The day I got lost...

The day I got lost...

Annie's Visit:

My outdoor bed/ entertaining area
(minus the roofing and my hammock)

Out of the blue, the winds blew rezo (cell phone service) my way and my little Nokia phone, got a buzz. I received a text from my fellow Ohioan and Miami alumni volunteer, Annie Cleary. Annie is a godsend. I am so lucky to have her in my region and as a friend. She was at the regional house and decided she wanted to "invite herself" to my site. My hut is an open invitation, I love hosting guests and I hardly ever have them. I have literally tailored my outdoor living space for entertaining guests, with my targeted audience as Americans not my village. I got so excited that I ran to a mango tree that normally has a little rezo to call and tell her that nothing would make me happier than for her to come to my site and then the next day we could both bike back to Kolda together. 

Annie has never been to my site, but it is a pretty easy to find. I told her I would meet her at the "main" road before my legitimate bush road starts about an hour after she said she was going to take her departure. I was doing some last minute cleaning in preparation for her arrival, including washing my sheets with my newly splurge Dakar purchase of fabric softener. I was nervous that I was leaving later than I told her I would meet her, and what would be expected for her to reach that area of the route in her departure time. It wouldn't have been a huge deal, except I didn't even tell her the name of he village to turn off on, I just told her to bike until she saw me. Eekk. I biked my heart out to reach the road, talked to people that passed by asking them if they saw a woman toubab riding a bike, everyone said they hadn't... Yet. Then, I saw the village chief of the village over hanging out in what can only be described as a tree stand. I asked him if he saw Annie (the toubab) and he said he's been looking out for her, like a hunter waiting for the deer to approach, creepy. Then, he told me that my counterpart informed him of her upcoming arrival and that she didn't know the road, so to not let her get lost. Thank Allah Hoyo knows how I work and put backup plans into action (without even telling me). I stood under his tree stand and waited for the white girl to appear around the corner. Once I saw Annie, I was thrilled I didn't screw her over by my tardiness.

We got to my village and took our bucket baths, listened to some music and planned our afternoon. We decided to do something girly and put some lemon juice (another splurge from a previous visit to Dakar) in our hair and put the African sun to use for once and try to get some highlights out of the ordeal. After the commencement of our proclaimed slumber party, with our highlight aspirations, we had lunch, and departed to a few villages over to check in with my ICP (the doctor) at the health post to see how the PECADOM+ program was going, make sure there was medicine for the sweeps and the malaria season, and to go check out this river my sitemate, Jenny, told me about, that was supposed to have all sorts of exotic birds native to Senegal. We started out our adventure biking bush paths through fields and forests that were only a bike tire wide and overgrown with tall weeds that when pedaling past you get slapped in the face. The paths are so climate controlled that the erosion drops down the sand and clay and you shouldn't look up for more than a few seconds because if you don't watch the path change you're bound to wipe out. When telling Annie the plan to go to Santancoye, I left out the detail in order to get to the village we would have to cross a seasonal river that was mid-thigh deep.

Annie crossing the river like a champ!

Annie was a trouper when we crossed it and through the whole bush path ordeal. We were actually on a wild goose chase when it came to the river because everyone we asked said that there was no such river. Once we arrived to the health post, asked our questions and was told that there wasn't medicine, per usual of Senegal's unorganized government and cultural operations. Bummer. We asked again about the river, resolved to have our relaxing few hours sitting under a tree eating our Klaus cookies, we once again told this river didn’t exist.

Our river view

So, we went to this area where I remember seeing a bridge during one of my exploration voyages to neighboring villages. We arrived to the river, which in everyone's defense is a seasonal river, laid our blanket down, sat under this hundred year old tree, with our cooling towels over our necks, fans in one hand, cookies in the other, we watched a lady harvesting rice, a few birds, and a suspicious branch floating and moving in the current, we were praying it wasn't a crocodile. A man in my neighboring village was killed by a crocodile and apparently the villagers killed the croc and ate its meat for protection against it.. Or, I like to think it is their way of sweet revenge. We watched the sky turn different colors as the sun was starting to set. We thought it was best to start back to my village while we still had plenty of light. It was a nice relaxing afternoon, and we were ready to get back, shower and eat dinner. Well, there are three paths that one can take to get to my village from where we were.

Our tree =) It is probably at least one year old

 I haven't been down the path from my village because everyone has said it is too bad to take this time of year, each path everyone tells their stories about how deep and to what body part the water is up to. To be frank, I've only taken the path(s) back to my village before the rains started and without all the weeds. I didn't know the exact path to take, but I didn't think it would be that hard to find.. I mean, how many could there be? Well, the answer is... A lot. I couldn't recognize the path, we went up and down numerous paths, all which we swore we didn't recognize because of some distinct feature we assumed we would have noticed coming in. For instance, one path had a lot of thorns that when we past the thorns and came out with bloody bodies pick out 7+ thorns from our arms, one was because the path was wider than a tire, one was because a pretty tree canopy, another was a large termite hill. It was getting late, and the sun was almost set. I decided that I knew how to get home the long way, not through the thick bush trails by going through Sare Samba. I remember stories of the river penetrating the road, but never saw it first hand, I figure it would be similar to the path that I take from Sare Guiro. I was wrong. We reached the water and it was sooooo wide and it looked deep. I didn't know what to do, I could only laugh. How did I not know how to get us home?! I asked Annie what she wanted to do, I told her that it could be at the most as deep as out necks, thinking that we could make it, not realizing how ridiculous that sounded with our bikes over our head walking almost 100 feet. We would have drowned. Plus, we psyched ourselves out about crocodiles from the previous adventure, that we were nervous what we would find in the water. Annie said, "let's do this path by last resort" but I was already thinking it was our last resort because by the time we MAYBE find the RIGHT path, it would be dark and extremely hard to navigate the trail without killing ourselves or getting pretty banged up in the process. Reluctantly, we turned around, went down a few of the trails we previously explored and were still lost. Luckily I know a family in a village in between the path and Santancoye, one of the compounds there is my younger brother, whose hut I took over with my arrival, forcing him to move in with this extended family. Annie and I previously greeted them, so going back asking desperately and almost pathetically to help us find the path, they just laughed, and my brother biked us to the path. I told Annie, if I saw that dang termite mound again (we already tried this path twice before) I was going to die. Well, we passed that mound, at least I think we did because it was pretty dark. I just can't believe we didn't notice these prominent "landmarks" despite our eyes being locked on the ground. I have horrible night vision and surprisingly Annie and managed to maneuver through the windy, uneven, sand paths filed with tall weeds, across the river, and up the steep hills to the neighboring village leading to my village. I only fell twice (the first time I fell was last week on my way to another village for the bed net care and repair tourney on the same road, the sand is impossible to bike through without tumbling over.)

One of the small paths we thought could be the correct path
Notice how high the weeds are and how narrow the trial is...

