Hello from Burkina Faso
Day 6 of traveling finds us in the capital of Burkina Faso. It seems that the farther away from Mauritania the better our lives get. I just had strawberries for the first time since leaving the States. I would love to give a full update on our travels but of course do not have a lot of time on the internet. I will have to settle for the highlights:
- Seeing the regional capitals and other volunteers of Mauritania on our way through
- Finding volunteers along the way in other countries
- Getting a "direct" bus that included two vehicle changes and one expected overnight
- Buying beer from a brothel
- Delicious street food (all you can eat for $0.50)
- Watching the world get greener as we go south
- Passing through a village at the time that Obama was being inagurated and seeing a parade that included 20 ft tall puppets
I will give more of an update and put up pictures when I can. Today we are going to try to make it into Ghana after we take care of some visa issues, hoping to be in Accra for the conference in a couple of days.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Travels to Ghana
How to know when you are leading a good life: when your breaks between vacations are not long enough to post photos of them. I had really hoped to get them up, but internet is slow and I spent most of today making a new door for the bathroom of the house in Boghé. I have become known as McGyver here. Now I need to get back to site because in 4 days I am leaving for this http://www2.ug.edu.gh/ecolabconference/index.php environmental conference in Ghana and a bit of traveling around the country. Then as I said before I will be going to the West African International Softball Tournament. I feel bad being done for so long, but I don't know when I will be in Africa with time to spare again so I am trying to make the most of it. I promise I will get pictures of all of my travels up when I get back. Also, sorry I haven't had time to get through all of the christmas emails or respond to the christmas cards. I will get to them and know that I appreciated them all very much.
Talk to you in February!
z.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Travels
I’ve done so much traveling I don’t even know where to begin with this update. I’ll just hit the highlights I guess.
- Nouakchott, the capital city, is actually a city. I suppose that does not mean much, but it was the first time I had seen a restaurant for 6 months. There is even an American owned restaurant, which represents exactly half of the U.S. businesses in this country; the other is a book store. You can buy beer at a couple of places. There is a beautiful beach, that is completely undeveloped and no one goes there. This leads me to further believe that our definition of a good enjoyable life just does not match the Mauritanian definition. Perhaps because the whole country is kind of like a beach with no water, actual beaches are not that interesting.
- Christmas: It was hard not to be home for Christmas, but having almost all of the volunteers (100+, or over a third of all of the Americans in the country) together for a big party at our country directors house really made it a lot easier and enjoyable.
- Host family: After Christmas I visited my host family from training again. I know it’s unlikely but I wish you could all have the experience of having an entire village be excited to greet you at once. It is an amazing feeling and one of the ways that I prefer their culture to ours. After a few hours of greeting I still had not seen my favorite little girl in the village, Binta. I kept asking around and people were telling me that she was not around and I began to be pretty bummed out. However, just then she walked around the corner of a fence and saw me. As soon as she did, her jaw dropped, she put the back of her hand up to her mouth, and froze. It was one of the cutest things I have seen in my life.
- Saint Louis: First of all, we all were able to get out of this country to the more liberal Senegal. That in itself was nice. However, St. Louis is a place I would go to if I was vacationing from the states. It is a series of two small islands just off the coast. I’ll get pictures up when I can. The smaller, farther out island is split between a thriving local fishing industry on one side and beautiful beaches on the other, where Elise and I and a few other volunteers stayed. The larger of the two islands resembles New Orleans, with a square in the center and tons of bars and little shops. I spent most of my time on the beach and drinking beer, usually the two together, but when I was not doing that I was riding around on a rented moped. For the number of toubabs that were there, we did pretty well to only have one pocket picked/mugging/choking, only one girl punched in the face by an unprovoked guy, and only one person fall off a moped (that was me). I think we also scared the PCVs from Senegal with how intense we are, that is apparently a regular occurrence. St. Louis was definitely the highlight of the trip and if any of you come to visit me, I will take you there.
- Dieouk: After New Years we had another training in a small village not far from Rosso. This village is pretty much the model village for all of Mauritania. There were more trees than houses and the streets were lined with them. They had a problem with dune encroachment, but they stabilized them. They also have a huge garden that is extremely well managed by the cooperative. It gave a lot of hope to all the volunteers who are trying to make the same thing happen in their village.
- Nouakchott, the capital city, is actually a city. I suppose that does not mean much, but it was the first time I had seen a restaurant for 6 months. There is even an American owned restaurant, which represents exactly half of the U.S. businesses in this country; the other is a book store. You can buy beer at a couple of places. There is a beautiful beach, that is completely undeveloped and no one goes there. This leads me to further believe that our definition of a good enjoyable life just does not match the Mauritanian definition. Perhaps because the whole country is kind of like a beach with no water, actual beaches are not that interesting.
- Christmas: It was hard not to be home for Christmas, but having almost all of the volunteers (100+, or over a third of all of the Americans in the country) together for a big party at our country directors house really made it a lot easier and enjoyable.
