU Spartan, Go Green!), is equally passionate about youth and gender empowerment and has been a driving force in making this happen.  We hope that the project continues after this year and Peace Corps Volunteers near Koumbidia will be able to hold future annual 'Kamp Koumbidias.' 

Koumbidia is home to a motivated group of students who already have organized several student groups within their school.  Many of them look forward to continuing their education but too often drop out to help on the farm, are brought out of school due to early marriages, or are obligated to get jobs to help support their families.  The importance of education is slowly gaining ground, but many families do not fully value education, limiting their children's career options.   

The camp will be three days packed with discussions and games about health, the environment, gender, and the students' future.  Local experts will explain how these topics can be applied to their community through youth leadership.  Students will learn about career opportunities from a local career panel.  Volunteers will lead groups of the students in daily volutneerism activities within the community.  The final evening, we'll host a movie, inviting the entire community to recognize the 40 Kamp Koumbidia participants and hold a discussion about the role of youth in the community. 

The camp is just over a month away and we are looking for donations.  

• $25 will pay for the cost of one student's supplies and lunch
• $40 will pay for the cost of one of our local expert's travel and expenses so they can expose the students to career and networking opportunities

We are eager to quickly meet our donation requirement and deeply appreciate your donation!

https://beta.peacecorps.gov/…/pr…/youth-leadership-camp1310/

P.S.  I'm pretty excited to see Fatou, Umou, Nafy, and Safiatou teach next month!

A drop in the bucket, Feb 2015

Splash.  Drip.  Swish.  Gurgle.  Slosh.  Plop.  Splatter. 

Water.  It surrounds us, making up to 60% of the human body and necessary for all life.

You wake up.  Flush the toilet.  Wash your hands.  Your face.  Brush your teeth.  Step into the shower...  and you've already used approximately 16 gallons of water.  Add your washing machine, dish washer, cooking, cleaning supplies, etc.  Look at your plate, even if you're just eating a meager salad there's 15 gallons of water that have gone into growing the lettuce alone! 

Water is ubiquitous in our lives.  But what if it wasn't?  What if you had the same needs but no faucet? 

Every morning and evening the girls and women of my village pull pan-after-pan of water 25 meters (approximately 82 feet) to the top of our well, place it on their heads, walk it back to their huts, and pour it into another pan waiting on the ground.  Since I too need water, I can be spotted every evening at the village well with three other women, our hands flying and clapping as we pull the heavy rope over the pulley.  A full pan of water is 24 liters, meaning that I carry 52 pounds of water 122-125 steps back to my hut. 

Beyond personal consumption, my agrarian community depends on water for crops.  That means our livelihood is reliant on rainfall (a meager 521 mm from July-September) and groundwater from the well.  In the long months between rainy seasons, my community works together to water their crops from well water.  In an incredible sense of community; all the women of my village pull water together for three hours or more, placing it on one another's heads, carrying each benoir into the garden, taking it off, and finally pouring the water into watering cans to use.  Every day.  For at least five months.  And then they pull water for the next day's drinking, washing, cooking, cleaning, etc. 

So I proposed a feeder basin project for my community.  A small basin next to the well connected to alarger basin inside the garden by pipe facilitates easier watering.  Women pour water into the small basin and it cuts out the work of lifting, carrying, and putting down the water in the garden.  It also encourages better watering practices since women are less likely to pour water from the top of their head directly onto their garden beds.  Unsurprisingly, my community was pretty enthusiastic.       

After writing the grant and the harvests were in, my community supplied horse drawn carts to carry supplies from our road town.  I explained construction requirements (thanks dad!) in French and Wolof (thanks to my many language teachers!), and we completed the project in less than a week

. 

 

My village took the project a step further, saving money from their early harvest to purchase an inner tube balloon that can pull up four times more water when pulled by a horse or donkey. 

 

Even though it was just a small project and the well is only 27 meters away from the center of the garden, the garden has grown exponentially since the water limitations have been reduced.  This year, every meter of the garden is being worked.  Even motivated women from neighboring communities have joined us with four of their own plots inside the garden. 

 

The easier access to water in the garden has meant higher yields.  Meaning more vegetables going into each family's lunch bowl.  More vegetables and cash crops being sold at the weekly market.  Meaning more financial autonomy for each of the ladies in the Mboure Community Women's Group.  Meaning increasing financial sway in the family.  Meaning more money going towards education and hospital bills.  Meaning a healthier and better educated next generation. 

So this wasn't an enormous project, it was just a drop in the bucket.