To begin, I know I am way past due on my blog writing… but in my defense I did begin writing only to lose my computer to a tragic accident on my way up to Northern Togo. So, I will try to remember and reflect back on everything that has happened in the last ten weeks. Wow and saying that… “Ten weeks,” I can hardly believe I have been here for that long, at the same time somehow ten weeks has felt like ten months. The sense of time here is really bizarre and I haven’t quite adjusted to it yet, days go by really slowly but months seem to pass quickly. It scares me in a sense because I have yet to be able to wrap my mind around living here for two years; it still seems daunting in a way. I wonder how I am going to find projects and things to do in my village for two years, at the same time I can see two years slipping by before I am able to accomplish enough, whether it be relationships, personal growth, or the impact I am supposed to make in my community. But, before I get into all of that I will try to re-cap the last few months of my life here for you.
Where to start, the first few weeks seem like a blur (something out of a movie). Being shuttled around in out private Peace Corps land rovers and having our every move planned and monitored. Sitting in a circle the first night at an “upscale” hotel, being handed a pill, told to take it without any questions asked or explanations given seems... so well for lack of better words government oriented (Don’t worry it was only our first dose of anti-malarials.) Going straight from little America (Peace Corps Bureau) to living with my host family in Gbatope was quite the transition; battling cultural barriers, struggling to perfect my French, trying to grasp basic greetings in three local languages, learning how to squat over a latrine when business calls, rejecting marriage proposals, combating illness and heat rash; a while trying to maintain some sense of sanity and normalcy… all seems like a part of life now (C’est la vie). At first I couldn’t understand why I was putting myself through some of these things, but little by little I came to realize that the good outweighs the bad… by nearly 100 lbs!
I am not going to lie, life here is tough, more than I ever could have imagined. Togo in one of two Peace Corps hardship countries remaining, we even get paid a little extra because of it. When walking and driving around the country it becomes very apparent why it is in fact a “hardship post.” Despite my past experiences in Africa, I am shocked here about how different life can be in each place. I am so taken back at times thinking about how two countries in the same world can have such immense levels of development (again for lack of a better term.) It makes it really difficult to believe that we are actually one world… yet at other times when you get down to the concept of humanity I am reminded how we are part of the same world. I could go off on a rant about that concept itself, but I’ll spare you all for now. So like I said life here is tough, but I never thought it was going to be easy, and what would the experience be if it was? Yet, when you break everything down piece by piece and really reflect on it, it is not that difficult at all (for Peace Corps volunteers) I have all my basic needs here met; food, water, roof over my head, enough money live more comfortably than the majority of Togolese people, I have excellent access to health care, a cell phone, a work station to retreat to whenever I need a mental health day, invaluable language lessons, technical training on subjects I could have only dreamed about learning before-all while getting to live this exciting and new life. I mean what more could I ask for, especially with the state of things in the rest of the world right now? So ten weeks in- I couldn’t be happier with my decision to be here.
The last nine weeks at my training site in Gbatope have been amazing, emotional, informative, frustrating, exhilarating, and HOT- definitely one of the hardest things about being here, my intolerance for heat and humidity. The persistent wetness you feel from sweat pouring out of every gland is not the most pleasant experience. I am so happy that I am posted up North where humidity doesn’t exist, let’s see how I feel in a few months when hot season hits and it gets up to one hundred and twenty degrees in the shade! So if anybody wants to come rescue me in the middle of February thru May, or somehow send me care packages full of snow, ice, and popsicles it would be greatly appreciated!!! Hopefully I won’t be too hot, laying spread eagle while fanning myself and crying that I won’t be able to put some of my new skills to use. Speaking of skills, wow, thinking of everything I have learned so far blows my mind! My official title here is… Environmental Action and Food Security volunteer (EAFS). Our goals in a nutshell; are to promote environmental awareness with a focus on women and youth, enhance sustainable agricultural production, and increase the amount and quality of food for all people at all times. As a program we define food security, ideally,” as a basic human right that guarantees equal access to nutritious and safe food while promoting cultural, environmental, and economic sustainability.” Thus, during training we focused on learning new skills, concepts, and techniques which can be put into practice to help these goals on a small scale. Some of my favorites classes were; mushroom cultivation, improved cook stoves, animal husbandry, container gardening, companion planting, and Moringa (an amazing tree that gives nitrogen to the soil (Nitrogen fixing tree), and also has amazing nutritional benefits. I think back to a few months ago sitting in my room in Eugene researching classes on such subjects, considering paying thousands of dollars for courses, weighing the pros and cons of the Peace Corps and being very reluctant to join- and here I am now having learned all of these things in only nine weeks and being the one who was paid to do so. How lucky am I? Not to mention all of the other skills I learned outside of technical class.
