23/02/09

Hi,

Last Saturday, the day after I went to the markets with Papa, a group of people from MSID, including myself went to an english club meeting at the local university.  It is called L’Univerisite Cheikh Anta Diop, and has 60,000 students in a university that was built for around 15,000 students.  We visited one of the dorm rooms, and it had one bed, and a mattress on the floor, as well as a tiny bathroom with a shower.  The Senegalese students told us that it would have been a single originally, but now there are four people living there.  Seeing how much space they had made the housing shortage at Penn State look very minor. 

The meeting of the english club was actually a debate on the topic of marriage.  After a socializing period, a panel of students presented arguments for and against marriage.  The primary pro-marriage argument was that marriage is a holy institution created by God, and God directs that people get married.  The con-marriage panel was two young women who argued that marriage makes women at best like maids, and if you’re not lucky like slaves.  For them, marriage is viewed as an obstacle to having a career, traveling, and generally being able to make choices about how they would like to spend their lives.  

It was interesting to me that these women viewed avoiding marriage as the means by which they would be able to achieve their goals.  It seemed to be commonly accepted that it is a wife’s responsibility to take care of all of the housework, children, and to a large extent her husband.  No one (except a few of our group who spoke) proposed a modification to the gender roles, but rather it was generally accepted that women have to choose between getting married and being able to direct their own lives and have fulfilling careers.  While there are some married women who work, it seems that it is out of economic necessity, and that the wife staying home with the children is the optimal state.

While there were some people, including a few men, who were “against” marriage, a large majority of the room was “for” marriage.  Several women spoke in favor of marriage, and one one woman in particular stuck out to me, because she said that she was for marriage because God desires that women have children, and to have children one has to get married first.  I’m not familiar enough with the Koran to know whether it directly instructs people to get married and have children or not, but whether it’s in the Koran or not, marriage as a religious practice is a value commonly and strongly felt by the Senegalese.  Even amongst the young, well educated Senegalese we we talking with, religion seemed to be the most common motivator for marriage, along with the general opinion that one cannot be happy without being married.  

In addition to the feminist stance, one other main opinion against marriage seemed to be that too many women are materialistic, and get married for economic reasons, so some of the men there didn’t want to get married and then have their wife leave them for a richer man.  This was rebutted, or generalized somewhat by the argument that there are many motivations for marriage, other than love, for both men and women, and these often create problems.  Some people felt that if a couple married for love that the husband wouldn’t want to mistreat or overwork his wife, so this wouldn’t be a problem.  In general, many people felt that too many people get married for reasons other than love, and this was not good for the future success of the couple.

For me, this debate was very interesting, since I think a debate on marriage in the US would have gone very differently.  The women around me were asking we which side I was on, and I said I was for marriage, but I disagreed with much of what was being said on “my” side.  While I don’t consider myself a feminist, many of the arguments were obviously sexist, and it irritated me that they were so widely accepted, even by the females. Gender roles are very different here in Senegal, and I’m not here to crusade for feminism, but I was surprised to hear such a majority of university students express these opinions.  From the arguments presented I would probably should have said I was against marriage, because really I’m “for” marriage but not for any of the reasons they presented.

While I was interested in the content of the debate, it was mainly set up in this format to give the students a chance to practice English.  There were probably over a hundred people there, and I was impressed to see such high participation in a club meeting on a Saturday afternoon.  I think the Senegalese have much more incentive to study English than US students have to study any language, and that is why so many students come to practice, and so many have achieved such a high proficiency.  Everyone who spoke was understandable, and many students were very good with only a few mistakes, and this debate was only for the freshman and sophomores, so these were not the upper level English students.

After the debate we toured the university some (this is when we went into a dorm), and talked with some of the students more.  Apparently the English club hold a forum like this every other Saturday, so I hope to go back since it was an interesting insight into Senegalese culture, as well as a chance to meet more Senegalese students.  

Love,

Mel

21/02/09

Greetings all,

Yesterday, I went with Papa downtown for the first time (finally!) to a market and several other places.  We took the public bus which goes right by our house since our quartier (neighborhood) is close to a big road.  As far as I can tell so far it’s a fixed price to take the bus anywhere (150 CFA, which is 30 cents), and it doesn’t even matter which bus you take since all of them go downtown, as long as you get on going the right direction.  When we got off the bus the first place we went was the headquarters for the Catholic charity ministries and schools in Dakar.  Papa had a meeting there since he volunteers for the Catholic Church and the sisters there.  I also learned that this is where he used to work as an accountant.  He is a well known there since he worked there for over 30 years, and it was fun going around meeting everyone.  Also, as we were leaving this man offered to take us up on the roof so I could see Dakar.  It was a gorgeous view since the building is really tall, and looks right onto La Place D'Indépendance.  I was impressed by how large Dakar is, and how much of the city is surrounded by water.  