We got back, my family upset because they assumed I got us lost and they went looking for us and couldn’t find us. I told them about our attempts to find our way back and contemplating crossing the huge, deep river. They laughed. We took another, much needed bucket bath and passed out for the night. 

We woke up to leave for Kolda in the morning, realized that Annie’s bike had a flat tire and we had to repair the tube, being yet again, another toubab spectacle. It was an adventure that I couldn’t imagine doing with anyone else.

#Ohioansarethebest

#thirdworldproblems

#crocodilesintherivers

#Danhateshashtags

The day(s) I saved lives…

The day(s) I saved lives…

Malaria Awareness: Mosquito Bed Net Care and Repair Tourney

First off, I want to rant off some startling facts about Malaria:

3.2 Billion People, almost half of the world’s population are at risk of malaria, and 1.2 billion are at high risk. 

Globally, in 2013, there were:

-198 million cases of Malaria

-90% of all malaria deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa

-78% of the aforementioned deaths occurred in children under five years of age

-97 countries have on-going malaria transmission

-80% of the estimated malaria deaths occur in 18 of most affected Countries

Between 2001-2013, an estimated 4.2 million lives were saved as a result of a scale-up of malaria interventions. 97%, 4.1 million, of these lives saved are in the under-five age group in sub-saharan Africa.

Let’s relate those numbers and bring it home..

Nearly 750,000 deaths per year (90% in Africa), which is more than the population of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota or Alaska. 

Does anyone remember what a big fuss Ebola was/is? Do you remember how worked up everyone got about the deaths and the transmissions? Do you remember how once it started spreading, to the motherland (heaven forbid that a disease that is wiping out people in Africa come to the United States), people started funding and developing treatments and vaccinations? Well, I would love to put Malaria in perspective with Ebola for you all to grasp the gravity of Malaria…

In 2014, there were 4,877 deaths from Ebola, and Malaria kills an estimated 1.2 MILLION people a year. Heh. A little discrepant in our reaction for the Ebola outbreak and lackthereof for Malaria? I think yes. 

Senegal’s Population: 13.7 Million

Percent at Risk for Malaria: 100%

Estimated Malaria Cases: 3.8 Million

Health Education Reached in 2011: 6.8 Million 

Estimated Bed Net Usage in 2009: 27%

Estimated Bed Net Usage in 2011: 61%

People Visiting Clinic at First Symptoms in 2009: 30%

People Visiting Clinic at First Symptoms in 2011: 63% 

The above statics are from various sources including nomoremalaria.org, WHO, UNICEF, and the CDC. Sorry for the poorly sited statistics, but this was just meant to inform you all of the crisis, not as an official report. 

Below is a link discussing Malaria facts from WHO:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/

Please visit the site below to see the WHO’s statistics covering Senegal’s Malaria situation to better understand the gravity of behavior change and educational outreach for eliminated malaria. 

http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_sen_en.pdf?ua=1

Other interesting health statistics by UNICEF can be found at the link below:

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/senegal_statistics.html

In 2011, Peace Corps Senegal joined together with all of the other

Peace Corps Africa countries to finally “Stomp Out Malaria” in Africa.

Currently it is the number one cause of death in Senegal, and much of

the entire population lives in high-transmission zones. There are over

3,000 volunteers across the continent who, like me, are working to bring malaria deaths in Senegal to zero by 2020. You can check out some of the cool projects being done at http://stompoutmalaria.org/ . Even though World Malaria Day is April 25th, the rainy season in Senegal is from July-October (ish) and Malaria season is at the peak June-December (ish). The southern regions, like my region, Kolda, are at the highest risk for Malaria. Volunteers take malaria prophylactics and sleep under bed nets to mitigate the risk of malaria. But, prophylactics are not feasible for the African population because not only of the cost and the long term side effects but also the mosquitos that would carry the parasite responsible would become resistant and immune to the medications, creating a superbug, making it that much, much harder for malaria to be treated and eliminated. (Think the penicillin and other antibiotics issue we face in the States and in other developed countries that over prescribe antibiotics.. pretty scary stuff.) 

Nate, Vanessa and Hoyo in Sare Guiro. Nate 
showing off his fancy beautification hole patch. 

Africans, and I am speaking from my Senegalese standards, are encouraged to sleep under bed nets because the mosquitos that carry the malaria parasite, Anopheles, are out and about during the hours of dusk to dawn, thus the transmission is the highest during these times; ergo the importance of sleeping under a bed net. A Presidential Campaign went into effect a few years ago, where the health posts go out and do a monthly vaccination for the children five and under during the rainy season to help prevent the child mortality rate, and women who are pregnant get a similar medication during their pre-natal visits. Free. These two groups are given preventive medication because they are the highest risk for malaria. 

Although there are numerous campaigns encouraging and educating the people about malaria and bed nets as a preventive method, it is a behavior change that is hard to make a paradigm switch. I will be the first to admit, those nets are HOTTTT when you are sleeping under them and when it is already miserably hot (I have yet to experience a day that wasn’t…) without the extra bed net heat, convincing people to have sleepless nights enduring the heat is extremely hard. If I wasn’t so concerned about the creepy crawly things that come out at night crawling on me, I think I would almost be willing to sleep without a bed net, too, because how hot it is. And, that isn’t good. If only there were a way to make the nets impregnated with the insecticide, impenetrable by mosquitos, and lightweight and airy #bigdreams But, that fabric has yet been discovered to manufacture bed nets. (to my knowledge..)

Let’s talk about the Kolda Bed Net Care and Repair Tourney I participated in! 

During one of the causeries educating people about the importance of bed net care and repair, malaria transmission, symptoms and treatment and social responsibilities in the fight against malaria. 

A few years ago, there was a universal bed net dispersement and little by little every region and every village should have received free bed nets to fight against malaria. Since then, Peace Corps Volunteers do Bed Net Care and Repair Bike Tourneys within their Regions to reach out to villages, wash the nets, sew up any holes and make any desired changes that would encourage the behavior change for sleeping under the nets.  The tourney is still going on, but last week my work zone did my three villages, and a few other villages in my in my work zone. Now, we are just missing Abigail’s and Brandon’s to finish up our work zone tourney. It was a great experience, not only because it was the first time that I had guests out to my site and got to experience special treatment and “good” food at my site, but working beside volunteers that have been here long and have better language skills and have acquired more vocabulary not only inspired me to work harder, but I learned at lot along the way. 

After the last day of the tourney, leaving the site we
had to bike in a downpour around 10k through
bush trials resulting in a very messy bike and
wardrobe that may never be rid of the sand.

