So my host cousin was upset with my senegalese name, and renamed me Mousse.
Anyway, lets talk about Senegal.
I want to talk about something. Bay Fall is this brotherhood of Islam in Senegal as I understand it, and they happen to all have dreadlocks. But as a white boy with dreads, my interactions with them are... interesting. There tends to be a few Bay Fall begging on the walk to school everyday, and as soon as they see me, its like lions on a gazelle carcase. I try to talk past, but sometimes they even corner me or jump the high way barriers I have to cross on the way to school, blessing me and such, then asking for money. (I have to cross a highway and dodge cars every day on the walk to school) ballin
So I was looking up the financial situation in Senegal. Currently it is considered a Highly Indebted Poor Country. In 2002, the external debt accounted for 70 per cent of the country's GDP. The imports are twice as high as the exports (CIA World Factbook). And the population of undernourished is rising. It's a hole that's only going to ge deeper and deeper if things continue the way they are now. So what's going on with that development thing anyway?
26 February 2009
19 February 2009
What's This?
so I forgot to mention...
My Senegalese name in Médoune Fall.
I am in the middle of my third week here, which has not been so much fun since I brought back some friends of my GI tract from the village... but I'm getting better... slowly....
This week has been full of fun lectures!!! OMG! We had one about recycling/cleaning water using bacteria, as well as the need to respect ones culture when developing. The example given was about the people of Casamance, who have a tradition that when one is buried, various trees will be planted on the grave plot. The tree that thrives the most is the one that has absorbed the buried individuals spirit, and that tree is regarded as that person from that point on, and therefore as part of the community. You can imagine the problems that would emerge if the government permitted a company to cut down the trees...
The other was about the need to acknowledge ones cultural background when trying to cure him or her. You canot cure someone who is suffering from an illness that des not exist in western medicine with western medicine. For instance, if one is possessed then you cannot just throw some xanax at the person and hope that the spirit will leave. African medicine has an almost metaphysical view off the world, acknowledging the interconenctedness of everything. So basically when you are sick, the universe is sick.
Both of these seem to go very much along the theme of our independent study/service learning projects, which are based on "action research", or basically continuously analyzing ones actions and research as one continues on a given project. It's amazing that one has to be taught this, and it makes me wonder how horrible out of context the development of the past was.... I want to ask if it was white westerners going to a developing country and putting infastructure in place without knowing the culture but with good intentions, or was it more cynical. Was it westerners going to a country and developing it for the economic gain of private companies, disregaring the people that live there. I wish it was good intentions... but i have a feeling it was all about the money.
My Senegalese name in Médoune Fall.
I am in the middle of my third week here, which has not been so much fun since I brought back some friends of my GI tract from the village... but I'm getting better... slowly....
This week has been full of fun lectures!!! OMG! We had one about recycling/cleaning water using bacteria, as well as the need to respect ones culture when developing. The example given was about the people of Casamance, who have a tradition that when one is buried, various trees will be planted on the grave plot. The tree that thrives the most is the one that has absorbed the buried individuals spirit, and that tree is regarded as that person from that point on, and therefore as part of the community. You can imagine the problems that would emerge if the government permitted a company to cut down the trees...
The other was about the need to acknowledge ones cultural background when trying to cure him or her. You canot cure someone who is suffering from an illness that des not exist in western medicine with western medicine. For instance, if one is possessed then you cannot just throw some xanax at the person and hope that the spirit will leave. African medicine has an almost metaphysical view off the world, acknowledging the interconenctedness of everything. So basically when you are sick, the universe is sick.
Both of these seem to go very much along the theme of our independent study/service learning projects, which are based on "action research", or basically continuously analyzing ones actions and research as one continues on a given project. It's amazing that one has to be taught this, and it makes me wonder how horrible out of context the development of the past was.... I want to ask if it was white westerners going to a developing country and putting infastructure in place without knowing the culture but with good intentions, or was it more cynical. Was it westerners going to a country and developing it for the economic gain of private companies, disregaring the people that live there. I wish it was good intentions... but i have a feeling it was all about the money.