After seeing where Papa worked we went to not one, but two markets in downtown Dakar.  The Marché Kermel is in this open sided round building, kind of like a really big pavilion.  It was mostly fish and vegetables, with some stalls selling touristy stuff outside.  I didn’t buy anything at Kermel, because I didn’t really see anything that I wanted.  When we got the Marché Sandaga, Kermel seemed really small by comparison.  The Marché Sandaga isn’t all under the same roof, but rather it spans several square blocks where there are small boutiques along both sides of the streets.  And, in between some shops there are little passageways leading to more rows of shops behind those right on the street.  

We walked through a large area with food, and it seemed like we passed at least a hundred stall selling onions.  I don’t know how anyone decides which stand to buy from, except maybe one day you just pick one and anyways go back there.  It was much the same thing with all of the other items for sale, in that there was an entire streets of shops selling cloth purses, leather jewelry, and tourist magnets.  I saw all kinds of food, electronics, make-up, perfume, hair supplies, pre-made clothes, belts, purses, shoes, hardware supplies, fabric, and even tailors right there in the market who would sew clothes for you.  

The Marché Sandaga was overwhelmingly large, and I had no idea where to start.  It would be very easy to get lost there, and I have no idea how people keep track of where to buy things.  Merchandise seemed to be grouped somewhat by type, but not entirely.  All of the vendors are trying to get you to come into their shop, and if you stop to look at anything, even just for a second, the vendor starts trying to sell you anything and everything they have.  Since it was my first time to the market I decided it was easier just to keep walking and not stop anywhere, so I didn’t buy anything at Sandaga either.  Sometime I want to go back to Sandaga to get some things, but I know enough to have a specific list, or I’ll spend all day there and still not get what I need.

Love,

Mel

19/02/09

Hi,

Last Tuesday (Feb 17), I went with my environment class to La Parc Nationale des Iles de la Madeleine.  It is a national park with two islands (clarification for the non French speakers), but one is really small, and basically just a big rock.  These islands are off the coast of Dakar, and preserved as a national park to conserve local animal and plant species.  There are a lot of migratory birds that use the island, and also native species that reproduce there.  We saw several different species of birds, and the bird colonies were quite large.  We were able to get quite close to some birds because this is their nesting period, and the females won’t leave the nest.  They build their nests in the crevices of rocks, and if the guide hadn’t shown us, I would have walked right by the nesting birds. 

 

We also saw several different plant species, and although the island isn’t large there were two main ecosystem types.  The baobab trees on this island were much shorter, and the roots were exposed and growing up out of the ground.  Our guide said this was an adaptation because of the wind, and high salinity of the soil, which makes sense, but I was surprised that baobabs could look so different.  Also, we saw some succulent plants that kind of looked like cacti, but I don’t remember what they’re called.  I’ve learned that remembering foreign names is a lot harder because you have to learn how to pronounce the name in addition to remembering whose has that name.  Whether it’s places, plants or people, names are definitely a challenge here.

I had a good time at Les Iles de la Madeleine, and it was nice to spend some time outside.  I got a little sunburnt since I forgot to reapply sunscreen, but it’s already fading to tan.  I would consider going back to this park, since there is a nice place to swim, but it’s expensive to get in, which is probably why we only saw toubabs there.  

Love,

Mel

17/02/09

Hi all,

Last Saturday, Danielle and I took on the challenge of preparing American food for our family.  We wanted to give the women of our family a day off, so we made both lunch and dinner.  For lunchtime, we decided to to a brunch since the Senegalese don’t really eat breakfast food much, a typical breakfast is bread with butter and jam, or chocolate spread (healthy, right...).  So, we made a fruit salad, omelets, and french toast.  For dinner we made spaghetti with chicken strips, homemade sauce, and a salad.  