I now know how to repair almost every part on a bike, how to carry things on my head, how to silent scream at small children/ adults who yell Yovo at me (Yovo:white person/cunning dog), how to make tofu and soy milk and various other food items, how to do laundry by hand, how to filter water through many different methods, how to sit for hours on end starring out random animals, objects, and children all while still be entertained and let’s not forget the most important skill- how to live for seven weeks with a bacterial intestinal infection (with only a very smelly latrine to run to). I pretty much feel like superman after these last ten weeks and am pretty sure I could do most anything! But to be a bit more serious I have learned so many invaluable things from my host family in Gbatope. I have been exposed to what is a beautiful culture in one sense and a sad one in another. The way that Togolese foster relationships with everyone in a community, and everyone is considered part of each other’s families is something we greatly lack in our culture, additionally the ability for a culture to be so giving while having so little has really opened my eyes up to the beauty of humanity at its roots. “If there is enough for one here there is enough for all,” what my host family told me every day, and I witnessed them feed strangers and even enemies when asked. At the same time I have been exposed to many things that break my heart, and I am trying to not become desensitized in a way where I become a harder person, but learn how to acknowledge that things are different and often there is nothing I can do to change them. My last few days at my host family’s house in Gbtaope were difficult, I got really close to my host sister, a fifteen year old girl who was actually my families niece. She had lost both of her own parents to illness and worked for my host family in exchange for living with them and getting her school fees paid for. I have never seen more of hard working child, who was also wise beyond her years. I don’t want to get to into the story to protect her privacy, but she ended up leaving a few days before I was about to move to post. I was unable to say goodbye, and find out where she was before I left. It was a difficult time for me because I wish I would have done more to be her friend, her ally, instead of being too consumed with my own life and too concerned about stepping on people’s feet or disrespecting the culture to be her advocate. I suppose you live and you learn and can only try harder and be better the next time around, and inevitably there will always be a next time around, especially in a country where women’s and children’s rights are almost non-existent in the majority of the country.
To wrap things up, I swore in a week ago and am now an official volunteer! I left for post the day after our swear-in party and got to Takpapeni (my village) and was left to fly with my own wings, only to discover that my latrine was not completed (aka- no bathroom), my shower was still at stomach height, thus the whole village can gawk while I take my bucket showers (in a shower that the children use as their bathroom), and my kitchen still has massive holes, a wasp nest, and one window the size of a small notebook. C’est la vie. Thus for the first few days at post it was like pulling teeth to try to get anything accomplished, and so far after a week the only thing done is half of my shower has been built higher….so it is a work in progress. Other then housing issues I spent the first four days at post reading, taking lots of naps, coloring with children, and trying to bleach the mud white washed walls of my hut (not a good idea, now it looks like someone shat all over the place…oh joy). Despite all of this, I love Takpapeni it is a wonderful and welcoming village, and I have the nicest host family. I live with the family of one of the village nurse (Michelle) and his wife, they have two or three kids haven’t quite figured it out yet… a baby girl about 9 months old named Vero who is terrified of me and screams every time she sees me, a four year old little girl name Christaian who is slowly warming up to me, and then an older girl about ten years old who works a lot not sure if she is their daughter. Also, Michelle’s sister lives in the compound. She has a two-year old boy named Kossi, who has the biggest belly and is always naked except for the occasional blue oversized soccer sock he wears on one foot. He refuses to look at me and when he catches me look at him he grins with a deadly adorable smile and hides his face. Then there Michelle’s mother, who is a phenomenal woman about 75 years old- the way this women can climb up a 15 foot grain storage container jump inside and disappear then crawl back out with a 20lb sac of grain is something out of this world. All and all minus all of the hut frustration I have a pretty amazing village, complete with an entourage of wonderful children that follow me around everywhere. I can’t wait to see what is to come, the work I will do with my homologue, the friendships I will make, the amount of books I will read, and how good I will get at combating boredom… so far my method is starring at burning candles from 6 pm when it gets dark (no electricity) to 8 pm when I climb under my mosquito net only to sweat myself to sleep. Although, I can’t complain because when I can handle the massive amounts of insects the stars in a village with no lights are something out of a dream!