I went to four villages during the tourney, and I plan to do more when Brandon gets back to Senegal and when Abigail's start. It is hard work though! My back still hurts from leaning over sewing up countless holes in nets, transforming rectangle nets to circle nets, adding fabric to make it more eye-appealing or to patch up big holes. We had to encourage the people that owned their nets to do the work themselves and we would just help speed up the process. If we just showed up and did all the work, they wouldn’t be taking ownership of their health, and who knows when the next time a toubab will show up to do something similar. They shouldn’t wait for a toubab to come to take care of their nets and thus their health, they need to learn to take initiative. So, not only did we bring materials to wash, sew, and beautify the nets, we also had causeries telling them exactly how they should care for their net AND why they need to take action. Most people who have nets, were not necessarily informed on the proper techniques of bed net care. For instance, because the bed nets are impregnanted with a long lasting insecticide, they can’t use detergent, they have to use ordinary soap, and they have to be dried in the shade, out of the sun. They shouldn’t be washed more than two times a year, but if there is a lot of dirt on the nets, they dirt prevents the insecticide from being as effective and thus not killing the mosquitos that land on it, which if it is clean, helps prevent transmission. Another thing that is extremely important we talked about is illustrating that is isn’t one person’s responsibility for their health, it is a whole community’s responsibility. If one person allows a mosquito to bite him/her and transmit the parasite into his/her bloodstream, then that blood is infected, and when another mosquito comes along and bites that person, that mosquito becomes infected and then bites another person, infecting the other person.. it is a tragically devastating ripple effect. So, if someone knows that someone in the community isn’t sleeping under a bed net, doesn’t own a bed net, or doesn’t take proper care of the bed net, they have to call that person(s) out on their behavior. That person isn’t only putting his/her own health into jeopardy, but the entire communities. 

My bike after the last day, minus a lot of the wet sand. 

A lot of Peace Corps is getting the community to take ownership, whether it be their finances, education, health, development projects, etc., and this is a great example of how we are here to help them  take ownership of their health by chastising those who are endangering their own health, and thus the health of the community. 

One of the most important, in the moment, parts of the tourney is having an ASC at each event. An ASC is a health worker that is allowed to test for malaria and give out medication if they test positive. During the tourney we have numerous people who tested positive and got their medication, essentially saving their lives. 

All in the day’s work of a Peace Corps Volunteer.

#credibility 

The day I slept in a sept-place, AKA- slept-place...

The day I slept in a sept-place, AKA- slept-place (that pun is thanks to the lovely Annie Cleary)...

Travel Nightmares living so far from Dakar. 

I woke up thinking I should just stay another night and enjoy Oktoberfest with my friends in Dakar. In fact, I went back to bed for another half hour. I woke up again and decided that I couldn't afford another day in Dakar (I went through my entire monthly allowance for October and it was only October 3rd. Dakar is expensive and I stayed in the city for over a week. I had 6,000 CFA (12$) to spare for the whole month IF things worked out how I planned. And, by the way, that 12$ is allllll change I gathered and was resorted to. It's going to be a very tight month) and I started preparing my belongings for my departure. Usually, it is wise to leave by the latest 3:30am, but since I went back to bed, I was leaving at 4am. I had to buy cat food to (inshallah) last until January when I come back from my vacation from The States, so I had an extra heavy bag I had to carry on my head to the main road to find a taxi to take me to the garage. I reached the garage with a almost native familiarity now and asked a man standing next to a sept-place which sept-place was leaving for Kolda, he pointed to the one I stopped at, the second one to the end (which I already assumed) and said I just got the last seat! Awesomely Horrible. I didn't have to wait for the next sept-place, but I got the worst seat in the car. The guy was trying to overcharge me for my extra bag, and I was getting mad, calling him a bandit and saying he was trying to steal from me because I was white. We met somewhere in the middle in the price dispute, lowering my already tight money situation. Even though I bought the last seat, we were waiting on a person to arrive that showed up super early, but went somewhere to get something else. We didn't leave until 5:30am. Not off to a good start, but I didn't think it would be the end of the world. I had reservations pretty much every step leading up to our departure. We tried several gas stations in Dakar but none were open or they were too busy. I never reallllly believed in omens, but sometimes you can't miss the signs of trepidation. We eventually got gas, and I was trying to avoid being touched by this man that is coming back to Kolda to live a few villages over from mine. He told me he wants an American wife and I found him reaching over and casually touching me by draping his arm behind the seat. I think his older brother was on to him because at one point when we all got out of the car, the man tried to switch seats with his brother who was sitting in between us, and even though his brother had the worse seat, he wouldn't let it happen. I was very grateful for him in that moment. We ended up stopping in Kaolack, a not-so-nice-little over-half-way mark to get breakfast. I wasn't happy about the stop because we were already running behind and we could just wait a few hours and eat while we waited at The Gambia River to cross. But who listens to the toubab? No one. I bought 1,000 CFA (2$) of food, some yogurt and some bread, hoping to tide me over until we reached Kolda where I have some food at the regional house to eat for dinner. Shortly after our breakfast stop our car started to overheat and break down. We were going every 100m stopping and going, stopping and going, stopping and going. We ran out of water to refill the radiator, and I only had a little water left in my bottle and didn't want to give it up. I can't just drink any water like everyone else in the car. I almost thought about getting a ride back to the Kaolack regional house and just try to depart in the morning, but I realized I didn't have the funds to buy another seat the next day, so I endured the stops. We finally reached The Gambia a little after 11am, honestly really good timing for stopping so much. I wasn't overly concerned until I saw how far back we had to stop in the line. The line to cross was the longest I have ever seen it. Everyone got out except the man that was trying to feel me up, his brother, the driver and me. I moved to the front passenger seat and started a new book. It wasn't until my stomach started to growl from hunger did I realize I might be in a situation because we hardly advanced in the line and it was now 5pm. I skipped lunch hoping to still make it to Kolda for my next meal, but I couldn't wait any longer and my water was depleted. I spent 1,400 CFA (3$) on an omelette sandwich and a bottle of water. My 6,000 CFA, was diminishing and my positive attitude about getting home started to fade.  I called my friend Annie to talk about my unfortunate situation and run over some figures with her to see if I could afford another sept-place ticket if I crossed The Gambia and abandoned my sept-place and got on another one after the line. We decided I didn't have enough money and it was too risky to cross without knowing for sure. I finished my book as it started to get dark, and remembered that there is a road block put in place every night after dark until 6:30am that we would be affected by. At this point, we advanced a substantial amount in the line and almost thought we were going to make it across the river before the ferry closed for the night. I decided that I needed to call Mbouille, Peace Corps' Safety and Security main man, because this type of travel is forbidden by Peace Corps.  Even though I let them know my travel whereabouts at 5am, so they knew I did not anticipate this situation, I knew it wasn't a good thing to be in my predicament. Especially alone. I ended up using my entire Month's phone credit allowance in just a few hours calling Annie, my mom called me, and then several communications with Mbouille because of the roaming charges in Gambia. Great. Now I don't have any money for the month and I don't have any phone credit for the month either. October isn't looking so good. I quickly realized that I wasn't crossing the river and the road block shouldn't even be a concern because the ferry wouldn't reopen until 8am. It started to thunder, lightening, and downpour. Everyone hurried to get into the car, but I was still in the passenger seat, occupying another man's seat. They all hopped in the car and told me we can all switch back after the rain. Well, at that point I just got off the phone with Mbouille (Safety and Security) with the realization that I would be spending the night in the "slept-place." With the previous unsolicited attention in my original seat, I wasn't comfortable sleeping back there, so I managed to charm the man to sleep in the front. He is actually very interesting. Before I turned on my charm, I didn't know how to communicate with him because I only heard him speak in Wolof, but, then, I heard some sing-song language that perked my interested. After listening for a minute I realized it was Italian, and it was the guy whose seat I was occupying!! I was incredibly intrigued and impressed with my initial assessment of him; he had dreadlocks that were so perfectly clean looking that I knew that he didn't live here. But, he spoke Wolof, so he had to, right? Well, it turns out he was born here, moved to Italy as a young child and started working as a mechanic and now works as an engineer for Fiat. Usually, I am too embarrassed to use my French to try to have conversations, but I was too intrigued with him, and my curiosity got the best of me, so had I had to indulge. I have come to realize that I can't do language switches seamlessly, not even with English and Pulaar. I haven't really spoken French since 2008, so I was pretty rusty speaking, but I understood (almost) everything. After a few hours of talking my French improved significantly, and once midnight approached, I had four allies in the car and I felt safe sleeping in a place that I previously was terrified of. Well, not the exact place because I slept up front, but I was terrified of sleeping in a sept-place open and vulnerable. One of the people that the guy was traveling with lives in Dakar and was even practicing his English with me. Surprisingly, I could translate his French quickly enough to English for it to be somewhat effective. 

