Hey Toubab

June 21

I’ve been in the village of Guédé Chantier for about 2 weeks now, and I’m having a ball. It is a completely different experience, but it’s still amazing. I’m here with my friend Allasane Barro, a Senegalese University student. He is my partner for the project. Barro is awesome, though he is very fond of himself, like most Senegalese women. He is very smart, and he speaks Pullar, which is great in Guédé since many people don’t speak anything but that.

Most of the time I just chill with my family here, which are a bunch of crazy characters. There is Mariama, one of my little sisters. The first week I met her she told me that she didn’t like my hair and that I was stupid because I couldn’t speak Pulaar after being in the village for a week, when little kids could speak it fluently. We’re cool now though, she’s watching as I write this right now actually. She’s a little too smart for here age. Anyway, then there is Ibrahime (Ibu), one of my big brothers, Hamady, the brother who is my age, and Mamadou, the biggest brother who’s wife Atcha lives in the same compound with the family. Then there is Pwee, he is a Talibé, a student of the Koran who lives in the compound with us. Then there are the other sisters. Fatou is awesome but a little crazy and the oldest that lives at the house, I remember she came home one night and was ranting about good her boyfriend was and grabbed one of the cousin’s boobs and went on…. awkward. That cousin is Aissata, whe’s here to study at the school in the village. Assa is the second oldest and laughs at me every time I speak a word of Pulaar or Wolof. Then there is the smallest, Chilla, who is out of her mind, and is constantly twitching and dancing. Then I have many many little brothers. There is Ali, Mamoudou, Thierno, Idi, Harouna, and Saidoudjieby. Thierno is the smallest, and my best friend. We chill all the time, and I tell him to stop touching my computer and he makes fun of the little things I do, like sucking my teeth, which he will just do for like 5 minutes at me when I do it. Yesterday I was sitting on the ledge of the roof, and he said to me, “Cody, if you fall, it’s not my affair.” All the kids here have so much attitude and wit, its hilarious. Then there is Moussa Bâ, he is the little brother on one of my mothers, Bambi Bâ (who is the first wife of my Dad, Aliou Thiam). Then there is Houray Bâ, the second wife of my dad.

Anyway, on the subject of work… Things are ok, and most of the projects are going well. For the most part, we are providing some funds for the projects. We are buying some trees for the community garden and the school garden. We are providing some money for startup costs for the women’s group that does food transformation. We are buying medication to cure bilharzias for 1,261 children in the village, and providing funds for transport and demonstration costs for the group that does sensitization on health. And for the compost group, we are just watching and giving a little advice and encouraging the farmers to experiment with the compost. The hilarious part is that the NGO sent me her with no money, and looking at what I am doing, it would have been impossible for me to do much without some money at this stage in the projects.

My dad, Omar Bassil Diop is doing well, and I go and see him once in while. It difficult to communicate, since he only speaks Pulaar. I went once without Barro, who speaks Pulaar, and had a hilarious day of trying to communicate, us both with out broken French, and hand motions. He’s a very magical person, from the vibes he gives to the fact that he is the traditional healer of the Thioubale, the fishermen. They make charms you wear that protect you. For example, someone can try to stab you and the knife will break, or they can try to shoot you and the bullet will not penetrate. There’s a lot more, but I can’t talk about that here. But magic exists, as do magical creatures and everything you dreamed of when you were a kid, or I like to think there is still hope for all those fantasy nerds out there. Come to Africa.