First, thanks so much to everyone who has supported us over the past two years of our service, whether by reading this blog, sending us mail, or simply by keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. From the bottom of our hearts...thank you. It means more than I can say to know that out of sight is not out of mind and you all have not forgotten about us while we have been on the other side of the world. This has been an incredible and life-changing experience for both of us, and we could not have done it without all of your support.
That said, our adventure is far from over. For the next two weeks, we will be hanging out in the capital, wrapping up various administrative stuff for Peace Corps, packing our things, and submitting our applications for graduate school. Jacob is applying to public policy and international affairs programs, and I am applying to public health and international development programs, all in the DC and NYC areas. After that, we will fly to Vietnam, spend about a week there, meet my parents and my brother in Bangkok, and spend the following couple weeks doing a bike tour of Thailand with them (hopefully not keeling over trying to keep up with them after two years of minimal real exercise and relatively poor nutrition). After that, I will fly to Delhi and do a tour of northern India and Nepal. Jacob will fly directly to Normandy, France and start French language classes. I will meet him there when the India/Nepal trip is over. After that it gets a bit fuzzier, but our priority is to pack in as much French language immersion as possible before the end of May, when we head back to the States. We're planning on doing a bit of a US country tour June-August before (hopefully) starting grad school in either DC or NYC in the fall. Whew! We'll be in touch as that time approaches - we want to see as many of you next summer as possible :-)
I'm not sure how much we'll have a chance to post pictures or write blog posts over the next 6 months, but we'll try, so check in every now and then if you think of it. Otherwise, thanks again and we look forward to seeing all of you in the not-so-distant future!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Reflections
I haven't made any particularly reflective posts in a while, perhaps because everything is becoming so commonplace now, or maybe just because I'm getting lazy :-) Anyways, here are two topics I've been pondering lately:
1) Fear of losing one's job makes people work harder and is one of the things that makes economies tick. When people have no fear of losing their job, whether it's because socially and culturally they know their boss won't fire them, or because their employer doesn't have the desire or ability to enforce consequences for low performance, they don't do their best quality work. This is certainly a problem here, but it is definitely not problem limited to the developing world. Ten points to anyone who knows the example I'm thinking of in the US...
2) Inability to get student loans is a major barrier to obtaining higher education here. Higher education, while hugely valuable, is expensive. There are a few scholarships available here (if you know the right people), but the only place to get loans is from banks, which charge astronomical interest rates (due to high default rates and inability to reclaim losses). Bank loans also often require guarantors, which are hard to come by around here. As a result, many smart, motivated young people seek full scholarship programs to study abroad...and never come back home. This has made me realize exactly how important student loan programs are to building the human capital of a country.
Thoughts/comments welcome.
1) Fear of losing one's job makes people work harder and is one of the things that makes economies tick. When people have no fear of losing their job, whether it's because socially and culturally they know their boss won't fire them, or because their employer doesn't have the desire or ability to enforce consequences for low performance, they don't do their best quality work. This is certainly a problem here, but it is definitely not problem limited to the developing world. Ten points to anyone who knows the example I'm thinking of in the US...
2) Inability to get student loans is a major barrier to obtaining higher education here. Higher education, while hugely valuable, is expensive. There are a few scholarships available here (if you know the right people), but the only place to get loans is from banks, which charge astronomical interest rates (due to high default rates and inability to reclaim losses). Bank loans also often require guarantors, which are hard to come by around here. As a result, many smart, motivated young people seek full scholarship programs to study abroad...and never come back home. This has made me realize exactly how important student loan programs are to building the human capital of a country.
Thoughts/comments welcome.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Event with the President, Tobaski and Saying Goodbye
It's been an insane last couple months, which, among other things, included a celebration at the President's residence for Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary, Tobaski (one of the biggest Muslim holidays) and wrapping up our service. That's right, believe it or not, our time here is coming to a close. Peace Corps came to pick us up from our site on Monday, and now we will be hanging out in the capital for two weeks or so before flying to Asia. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are the pics:
Peace Corps/US Embassy motorcade heading into the president's residence
Welcoming band
Walking in
Lunch
What's a Gambian program without a good dance party?
Peace Corps/US Embassy motorcade heading into the president's residence
Welcoming band
Walking in
Lunch
What's a Gambian program without a good dance party?
Gambian soldiers presenting the flags (Gambian, American, and Peace Corps)
Hanging up the flags
Yes, that's me shaking hands with His Excellency himself!
Some of the boys showing off their fancy outfits the President gave them
Transition to Tobaski in our village. Our village and the neighboring village gathering on the traditional prayer grounds.
Getting ready to butcher one of the many rams that were sacrificed. Not for the faint of heart.
Aminata making ebey
Mariama
Everyone wants to get in on the butchering action
Cucheng and her friends/sisters
Amie and SeedyFo looking fly
Mmmm...organ stew
Transition to Jacob's going-away party at the Community Health Nursing school. Some of the girl students making wonjo (bissap) juice.
Female staff members cooking
Awww...
Speeches
Soma Major Health Center staff waiting by the road to greet the President as he came by on his election tour. Green is the President's color and the neem leaves are often used to show support for him.
He's coming!
Fatou braiding my hair one last time :-/
My going-away party at the Health Center
Hanging up the flags
Yes, that's me shaking hands with His Excellency himself!
Some of the boys showing off their fancy outfits the President gave them
Transition to Tobaski in our village. Our village and the neighboring village gathering on the traditional prayer grounds.
Getting ready to butcher one of the many rams that were sacrificed. Not for the faint of heart.
Aminata making ebey
Mariama
Everyone wants to get in on the butchering action
Cucheng and her friends/sisters
Amie and SeedyFo looking fly
Mmmm...organ stew
Transition to Jacob's going-away party at the Community Health Nursing school. Some of the girl students making wonjo (bissap) juice.
Female staff members cooking
Awww...
Soma Major Health Center staff waiting by the road to greet the President as he came by on his election tour. Green is the President's color and the neem leaves are often used to show support for him.
He's coming!
Fatou braiding my hair one last time :-/
My going-away party at the Health Center
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