Well, that was quite a month. Kind of glad it’s over, to be honest. I’m ready for everybody to get back to work. Glad, I experienced it though. While I was fasting, I started my days early, around 5:30, with a big scrambled egg sandwich, coffee, and glass of water, then I would head back to bed and sleep for as long as I could. After that, the day continued as usual, though I tried to sleep during the 2pm to 4 pm hours. That’s Gambian lunch time, and was so very difficult. The key was to stay busy. Then, around 7:20 in the evenings, we would all break fast with bread (that’s one thing The Gam gets right, their bread is great), really sugary tea, and a dish made with (usually) noodles, potatoes, and some sort of protein-- chicken, eggs, or beans--cooked in onions and other spices. These dishes are great. Once we had beef. Seriously, BEEF. Mmmm. Then, my fam usually served a sugared down kool-aid type drink(I‘m pretty sure we all ate our weight in sugar this month), then dinner was served an hour later.
Overall, I fasted for 7 days, though while I was traveling, I sort of fasted by default merely because I didn’t want to eat in front of anyone who wasn’t eating, and if I didn’t have a chance to run behind a tree for a drink of water or something, then I had to wait until break fast time,. So maybe I fasted for longer, like 12 days. Either way, I lost more weight than I consider healthy and decided it wasn’t worth it.
The final day of Ramadan, called Koriteh, is a major feast day, everyone gets dressed up, we eat lots of good food and have a good time. In the evenings, people (usually women and children) walk around asking for “saliboo” or prayer gifts. They want money, usually I give candy, but its also totally appropriate to give prayers. “May Allah give you long life!” is not quite as satisfying as some dalasis. Sorry.
It was funny to me what rules people chose to follow during Ramadan, or what they were willing to compromise on. For one, people were spitting everywhere. God doesn’t want you to eat or drink anything, including your own spit, so you’re hawking everywhere? Gross. Also, people aren’t supposed to listen to any music throughout the month, but I know I heard it. People aren’t supposed to smoke, tobacco or marijuana, ever, but I know I saw and smelled that too. People aren’t supposed to have romantic relations with their girlfriends or boyfriends (spouses are fine, I think), and my PCV friends who have Gambian partners told me that this rule was adhered to without fail. I’m not judging people for breaking the rules, I’m just saying that if it was me, and all sins being equal, and I was looking to break some rules but not others, I’d prioritize differently. ;-) Food and affection from the opposite sex would be WAY higher on the list than music and cigarettes. People who are sick, old, or traveling, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or menstruating, are all NOT SUPPOSED TO FAST. The Koran says so. But women did. In fact, all the women who I know who are pregnant or breastfeeding fasted. It pissed me off.* They just don’t want to make it up later in the year, when everyone else is eating. People in general liked to tell me how many more days than me they fasted, and it felt a little competitive. When I explained that I tried for sake of experience, and that its not my religion, nor a requirement for me, they backed down, but it did seem a little like they took some satisfaction from being stronger than me. This isn’t that surprising. I know religious groups in the US who enjoy being ‘holier than though’ too.
*Actually, I would say that behavior change communication, or BCC, is probably the most difficult and frustrating part of this job. There are plenty of situations where I think “If they just did THIS, their lives would be so much easier, safer, more efficient, BETTER. Soap for hand-washing, sending girls to school, smoking cigarettes even though your family can’t afford vegetables. It’s not that people don’t know the health or life benefits of these choices, they’ll tell you that what they are doing is not good, but they do it anyway. Talking to these women about their fasting choices was just a pisser. They KNOW they are harming their babies. They agree with me that its not good to fast. But they do it anyway. I talk to their husbands, and their husbands talk to them, and they still refuse. Children don’t fast, but they are forcing their developing fetuses to fast. If I’d have known this was going to be a problem, I would have tried to tackle it earlier before the month started, maybe organize for them all to eat now, then all fast TOGETHER in a few months.
To put this in perspective, how many things have we all been encouraged to do, and know we should, but don’t? I don’t floss. Every dentist visit of my whole life, I’ve been told to floss but I don’t ( I also have no cavities). I don’t have a regular exercise routine, I’m just blessed with a good metabolism, but I’m sure that will kick me in the ass later in life. I don’t always wear a seatbelt sometimes. See, I get it, just knowing the possible consequences of your actions is not enough, there is more to behavior change, and it can’t be forced on people.
So, in all, Ramadan was an experience worth having, but I’m sure glad its over.
**Whoa, re-reading this post it seems a little disjointed. I wrote it while fasting, so maybe that’s the reason. Anyway, when I started being able to eat again, my mood and focus improved immeasurably.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
I'm back
Hey all, I’ve not been in the mood to communicate much lately, but I might as well write about my trip up-country. It was exactly what I needed, I was able to see friends, see parts of the country that I hadn’t yet seen, and do some thinking on development.
