Sunday, January 10, 2010

From PCT to PCV

On Friday my training group swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The ceremony was held at the US ambassadors house here in the city and it was a really special day. It felt a little bit like high school or college graduation, especially because we all wore outfits made in matching African fabric (and we looked damn good if I do say so myself.)

Myself and Devin (a fellow Saare Samba trainee) were selected to give the trainee remarks; me in Wolof and Devin in English.

So here's our speech:

We welcome you this afternoon on behalf of the health and community development and environment and natural resource management trainees. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate swearing in as Peace Corps Volunteers. It is with sincere gratitude and great pride that we address you on a day that marks the beginning of what we hope will be a full and beneficial two years of service to the communities of this beautiful country.

It is difficult to explain the wide range of emotions we have experienced on a regular basis. Or how humbling it can be to relive the same world a second time, starting anew as Mandinka, Fula, or Wolof. We will do our best, and if our speech gets a little too inspirational for you just blame our President, Barack Obama, or Oprah – I mean Lucia Cruz.

Before coming to the Gambia, one of the hardest parts of leaving home was the anxiety we felt about what we might encounter when we got here. We worried about getting sick, not having electricity, being lonely, and eating strange food. But our friends and family said we will save the world. And we are, with every cup of attaya we drink.

Now that we are finally here we are realizing that we were right all along. We got sick, and then we got over it. There is no electricity, and we’ve never appreciated the daylight more. Of course we get lonely, seeing as there are always atleast 50 children around us at all times. And the food? Rather strange. Especially the cheeseburgers, calzones, and macaroni and cheese we got in Sara Samba.

But besides confirming our suspicions, this training experience has taught us things we never expected to know. We have learned that despite the many different stories and many different roads that have brought us here today, it is because we share a common goal and a common philosophy by which we try to live our lives: that our gifts are many and our opportunities are boundless; that to whom much is given, much is expected; and that to live a full, important life is not easy or simple. It can actually get rather messy.

Dirty feet, ram sacrifice, unfortunate linguistic misunderstandings, bird decapitation by younger host brothers, and dusty bike rides followed by even dustier breakdowns have tested our patience and drastically altered our standards.

Though each of us has encountered something different, it is impossible not to relate to one another’s stories and observations.

One trainee spent the first few days in village asking his host family what everything was called and writing it all down in his notebook – resolved to retain as much vocabulary as possible. He began using his terms everywhere until one day at lunch his LCF asked him why he was saying “come breastfeed” instead of “come eat”

Another trainee was enjoying throwing a baby up in the air while the mother calmly said what the trainee thought meant, “he’s loving it – do it again.” Only later discovering that she had been saying over and over again, very patiently, “He doesn’t like that. You’re scaring him.”

We have learned that having a sense of humor can go a long, long way, like 30 k of walking through the bush long.

We have learned about the emotion of love, and that even in your 60’s, young Gambian men want to marry you.

We have learned that it’s not necessarily a good idea to follow baboons around. We have learned the power of seeing the sun rise and the sun set in the same day.

We have learned what it’s like to be a friend, a neighbor, and a family member rather than a tourist. We have wondered if our families are talking about us and learned that yes, they are, and it’s about how much we ate for breakfast.

For all these lessons learned, we much thank those who have helped us get to this point. We would not be here today without the support and encouragement of: our incredible LCFs, who held our hands, let us cry, and did more for us than anyone has had to do since we were six; The amazing Peace Corps Medical Staff, who tirelessly explained the best way to manage diarrhea, over and over again; the training manager, who provided a calming presence despite a hectic schedule; the assistant training manager, who always made us laugh; the technical trainers, for teaching us the subtle nuances of Gambian culture and romance; the drivers, for safely navigating the mean streets of this country and for their liberal horn usage; the Peace Corps Office Staff, for keeping the paperwork Out of our hands; and the volunteer trainers, for becoming our friends and mentors while opening our eyes and making the unknown a lot less scary.

A special thank you also to our host families for welcoming us as new Gambian sons and daughters. All the success we experience in the next two years will be in large part due to the foundation of language established on their bantabas, around their fires, and while sharing their food bowls.

The poet Mary Oliver says, “Everyday I walk out into the world to be dazzled, then reflective.” It is an honor to be a part of a group of people who are so enamored with the world, with diversity, with justice, with opportunity, and who are equally reflective about our responsibility to help those around us better themselves and their communities.