13 February 2009
Guede Chantier Strikes Back
Tuesday 10 February 2009
It has been a few days since we have arrived at Guede Chantier, and life here is taking a little bit more time to get used to. I am living in another homestay with a family here, but this time I am living with two Senegalese students, Marcel and Emanuel. The culture in the village is very different from that of the big city, and it is like getting used to a place all over again. Again I don’t know the language or customs. Becoming fluent in French is also going to take a lot longer and a lot more work since I am being submersed in 3 languages at once, French Wolof and Pulaar. My family here teases me a lot since I don’t know the languages well. Even when they speak French, the accent is so different that it is difficult. But it is only week number two in Senegal, and I have many translators/classmates to help me when I am in doubt.
When we first came here, it was a bit overwhelming, and the entire population of children came out, and I could not turn my face anywhere without having some ones eyes on me. Here, I cannot walk but two feet without some one yelling ‘toubab’ at me. It is very interesting indeed, but I am getting used to it finally.
The facilitators of the classes here have stressed the need for us to be flexible, and I am beginning to understand why. Nothing is certain here, and everything is left to the whims of fate. No stress.
We have formed our groups to work on our development projects, and I am working on health in the village with a Senegalese student named Assiatu, or Aicha for short. We have been given the project of creating a guide for basic health issues in the village that unites traditional and conventional treatments. So far we have met with our mentor from the health clinic in town and gotten a great deal of great information. I am still very curious to see how the traditional doctor and the health committee in town will answer the same questions we asked at the health clinic, which were about the major health issues in the village, the prevention, and how to cure them. However, through the first interview I have discovered many things that are pressing, such as a few issues with malnutrition caused illnesses and some problem with people drinking un-potable water. I wonder if my energies can be put to better use with a nutrition program or a sanitation education program, but we shall see. We have only just begun our research.
The village is very peaceful, especially at night. Though I can always here the distant scream of a child who might have seen me out of a window, “ HÉ TOUBAB!!!!”
Wednesday February 11, 2009
Today was very slow, and the entire morning was spent waiting for people to make appointments with other people so my group could continue our project. Something very funny happened though. I happened to be walking past the elementary school when it let the students out for lunch and I was chased by about 30 children chanting “toubab” to a rhythm. T’was hilarious until I was struck with a mob of children with runny noses that all wanted to shake my hand. We managed to meet with everyone we needed to meet with. Everyone was glad to work with us, which I was relieved to find out since the medecine traditionelle had a few bad experiences with people taking his secrets.
It has been a few days since we have arrived at Guede Chantier, and life here is taking a little bit more time to get used to. I am living in another homestay with a family here, but this time I am living with two Senegalese students, Marcel and Emanuel. The culture in the village is very different from that of the big city, and it is like getting used to a place all over again. Again I don’t know the language or customs. Becoming fluent in French is also going to take a lot longer and a lot more work since I am being submersed in 3 languages at once, French Wolof and Pulaar. My family here teases me a lot since I don’t know the languages well. Even when they speak French, the accent is so different that it is difficult. But it is only week number two in Senegal, and I have many translators/classmates to help me when I am in doubt.
When we first came here, it was a bit overwhelming, and the entire population of children came out, and I could not turn my face anywhere without having some ones eyes on me. Here, I cannot walk but two feet without some one yelling ‘toubab’ at me. It is very interesting indeed, but I am getting used to it finally.
The facilitators of the classes here have stressed the need for us to be flexible, and I am beginning to understand why. Nothing is certain here, and everything is left to the whims of fate. No stress.
We have formed our groups to work on our development projects, and I am working on health in the village with a Senegalese student named Assiatu, or Aicha for short. We have been given the project of creating a guide for basic health issues in the village that unites traditional and conventional treatments. So far we have met with our mentor from the health clinic in town and gotten a great deal of great information. I am still very curious to see how the traditional doctor and the health committee in town will answer the same questions we asked at the health clinic, which were about the major health issues in the village, the prevention, and how to cure them. However, through the first interview I have discovered many things that are pressing, such as a few issues with malnutrition caused illnesses and some problem with people drinking un-potable water. I wonder if my energies can be put to better use with a nutrition program or a sanitation education program, but we shall see. We have only just begun our research.
