Hey guys, its me in a bee suit!!

this past week I got to tag along with our environment training, and bee-keeping was just one of the awesome things I got to practice! Also, tree-grafting. Cool, hey?

Now its back to work work work...

Work it

Hey all,

I realized that many of my latest blog entries were kind of fluff material. Life is life, work is work, and I’m just kind of doing the thing. I’ve been enjoying myself, but nothing out of the ordinary has been happening. If I were speaking in Gambian state-the-obvious generalities, I would say “the sun is hot” “we are managing” and “its not easy.” those are three of my favorites. ;-)

The past few weeks I’ve been working with an chicken co-op, and its lead me to think a lot about money and its role in development, and how much to help or not help in other ways too. This chicken co-op has been in business for about 5 years now. They produce broiler chickens for meat. Originally, they wanted produce year-round, but they realized that they could not move the chickens fast enough to be profitable(chickens that don’t sell fast enough eat more food than the money they will sell for, and are then sold at a loss), so now they produce a large crop of chickens to coincide with major feast holidays, like Ramadan and Tobaski. However, this leaves the co-op idle much of the year, so they want to move into egg production. They don’t have the money to expand, because they need to fence the area to provide more security, dig a well, then buy the layer hens. We’ve been working on writing a grant together to cover these costs, which in general isn’t bad. Writing a grant is a good process for a business because it forces them to plan ahead, really think their idea through and defend how plausible it is. In that way, grants are much better than straight up donations or gifts…but its still just a gift, and I’ve seen other organizations abuse that.
I know a women’s club near me who donor-hops. They continually ask different donors and tourists for money so that they can make tie-dye, soap, and do sewing, none of which sells in the Gambia. Nonetheless, they’ve gotten plenty of grants, to continue making things that don’t sell, all in the name of “women’s empowerment” and they don’t see anything wrong with that. The money gets spent on materials, and on paying the women a daily or weekly stipend to continue to participate, and make things that don’t sell. No way am I going to go grant chasing with them, its not sustainable the way they’re using it. It just frustrates the hell out of me, that even if I don’t help them, a group of tourists will come through, the women’s group will dance for them and talk about women’s empowerment (indeed a worthwhile goal…also a catchphrase), the tourists will give them some money, and when that runs out they’ll ask for more. The same things happen with the schools. Ugh.
So I’ve just been thinking about all the money that gets spent willy-nilly around here, who needs it and who doesn’t, and how to tell the difference. I don’t have any answers. I trust the chicken group that I’m working with. They’ve handled money responsibly in the past, problem-solved, and are now looking to expand. They wrote their grant application themselves, and are very invested in their project. Then the question came up of how much to help them. They wrote the grant app, but it wasn’t written in a way that made sense to me, so I struggled wondering whether I should put things in an order that made more sense, present things more clearly, in order to give them a better shot, or should I leave it as is, and it would look better to the grant committee to see it written entirely by a group of Gambians, even if the writing isn’t as clear as it might be.

So I’m thinking about chickens, still working with the peer health society, still trying to help organize some environmental education, and just doing the thing. ;-)

Hey Guys, check out my new “complet”

When you go to naming ceremonies and such, you get all dressed up. My mother would never say so, but she’s kind of a fashion plate. She always looks gorgeous, and I think I kind of embarrassed her wearing the same outfit to every single event, which was made in Kiang (Kombo tailors are much more skilled). So I got this outfit made so I wouldn‘t embarrass her so much, and I kind of love it. The stitching is itchy as all get-out, and the fabric doesn’t stretch or breath, but I think I look pretty. ;-)