We have learned so much already about resiliency, acceptance, patience, small pleasures, flexibility, and finding the humor in every situation. And in these areas we have excelled.

As we look ahead, we hope to excel in many other ways, especially those that bring lasting benefit and sustainability to the people that will become our families, and the places that will become our homes. If the next two years are as fulfilling as the past two months, it is obvious that we have much to look forward to. Thank You.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Breast Milk is the Best Milk

We are quickly approaching the end of our eight weeks of technical and language training and will swear in as new Peace Corps Volunteers on Friday January 8th. It is really exciting and also a bit surreal that this day is finally almost here and something I have wanted to be for so long is what I'm actually becoming. It is truly staggering how many great changes can happen in ones life so quickly and I am truly grateful that, much to my surprise, 2010 finds me as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia.

One way that we have broken up the stress of the past 8 weeks was engaging in a "Battle of the Sectors" yesterday. My training group is made up of 35 people who will be serving as volunteers in two of Peace Corps the Gambia's three sectors: Health and Community Development (HCD) and Environment and Natural Resource Management (ENRM). Each group presented, creatively, three topics which they thought might provide opportunities for cross-sectoral work, i.e. things that are pretty easy to understand and that we could do projects together on.

My HCD group did a presentation on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding (hence this blogs title). To convey our message we did a cheer leading skit spelling out:

The first 6 months, breastfeed only
Immune system comes from Colostrum
The perfect food
Suckle, suckle; there's always more

Feed every 1-3 hours
Only breastfeed, it's free!!!
Remember Moms, eat lots of protein, fats and vegetables

Though formula is from America, it can cause infection
Other weaning foods can be introduced after 6 months
Take your baby to the RCH clinic
Solidifies the bond between mother and child
[In between each line we sang, "Hey yo breast milk is the best milk."]


Not surprisingly, based on our awesome cheer leading skills and creativity, HCD won the battle.
Later I was talking to my Dad on the phone, after scrubbing the be-jesus out of my clothes while doing laundry, I was telling him about our presentation. He told me that when he and my mom were Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana, 30 years ago, a married couple who had beautiful voices and played the guitar made a song entitled "Breast is Best."

It was funny that 30 years ago Peace Corps volunteers in West Africa were dealing with the exact same development issues and addressing them in much the same way. This also got me thinking about development in general, the type of work I will do as a Peace Corps volunteer and what my overall goals are for my two years of service.

Many of the issues I will work on as an HCD volunteer are really basic but vital for successful development of the Gambia. There things that we don't necessarily think about everyday but when they don't happen, especially here, they have extremely detrimental effects. Some of the big HCD issues are hand washing, using mosquito nets and wearing Neem cream (a natural mosquito repellent) to prevent malaria, exclusive breastfeeding and environmental sanitation to prevent diarrhea. They are individually such small issues but their impact is huge.

Until my Dad told me about campaigns for exclusive breastfeeding in Ghana 30 years ago I hadn't really considered how long change can really take. I'm by no means discouraged by this fact but rather it makes me truly consider the impact of my actions, of every casual conversation I have with the people in my village.

I just finished reading The Tipping Point and if Gladwell's theory is true it is really important as a Peace Corps Volunteer to keep saturating Gambian society with these very basic messages. You have to hope that every additional person we teach, will in turn teach many others and that together we will move Gambia as a whole closer to the tipping point where these issues will no longer have such a powerful impact on Gambia's capacity for development. If a Gambian family doesn't have to worry about managing their children's diarrhea or a father isn't wiped out of working for weeks because of malaria than there is a much greater capacity for growth and development.

8 Things that Happened in the 8 Weeks I was Without the Internet


1) I became a resident of Saare Samba:

My training village was a truly magical experience. Saare Samba is small, tucked away 5 k off the main road and nestled in the "armpit" of the Casamance/Gambia boarder. It is the kind of place where everyone knows every ones business and you are truly welcome everywhere. The pencha (big wooden bench) under a large mango tree was the perfect place to relax, the water tap a place to socialize and I literally could not go 5 feet without someone calling my name. Speaking of....

2) I Changed my name:

Well not really but I adopted a Gambian name- Ramata (which at my permanent site has been changed to Ramatoulie). One of our first days in village we had a naming ceremony where we were wrapped in a white cotton shawl, our head were mock shaved and we were given new names by our host family. Therefore we all have namesakes "tomas". Mine was my host mother, there is really no easy way to describe my relationship with her. After she gave me her name I got to know her more and even though we can barely communicate I am in awe of her. She works hard, loves and cares for her family and has a great sense of humor. She could do pretty dead on impressions of all of the Peace Corps trainees in the village.