After spending the night tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, which literally no sleep, I took out my ear plugs at 6am and started a new book. When I got out of the car, to my surprise, we still had a long way to go before our turn on the ferry approached. I thought it could be very possible that I would see Annie at The Gambia before crossing since was scheduled to depart the morning after I did. I tried to call her but with no credit in The Gambia, I couldn't get through. After a record breaking 23.5 hours wait, my sept-place and my 6 new friends (we lost one person who decided to take a different sept-place to save time) crossed the Gambian River, and made our way to Kolda, exchanging contact information and sending friend requests on Facebook. 

Annie called and she crossed The Gambia a few hours after I did. I should have just waited the extra day and went back with her. After I got to the regional house I took a much needed shower, made some lunch, watched a movie and then took a nap that turned into 16 hours of sleep. Now, I am going to the post office this morning and relax a little until I bike back to my village in the morning. I plan on taking advantage of this absence-of-money-poor-situation and plan on spending the next 3 weeks at site. 

And if you're wondering what the tally is for how I just made it by money wise, I have 2,100 CFA left for the the rest of the month. And, it is only the 5th. 

I am growing so much over here. 

And I'm not just talking about my stomach from all the rice. 

You can make decisions, but some decisions make you. And with Peace Corps it is a never ending cycle of making decisions that end up making me more of who I am. 

Oh, since I said in my last post that my next post would be about Tabaski, I should at least mention it. 

Tabaski is the biggest holiday of the Muslim religion, we celebrate it for 3 days, but I had to go to Dakar unexpectedly and left the evening of the first night. Everyone liked the candy I bought to give out since I refuse to give money out, it was a nice compromise, even if the elders weren't amused and would have preferred money. Sometimes you just have to show them you aren't there to give them money nor are Americans an endless supply of money. 

Everyone loved my new komplet and my hair. They said that I was a true Senegalese now. 

Typically cutting a ram's throat is supposed to be a big part of this holiday, but once again, we didn't have money and thus didn't have a goat, ergo we lacked any meat in our dinner bowl. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed the holiday. However, when I biked into Kolda that evening to prepare for my early departure to Dakar, I stopped at my adopted family's house to greet them, and they fed me their gloriously veggie and meat filled bowl and side dishes of bread, butter and beans! Wow, It was good! I wish my phone was charged that day so I could have taken pictures, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I'll be sure to take pictures next year. 

The day I gained perspective..

The day I gained perspective…

Postive Notes.

I realized that my past few posts haven’t been that uplifting and positive. And, although, it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns here, I do see rainbows frequently… literally. 

Village life is great! What I said before about my “problems” at site weren’t all exactly problems. It was just a misunderstanding of how I portrayed my interactions with the other volunteers in my region and their experiences here. It just goes to show that you can’t generalize any population regardless how close in proximity, shared nationality, religion, culture or tradition. You have to experience it first hand to understand the dynamics of anything truthfully and completely. 

I am learning Pulaar with an increasing momentum! The other day a few of the elders told me that I speak my Pulaar from the heart. (There actually isn't a word for “heart” in Pulaar! So many things have a 3-5 different words to say the same thing, and so many things, that I think are very important, including health terms, don’t have names at all! They borrow words from the French language frequently, but then only a few know and understand what those words mean.) Being told that I speak from my heart is a huge compliment. I have to say,  I probably speak better and know more vocabulary that the average volunteer at my stage because I literally go weeks without speaking English, so I have to learn quick, and my new normal is Pulaar. I find myself forgetting English words or phrases when I am trying to do any work, it can be frustrating at times. Actually, I had my first dream in Pulaar the other day! It is weird for me to remember my dreams to begin with, so when I dreamt, remembered it, and realized it was in Pulaar, my mind was blown and I had to reflect what that meant for my language level. Don’t get me wrong.. I still don’t understand a lot of what a lot of people say because the verbs or so specific that it would take me more than my two years of service to truly be fluent in this language. 

Maimunna is back! My second dad’s wife that had the miscarriage finally returned to village! It is customary for the woman to stay away at a different relative’s house until she is “healed,” which takes a lot longer here than you would think. She was gone for over a month. But, she isn’t allowed to do any work, not even cook, for a year, and not any fieldwork or water pulling for around three years. So, she is afraid that her husband is going to get another wife because she can’t fulfill her duties and her kids aren’t old enough to do most of her work. And, of course, her husband shouldn’t be expected to pick up any slack because he is the man. But, yay! She is back. I finally have my bestie at site around again. She is two years older than me but has a completely different life than I do. She has four kids, is married, and is illiterate, so sometimes it is hard to find a common ground to really connect on, but we make it work. She understands me almost as well as my counterpart does, which makes conversation easy. 

My youngest of the teenage sisters went on vacation a few weeks ago, so I have been having to befriend my other two teenage sisters since Maimunna was gone. It has been hard having Tida away, but it has given me a chance to connect with the other two girls. They have been spending the evenings in my room for dinner and hangout sessions the past few weeks. But, out of the blue, my second youngest teenage sister (I say teenage, because I have a lot of younger sisters, but I don’t hang out with them because they are too young and.. annoying.) told me that she is going to her future  husband’s village for the next six months to prove to his family that she is worth her keep and is auditioning her cooking and cleaning skills for a marriage next year.  Even though her husband lives and works in Dakar and won’t even be living with her at his family’s compound. (Obviously she didn’t use that terminology but, it is exactly what she is doing.) So, I am down to one teenage sister, and her Pulaar is so fast and unclear that I can never understand what she is staying, and I am pretty sure that is a two-way street because she always has a confused look on her face when I say anything to her as well. 