In order to buy food, first we went to the Marché Tilene with our host sister Kanjo (nickname for Therese, fyi).  It wasn’t exactly open air, but in a big warehouse like building.  Everything from carrots, cucumbers, onions, garlic, and parsley to all types of fish, beef, and shrimp are sitting out on wooden stands.  There were also many different types of grains, beans, and spices that you could measure out in any quantity.  Also, we bought fruit for our fruit salad outside in a row of fruit vendors.  We got grapes, oranges, apples, and bananas.  

All of our purchases included some haggling over price (especially the fruit), but I got the impression that people don’t haggle over food as much as other stuff.  Since food is something that is a regular purchase, the price seems to be more set, although my sister Kanjo told me that prices of certain vegetables and fruits do go up during the winter when they’re not in season.   

After going to the Marché Tilene, the supermarket (which is called Casino), and this little corner boutique in our neighborhood, we finally had all the ingredients we needed.  The cooking itself went pretty well.  Although our family has a stove, only one burner works, so we used that one in addition to a separate gas tank and burner.  For lunch Danielle was in charge of the omelettes, and I made the french toast (which we had to explain was not actually French).  I think my french toast came out well, although the only bread I could find was thinner than ideal.  Sliced sandwich bread like in the States is pretty rare here because everyone eats bagettes, so the only sliced loaf bread we found was sliced thinly.  

The act of Danielle and I cooking was very interesting to the women in our family.  We wanted to give them a day off, but everyone stayed home to watch us cook, which kind of defeated the point, but that was their choice.  Kanjo, Virginie, Anne Marie, and even Mama to some extent gathered around the door to the kitchen to watch how we were making things, which turned out to be helpful when we needed a pot or couldn’t get the stove to light.  At one point a neighbor came over to get something, and when she saw we were cooking she decided to come back when it was done to try the American food we were making.  And, sure enough as we were cleaning up brunch she was back to try some of the leftovers.  It was quite the spectacle, complete with pictures and everything (on Danielle’s camera, so I can’t put any up...).  

By the time we got to dinner, our family had adjusted to the idea of us cooking some more, so they relaxed some and left us alone more.  For dinner, I was in charge of the chicken, since Danielle didn’t want to tackle cutting the meat off the bird since it still had feet and a head.  After I sawed off the feet and head it looked much more normal and wasn’t too hard from there.  While I was cutting up the chicken, Danielle made sauce for the spaghetti and a vinaigrette salad dressing.  Then we just washed veggies and lettuce for the salad and boiled some pasta, and voila, an American-Italian meal (which was fitting since both Danielle and I are part Italian).    

In general, our family seemed really happy that we cooked for them, and they told us that we were the first foreign students they’ve had who tried to cook anything.  I don’t understand this because MSID told us that we should try at least one meal, but I guess a lot of students don’t listen to these instructions.  All in all, although we spent the whole day shopping, cooking or sleeping, I was satisfied with our work.  Making food for 10 people every day is a lot of work, and I admire the time and energy the women in our house put into food preparation.  Excepting one incident where we tried to cook over a plastic pot, which was silver and looked metal, I think Danielle and I proved ourselves fairly competent in the kitchen, which is good since next year I’ll actually be responsible for cooking for myself on a regular basis.  And, in case you were wondering nothing really bad happened to the pot.  It turned a little black on the bottom, but Cathy saved it before it melted, and aside from a little excitement and embarrassment all ended well.  

Love,

Mel

Danielle with kids at Keur Saloum Diane (I think...)

Toubacouta- Sunday

Sunday morning after breakfast, Waly told us the schedule had changed somewhat, and we were now going to see a village tradition.  We got no details as to what it was except, it is called the concurrant.  We got an bad premonition about this “tradition” when we saw several men with machetes walking in the same direction as us, toward the center of the village.  Soon after that I smelled smoke, and we came upon an unexpected scene.  People were working in this flat area, open area between houses pulling up dry weeds, and raking the weeds, sticks and other debris into piles, which were then lit on fire. 

After this flat area, the concurrant progressed into a more heavily forested area.  Men and young boys were cutting and hacking at all the trees, reducing young and medium sized saplings to jagged stumps only a few feet high.  These green branches were also burned in large piles, along with other trash lying around the area, like the smoking tire we saw and smelled in one pile.   

While the men were cutting down all of the trees and small brush, the women were walking around with small plastic buckets.  I think they were to carry water if the fire got out of control, although with flames reaching higher than my head, this bucket brigade seemed like it would be pretty helpless if the fire actually got out of control.  Some other children and young people were just standing around watching, but that ended quickly when the reed-man came.

