PC/Senegal Welcome Book

I was recently asked to write a piece for the PC/Senegal Welcome Book that goes out to future volunteers who are coming to Senegal. It provides a brief insight on my experience here. Here is a copy of what I wrote:

------------------------------------------------------

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, it is mind boggling to think about where you once were, where you are now, and what still lies ahead of you once here in Senegal. Every new day provides a different set of challenges and rewards. The obstacles that once seemed difficult and unbearable typically become easier and more enjoyable as your service moves forward.

As a second year Urban Ag Volunteer living and working in Dakar, a multi-national city of about 2.5 million people, I still remember all the questions and worries I had the first several months here. I struggled trying to figure out how to integrate into this large, diverse city, feel a sense of community that seems to come so natural in a village, and make this my home for the next two years. While the Peace Corps/Senegal community was here to help, the only way to answer the questions I had was to try different approaches and see what worked well for me. There is no formulated response on how you should approach your service other than that it is up to you to make it work.

Now a year into my Peace Corps service, the efforts I made have truly started to pay off and the struggles faced early on are now only faint memories. The large, intimidating city that it once seemed, is now smaller and manageable. The individuals who make up Dakar have gone from just faces to friends, co-workers, and mentors.

Looking back on some of the highlights that helped me get to this level of comfort, I often laugh and even question what I was thinking at the time. I do not think I can count on one hand the number of times I would get on the wrong bus and then just ride the entire route, hoping it would go to where I was going. After awhile, I just started walking everywhere, until I figured things out better and then realized an 8 mile walk home from work could be entertaining but was far from practical. Or, getting in somebody’s car thinking it was a taxi, only to realize a mile or two down the road that it was just a guy picking up some of his friends. Fortunately, everyone was good-natured about it, and the driver did not even ask me topay.

For the two years that you will be here, you are going to experience one of the most enriching times of your life. The stories you will be able to share, the memories that will impact your life, and the friends that you will make, truly makes your presence here worthwhile. Congratulations and welcome to Peace Corps/Senegal. All of us here wish you the best of luck and support throughout your journey.

Justin Land

Urban Ag (06 – 08)

Service Update...

One thing about the Peace Corps experience is that it provides you with the freedom to choose your own path. Some may look at this as a flaw, but if utilized correctly, it is very beneficial in branching away from your main assignment and giving back in ways that you find important throughout your service.

Over the course of the past month or so, I feel as if I’ve hit a new stride in my service. While my language skills are far from perfect, I am comfortable with it. Dakar has become my “temporary” home. Basically, I have reached a comfort level in my day-to-day life that makes things easier for me.


Because of this, I have been able to change up my routine in a manner I see fit. I used to just focus my time working at the garden at Fann, but slowly, I have been trying to branch out. First, in order to try and diversify the supplemental meals coming out of the garden and to get a better understanding of the kitchen, I have started cooking the patients’ supplemental meal once a week. Because the garden is only a piece in the puzzle, it is important to see another piece up-close as well. As of yet, the dishes I’ve prepared have been: coleslaw; garlic-buttered turnips; mashed turnips with garlic, onion, butter, and milk; sautéed kohl rabi and carrots; sautéed turnip, carrot, onion, and garlic with a lemon butter sauce. So far, the reviews have been good, with coleslaw topping the favorites list.

Another addition to my calendar is an English Class. Being here, you always get people who want to learn English. You never know who is serious or not. Also, early on, I tried not speak English, which proved to be difficult. Finally, a guy I work with convinced me to teach a class at his house.

Every Tuesday and Thursday night, from 8 to 10, I go over to his house, teach him and his wife English, in front of a few spectators, have dinner and tea, before walking home. It has been very interesting, not only because I know nothing about teaching English, but it is providing me with a different perspective on things. Also, Fatou, the lady I teach, is a mean cook. I figure that I will put on a few pounds as a result of her cooking.
While Tuesdays and Thursdays have turned into long days, they have been very rewarding. Ever since the first class in January, I have increasingly gained more respect for a couple of my past French teachers. I have been able to see myself in one of my students. I was never fond or even good at learning French from kindergarten all the way until college. Often times, the goal was just to pass. To do that, often times took a lot of work.

Some people just don’t have a grasp for foreign languages. For others, a poor teacher can hinder ones desire to grasp the language. Often times, the classroom setting is the worst place for an individual to learn.