Well, hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving, I must admit mine was pretty bomb. We transported three live turkeys from Lome up north to Dapaong (my regional capital) and enjoyed the freshest most free range turkey I will ever have the opportunity to eat (although one flew off the roof on the way and died.. so that one was a little less fresh). Wonderful parents sent amazing care packages full of pumpkin pie cake mix, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, cornbread and more! So I had a pretty American thanksgiving! Enjoy the rest of holiday season; I will try to be better about blog writing, but it is difficult without a personal computer. Miss you all and if you feel inclined to send care packages I will put some ideas below of things kids in my village, me, and other volunteers would enjoy!
My address:
PCV Manda Draper
Corps de la Paix
BP102
Mango, Togo West Africa
Small puzzles
Water color
pencils
Coloring books
paints/paint brushes
Stickers
Soccer balls
Fun games
Candy
Chocolate
Crackers/ goodies
Tuna packets (in water)
Nuts (unsalted)
Bars (cliif bars, power
bars, lara bars)
Anything that tastes good
Anything slightly ndulgent (things that we can’t get here)
Movies
Tv shows on thumb drives
Good music
Newspaper articles
Nat. geographic magazine
Batteries
Cool stickers for my moto helmet and bike
Calendars
World maps/ maps of anything
cool stuff to put on my walls
Bubbles
Any good books
Dog toys, dog treats,
Cleaning supplies
Wet ones
Seeds (vegetables, fruit, flower)
Candles
Tea
Good coffee/french press
Star chart
flax seeds
pretty earrings
head bands/hair things
peanut butter
almond butter (not in glass)
pictures of
things in America to show village
pictures of family and friends
any good articles on gardening/ tree planting/ agriculture/ chicken raising
Quinoa
FUN/YUMMY/COOl SURPRISES
Friday, November 25, 2011
It’s Like This World Never Sleeps
Monday, August 15, 2011
"I have been living in poverty because I couldn't see my wealth"
After waiting officially for over a year and in reality for most of my life…. the countdown to my departure begins. In less than one month I will leave everything I know: my friends, family, and comforts of the US to explore a new life for the next 27 months. As expected preparing for my departure comes with mixed emotions, and is in a sense bittersweet.
Those of you, who are closest to me, know that this decision was not an easy one to come to. I struggled for months deciding if this is the path I am meant to take in life and if I fully supported the Peace Corps and all it stands for. First of all, I want to thank you for being patient with me and dealing my rollercoaster of emotions. I also want to thank those of you who told me how it is, to cut the crap and my need to weigh every pro and con and well…just go. Honestly, without the push and support from you all, I wouldn’t be about to depart on what will inevitably be the most life-changing journey of my life. Now, this is not to say that I do completely agree with every aspect of the Peace Corps, but I know it is my intentions and those I am volunteering with that count, and at this point in my life this is something I need to do. Nonetheless, this is going to be the most difficult thing I have ever done, especially after a recent epiphany about life.
For a while here I forgot how to appreciate just how amazing my life here and now is. All I could think about was leaving and running away from a place that I didn’t feel I fit into at all. I took for granted the small things, but really the things that make my world turn. I ignored simple day-to-day interactions with my family, my friends, with strangers, with nature, and animals-all, which hold so much beauty. I felt lost for quite some time, but I have recently realized that we are never lost we are simply where we are, and we just need to be. I have processed a lot of emotions in the last few months, some I never expected, some that I resent, and some that I hope will never go away. I am so grateful that I realized these things before I left and spent the time with people that I needed instead of pushing people away because I felt a lack of connection. At the same time it makes leaving a little more difficult, but I know there are still so many reasons to why I need to do this.
