Well, I guess there’s a problem when I have to start off
each post with an apology for not posting but that’s the way it is these
days! I can’t believe that I’ve already
been in my village for over 6 months.
Looking back now, it has totally flown by even though some days can
really feel like an eternity under the Senegalese sun.
In the past few weeks things have really picked up around
here. A few older volunteers planned a
massive project to help people all across the region of Kolda repair and care
for their mosquito nets. In villages all
across the region, volunteers have been helping villagers sew, wash, and
transform (from square to circular) their mosquito nets. In most villages the program has also
included a small skit about malaria and/or a question and answer session with
the audience. Two older volunteers have
been going from village to village more or less for the past two months! In Sa’re Gueladio, I spent a couple of weeks preparing
for their arrival by:
- Asking the chief (also my host dad) for
permission
- Telling my counterpart about it so he could help
me organize
- Choosing some people to put the skit together
and having rehearsals (by far, the trickiest part!)
- Inviting…. And then re-inviting the entire
village by going house to house and telling people
- Borrowing seating (straw mats and benches) and
benoirs (to wash nets) for the day of
While this is a fairly straightforward task list, actually
putting into action was anything but, especially since I spent a few days prior
to the event in other nearby villages helping to execute the same program. The theater was definitely the trickiest and
up until it actually happened, I was almost sure it was going to fall
apart. For starters, the cast was ever-evolving
due to various travel, changing minds, and really who knows what else. When I finally got a few of the perspective
cast members in the same room for what I thought was a meeting to choose a
topic for the sketch, all that we actually decided was to have a meeting two
days later where everyone would present their idea for the topic of the sketch
and we would choose the best one and then be able to start rehearsing. This, bear in mind, all for a ten minute
skit.
In the end, things came together beautifully. There was great attendance all day. In total,
we washed about thirty nets, sewed up about twenty, and transformed over twenty
nets as well. During Universal Distribution
last year, my entire village got square nets.
But with some simple materials (a plastic tube, tape, and a few fabric
scraps) and a bit of ingenuity, any square net can be easily changed to
circular. This makes them a little
longer, easier to hang, and some people really strongly prefer them. The sketch also came together out of
nowhere. First, my counterpart conducted
a Q&A with the audience to get the conversation going about malaria and
particularly the importance of preventing and treating malaria in pregnant
women, since that was the topic of our skit.
Then, somewhat miraculously, nine people from my village performed a
flawless skit about the importance of detecting malaria early in pregnancy and
attending regular pre-natal visits. The
audience was totally captivated and laughed a lot.
I should note that watching Senegalese people perform
theater is sort of an interesting cultural experience because it’s hard for us
Americans to understand all the references (for both linguistic and cultural
reasons). Right off the bat, when the
cast was introducing themselves by their character names, the audience was
already cracking up which makes me think that there must have been some
references that went over my head.
Considering what a small part of this project it was, the theater really
highlighted the importance of working with Senegalese counterparts and having
host-country nationals really run the show.
If I had tried to script the theater or direct the flow at all, I doubt
the skit would have been anywhere near as entertaining.
In other news, rainy season has ended and “cold” season has
begun. In reality, it’s slightly less
sunny during the days but still quite hot.
It actually feels pretty chilly at night, at least enough for me to
bring my sleeping bag back to village to stay warm while sleeping. My garden is also starting to be
productive. The colder weather has
especially helped the lettuce to thrive and I have seen my first eggplants
start to grow. I’ve also added a banana
tree and a plantain tree that are still getting going. The extra plants have made the process of
watering my garden a bit of a marathon each day but it’s also pretty fun. My moringa trees have also grown very quickly
and my family has even started to use some of it in the meals that they cook!
I wish I could say that I will post more soon but that’s
probably not true. Enjoy the pictures
and happy trails!
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| Transforming a net with my counterpart |
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| Kadja, my neighbor, was particularly happy to leave with a newly circular net |
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| We were also able to provide on-site testing for anyone who had a fever or headache on the day of the event |
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| Opening scene of the theater: what a father should look like when his son wakes up feeling ill |
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| Taking their son to the hospital ASAP! |