My work has finally started and I am extremely busy. PECADOM +, an integrated malaria program, is in full swing since we are in the wet season, aka, malaria season. I have been attending trainings and workshops to make sure everyone involved knows what to do when they are out in the field doing their sweeps through the villages. It is a lot of work and is hard because we don’t have cell phone reception to confirm schedules so it is hit and miss with the trainings. We will be having a five day long session after Tabaski and the next vaccination sweep at the end of the month. I just finished up a baseline survey, where I interviewed every compound in my community asking upwards of fifty compound questions related to their health and health knowledge. It was a great way to understand the problems my village has under the surface and better gain perspective of what they need from me, even if they don’t realize that they need it yet. Baseline surveys are great Needs Assessments, and thankfully it is a reportable task for evaluation, monitoring and reporting purposes. I know a lot more people in my village now. I think at the beginning of this month, I might have known around 15 people’s names, now I know upwards of 50 and growing. As soon as I get everyone’s picture I can really start to learn names and faces better. 

I had my first Technical Site Visit where my supervisor came and put a stamp of approval on my upcoming projects and work in my village. We had a meeting with all of the people in my village that are important and/or are involved in my work. The discussion mainly was working out the kinks of building a Health Hut. The week preceding the meeting, I talked with the doctor at the Health Post that would be the supervisor of my Health Hut and he didn’t agree to its construction. So, he suggested that we go to all of the surrounding villages and basically start a petition for our Health Hut. We had all of the surrounding village chiefs, religious leaders and health workers come to my village to attend a meeting and get everyone’s IDs for their names, birthdates, ID numbers and signatures. (Most signatures are a doodle because most people are illiterate, so the signature part is comical on my end.) We will be taking this paper to the Regional Doctor and the man that is the “President” of the Health System in our region to get the final approval. I was afraid of the politics involved in all of this, so I was hesitant to pursue the project without talking to my supervisor. The newest Health Hut in Sare Tobo (about 5km away) is non-functioning because of a political matter, a disagreement between the village chief and the ASC, the person that runs the facility. So, I don’t want our structure to end up like that one. If I am going to contribute and have a legacy here, I want it to be a successful, respectable one. But, it looks like everything is good to go and I will be starting the grant in December to start the construction hopefully early next year. I just inquired about educational/technical training for a woman in my village to become a Matrone, a woman that delivers babies, comparable to a midwife, and for my counterpart, Hoyo, to get his training to become an ASC, and I am in the mist of recruiting a person to be a DSDOME, a person who does integrated malaria sweeps through villages. I am also starting on my hand washing station, aka "Tippy Tap," project by installing these stations at every 'bathroom' and eating spot in every compound and community gathering area to make a behavior change shift to hand washing by making hand washing something that is easy, fun and cool to do. So many deaths and illnesses could be prevented by something so simple, that we as Americans take for granted, Hand Washing. It is a huge project that will take up until December to complete because I can’t just install these stations, I need people to take ownership of the project by having causeries explaining what it is, why it is important, when they should wash their hands, what illnesses not washing their hands could cause. Soap is also an issue. Soap is “expensive” when people don’t really have any income, so I am having soap making trainings with the three women’s groups in my village to ensure that their stations have soap at all times. My village chief, so kindly told everyone that attended the meeting for the petition for the Health Hut that I would do the trainings in all of their villages too. Which, I never agreed to, but I will try to figure out how to make time for it, I guess. 

Tabaski, the biggest Muslim holiday, is tomorrow! I spent the past two days getting my hair braided with fake hair. My back will never be the same. So much pain sitting like that for that long. But, apparently it looks super attractive, although, I would be the first to disagree. The next time I get my hair braided, I don’t think I will be dong fake hair. Actually, I am pretty sure I cut some of my real hair off when I was trimming the ends of the braids. I might need a different hair style after all of this is over. It was a fun experience with the women that did my hair. We braided, drank tea, and practiced some dance moves. I have to make it a habit to hang out with more women in my village because I just don’t know their vocabulary as well. They talk way too fast and I hardly understand their sentence structure, let alone their vocabulary. I hang out with most of the village elders because they talk slower, are typically more educated and their Pulaar doesn’t have as much Wolof, French or other languages mixed in, so it is traditionally better. But, now that I know sounds and some syntax, I think it is time I push myself with the women. Wish me luck, it won’t be an easy task. 

I have made some seriously incredible friendships with some of the other volunteers. It is hard being thrown into this life and no one is truly themselves at the beginning so it is a struggle to find out who you are in this new life and who you can//want to be friends with. I am glad that I know I am not alone in my struggle and that when I have something exciting  (like seeing a Komodo dragon, which turned out to be a Monitor lizard) or something dramatic that happened (like having worms crawling under my skin) that I need to tell someone, I just need to bike out to get cell phone reception and hope that they have cell phone reception at the same time to talk about it. I have made at least three solid friendships, all very unique and special that are very precious to me. 

Next on my list of Positive Notes……. I am coming home in December!! 

I have been waiting to tell a lot of people, but it is quickly approaching so I am letting everyone know now! Yay. I am extremely excited to come home and take a shower in my parents’ new bathroom and know what it is like to feel clean again. I am excited to have to figure out how many layers of clothes I have to put on to be warm, not figure out how I can be nakeder than naked to not feel like I am fire. I am going to have my grandmas take me to get a good steak at the Malibar Inn and eat as much (good, non-rice) food as I possibly can! 

Sorry it took so long for an update, I will try to be better from now on. I am starting to get a daily/weekly routine, and I want to incorporate blog writing that routine so you all can get weekly/bi-weekly updates! 

Next Blog will be about Tabaski!! (Including Pictures with my new Komplet and my hair!)

The day I lost feeling in my butt...

The day I lost feeling in my butt…

The Sept-Place Experience:

Eight People Deep 

After being in Dakar for almost three weeks trying to regain my health and strength, I finally got medically cleared to go back to my site. It was bittersweet knowing I could go back. The rest of my Stage stayed (or attempted to stay) at their sites for five consecutive weeks, but that was not the case for me. I was “present” at my site for two weeks before I started to feel sick(er), and then I stayed in my hut for the third week before my “long” stay in Dakar, where I lost all the language that I learned and ate all the food I started to “forget,” needless to say, going back to my village was daunting. I bought an insane amount of food to bring back to Kolda, so much that I needed to buy a huge duffle bag to transport it. I couldn’t even carry the bag by myself it was that large/heavy. I knew that I was going to have to barter the price of my baggage on all fronts. There is typical a set price to  buy a seat in modes of transportation, but baggage is up in the air. 

