I have spent the past 40 days happily in my village, Ngar
Gueye! It’s a little place with about 800 people, a primary school, and health
hut, and a whole bunch of house compounds. My house is on the southeastern most
side of town (Google it! But really, you can – how weird is that?) in the midst
of what are soon to be fields of peanuts, millet, and corn. Everyone in my
village farms and is busy prepping for the rainy season, which will allegedly
come in full force in July. We have had one rain so far and what an adventure
it was!
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| home sweet hut! |
The first rain of the season is typically preceded by
intense winds, which cause dust storms (the ground is all sand). Our dust storm
came a few weeks ago and kicked up so much sand I could hardly see from one
side of my compound to the other. My moms were all carrying about their daily
lives as if nothing was happening, but I seriously considered putting on my
goggles. The wind kept up all day and after dark thunder and lightning rolled
in as well. The rain didn’t show up until 2 am, when I awoke to find absolutely
everything in my hut covered in dust and quickly getting muddy! I stood in my
doorway and marveled at the rain for a while – it had been so long since I’d
seen it and it was really pouring! It was exhilarating and immediately
afterwards little green sprouts started poking out of the ground all around!
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| my family's compound |
Thankfully my hut seems to be mostly waterproof. My hut has
concrete walls and a thatched roof and is really quite fancy with its window
and screen doors! I have a luxurious double bed with a green mosquito net, two
trunks that I have decoupaged, and a set of shelves that I filled with books
and knickknacks from home. The shelves are wonderful and really make my hut a
home! My compound also has a hut for my dad, a guest hut, a storage hut, a
kitchen hut, and a long concrete building where my moms live. We have two neem
trees that provide shade all year long as well as two horses, a donkey, and
countless chickens.
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| mom #2 and love of my life! |
My family is AMAZING and have made the past 40 days not only
tolerable, but educational, entertaining, and fun. My Senegalese dad is a mason
and a farmer and a sweet and hard-working man. I have three Senegalese moms who
are inspirational in their ability to juggle manual labor, homemaking, child
rearing, and lively get-togethers. There are eight kids ages two to twelve that
live in my house and about a billion others that run in and out all day long.
It took most of the kids about a month to get over their white person fear, but
now they all know what a great playmate I can be. I am head over heels for my
third mom’s youngest son, who is coming up on two years old. I shamelessly give
in to his every demand and even tied him to my back one day so he could
experience the magic of bicycle rides.
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| me and my number one mom |
Every month in my village and our two neighboring villages,
Ngar Ja and Ngar Therere, we have growth monitoring events for all kids ages
five and under. We have a scale for the babies and a band to measure arm
circumference for older kids. All of the kids who are underweight come back to
the health hut where we feed them a nutritious dinner and send them home with a
bag of powder to make a protein shake of sorts. Participating in these events
has been an interesting way to get to know my village and an excellent
opportunity to hold some very tiny and very adorable babies. I’m looking
forward to figuring out how exactly I can contribute to the health and wellness
of my village overall and more specifically, work alongside my number one
Senegalese mom, who is the matrone at the health hut.
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| fallen baobab tree playground |
Overall it’s been a really stimulating, sweaty, and exciting
beginning to the next two years of my life. I have retained my mental and
physical health, alhamdoulilah. I’m developing an applicable skill set of
carrying buckets of water on my head, eating rice with my hands, and joking
with Wolof people. I’m looking forward to the rainy season beginning soon, the
Peace Corps 4th of July celebration, and my birthday in August! And
in case you were wondering, it makes my day and even my week to see letters
through the peephole in my mailbox in Guinguineo – so write me maybe!
PS. It's hard to get pictures of the interior of my hut due to its tiny size, but here are the highlights:
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| sama neeg - dafa rafet torop! |
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| globe, books. obama, tiddlywinks |
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| water filter, gas stove, bucket collection, beautiful bicycle! |