I can't imagine and don't want to imagine what the next two years or the rest of my life will be like if I don't take this amazing opportunity that is here and now. I fear both leaving and staying. All I know is that in my current life I lack a strong sense of purpose... I know it exists and like I said I want to appreciate every moment for what it is, but I desire to be infused with a real sense of purpose one that is tangible that I can clearly see on a daily basis. Whether, that means lending a helping hand, or simply learning all I can from people that have a completely different perspective on life. I know that what I learn will be more meaningful then what I can offer, but I want to do all that I can.
I also know that if I were to stay that I would feel caught in this limbo of routine... Why live the same life day to day when there is so much more out there to be discovered, to be seen, to experience? I know for many of us, discoveries can come in our own backyard, with our daily interactions. I appreciate that there are moments when we meet someone who for one reason or another leaves an impact on our lives. But, I know from experience that I tend to get caught in routine and forget about the small things. I get absorbed with work that leaves me feeling meaningless and interactions that I often feel are phony.... and lose my excitement for life. I attempt to plan everything out and then fail to bring any plan to fruition… I try to predict what will happen from day to day and while doing so drive myself completely insane.
I want to be excited everyday; I don’t want to predict the future-I want to live everyday for what it is. I want to discover the unknown-reach beyond my comforts. I have seen and I crave to see the beauty in different cultures, religions, and ways of life. I want to listen to music I have never heard, see art that is unlike anything I have seen before and take photographs of a beautiful existence that I never knew.
With my past travels I experienced what I believe is true happiness, cultures where people live off their land by tending to it and cultivating it. A culture where everyone is your sister or brother, where happiness wasn’t measured by materialistic goods, but instead by relationships and by the hard work yet natural instinct to provide ones own sustenance to live. Traveling also reminded of the resilience of life. Nature’s ability to persevere after a storm, a countries ability to rebuild its self after a war, a mother’s ability to provide for her children despite her ailments and lack of resources and a child’s ability to continue to love, to laugh, and to simply smile after they have lost everything they have ever known. Although, I learned so much before and my eyes were opened to an entire new way of living, the short amount of time I spent in each place made my experience more superficial then I would have liked. I really crave an intense cultural experience, where I learn everything about a community, a culture, and a life completely different than my own. I feel like if I really want to attempt to do any good, or help create anything sustainable I need to commit my self first to learning the life, needs, and dreams of the people I am trying to help. That is one of the driving forces of choosing the Peace Corps because with two years I can learn and give so much more then with a year or six month commitment. I can hope that whatever I do or accomplish in Togo will change at least one person’s life, but I am not expecting to change anyone else’s life but my own.
All in all this still may not be the right decision and I will never really know if it was... but it is the decision I am going to live with for the rest of my life. I am confident with my choice and can’t wait to see what Togo has in store for me! Thank you again to everyone who has supported me, gave me a kick in the butt, or continues to support me through all of this- and to everyone and everything that helped me realize my wealth and just how amazing my own life here is.
"Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours”- Les Brown.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Organized world?
Senegal a county of over 12 million inhabitants is considered upscale in development in comparison to most African countries. Though on it’s way to becoming a developed nation, Senegal still struggles to climb its way to the top. Evidence of its third world status is ostensible not only in the rural cities and villages, but also inside the bustling capital, Dakar. Often in countries where resources are scarce, education and resources for children are not on the top of the list of priorities. Senegal having a literacy rate of merely 39.3 % proves that access to education is not at the hands reach for all. Also the fact that only 5% of the countries GDP is expended on education, reinforces that the education system is not emphasized, as it should be. Surprising despite the low literacy rate the nation, Senegal claims to focus a great amount of energy to education. Also being 94% percent Muslim education is highly valued in Islam. With the 21st century also came a new emphasis on education and early childhood development. NGO’s concerning the well-being and education of youth began to emerge more and more, and governmental policies and funding also arose to fuel this new prospect of improving conditions for youth. Despite steps in the right direction, the country is still mired by its third world status, and development still prevents many organizations to reach their full potential.