- Host family: After Christmas I visited my host family from training again. I know it’s unlikely but I wish you could all have the experience of having an entire village be excited to greet you at once. It is an amazing feeling and one of the ways that I prefer their culture to ours. After a few hours of greeting I still had not seen my favorite little girl in the village, Binta. I kept asking around and people were telling me that she was not around and I began to be pretty bummed out. However, just then she walked around the corner of a fence and saw me. As soon as she did, her jaw dropped, she put the back of her hand up to her mouth, and froze. It was one of the cutest things I have seen in my life.
- Saint Louis: First of all, we all were able to get out of this country to the more liberal Senegal. That in itself was nice. However, St. Louis is a place I would go to if I was vacationing from the states. It is a series of two small islands just off the coast. I’ll get pictures up when I can. The smaller, farther out island is split between a thriving local fishing industry on one side and beautiful beaches on the other, where Elise and I and a few other volunteers stayed. The larger of the two islands resembles New Orleans, with a square in the center and tons of bars and little shops. I spent most of my time on the beach and drinking beer, usually the two together, but when I was not doing that I was riding around on a rented moped. For the number of toubabs that were there, we did pretty well to only have one pocket picked/mugging/choking, only one girl punched in the face by an unprovoked guy, and only one person fall off a moped (that was me). I think we also scared the PCVs from Senegal with how intense we are, that is apparently a regular occurrence. St. Louis was definitely the highlight of the trip and if any of you come to visit me, I will take you there.
- Dieouk: After New Years we had another training in a small village not far from Rosso. This village is pretty much the model village for all of Mauritania. There were more trees than houses and the streets were lined with them. They had a problem with dune encroachment, but they stabilized them. They also have a huge garden that is extremely well managed by the cooperative. It gave a lot of hope to all the volunteers who are trying to make the same thing happen in their village.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! Issallahmu Allahkoum!
That’s mixing religions, but it means “may peace be upon you.” That is the standard greeting in the Muslim world which takes the place of “hello” and I think in this season it is especially appropriate. Being out of my culture, I am getting an interesting perspective of Christmas. It’s safe to say that none of the commercialism of Christmas exists here; the only people who are not Muslim are the foreigners. As such, I have had not only the time to reflect on Christmas and the year but also have been able to do that without the usual distractions. It has also been the hardest time of year to be away from home. If there is any holiday that is about family, friends, and being together it is Christmas. Fortunately, I have plenty of happy memories of family and friends that keep you all close to me even though you may be far away. After all, it’s the sharing of memories that makes having friends and family so pleasant.
Reflecting as I am at this time, I realize that I often do not pay much attention to my memories. Often I live focused on the future and try to focus on the present but mostly forget the past. I think a better way to live is to treat all parts equally. Remembering your past reminds you what is important enough to be worth remembering, and helps to turn your attention to what really brings you happiness.
When I remember the events of this past year I find plenty of happiness. 2008 started with the end of my undergraduate days and what was my most enjoyable year at college. Thank you to my roommates in TH 48 and all of my friends at Clarkson for that. “The thesis” also figures prominently in my memories and fortunately ends up being a happy one. From my most serious academic challenge I launched into my most serious life challenge. Having been officially in the Peace Corps for four months now, I finally feel like I am settled in. I still do not understand everything people say to me, nor do they understand everything that I say, but I feel like I have hit a rhythm, and settled on a way of life that will serve me for the next year and a half. It is strange to think that almost a quarter of my service here is completed, I feel like I have done so little. Fortunately my memories reassure me otherwise.
Though I have done much, I have learned far more. Some are lessons about myself, life, and culture that are immediately apparent, like the real value of having a stable and accountable democracy or how close connections to those around you are more valuable than any sum of money, others are more subtle and I feel will only be fully revealed when I return to the States. However, one that I would particularly like to share given the season is that while different peoples are more alike than we generally imagine, there are some cultural differences that do not translate no matter how hard you try. I encounter this on a daily basis and my reaction is often frustration coupled with anger that is unjustified and unhelpful. If peace is to exist on earth, we need to work to accept that there are differences across cultures that cannot be properly understood and that we need to fight the tendency to hate what we do not understand. Only then can true Christmas spirit of fraternity and sorority across the world exist.
Since I can not wish you all a merry Christmas in the usual present way, I am having a joyous holiday season with the warm memories you have left me. My Christmas wishes are of course peace on earth, particularly between cultures that do not understand each other, but also that you pay a tribute to your past and take some time to remember the good events and people that have made up your life.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years from
Travel!