Hey all

I felt like doing another entry on cashews. We are well into cashew season in Western Region, and they are everywhere! I realize that this is a little snap-happy, but I just think the fruit is so beautiful! There is such a variety of color! You get really lemony yellows, and cranberry reds, and every shade of orangey-peach in between. I really do think that they are just such a beautiful fruit.
And sadly they go to waste! They are falling off trees left and right in the fields near me. Many kids eat them (or throw them at passing cars), but many people don’t. The tart taste must not be for everyone. Anyhoo, so I’ve been experimenting with cashew jam, and cashew wine, pictures of which have been included here. The jam has turned out well and is very tasty. My host family enjoyed it, but I don’t think they have any interest in making it. Oh well, maybe someone else. The wine is still fermenting, so I have no idea what to expect from that.
Say! Are those condoms on top of those bottles? Why would you do that? Yes, they are. (thanks Peace Corps med kit)by putting condoms on top of the bottles, and poking small holes in them it acts as a sort of one-way valve allowing carbon dioxide to escape, while not allowing liquid to evaporate, or any contamination from the air to land. Plus, when the condom deflates, I’ll know my fermentation is over.

The pictures displayed here of the suspended transparent tent are of my solar food dryer that I have erected in my back yard. I’ve been successful at drying bananas and cashew fruit thus far. Its not crunchy like freeze-dried food, which is what I was going for, but more like fruit leather. Its still tasty and doesn’t spoil. The kids have liked the dried fruit that I’ve given them to sample, but the adults have just smiled as though to indulge me, and then given their sample to a child. ;-)

In other news of hobbies, my garden is turning out wonderfully and I’ve had time to return to poetry writing, which has been nice. Work, plus these activities have kept me rather busy.

Thanks to all of you who have sent mail. Its always a day-brightener!

Wheeee!

Magic in Everyday Life

For good, bad or otherwise, the belief in magic is a big part of the daily life of most Gambians. People wear amulets, called “jujus” or “safoo” to ward off spirits and sickness, or to bring about good things. These jujus are verses of the Koran written out, then stitched in leather pouches that are then worn on the body, often around the waist, neck, wrist, or upper arm. Babies wear big long strings of them. Other jujus are made for other purposes. For example goats keep coming into the compound and they eat our cassava, so my host father made up a juju by boiling something in a rams horn, then tying it with a red string and hanging it in the cassava. He said that if the thief came back, he would be frozen in his tracks by the juju, and we would find him there(this surprised me, because my host father is educated, but that just goes to show how pervasive this practice is in the country. Education or not, he still relies on magic.). Many people have jujus hanging in the doorway to keep spirits out.
These jujus are made by “marabouts”, traditional medicine men. These men are trained in Koranic studies, but many of their practices are from before Islam came to the area. Marabouts are also able to cast spells for people to influence events, etc.
There is also many beliefs about devils. My host mother won’t let me go out of the compound after 7 PM, because of devils. I thought this was s euphemism, and maybe the neighborhood isn’t safe. She insisted its not the neighborhood, but if a devil saw me, I would get an incurable sickness and die.
I was out in the bush taking pictures, and had stopped to photograph a giant termite mound, when a little girl came out of nowhere to tell me to get away from it, its not safe. I asked why, she didn’t say, but just said that it was not safe. Later, I asked my host brother, and he said that a devil, disguised as a serpent, lives there and if it sees me, and I see it, I’ll die.

I think that the traditional beliefs are interesting, and I don’t advocate loss of culture, but where they get in the way, is when I’m trying to advocate more concrete behavior change to protect people’s health or promote development, and many times people are happy to just rely on the possibility of magic. One of my PCV friends coaches a soccer team, but its difficult to get his team to practice, because apparently soccer, in his village, is more a battle of the marabouts, and the medicine men cast spells throughout the game. You only win if you marabout is stronger. Yes, I’m fine with your baby wears jujus, but lets get him inoculated too, ok? Sure, wear jujus, but also study for your school test rather than hoping your marabout cast a strong spell. I actually think that jujus are kind of cool looking, and I would wear one with my binbins, but then I feel like that would be an endorsement, and work against my urging people to take more effective actions. The presence of magic sort of just removes the aspect of personal responsibility in a situation, and that’s hard for me to overcome.
Although, as far as going out after dusk….devils or no devils, its probably safest to stay in anyway.