The state of childhood care and education was far from brilliant in the start of the 21st century and according the Ministry of Health and Medical Prevention “childhood until today had been considered a matter of subsidiary importance.” Because of this lack of concern towards early childhood care and development, Senegal was experiencing problems with an uneducated population, high malnutrition rates and high unemployment rates (for the middle age generation-whom were not educated as children). Concern about the future generation was not stressed. In the year 2000 with the newly elected president more of an emphasis began to surface. President Abdoulaye Wade began to weigh the pros and cons of traditional societies attitudes and acts towards education and childhood development and use them for the formation of an early childhood development program.
Traditional societies were and are said to have a very “pro-birth attitude” pertaining especially to agrarian societies where children are seen as “value capitals and guaranteers of economic might.” Proper nutrition was not emphasized and education and socialization were at the hands of the entire community. Education includes tales, riddles, and proverbs. “Any progress towards modern education was seen as making one a stranger to ones own cultural heritage” (Little Children’s Home). Wade’s new vision towards early childhood development wanted to see a shift in education but also embody some of the important traditional values, such as lessons from elders and communities, to maintain the sense of “terranga” that all Senegalese people pride themselves on. In 2000 Wade started The Integrated Programme for Early Childhood Development. He began to construct what he named “The Little Children’s Home,” this home emphasized on education, health, and nutrition- all to create harmonious childhood development. These Little Children’s Homes eventually branched off into schools called La Case des Toutes Petites. These schools provided education and nutritional assistance (vitamins, one meal a day, vaccines etc) for pregnant women and children 0-6 years of age. The schools were supported and funded by many national and international actors, and Wade made it his goal to “have these children live by his side, under his protection, and his contributions are voiced readily throughout every aspect of this organizations.
The visions of La Case du Petites cannot be said to be backward and it is difficult to find any flaws within its description.
“Education should enable a child to affirm its personality, develop its talents as well as mental and physical faculties. “Education should prepare the child for a life as an adult in an open society and encourage it to respect its parents, identity, language and cultural values, as well as the cultural values of others. “Aims to prepare and raise a new type of citizen able to address the needs of our nation and the African continent, and the challenges of globalization and development (Wade).
With such strong visions one would hope that this program could be the answer to many of the key issues pertaining to early childhood development, but like any other Case du Petite has its hindrances and flaws. Because the Little Children’s Home and La Case du Tous Petites have been Wade’s special projects, the organization seems to be very well funded- from its main hub, to its individual’s schools, no resources seem to be lacking. While I favored the teaching styles, the discipline, the focus on language and creativity that the schools displayed, I was left wondering exactly what demographic these schools were reaching out to.
It was Wade’s vision to put needy mothers and children under his wings, yet from what I experienced and perceived the children attending the school seemed to be upper to middle class. There is no mention how these families pay for this early child hood care, just mention of governmental aid, and his excellency Wade’s contributions. How are the vulnerable populations of Senegal being reached and informed about these resources? La Case du Tous Petites does not have a recruiting process, instead you must visit to enroll your children. Will families whom truly need this resource be aware of it, and if so will they have the time during their day of work to complete the long process of enrolling their children? The reason I mention the length of the process is because to me this is where development is severely undermining this organization. While waiting at La Case du Tous Petites headquarters one day, I witnessed couples waiting for over two hours to be addressed and begin the process of enrolling. If you count travel and lag time potentially 4-5 hours of ones day could be lost, simply waiting. To take that much time away from a workday for anyone, is taking just even more of what is probably already a very small livelihood- if the people accepted into the school are truly the vulnerable populations of Senegal. I witnessed one mother who waited for two and a half hours, who was constantly looking down at her watch, and eventually had to leave without being addressed. I believe the slow pace of the country and many organizations truly is a crucial hindrance to why “development” may also be slow moving. While La Case de Tous Petites has a great vision, they are still affected by, one, what I perceive more as promoting a president rather than education. Also affected by lack of knowledge about running an organization smoothly and efficiently-a knowledge that will come with time-but for now a detour in the road to opening up adequate and efficient resources for youth. La Case de Tous Petites is just one resource available for youth within in Senegal. The others share their fair share of strengths and weakness as well. Early childhood care and education are extremely important for our future generation, where are those from the generation who lacked this care today, are there resources available for them?