Going back to Kolda from Dakar is a huge ordeal. 

I had to get up at 3:30am, leave the Peace Corps Medical Hut by 4am, and get a taxi to go to the “Garage” where people get a “sept place” to travel to certain cities throughout Senegal. To get to Kolda, we travel through The Gambia and it is necessary to leave super early in order to get to Kolda in one day AND not have to wait for HOURRRRRRSSSS at The Gambia River to get a boat to cross over to the other side. Once I got to the Dakar Garage, I had to wait until seven (7) people bought a seat in the car, including myself. (P.S. Sept is Seven in French, ahh haah!!) When I say car, think station wagon with a bench seat in the middle and an elevated bench seat in the back and a front passenger seat plus the driver;s seat, totaling eight people in a tiny, broken, barely drivable/ridable, station wagon. It is rough. It is the most uncomfortable 13+ hours one can have. My butt and legs literally went numb and/or were throbbing to the point of extreme vein popping pain. I’ve decided that the WORST seat to buy is the middle bench, middle seat. The second worst seat is back bench middle. Both middle spots have the hump in the ground where the people have to straddle either side and/or raise their feet/legs to the level of the hump putting even more pain on the lower back.

Once we get to The Gambia, because I am an American/Non-Senegalese, I have to get out a total of four times to get my passport stamped at each location—exiting Senegal, entering The Gambia, exiting The Gambia, and reentering Senegal. Once we arrived at The Gambia border, we have to buy a ticket to get on a ferry boat to cross the river, that costs 200 CFA. Depending on the time of day and the amount of trucks/buses/cars arrived before you, you can wait a very long time (I’ve heard people waiting over eight (8) before!), but we only waited two hours. It was pretty interesting because the Pulaar people heard their cattle and one ferry had pretty much was filled with all cattle to cross the river. (You can bet that I was the “tourist” taking the pictures!!) 

Ferry at the Gambia River

After getting out of The Gambia it only takes about another three hours until reaching the Kolda Garage. It is so, so hot right now that by the end of the ride it is a putrid smell of body odor. (Just FYI, my solar radio reads upwards of 130 degrees, plus humidity on some days) Since it was almost dark upon my arrival, I had to stay at the Regional House one more night and return to my village the following morning. Because I live in the “Bush” a taxi from Kolda to my village costs 5,000 CFA (it is only about 10-12 Km drive) whereas the sept-place from Dakar to Kolda costs about 9,500 CFA (which is 672 Km, but in actuality probably longer because of the windy roads). That doesn’t seem quite right, does it? Oh well… 

I asked a cab to take me to my site, he said he would so I loaded my stuff up and we were on our way. The issue was, he didn’t know my village, and I had only driven there during the day time once and in the night time once; plus, I don’t have the greatest directional sense in new places with no road names and the only landmarks are sand, trees and huts (that ALL LOOK THE SAME!!), so I also didn’t know exactly where to turn off to get to my village. I knew that I had to turn left into a smaller village, but I forgot the name and I wasn’t paying attention to all the recognizable landmarks that I told him to turn into a village, I thought could be the through village… it wasn’t. It was, however, another village I knew and I knew that the next village was the through village. What I didn’t know was that Sare Samba had a back road that took us to Santancoy and not to the road we previously left, so I told him to turn down the wrong road. Once I noticed that there was no way back out to the other main road, I tried to figure out how to tell him that he had to turn around. Finally, we reached another village, the village preceding Santancoy, where my dad’s family lives, and they told my driver to turn around. Once we got back to Sare Samba, one of the men there ran out to the taxi and told my driver how to get to my village. My driver was M.A.D. at me, but I honestly don’t think he should have agreed to the trip if he didn’t know how to get to my village himself. He just wanted the money. But, once I arrived at my village, I had a great reunion with my kitten, counterpart, and my family. I am, however, a big gossip piece about how I didn’t know how to get home and I got my driver lost… oh well, there could be worse things that people said about me. 

Now, I am trying to reintegrate into my community and figure out how to speak Pulaar again,  but I am currently in Kolda for my “language seminar” and will be posting a few more blogs within the next few days. I go back to my site on July 5th.

The (first) day I finally saw not only meat, but a vegetable in my lunch bowl..

Korite 

Korite is the day of celebration of the end of Ramadan. Everyone wakes up early, they get dressed to the nines in their new komplets, shoes, jewelry, etc and show off. (Although most of my village could not afford new komplets, so they either just got new skirts, or a new pair of shoes and dress in an older outfit, but for the most part everyone has a new braids in their hair (except me)!) They go and pray together and then go household to household greeting everyone and giving small tokens like a 10/25/50 CFA coins or candy. They go pray again and then they start the preparations for their “feast.” Most families purchase a goat to eat on this day of celebration, but because my family and the people in my village are exceptionally poor, not everyone was able to conform to this standard. My family went in with a few other households to buy a goat, some of the other households in my village bought a few chickens instead. 

My counterpart came to ask me to use my knife to cut his family’s goat’s throat to kill it then to skin it and so forth, but I down right refused him that option. Firstly, I didn't want my knife to kill an animal and secondly, it was my best knife, I didn’t want them to dull it and ruin it with cutting bones. It has become apparent to me, like children, adolescents, and even some very privileged adults in The States, most Senegalese do not take care of anything that is lent to them because they didn’t buy it so they don’t appreciate the value; they ruin/break it, give it away and/or will never give it back. I wasn’t about to lose my knife this early in my service, plus I am working on being able to say, “no” to people. (It is actually on my 30 things to do before I am 30 list, and I thought living in Senegal would help me with that, but I find myself caving in even more than I did before.. Stay tuned (next blog) for the juicy details of that statement!) But this request was easy to stay strong to because I have refused to let my counterpart’s family kill a rooster they “gave” me to eat. I told them if I know the rooster, I will not eat the rooster, but if it is an unknown rooster and it shows up as meat not as an animal, I can eat rooster/chicken. (After I said that, they joked with me about it for a few weeks, then one day I asked where my rooster was, and they said they sold him since I didn’t want to eat him. Heh.) They don’t really understand  how I could be ok with eating a random piece of meat but not one that I knew because here they buy the live animal, they kill it, pluck it, skin it, cut off the meat, and cook it. It isn’t like back in The States where we go to the grocery and find all the options of meat with the degrees of quality, cut or portion size and there is no option of boneless of boned meats, they have one option: kill the animal, prepare the meat, and figure out how to store the meat not immediately consumed without electricity to cool or freeze it. Most times, people in village eat meat several days old that is evidently spoiled because they don’t want to waste the meat that their precious money bought and they end up getting very sick from that consumption decision. 

