A Change of Scenery

So I have a pilonidal cyst. Unfortunately living in a hot dirty environment and traveling on bumpy roads in poorly cushioned seats results in an environment seemingly tailored to aggravate said cyst. Lo and behold - it has been aggravated. Peace Corps has sent me South Africa to take care of it. I had surgery last Friday to remove the cyst and am now waiting in South Africa for everything to heal up. The surgery went smoothly and there were no complications. I will see the surgeon next week and at that point should know more about when I will be able to return to The Gambia.

As a side note - many RPCVs talk about how difficult it is to handle the reverse culture shock of moving back to the United States. I didn't pay much attention to this until arriving in South Africa. Just walking through the airport was an odd experience and one I wasn't completly comfortable with at first. By this point everything is fine but that first reaction was a bit odd. We have only been in The Gambia since November - I can't imagine my reaction when I return home after the conclusion of our service.

Project Plan (Written April 26)

I know everyone is curious about what work we will be doing for the next two years so I wanted to take the chance to outline my current project plan. This can, and I am almost positive, will change over the remainder of our service but here is my current thought...

I believe a lot of a country's potential to develop is linked to its human capital. I plan to do a little bit to try and improve the human capital of Gambians living near Soma. I want to focus on two paths - first, improving the quality and quantity of skills training centers and second, increasing the likelihood that students will graduate from senior secondary school (the Gambian equivalent of high school).

There is one skill center in Soma that is a model skill center for others to follow. They offer courses on basic computer skills, tailoring, secretarial skills, tie dye, and auto mechanics. They are currently receiving some outside financial support but are working to become financially self-sufficient. I will work with them to help maximize the number of courses they can teach with their existing facilities and to help them become financially self-sufficient.

There is another skill center in a neighboring village that has excellent facilities but does not take advantage of the space. I want to work with a local Gambian NGO to improve the capacity and efficiency of this skill center.

To increase the likelihood that students graduate from senior secondary school I would like to form several clubs (e.x. homework clubs, current events clubs, etc.). Essentially anything to increase students interest in education and make learning a more enjoyable experience.

That is all for now but I am sure I will have changes to post later.

Visit to TARUD and taco night

As a part of the Health and Community Development in-service training, today we spent an afternoon with a local NGO called Trust Agency for Rural Development (TARUD). TARUD is a really impressive NGO that is doing great work in a wide range of areas, including health education using puppets and dramas (skits), a beauty school for out-of-school girls, and an awesome community garden project, among other community development activities. Here are some pictures from our visit (big thanks to Sunny and Rachelle for letting me steal their pictures after I forgot my camera again)


Puppet show about an unfaithful husband


Drama about malaria


Children watching the drama


Drama about girls education (this girl was playing an old man and she was awesome!)


Hair braiding demonstration

After our sessions were finished for the day, our group got together and cooked an amazing mexican dinner (and had a lot of fun doing it!). Here are some pictures:


Lots of cooks hard at work in the kitchen


Say cheeeese...


Toast


Sunny showing off the amazing apron she got at TARUD (they use them to teach girls about how their bodies work)


Onions and peppers, ground beef, beans


Pico de gallo, cheese, lettuce, tortillas (sort of), locally made chili sauce, beer, limes


Dessert - yogurt, fried cinnamon sugar deliciousness, red velvet cake


Birthday girl cutting her cake

Pictures from the all-volunteer conference at the Sheraton

Lower River Region...definitely the best dressed region at the conference!


Aww...


Close up


Sitemates


These two are always laughing!

A visit to Gambia is Good

We've been participating in the Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resource Management sector in-service training and yesterday we got the opportunity to visit Gambia is Good's "farm." GIG is an innovative agribusiness project being implemented by an NGO called Concern Universal (http://www.concernuniversal.org/index.php?/working_in_partnership/gambia_is_good). Their "farm" is used as a research and demonstration facility, and we got to see some really cool stuff they are working on. I forgot my camera, but Kelsey remembered hers and was nice enough to let me steal her pictures. Thanks Kelsey!! See below:


Outside GIG


Fun gate using local axes


Solar dryer


Solar oven


Biodigester


Cool way to grow strawberries


Demonstration plots


More demonstration plots


An example of an innovative pump created by SMILE, another one of Concern Universal's projects


Another


Cashew nuts drying before processing. Two interesting facts about cashews: 1) Cashew fruits are quite good and grow attached to the nuts, 2) Cashew nuts are covered by a toxic and highly flammable chemical...as a part of the processing, the nuts must be burned and the toxin removed.


Moringa, a miracle tree. If you don't believe me, check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera


More demonstration plots with drip irrigation


Learning to make "advanced compost." It includes, among other things, cow dung, topsoil and biochar.


Mixing!


Press originally used for sesame seeds, now used for jatropha and moringa seeds


Making biochar (for more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar)


Vetiveria, a cool grass with crazy anti-erosion properties (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopogon_zizanioides for more information)


Josh with Bakary, the hilarious guy who showed us around


Applying local insecticide with a broom (garlic, onion, hot pepper, ash, soap, tobacco, water)

Easter Weekend

Our sitemate Lisa was feeling pretty bummed about being away from her family for Easter, so we decided to come up with other ways to make it special. In addition to cooking delicious food (which goes without saying with the three of us!), we decided to do henna, hair braiding, and watch a movie on our computer. Here are some pictures from the weekend:


All taped up and ready for henna


Fatou applying the henna (henna powder mixed with sugar and water)


Close up


Getting bagged


Suddenly very glad we only did our left hands. Getting ready for bed with only one hand was a challenge!


After sleeping with the henna on, the next morning we took off the henna (see above) and put on a mixture of water, "no fly" (some chemical we couldn't identify) and ash, which adds a cool black tint to the henna color. After leaving that on for 5-10 minutes, we took off the tape and washed everything off. It's funny that so something so gross can result in something so pretty!


Rinsing off


We were so excited to see what was underneath!


Final product with our artist friend - very cool (and complements our chaco tans so nicely...)


Then it was Lisa's turn for braiding


Finished!


Overhead shot


Fatou with her cousin's daughter (second cousin maybe?) at the celebration of the annual recitation of the holy koran, which also happened to fall on this weekend. Note her gorgeous hair. Love this pic!


This is for Jessica - proof that the boys do indeed wear gellies here (usually for playing soccer)


Part 1 of our delicious Easter lunch - potato pancakes (which sort of merged into a potato pancake blob but were still delicious)


Part 2 - Cinnamon rolls (chapati layered with cinnamon sugar, rolled, and sliced). That's right, we made cinnamon rolls without an oven!