While my French is still far from good and I rarely even use it in Francophone Africa, the dedication of my high school French teachers has provided me with the inspiration and a positive outlook in teaching this class. When the gentleman I work with brings his notebook to the garden to go over stuff, all I can think about are the hours of after school tutoring sessions I took part in and the dedication and care of my teachers at the time.

Finally, I am slowly easing myself into another gardening project at the C.T.A., a PLWHA outpatient center at Fann. The garden is being constructed by D.I.G., an N.G.O. started by Steve Bolinger. He was the Peace Corps Volunteer I replaced in Dakar. Their website can be found in the links section of this site.

Over the course of the next year, I am hoping to spend more time at this site. It is a site where individuals affected with HIV/AIDS work and maintain the garden, a scenario far different from my current site.

Well, here it is, the direction of things right now in a nutshell. Thanks for all of your support over the course of the past year.

A Grim Rememberance

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Death is one constant that binds all of humanity together. It isn’t often times wished upon or planned, but it is a reality of our existence. There is no one cause. Millions mourn some deaths, while others are barely viewed as a statistic.

In my own life, I have been very fortunate. Those who passed have only made me stronger, as well as some of the relationships I have. Despite my Grandmother’s passing over 10 years ago, her presence is still a constant reminder to me. It is weird how death can affect you, whether it is the day after or 10 years down the road.

You may ask yourself why I am writing about death. For the posts that have spanned this year, I’ve tried to keep a humorous and often times sarcastic spin on things. They have been about my life and experiences here in Senegal.

Today, I present you with another one of my experiences, but one I cannot find humor nor sarcasm in, but sorrow and tears.

After spending much of the day doing laundry at the regional house in Libertie VI (about 2 miles from my house), I got on a car rapide, paid my 15-cent fare, and headed home. The only thing unusual was that I had more laundry then normal. As the packed bus was about halfway to my neighborhood of Patte D’Oie, traffic slowed a bit, and there was a group of people lining the street. Despite it being illegal for presidential campaigning to occur this weekend, I figured it had something to do with that. Unfortunately, my world as well as I’m sure others, stopped when we saw that it wasn’t a presidential election that had gathered these people, but a young child who lay motionless on the pavement, 20 feet away from me. A checkered sheet had been placed over the body, with only their feet showing. While I can assume a vehicle hit the child, I don’t know for sure. I don’t even know if it was a boy or a girl.

My view of the child lasted maybe 20 seconds, but I figure that their impact on my life will last much longer. Unfortunately, I’ll probably never learn the child’s name or who they truly were, and that is a shame.

Another Beggar Story

Friday, February 23, 2007

If you have read my past posts, you will know about the beggars in Dakar. There are many types: young, old, families, disabled, standing, sitting, etc. Often times, they are territorial, staying in the same spot day after day.

This morning around 7:15 as I had just gotten seated on an Allhum in Patte D’Oie headed to work, I think I witnessed a territorial battle between two disabled beggars. While it didn’t rival a scene from Braveheart, it did get a little hostile.

There was a blind man walking along all the Allhums trying to get money from the passengers. This is not out of the ordinary. Also, there was an older lady, potentially mentally disabled or disturbed, sitting on a mat on the sidewalk begging for money. This too is not out of the ordinary.

I don’t know what triggered the dispute but all of a sudden, the lady started shouting at the guy and wouldn’t let up. The guy started shouting back. A few minutes later, there was a loud bang, and everyone on my Allhum jumped and then crouched, not knowing if the Apocalypse was coming or not. As it turned out, the old lady had thrown a large piece of cinder block and it hit our Allhum. Fortunately, it did not hit anyone.

The Allhum reached capacity at that point and as we were pulling away, everyone on board was starring out the window. The lady was grabbing more chunks of cinder blocks and I do not know where the guy went off too.

What is the world coming to?

W.A.I.S.T.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I remember doing my research on PC/Senegal and life in Senegal prior to coming here and always reading about W.A.I.S.T., or the West African Invitational Softball Tournament. I didn’t really know what it was at the time, but over the course of this past year, it has been something to look forward to.
Every President’s Day weekend, expats (mostly Peace Corps Volunteers) from all over West Africa come to Dakar to play softball and party. I believe their were 21 social league teams this year, along with 5 competitive league teams. Each team played a minimum of five games over the course of Saturday and Sunday. A playoff round was Sunday evening and more playoffs and the championship games were held on Monday.