I knew that our family bowl was going to have meat in it, which was very exciting since it would be the first time we had any form of meat, including fish, to eat, but when lunch was ready, to my surprise, I saw my first vegetable too! I finally ate some onion!! I was only allowed to have a very tiny piece of meat, no bigger than my thumb (which I secretively gave half to my cat since he is looking a little malnourished as well), but I was able to eat several spoonfuls of onions! Our meal consisted of rice, onions and some goat meat. That is the big feast of a poor bush village family. However, I don’t want you all to think this is the eating habits of everyone in Senegal, but because I am in the poor south in a poor village, this is how they live. The majority of my stage mates (even volunteers in my region) have more variety to their everyday meals and defiantly to they holiday meals. I just “lucked out” on my site placement so these details are the only ones that I am accustomed to and can illustrate in my blog. 

After everyone ate, the adolescents went to dance the rest all day.  The day was filled with extreme heat, where some girls/women wore komplets that were so extravagant that had headscarves with bows and flowers on top of their heads where even at 0900, I could see beads of sweat rolling down their faces, not even penetrating the thick layers of makeup they applied earlier in the morning.(Which, by the way, when my sister came to my room in the morning, I had no idea who she was because of how they put on the make up here, they don’t look ANYTHING like what they normally do.. it is kind of scary actually. It is stage makeup boarding clown makeup!!) I am still confused on how that can be managed. I personally took several breaks throughout the day where I had to go into my room, strip down naked and just poor water over myself to cool off and just lay there for an hour before I could even think about putting on my komplet and facing the heat again. I guess they were born here and are used to it? When I get too hot and need to “rest” aka, go strip down and cool off, they tell me that my body isn’t strong yet, but after two years I will be strong. I didn’t realize that “strong” meant being able to endure heat, but here it does. 

When people asked me how I liked Ramadan and how Korite was for me, I would reply, Ramadan wasn’t nice, Korite was hot, but I am happy because from now on (until next Ramadan) I can eat lunch! 

The day I reflected on my packing list...

Five months ago I arrived in Senegal. Although, (way) more than five months before that I started researching and reading blog after blog trying to figure out what I was going to bring with me on my 27 month stay in a developing country with little means, and how in the world I was going to get it packed within the weight limits. This task was the worst part of my anxiety of my departure and my service. I have never been a "light packer" and with all my research and purchasing, my dad swears that I was keeping Amazon in business and they are bound to go bankrupt since my departure decreased their sales significantly.. at times I thought he was right. I went overboard. I have been planning my Peace Corps journey for over a decade, so of course I had plenty of time to contemplate my precious cargo. 

Below is the list of what I actually brought with me--because I had to leave double what fit into my suitcase back in Ohio. This list was going to be one of my first posts, but since I was repacking up until the very second I left for the airport, I wasn't able to take a true tally until I reached country. This list is now accompanied by my thoughts on my choices and things I wish I knew were easily available in-country allowing me to pack something else instead.  

My Packing List: 