Two good things are currently happening; I am finally starting to really get my work going and I am leaving site for a while. Unfortunately these two things do not go well together, but it is nice to not want to leave site because things are working and it is even better to leave for a while anyway, haha. I will be going to the capital to celebrate Christmas with the other volunteers, all 120+ of us. Following that I will be visiting my training site host family for a bit before going to spend New Years on an island off of the coast of Senegal. After that I will have another training that will last until the 10th. Then its back to my site for a little bit before going to attend an environmental conference in Ghana, which will be followed by WAIST (the West African Invitational Softball Tournament) in Senegal, which is the most anticipated event for all the volunteers here each year. After that it will be mid February, time passes fast when you are having fun!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Biogas Update
The biogas system that was in the pictures that I previously posted was financed by an NGO here called AMAD. One of my friends from AMAD said that they have been working on the biogas system for ten years. I do not think this is true and I also hope that it’s not because I was able to find a system that had several improvements online in just a couple of hours. One of the most exciting is what one of my friends calls a “cow shit bong.”
My research tells me that biogas is made up of CO2, H2S, and CH4, with the last of those, methane, being the usable part of the gas. One of the problems with the current biogas system is that there is a low concentration of methane. However, I read that you can reduce the CO2 and H2S content by passing the gas :) through water. So with the help of Dia, an AMAD technician, and Brian, another Volunteer, I installed a “scrubber,” or “bong” if you will. The gas enters through one tube that is below the level of the water in the container, bubbles upwards, and leaves through the other which is above the level of the water.
Another idea found is to weld a couple of barrels together and put them on their side at an incline with an opening at each end so it is easy to take out a little digested slurry and add some fresh cow manure each day, thus always keeping the unit at maximum production. Links to the documents for both ideas are here: http://www.echotech.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=60&Itemid=68 and here: http://www.echotech.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=59&Itemid=68
My ultimate goal is to help create a system that is relatively cheap that can produce enough gas for all of a families cooking needs. This is obviously a very high goal and I am fairly certain it is unreachable at this moment because there are people much more knowledgeable than me working on it and I feel like if it could be done we would know about it. However, I feel like the potential is there, and AMAD is already financing several pilot projects so do not feel like I am wasting resources by making improvements.
Again, if anyone has any more ideas or knows anyone who does I would love help.
A Day in School
Since I work in primary schools, they come up a lot in conversations with people from home. I think it will be useful to give a better picture of what they are like.
The school day starts at 8 am here, has recess from 10 to 10:30, or 10 to 11 if the director feels like it, then break for lunch from 12 to 3, and the afternoon session from 3 to 5. That’s 5:30 of teaching time each day. Class sizes range from 40 to 120 per teacher. About half of the students in the schools here don’t have desks to sit at. It has been officially forbidden to beat students, but I have not seen a classroom that did not have a belt in it. Mostly students get hit for misbehaving but I have seen them being hit for getting an answer wrong, which is just horrible on top of awful. Also awful is that up to 5th or 6th grade all the lessons are just repeat-after-me rote memorization. Later grades are a little better, but the trend continues. This leads to primary school students saying “Bonjour Mama, Bonjour Papa, comment tu t’appel?” (Hello mother, hello father, what is your name?) whenever they see someone who they think only speaks French (me). The same thing happens with high school students studying English, only it’s “HowAreYouFineThanksAndYou.” That is one reason why I am really excited about my environmental clubs; they will give the students a chance to participate in interactive lessons. Of course, it’s easy to criticize the schools but there are several factors that play into the situation: unmanageable class sizes, an unstable government, a governmental policy of moving teachers around to different villages without their consent, lack of materials, etc. I don’t think I would say that the kids here fit the stereotype of “all the kids in Africa who are desperate for an education,” but with a system like this I could see why. Certainly, I am thankful for the public education system we have in the U.S.
The school day starts at 8 am here, has recess from 10 to 10:30, or 10 to 11 if the director feels like it, then break for lunch from 12 to 3, and the afternoon session from 3 to 5. That’s 5:30 of teaching time each day. Class sizes range from 40 to 120 per teacher. About half of the students in the schools here don’t have desks to sit at. It has been officially forbidden to beat students, but I have not seen a classroom that did not have a belt in it. Mostly students get hit for misbehaving but I have seen them being hit for getting an answer wrong, which is just horrible on top of awful. Also awful is that up to 5th or 6th grade all the lessons are just repeat-after-me rote memorization. Later grades are a little better, but the trend continues. This leads to primary school students saying “Bonjour Mama, Bonjour Papa, comment tu t’appel?” (Hello mother, hello father, what is your name?) whenever they see someone who they think only speaks French (me). The same thing happens with high school students studying English, only it’s “HowAreYouFineThanksAndYou.” That is one reason why I am really excited about my environmental clubs; they will give the students a chance to participate in interactive lessons. Of course, it’s easy to criticize the schools but there are several factors that play into the situation: unmanageable class sizes, an unstable government, a governmental policy of moving teachers around to different villages without their consent, lack of materials, etc. I don’t think I would say that the kids here fit the stereotype of “all the kids in Africa who are desperate for an education,” but with a system like this I could see why. Certainly, I am thankful for the public education system we have in the U.S.
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