I didn’t see him closely enough to tell exactly what he was wearing, but whatever it was, the costume was sufficient to scare children and adults alike.  He seemed to be the work police, because when he came around everyone quickly started working or running away.  Honestly, I wasn’t scared, but maybe if I had really known better what his purpose was, I would have been.  Either way, we all played along and ran out of his way when the reed man passed by.

After we left, we were told that the concurrant happens every Sunday, with a different section of the village burned and cleared each week.  The tradition is designed to open up village for safety reasons, like preventing dangerous wild animals from living too close to the village.  Getting rid of the vegetation in the middle of the village also improves the visibility, which contributes to the general security and connectedness of the village.

Following this explanation of the purpose of this tradition, I understand better why the villagers have this tradition, because at first it seemed completely stupid and destructive.  My first thoughts while witnessing the concurrant were complete confusion as to any possible motive for cutting down and burning the forest.  If the need exists to clear the area around the village, why not use the wood for something useful instead of just burning it?  

Also, there is a serious problem in Senegal with soil quality and degradation decreasing agricultural yields.  Perhaps, some of the organic matter like leaves, branches, and nuts, could be used to amend agricultural lands and increase the fertility of the soil.  This would probably require some sort of composting effort, but in combination with animal manure and other household waste, they could probably make fairly good compost, and do something useful with this organic matter.  

While I still think the concurrant is not exactly a good tradition, I realize now that there is a cultural and educational gap between my perspective and the Senegalese villagers.  This tradition has probably been  going on for a long time, and continues for the traditional reasons.  It takes a well thought out, logical alternative to convince people to change tradition, and probably no one has taken the time to develop an alternative plan or educate the village about the effects of their tradition.  With more immediate, pressing health and economic needs, the concurrant is a tradition that will probably continue far into the future, a reality with which I have come to terms.

After the concurrant and some group reflection on our trip, we headed back to Dakar.  The traffic getting back into Dakar was bad, so we got out of the bus to walk along the road for a while.  Then we hopped back on the bus when it caught up to us (we were beating it for quite a while).  Geographically, Dakar isn’t in a good place to have good road access, since as my host dad said it’s a “presqu'île” or almost island (peninsula).  

It was nice to feel the cool coastal breeze coming back into Dakar since Toubacouta was noticeably warmer than Dakar, and on the edge of hot.  Although, I really enjoyed not breathing smog for a couple of days, and was reminded that I like the country better than the city.  I like Dakar pretty well, but there was just something about the smell and feel of Toubacouta that felt familiar and right.  This field trip made me excited for my internship in a rural village like Toubacouta.  I’m looking forward to living smog and traffic free, but even more I hope that in a small village I will feel more a part of the community.  There is some community that exists in my neighborhood in Dakar, Sicaps Baobab, but not as much as I expected, and I can’t really say that I know very many people outside my family.  

Love,

Mel

Toubacouta- Saturday

Looking back on this trip, Saturday was the most interesting day.  We started the day by taking a moderately long bus ride (again full of singing :) to a small village in the region surrounding Toubacouta.  The village was called Keur Saloum Diane, and we went there to talk with a women’s micro-finance group.  After a short wait, our group broke into two groups to talk with two of the four women's groups in the village.  My group was seated on wooden benches in front of a panel of women, with more women, kids, and a few men sitting behind and all around us.  Abba, one of the Senegalese students, was a translator for us, since none of the women spoke French.  This meeting was different than all of the previous ones since the women weren’t presenting anything to us, they were just answering questions.  So we asked about the work of their group, problems, goals, and stuff like that.  They mostly operate by doing “petit commerce”  which is basically going to a large regional market and buying supplies, then coming back to the village and reselling them for a profit.  There is also a fee to join the group which supplies them with some capital.

While this group seemed fairly successful in their current activities, they were rather limited in the projects they could do because of lack of funds.  They have never received any outside financing in the 17 years that they’ve been an official group.  They told us that it is hard to get NGO or bank financing, because the village is fairly close to Toubacouta.  Since Toubacouta has fairly good access to education and health care, the proximity of this village to Toubacouta made it a less desirable project site for NGOs.  While I understand the reasoning of the NGOs, it doesn’t change the fact that educational, health care, and especially commerce access is lacking in this village.  Also, one man told us the story of one NGO that came in and started building a beauty school to train girls in the village to be hairdressers.  But, part of the way through the project, it was abandoned.  I didn’t understand exactly what he said the reason was, but it was something to do with politics, and the local politician being against the project.  So now the building stands there useless, because there is no money to buy supplies or hire teachers for the school.  