• 2- pairs of gardening gloves ---> luxury item, but I am very glad I have them since I work with manure all the time for my garden and compost pile
• 4- tubes of super glue ---> Easily found in-country
• 1- multi tool/knife ---> So glad I brought it, I use it daily and it is great for mango season!
• 1-nail kit ---> So glad I brought it! 
• 1-pumice stone ---> Your feet will be worse than you can ever imagine 
• 1- bottle of medicated body powder ---> This stuff is GLORIOUS! You can get powder in Senegal, but the medicated aspect is the key. I am getting more shipped to me in my next care package
• 2- outlet converters ---> Yea, maybe only one 
• 2- rechargeable battery devices ---> I use them all the time 
• 1- MacBook Air ---> You need a computer for reporting, but they are working on getting computers at all the regional houses, so computers aren't necessary, but I personally would never come without one 
• 1- 64 GB iPad ---> Nice for site because I don't have electric or cell reception to buy an internet stick at my site, and I don't have a solar panel system that can change my MacBook Air, so it is the only entertainment piece (besides my Kindle Paperwhite) that I physically have at my site. The regional houses have trunk spaces you can buy into that allows you to keep your stuff there... safe
• Kindle ---> Great for acquiring all the digital books on hard drives, but I wouldn't recommend reading it in front of people in your village. You don't want to seem any more patrone than what they already think you are
• 1- 2 TB passport external hard drive ---> So incredibly important. Load it with lots of good stuff, keep space so you can acquire new stuff from other volunteers 
• 1- headlamp ---> Priceless. Make sure you bring one
• 6- battery operated lights (the "push" on kind that have wall sticker mounts on the back, so that when you walk into your hut at night, you push the light, almost like flipping on a switch. I was proud of myself on this idea)---> I use them every night, but they are a luxury item
• 1- solar powered flashlight ---> It helps save on charging batteries all the time
• 2- small solar hanging lights ---> Luci lights are amazing
• 4- toothbrushes ---> You can get them here, just bring one to start out with
• 1- hamper ---> So glad I brought it, but it is not necessary 
• 3- 8 pack of crayons ---> Gifts for host family at CBT
• 3- kites ---> Gifts for host family at CBT
• 1- dry erase wall sticker/memo --->  Amazing, I do all my weekly planning on it
• 1- manduka travel yoga mat ---> I have bad wrists so I needed the good mat for support, but there are plenty of alternatives for yoga mats in-country
• 1- backpack --->  I use this for in-country travel 
• 1- daypack --->  I use this for day travel on my bike from village to village 
• 1- sewing kit --->  Bring one. Nothing extensive because you can resupply here, but Senegal is rough on everything
• 1- shower caddy ---> So glad I brought it. I wish I had two: one for my hut and one to keep at the regional house 
• 6- rolls of duct tape ---> Right now I think 6 might be excessive
• 1- pair of waterproof hiking shoes ---> I have yet to use these, but when I travel to Kedougou, I am sure I will get some use out of them.. Although, I am not sure the 1-2 times of use will be worth the space and weight
• 1- pair of trail runners ---> Horrible. Sand filled when worn outside
• 3- pairs of sandals  ---> Excessive. You can buy cheap (nice leather) sandals here
• 1- pair of shower shoes ---> Don't bother, you can buy cheap flip flops in-country 
• 4- tubs of witch hazel cleaning scrubs ---> Senegal is rough on everyone's skin 
• 3- 1 subject notebooks --->  You don't need them, they are provided during training and you can buy them if you want more.. however, they are the grid type, not the college ruled
• 1- clipboard that opens up for storage ---> It is a luxury item, but I love it for field surveys.. Which you will do a lot of
• 2- packs of note cards//flash cards --->  Great for PST language learning 
• 3- packs of pens ---> Pens are just not the same here
• 1-paper organizers --->  It is great to keep the lose papers together that you're given throughout training to reference if you don't have Internet access frequently
• 1- peel and stick chalkboard ---> You can buy chalkboard paint here
• 1- pack of liquid chalk ---> You can buy normal chalk here
• 1- bottle of shampoo --->  You can easily find shampoo here.. just not Aveda, which is what I use 
• 2- bottles of conditioner ---> You can buy conditioner in the bigger cities in the "western" stores
• 2- loofahs ---> You can buy the local equivalent here for 1$
• 2- sponges ---> I use them all the time, but you can find them in-country pretty easily
• 3- water bottles ---> I'm glad I brought 3. Each have a different purpose: My Nalgene bottle is my daily use. I have a Hyrdoflask that is amazing because it keeps water cold (if you added ice or it was cold before you put it in your bottle) for up to 24 hours, which is a luxury in the hot season. I also brought one that was a Lifestraw bottle that that conceals the fact you are filtering the water. This feature is great because if you are in the "bush" more than likely you won't always have easy access to "clean water" (for instance my village doesn't have a boutique to buy it and you're traveling without your filter.. So this way you can put it in your water bottle and they don't know you're using a special filter per se. Using items that are out of their reach and not available for a behavior change you are trying to promote can hurt your endeavors 
• 1- tube of toothpaste --->  Good to start out, but Senegal has lots of toothpaste options.. Surprisingly
• 4- packs of 4, rechargeable AAA batteries --->  Essential for my light sources without electricity and it keeps my overall expenses down by not having to constantly buy batteries
• 4- packs of 4, rechargeable AA batteries ---> Read the above 
• 1- alarm clock --->  No. Don't waste your space or weight. Use a phone, and honestly, you will just wake up with all the morning noise
• 1- pair of scissors ---> So glad I brought them, but they are a luxury item. You can buy scissors easily here, but the quality obviously will not be the same
• 1- bag of wooden clothes pins ---> You can find these everywhere here
• 1- clothes line ---> Don't bring one
• 1- can opener --->  I cook a lot at my site, so I use mine all the time
• 3- cooking knives ---> At least one good knife
• 1- set of Tupperware containers in varying sizes ---> You can buy these here
• 1- fast drying towels ---> Yes. I am actually getting h one mailed to me because my towel isn't cutting it. I switched to the REI one that pretty much everyone else has and raves about
• 1- rain jacket ---> Luxury item. Depending on where you are placed, you might never even consider using it
• 30- pairs of underwear ---> Don't question it, wait for a sale and just load up
• 10- pairs of socks --->  Maybe 2 pairs would be sufficient, but I am not running all the time
• 12- bras --->  Sweat wicking bras. Get a variety of strap designs. I only brought a criss-cross kind and my straps are always showing. I'm getting some new ones sent to me
• 2- pairs of jeans ---> Honestly, 1 should be sufficient .. It's too hot for jeans most of the time
• 2- long skirts ---> To start out training with, but most likely you will get a lot more made with the local fabric 
• 3- t-shirts 
• 5-tank tops --->  Bring the wider straps, highly recommend the fast drying/sweat wicking kind 
• 3- sweaters ---> I was in a fantasy world. Bring one sweater
• 1- wall sticker map ---> Luxury item for my hut decoration
• 1- box of bobby pins
• 6- packs of hair ties 
• 1- travel pillow ---> I wish I would have brought a "real" pillow, you can't find nice pillows easily here
• 1- brush
• 1- comb
• 1- journal
• 1- atlas of West Africa 
• 2- note taking travel pads ---> These are AMAZING for your first few months at site and language learning/ acquisition, but you can easily make them yourself and safe the space and weight in your suitcase
• 1- pack of ear plugs --->  Senegal is so noisy. It's a great idea to have more than one pair (especially if you get a cat like mine that always manages to find them and eat them)
• 2- solar battery chargers --->  Great because I can't always get to electricity to charge my batteries
• 1- box of bandaids --->  The water resistant kind. You don't get the "good" stuff in the MedKits
• 2-pair of tweezers
• 1- USB/ solar power STERI pen --->  I lived on the STERI pen when I lived in India, but it isn't ideal because of what Peace Corps represents and promotes. We don't want to teach clean water habits one way to the people of the country and then use a high tech technique for ourselves that is not feasible for them. Think integration  
• 1-ENO double deluxe hammock --->  I use it every day in my backyard at my site
• 4- carabiners --->  Useful for endless reasons
• 1- cooling towel 
• 1- wall stencil --->  Luxury item for hut decoration 
• 1-solar/crank/weather/AM/FM radio --->  I don't use it..At all. Except to check the temperature. Record temp 131 F
• 1- bike helmet ---> They told us we had to bring one but they ended up giving us all helmets. It's a tough call 
• 1-cloth produce bag ---> I use it for pretty much everything, especially shopping in the markets
• And a lot of ziplock bags varying in size ---> Yes, a million times over. Bring tons!

Things That I Had Shipped To Me: 

• Powdered Cheese 
• Parmasean Cheese
• Protein Powder 
• Protein Bars 
• Fiber Bars 
• Bike Basket 
• D Battery Operated Fan ---> I am not talking a hand fan either. I highly recommend getting one of these things! 
• Rechargeable D Batteries 
• Portable Battery Charger for Mobile Devices
• Macaroni and Cheese 
• Tuna Helper 
• Spices 
• Bike Tool 
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Castle Soap
• Wet Wipes
• Vitamin C Supplements
• Acne Face Wash
• Acne Spot Treatment
• Face Lotion
• Face Sunscreen 
• 70 SPF Sunscreen 
• Resistance Bands 
• Closet Organizer
• Storage Bags
• GRE Books
• Acrylic Paints & Paintbrushes (Actually, I am still waiting on this package to arrive)
• Bathing Suit---> Bring one. We have beach weekend and at most regional houses you can find a nice hotel that you can go swim in their pool
• Baby Clothes for Baby Ceremony Gifts
• Cat Med Supplies and Toys
• Swedish Fish
• Pop Tarts
• Marshmallows 

Obviously, I have a very loving and generous family that is willing to send me numerous care packages despite the amount of effort and expense. I am truly grateful for their love and support throughout this adjustment period. 

If anyone was wondering how I packed everything, my answer is: carefully. 

I originally had 2 rolling suitcases, but the night before my departure I recruited my dad and mom to help me decide what was "necessary," and my dad convinced me that I wouldn't be able to handle 2 rolling suitcases plus my hiking backpack and my book bag all by myself. He was right. So, I cut my belongings almost in half as I discarded one of my large (50.0 lb) suitcases. I arrived at the airport with one, 49.9 lb hardshell suitcase to be checked, my hiking backpack that was 50.0 lbs to be checked, and a carry-on book bag (probably also weighing close to 50 lbs) with all of my electronics and batteries in it and a small-ish purse. It was a rough go. IF by any means you can manage to not travel as heavy as I did, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. However, as my parents can personally attest, it would have been cheaper to pay for the extra piece of luggage in the beginning than to ship all of my care packages. But, defiantly not as much fun on my end.