3) Thanksgiving in The Gambia:

We spent Thanksgiving all together at a tourist camp called Tendaba where we did all of our technical training. Thanksgiving was definitely an experience. We had been able to ask for ingredients in advance to make our favorite T-day recipes so I ended up making apple crisp with the help of others. But the wackiest experience happened in the making of the corn bread. The corn meal boxes had little white worms in them so we had to sift through them. We had an assembly line of plates and spoons, smashing down the cornmeal to see if worms crawled out and then removing them. It took some real teamwork but in the end the corn bread was really good!

4) An Encore to Tobaski:

The day after Thanksgiving was Tobaski, a huge Muslim holiday where each family sacrifices and eats a ram. I experienced this holiday before when I lived in Dakar but experiencing it in the village was really different. Most families took 3 days off from working in the fields. As my host father, Ousman, said, "The first day we only eat, the second day we enjoy." We did eat, almost an entire ram and we did enjoy dancing by moonlight and drinking attaya. I figured out the reason you have a 3rd day off because the third day everyone is sick from eating and enjoying. I, and my pit latrine, were luckily spared.

5) We all Went a bit Crazy:

It would not be doing justice to my experience of the last 8 weeks if I didn't talk about my mental experience. Imagine being reverted to a 3 year old status at best at 23 years old. Learning a new language is not easy and neither is being completely immersed in a new and completely different culture. I had no doubt that I would adapt and adjust but still there were some moments when I wished I could do more than greet people and express basic needs like and overly verbose 3 year old.
The stress of it all caused us to find some very small/strange things instantly hilarious. Like figuring out how to use the word "waame" which means "unpredictable meteorological phenomenon." And the day that while studying negation in Wolof class we figured out how to say, "You don't know me, I'm crazy." In wolof--a phrase I promptly heard my training mate Wells yell at his little sister when she was bugging him.

6) Imparting American Culture:

One goal of Peace Corps is to teach other about America and its people. Here's how I'm doing my part-
* I gave my host brother Talla a singing greeting card that sings about dancing. Using my broken Wolof I translated the lyrics and he carried it around calling it his radio. Something most of us would have quickly disposed of has given him endless pleasure.
* I taught my host brothers and sisters "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "The Macarana." The latter they had trouble pronouncing so they keep calling it the "Macaroni"
* I got a paint your own menorah in my care package from Beth and used it as an opportunity to teach my host sisters and brothers how to paint. They loved painting it and it is now hanging on the wall in my very Muslim host fathers room--oh irony!

7) Getting Lost:

I was able to spend Christmas with all of the trainees at Tendaba. Peace Corps was sure to provide us with lots of activities so we would not spiral into home sickness. One activity, on Christmas Eve, was the Marathon March. The Marathon March is supposed to be a 27 k hike through mud flats, brush, river and rice fields, making a circle. But for our group walking for 27 k and about 7 hours would have been to easy. Instead less than half way through our hike the guide led us into really tall (over 7 feet) grass and promptly got us lost. We were trying to get to the river (Gambia's largest natural resource) but we couldn't find it. The guide would climb up in a tree, look both ways and just look perplexed. Not a good sign. So we wandered around lost in the grass for 4 hours. Back tracked to find our way out and then walked back the way we had come, never reaching the river. All in all we were walking about 10 hours and walked about 30 k. The upshot was I slept like a baby that night and was completely justified in spending all of Christmas day lying by the pool reading.

8) I Live Here:

The past few days I finally visited my permanent site, i.e. the village I will call home for the next 2 years. My village is Ker Jarga Jobe on Gambia's North Bank about 30 k from the ferry to Banjul. The village is larger than Saare Samba but its not huge, it has about 2,000 people. There is a health center in the neighboring village (Kuntair) which is 1 k away. There is also a skills center in Ker Jarga where women learn how to make different crafts, fabric, bags etc. I have been impressed by how welcoming everyone here has been. They are clearly very excited to have a PCV. My host family is growing on me--it is bigger than my training village host family. I now have 2 moms and a formidable host father- Baay Waly-who is a mason. He is really concerned about looking out for me which I'm sure is something my real dad will appreciate. I have 10 host brothers and sisters and have yet to get all of their names straight. All in all Ker Jarga is picturesque and I can definitely see myself happily living there for the next two years.