The village is very peaceful, especially at night. Though I can always here the distant scream of a child who might have seen me out of a window, “ HÉ TOUBAB!!!!”
Wednesday February 11, 2009
Today was very slow, and the entire morning was spent waiting for people to make appointments with other people so my group could continue our project. Something very funny happened though. I happened to be walking past the elementary school when it let the students out for lunch and I was chased by about 30 children chanting “toubab” to a rhythm. T’was hilarious until I was struck with a mob of children with runny noses that all wanted to shake my hand. We managed to meet with everyone we needed to meet with. Everyone was glad to work with us, which I was relieved to find out since the medecine traditionelle had a few bad experiences with people taking his secrets.
02 February 2009
So sleepy...
Senegal is quite the place. One thing I found interesting is that water is more expensive than beer although very few people drink since the town is mostly very strict muslims.
Ok, so a little about my house. I’m living in my first homestay with the Fall family. My mom, or yai in wolof, is a divorcee and runs the house (VERY rare in Senegal, as if you are divorced or your husband dies, you are supposed to go and live with your father’s family if you are a woman). Yai is also a math teacher at the local school. I have two host brothers Libasse and Pop. Libasse is 24, and primarily a football player going for the Senegalese nation team and Pop is 19, and in the final year of high school. My yai’s sister lives in the house too, but I am not sure what she does. We also have a cousin of the family living with us, Daouda, who is in a masters program for geography and history at the University of Dakar. We also have a maid in the house from Monday till Saturday whose name is Lai. And finally, there are the toubabs, Pete and myself. Pete aka Bouba is also a student from UMass. Pretty much everyone has their own room, save for Libasse and Daouda who share a big room. We have an outhouse with a Turkish toilette and an outside shower. There is no hot water at my house either, when the water is running anyway (we have “water-outs” just like there are black outs all the time).
A typical night here involves having a late dinner, around 8 or 9 in front of the TV, around the communal dish. Everyone typically goes to bed at 10, and there are all sorts of crazy noises, like cars driving around all night that have huge megaphones on them blasting Arabic chanting to collect money for the mosque. Then at 5 am every morning, there is a call to prayer.
Typical small talk for a Senegalese guy trying to talk to a girl: “I love you, do you love me?” They go there right away.
Ok, so a little about my house. I’m living in my first homestay with the Fall family. My mom, or yai in wolof, is a divorcee and runs the house (VERY rare in Senegal, as if you are divorced or your husband dies, you are supposed to go and live with your father’s family if you are a woman). Yai is also a math teacher at the local school. I have two host brothers Libasse and Pop. Libasse is 24, and primarily a football player going for the Senegalese nation team and Pop is 19, and in the final year of high school. My yai’s sister lives in the house too, but I am not sure what she does. We also have a cousin of the family living with us, Daouda, who is in a masters program for geography and history at the University of Dakar. We also have a maid in the house from Monday till Saturday whose name is Lai. And finally, there are the toubabs, Pete and myself. Pete aka Bouba is also a student from UMass. Pretty much everyone has their own room, save for Libasse and Daouda who share a big room. We have an outhouse with a Turkish toilette and an outside shower. There is no hot water at my house either, when the water is running anyway (we have “water-outs” just like there are black outs all the time).
A typical night here involves having a late dinner, around 8 or 9 in front of the TV, around the communal dish. Everyone typically goes to bed at 10, and there are all sorts of crazy noises, like cars driving around all night that have huge megaphones on them blasting Arabic chanting to collect money for the mosque. Then at 5 am every morning, there is a call to prayer.
Typical small talk for a Senegalese guy trying to talk to a girl: “I love you, do you love me?” They go there right away.
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