Another place I had the opportunity to visit was Centre Nationale de Sauvegaurde (CNS). CNS is a middle school and high school for adolescences that have committed petty crimes, or have trouble in a traditional academic setting, or those who are having issues with family life. These children are referred to this school by a wide variety of people; mothers, fathers, judges, or teachers. CNS focuses on education but also job training- attempting to cater to the needs of each child and finding what they feel confident in and are most likely to excel in. CNS also focuses on social activities- creating confidents and bonds for the children. CNS’s main mission is to remove children from the streets before they reach delinquency. This organization strives to attend to the children that are being ignored or forgotten by the rest of society. Another great stride this organization is taking, unlike that of publically funded schools, is they are partnering with GEEP to teach sexual health education to these children, focusing on some key aspects of GEEP including HIV/AIDS, and early pregnancy. The youth of CNS have been involved in various conferences, and events working to combat these crucial issues. CNS in theory is a wonderful organization and resources available to the youth population of Senegal, but like every organization it struggles to reach its full potential due to many roadblocks standing in its way.
Because CNS is a private organization it is only partially funded by the government, and only so because of the state required curriculum it teaches. The moments you arrive at CNS you can sense the severe underfunding the organization endures. What you would expect to look like a school looks more like an industrial sheet metal atmosphere, and until you talk with someone nothing would lead you to think otherwise. Because of underfunding this school lacks the appropriate staff to teach and train these children, and often they come and go, due to better opportunities arising. The founder of CNS said her self that the vocational skills being taught are not sufficient when its time for these children to take what they have learned and apply it to a real job setting. The teachers are not educated and trained enough to teach these skills, thus the children are not educated enough to use them, it becomes a vicious cycle, one that this very organization started, in hopes of breaking. Although Wade claims to emphasize the importance of education for all, CNS is a perfect example to how Senegal’s education system is not entirely developed, and how at-risk youth are ignored. I left CNS wondering, if the education system of Senegal is not fully developed, and education being an extremely crucial factor in development, where does Senegal as a country remain? What is a developed education system, and who do should we compare it to? Again I try not to let my western views intrude on my thoughts, but I wonder will an education system only be acknowledged as developed by the rest of the world when it resembles that of a western system? I struggle to separate my western standards, and simply standards that should be available to all. These questions plagued my mind throughout my time and experiences not only within the organization world of Senegal, but every time I walked down the street or every time we drove down the rural highways of the country. The last organization I will talk about, being the best of the three in terms of running efficiently again remains having numerous and commendable strengths but also issues that may overrun those strengths at times.
GEEP or Group pour l’Etude et l’Enseignement de la Population is an organization which aims at informing youth on their rights and responsibilities towards the population and their own reproductive health. It started with the history and geography department of L’Ecole Normale Superior (the university I studied at.) The professors from this department came together because they saw that there existed no emphasis on sexual education and health in the national school system and created a program which focuses on sexual health and AIDS. With this they focused on spreading information and organizing youth to discuss many of Senegal’s daunting issues including; HIV/AIDS, STDs, early pregnancy and marriage, gender based violence, female genital cutting, and more. Because, not part of the national education curriculum GEEP started what they call EVF clubs, an after school program for individual schools to discuss these very issues. At certain points during the year these clubs come together to form conferences to discuss these issues; they set up role playing, dialogues, movies, and debates in order to express their opinions, feelings, and knowledge about these issues, and of course to spread these things as well, in hopes of creating a greater and wide range understanding for all. Each activity they do is structured in a way in which youth can understand, relate, and feel comfortable discussing. Some may argue that the way these activities discuss these issues, using dialogues and role-playing are just ways around discussing the real issues, in my opinion it is the opposite. Because HIV/AIDS and issues overall about sexual health are extremely stigmatized subjects, not only in Senegal but throughout the world it is often difficult to talk about (which I also experienced through a day at the hospital), especially for youth. Finding creative ways to truly address the issues and ways that will leave no one frightened or guilty is one of the best ways of combating these issues.
