Participatory Analysis for Community Action.

Participatory Arguing for Complete Anarchy is what actually went down.

(You like that outfit btw!?)

Last weekend when my trainer Youssapha Boye came to Jammagën to facilitate the PACA workshop with my village I was really excited and hopeful that we would magically instill in my villagers a sense of direction, teach them how to organize themselves around a project and watch them evolve into a rational, level-headed community. I made have set my sights a wee bit high. What really happened is that everyone in my village starting ranting about how electricity is the only thing they need and how that it would solve all of their problems. When I realized that those were some of the expectations they had of me I literally felt like I had eaten a bad bowl of ceeb. I feel a strong sense of duty to the people in Jammagën and I don’t want to let anyone down, but bringing electricity to the village or building a road from Jammagën to Nioro are just not feasible projects for me to take on. Luckily Youssapha was there to intercede and helped to more clearly define my role as a PCV within the community.

Throughout the two day workshop Youssapha and Omar lead all of the PACA attendees (about 100 villagers total) in a number of activities such as community resource mapping, village asset list compilation, daily and seasonal calendars for men and women, as well as a community wish list. This is where the “fun” really began. Youssapha encouraged them to speak up about anything that would “make life in Jammagen better”. I literally cringed as he asked, but the point is to let them express all their wildest dreams, and then go through the list and have them discern what are actually needs versus desires, and then to rank the needs by level of importance.

Amazingly the top two needs, “electricity” and “road to Nioro”, made it above fixing the wells, having nutrition trainings, and even building latrines for the many compounds that don’t yet have them. But hey, at least we’ll be able to listen to the radio or charge our cell phones while we poop in our backyards, right? Nonetheless, this exercise was about finding out what is important to them, not me. Obviously we just need to do some health trainings so they understand the ins and outs of what goes in and out of their bodies.

We ended the PACA with a list of projects (some feasible, some not; like the bus they “need” or the tractor) and some project plans for the ones that we want to get started on.

The preliminary plan is to work on the water projects, because, well, water is important. Those include fixing the broken wells, installing more community robinets, building latrines in ever compound, and more latrines and a robinet at the school in order to start a school garden there. Also, I will be talking with some health volunteers about planning health, nutrition and malaria prevention trainings before the start of the rainy season. That should be enough to keep me busy on top of the garden, school garden project, continuing to study Wolof and preparing for rainy season activities.

Hey dad!

Remember how I mentioned before that I was going to be having a special guest? The week before the PACA I hosted a CIEE American student who is studying abroad in Dakar right now. Beth and I actually met in Kedegou while I was there for Christmas and she was traveling with her dad. Beth requested to come to my site for her last week of village homestay and she was an awesome honorary PCV for the seven days in Jammagën. She was a trooper through walking to Nioro to check on the school garden, sitting through prep meetings with my counterparts for the PACA, and fitting in with our family in general. I had a great time hosting her and hope to do it again next year when the new students arrive. Thanks for coming and for buying the chickens Beth!

In other news: it’s getting hot here. The average temp these days is between 105 and 110 and I really don’t mind it yet. The nights are still cool enough to sleep (outside) and I rather enjoy my hot yoga sessions every evening. I like to sweat. And the kids like to wear my sunglasses to protect their eyes from the harsh UVA/UVB rays.

Random things that have happened today:

1)      Ate smoked salmon cheese dip. Thank you to Cora’s dad for catching, smoking and transporting the Salmon to Senegal. Thank you to Cora for sharing. (And thank you to Beth for the crackers I used to dip!)

2)      Randomly decided to plug my broken ipod in today, just for kicks. It’s not broken anymore. I now have three ipods in Africa. Can we say excessive? Anyone want to buy an ipod off me? I only accept CFA and gluten free baked goods as payment.

3)      Got locked in the bathroom of the Kaolack house. The door handle jammed. It was reminiscent of the time in first grade that I got locked in the bathroom between Mrs. Bagley’s and Mrs. Eaves’ classrooms and I was crying, not because I was scared of being locked in a bathroom, but because I was utterly concerned about how my dad was going to smash my cinnamon rolls flat enough to slide them under the door for me to eat. I think it was a valid concern.

I’ve been in Kaolack for WAY too long for house cleaning, to write up my PACA report, apply for funding for some projects and just tying up loose ends online that I can’t do in village. I’m ready to be back in the Jamm now but will only be there for just over two weeks before I have to head down to Kolda for our Ag Summit. I’m excited to get to explore another region of Senegal and reunite with all my Aggie friends from all over the country. For now its back to the Jamm for some serious village mapping, latrine census taking, school latrine hole digging, demo plot planning and garden expanding. Fingers crossed someone watered the garden while I was gone!