I began by visiting a friend in a Fula village on the north bank of the country, sort of in the middle. Her village is fairly small, and is about 12 K from the main road. Transport only comes through her village twice a week. That means if you’ve got places to be any other time, its either bike it, walk it, or make really good friends with someone with a horse cart(as it happens, not a foolproof method. On the night before I needed to leave, it rained heavily such that the horse cart could not make it through the mud. We walked it). What struck me first was how much more green things were there than where I live. There is less concrete--houses, roads, or fences--, less trash (plastic shopping bags, plastic candy wrappers, plastic water bags, little tiny plastic bags used to contain popsicles, batteries), and just more open space for farming. It was gorgeous. When I noted this to my friend, she just looked at me and replied, “duh, they can’t afford that.” Also, people just seemed more genuine. They were all friendly, but no one asked me for anything. They all just asked where I was staying in the country, and how long I would stay here. It was really refreshing in that respect. Also, no bumsters or wanna-be thugs.
After leaving there, I headed to the very far eastern end of the country, and stayed with two different friends there. I found the same to be true in both of their villages, everything was greener, people were nicer. Yes, things are more remote(we had to walk 15 K to get to the nearest weekly market), but the atmosphere was also just more pleasant. Also, there is so much more biodiversity in their forestry up there. Around me, its all mango, cashew, and oil palm. But up there is a huge variety of plant life, some edible, some not, but it just seems more healthy. My friends reported that the attitude towards development was different as well. Since no tourists go up that way, and very very few development dollars get that far up-country, people know that if they want something done, they will have to do it themselves. There weren’t nearly so many young men just sitting around under trees trying to tell me their name is 50 Cent, they’re too busy fixing fences to protect the crops. On the other hand, the people there are very busy in terms of everyday survival, so sometimes there just isn’t anything in terms of “development” going on, they don’t have time to have a meeting to discuss the health of the community or sending girls to school, and I think sometimes my friends feel bored and isolated.
So that was my brief comparison on development in The Gambia. In my opinion, Western Region of The Gam has had too much of it, and this has killed the incentive of many of it’s citizens. They’ve got more stuff, and expectations for stuff, than they have the education and understanding of what to do with it. But on the other hand, there is always something to do if I need it. I can get fruit and vegetables whenever I want them(even if I have to buy them from a wanna-be gangster named 50 Cent), I can get a car whenever I want it. And my people are here. It felt nice to be home.
I began by visiting a friend in a Fula village on the north bank of the country, sort of in the middle. Her village is fairly small, and is about 12 K from the main road. Transport only comes through her village twice a week. That means if you’ve got places to be any other time, its either bike it, walk it, or make really good friends with someone with a horse cart(as it happens, not a foolproof method. On the night before I needed to leave, it rained heavily such that the horse cart could not make it through the mud. We walked it). What struck me first was how much more green things were there than where I live. There is less concrete--houses, roads, or fences--, less trash (plastic shopping bags, plastic candy wrappers, plastic water bags, little tiny plastic bags used to contain popsicles, batteries), and just more open space for farming. It was gorgeous. When I noted this to my friend, she just looked at me and replied, “duh, they can’t afford that.” Also, people just seemed more genuine. They were all friendly, but no one asked me for anything. They all just asked where I was staying in the country, and how long I would stay here. It was really refreshing in that respect. Also, no bumsters or wanna-be thugs.
After leaving there, I headed to the very far eastern end of the country, and stayed with two different friends there. I found the same to be true in both of their villages, everything was greener, people were nicer. Yes, things are more remote(we had to walk 15 K to get to the nearest weekly market), but the atmosphere was also just more pleasant. Also, there is so much more biodiversity in their forestry up there. Around me, its all mango, cashew, and oil palm. But up there is a huge variety of plant life, some edible, some not, but it just seems more healthy. My friends reported that the attitude towards development was different as well. Since no tourists go up that way, and very very few development dollars get that far up-country, people know that if they want something done, they will have to do it themselves. There weren’t nearly so many young men just sitting around under trees trying to tell me their name is 50 Cent, they’re too busy fixing fences to protect the crops. On the other hand, the people there are very busy in terms of everyday survival, so sometimes there just isn’t anything in terms of “development” going on, they don’t have time to have a meeting to discuss the health of the community or sending girls to school, and I think sometimes my friends feel bored and isolated.
So that was my brief comparison on development in The Gambia. In my opinion, Western Region of The Gam has had too much of it, and this has killed the incentive of many of it’s citizens. They’ve got more stuff, and expectations for stuff, than they have the education and understanding of what to do with it. But on the other hand, there is always something to do if I need it. I can get fruit and vegetables whenever I want them(even if I have to buy them from a wanna-be gangster named 50 Cent), I can get a car whenever I want it. And my people are here. It felt nice to be home.
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