As we drew near to the end of our time and questions, we asked the women if they had any questions for us.  The only question they had was if we had any advice or help for them.  I felt inadequate to give any advice, and at first was surprised that they thought we would be able help.  One of the Senegalese students, Edy, gave them a really good suggestion, which was to try to find a liaison between their group and potential funding sources like NGOs.  Since none of the women spoke French, or had any real experience outside of their village, they couldn’t had no one to lobby for the group to outside organizations.  In spite of this small bit of advice Edy contributed, I still felt pretty helpless, since visiting to “learn and understand” seemed rather insignificant.  Having the means, in both time and money, to be a university student is a unreachable luxury for most Senegalese, but even with our “wealth” of education, we had no answers for these women. 

After Keur Saloum Diane, the whole group went to another even smaller village about ten minutes away by bus.  We got off the bus, and went to look at the village well.  As Waly was explaining about how and by whom the well was built, the villagers were gathering all around our group watching us.  Then we were invited to come sit under this big tree and talk.  A communal meeting tree seems to be a fixture in rural Senegalese villages, as well as the plastic  lawn chairs which we had been sitting in at each stop.  Waly began the conversation by explaining the purpose of our visit, and asking about the history of the village.  The village elders told us a detailed history of when the village was founded, by whom, and notable happenings (like drought years, or construction of a well) since the founding.  After that, the floor was once again open for our questions concerning village life and problems.  Basically, we learned that this village has no school, no medical care or medicines (including pre or postnatal care), and the only economic activity is agriculture.  

Every day the village children walk three kilometers to Keur Saloum Diane to go to school.  This distance becomes a problem when the children get older and are increasingly expected to help farm, or for many girls, to get married and manage a household.  Especially in the villages, girls getting married between 13 and 15 is not uncommon, and I read that 40% of girls are married by 18, which makes it really hard for them to reach higher education.  

The closest health clinic is also three km away in Keur Saloum Diane, and transportation is a problem here too.  The only way they have to go to the health post is a horse and cart, which I guess is too difficult for severely ill people.  Some members of our group saw a woman who was extremely ill after having given birth, but no one had taken her to the health clinic.  I don’t know if they thought she wouldn’t survive the trip, or there was no money to go.  I only heard about it after the fact, but it’s still difficult to imagine being almost completely cut off from medical care.  

As the conversation progressed, we were shocked to learn that our group was the first academic group or government official to ever visit this village to discuss their situation and difficulties.  There is a government representative in this region, and Waly told us that he (or she) represents max about 20 villages.  The only interaction this village has had with the government in the almost 50 years since independence is paying taxes and voting.  Every person over 14 (I think) pays 1000 CFA (about 2 dollars) in taxes each year, which is collected by the village chiefs.  Even more amazing to me, is the fact that this village still votes.  They have to walk the three km to Keur Saloum Diane to vote, and as far as I could tell, everyone who was old enough votes in every election.

One of the striking characteristics of the villagers we were talking to, is that there weren’t any young or even middle aged men.  All the capable men, and many young women left the village to seek work in cities because there are no jobs left in the village.  The agriculture is incapable of sustaining the population any more because crop yields and prices have dropped so much.  As the population grew more land was cultivated, and the villagers stopped their tradition of fallow years.  This has created a big problem of soil degradation, which is partly responsible for the reduced yields.  One man said that in the time of Senghor (shortly after Senegal gained its independence in 1960) he was harvesting 200 sacks of peanuts (per year I assume), but this year he only got 2.  I don’t know if he is still cultivating the same amount of land, but regardless this is a tremendous yield decrease.  During Senghor’s presidency, the government was also distributing fertilizer and agricultural implements, which partially explains the high yields relative to the current production.  Now the villagers said that some animal manure and household organic waste is put on the fields, but it sounded rather haphazardly and irregularly applied. 

Saturday night, our group went to a Senegalese dance club near where we were staying.  It was a relatively small room, but it wasn’t too crowded.  The Senegalese and other American students were fun, and I had a good time.  Clubs aren’t really that different here except that I don’t know any of the music.  Well, I guess the dancing is somewhat different too, but I can’t really explain that.  Maybe youtube Senegalese dancing or something...