The Borom Sa Yaay/Flaming Aces (Team Dakar) went 4 – 1 and then lost in the first round of the playoffs, bringing our record to 4 – 2. Six games in two days was exhausting.
On top of the games and American hot dogs, there were events every evening. The first night, everyone met at the American Club where a lot of people met their Dakar home stays and then everyone met up at a bar downtown. Saturday night, nothing was organized, so two buddies and I decided to work our magic and put something together at Oceanium. About 250 people, mostly volunteers showed up. As a result, it turned out to be a late but worthwhile and fun evening. Saturday, the Marines had a party at their house, but due to six games of softball and little sleep, I decided to rest my aching and tired body. Monday night was also the closing of W.A.I.S.T., which was wrapped up with an awards ceremony and a party at the American Club.

In the end, W.A.I.S.T. was definitely all the hype and something to look forward to in your Peace Corps service here. I must say though, as Tuesday morning rolled around, it was nice to get back to reality and work.

Because I have been unconcerned about writing about by own life lately, I suppose I'd update everyone on my parents move back to NC, which I suppose affects my life too.

Over the course of the next few days, my parent's house in Texas will be packed up and shipped to Charlotte. Because they have yet to find a house, they are moving into an apartment, for hopefully a short time, until they find a massive Georgian estate overlooking the city.

As for me, their move will allow me to think more about my trip back to the States. I am still shooting for around mid May but Im gonna try and hold off until they find a house and move. Regardless, I hope to be back in the States by mid July...I'm ready for a vacation and to see all of yall.

U.S. Embassy Dakar Warden Message: Election-Related Violence

Warden Message
U.S. Embassy – Dakar
February 22, 2007

This Warden Message is being issued to advise American citizens of violence in association with Senegal’s upcoming presidential election, and of special travel restrictions on Sunday, February 25, 2007.Senegal is scheduled to hold a presidential election on Sunday, February 25, 2007. In the past two weeks, various political parties have had violent confrontations throughout Senegal.
On the evening of Wednesday, February 21, two political parties had a violent confrontation in the Mermoz area of Dakar; several people were gravely injured and several vehicles were destroyed. A popular expatriate restaurant, Le Regal, was seriously damaged by an uncontrolled mob. The U.S. Embassy expects that this type of violence could continue and worsen once the news media reports election results.

Due to the likelihood for violence before, on and after Sunday, February 25, American citizens should avoid unnecessary movements, including within cities, particularly after 2:00 p.m. for the next two weeks. The U.S. Embassy will remain open for normal operations. American citizens should always avoid any large crowds, particularly political gatherings and street demonstrations, and maintain heightened security awareness at all times.

Although the official campaign season ends on Friday, the Government of Senegal has prohibited non-election related travel between towns on February 25. Also on February 25, the Government of Senegal will forbid people from wearing clothing indicating their support for an individual candidate or that displays by its colors an obvious party affiliation. There is also a possibility that the Government will impose a curfew on Saturday, February 24, in the late evening.

Urgent Consular Warden Message

The U.S. Embassy in Dakar is issuing this Warden Message to inform American citizens that the U.S. Embassy has just confirmed reports of election related violence on the evening of Wednesday, February 21 throughout Dakar, including in areas and a restaurant frequented by expatriates. The U.S. Embassy recommends that American citizens avoid going out in public during the evening hours. The U.S. Embassy will send more details on Thursday, February 22, 2007.

Consular Warden Message - February 14, 2006

The U.S. Embassy in Dakar is issuing this Warden Message to inform U.S. citizens of the potential for violence and travel restrictions in association with Senegal’s upcoming presidential election.

Senegal will hold a presidential election on Sunday, February 25, 2007. On February 25, the Government of Senegal has prohibited non-election related travel between towns. Also on February 25, the Government of Senegal will forbid people from wearing clothing indicating their support for an individual candidate or that displays by its colors an obvious party affiliation. There is also a possibility that the Government will impose a curfew on Saturday, February 24, in the late evening.

The news media may report unofficial results on Sunday evening and official results are expected to be announced within a few days. Once results are announced, either formally or informally, there may be political rallies and demonstrations throughout Senegal. In the past, these events have sometimes turned violent, as have some campaign-related events. Due to the potential for violence before, on and shortly after Sunday, February 25, American citizens should avoid any large crowds, particularly political gatherings and street demonstrations, and maintain heightened security awareness at all times.

Hold your horses folks, i have some new literature coming your way shortly. Hope all is well.