GEEP has been extremely successful in organizing youth, and these events held by the EVF clubs have astonishing attendance rates, the ratio of male to female being nearly equal every time. Children for once are excited and eager to talk about these issues. Through reading some of GEEP’s material it seems that becoming open about these issues at school has created an easier transition about discussing these in the home with parents, siblings, partners, etc. GEEP has also become successful in branching out to other organizations to receive funding but also spread their ideals to the greater population of Senegal. GEEP works closely with School Net Africa an organization that uses technology to facilitate education. These two organizations have become very triumphant in aiding each other’s efforts. Along with School Net Africa, GEEP also works with CNS, discussed earlier, in hopes of spreading their awareness again to the greater population of Senegal, not only to traditional middle and high schools. ANS-Alliance National Contre le SIDA an organization focusing only on HIV/AIDS, helps fund and works with GEEP on their events pertaining directly to HIV/AIDS.
As you can see GEEP has become very victorious in creating networks, which I believe is very important in the NGO world. It is all about working together to create a better environment for all. GEEP success rates with getting youth involved and active are truly commendable. And like every organization GEEP’s success could be far greater if some crucial barriers did not obstruct efforts.
Although while in GEEP’s headquarters at l’Ecole Normale Superior, you would think that the organization was very well funded, it indeed is not. GEEP is affected by underfunding just like numerous NGOs’; in fact GEEP only has two paid employees, the rest working from the goodness of their heart, right? Wrong again, although GEEP’s employees truly care about the issues and conditions of youth, what is their main objective working for the organization? Medemba an employee in charge of numerous EVF clubs stated in an interview “we love working here, but for many it is a resume builder, if a better higher paid opportunity comes along, we will not hesitate to take it.” While many would condemn one for saying that, I believe the employees are not to blame. Making a living is a top priority for nearly every person in the world, and when living in a developing country even more so, if these professors truly did not care, they would not haven given GEEP the time of day. Many of the employees at GEEP are middle school, high school, and college professors, who while not teaching, come to GEEP afterschool, on the weekends, and during vacations. They dedicate a great amount of their personal time and truly seem passionate about what they are doing, which I derived from interviews with Mdemba and Eleman. But again if a paid position opens up, it is what they will accept, as was shown through Eleman’s acceptance of a position with USAID and his resignation to GEEP.
Thus one of GEEP’s main problems is that employees are constantly coming and going. With that, means more money and resources needed to train each new employee that must be hired because another left. In effect GEEP lacks not only human resources but also adequate training for its staff. Though with my lack of knowledge I am unable to judge, I wonder if GEEP’s funding and resources could be used more wisely than they are being used currently. Along with those problems GEEP presently works in only four out of the fourteen regions of Senegal, and though aspiring to work in all, underfunding and lack of staff is encumbering its desires.
All of these issues left behind, I feel the greatest issue is that GEEP only works with youth who are in school, and once again the children on the street, the most vulnerable are left to perpetuate the cycle GEEP is trying to breach. Where are the resources for these children? Again this shows the underdevelopment of not only the organization but more so Senegal, why are their children on the street begging in the first place? Why is some sort of education whether it be job training or schooling, not required for all children? Will any of these organizations truly be able to succeed if youth who need them the most are not able to access them? These questions circle my mind, and will continue to until I take my experiences one step further and spend more time in this country and the world of NGO’s and governmental organizations. GEEP and the other organizations simply introduced me to the resources available to youth, and the problems that continue to exist.
My experience in Dakar was different than most. While everyone else was set to one internship, creating relationships with one group of people, and having a sort of structured project or end goal, I was able to experience of range of unique objectives, opinions, ideas, and organizations. What I was initially disappointed with turned out to be a learning experience unlike any other, where I was able to really get a feel for the non-governmental and governmental sector of Dakar’s infrastructure and organizations. I believe that I was able to experience both sides of the spectrum, and in the end walked away with a very valuable experience. While seeing the issues with these organizations was extremely frustrating at points, I also became enlightened to the goodness of people, and a culture that prides its self on helping one another. I learned a lot through this experience but I acknowledge that I am still ignorant and naïve to most aspects of Senegalese culture, life, and society and the only way to break that is to continue to experience and learn.
Where are they left?
Each country has their own feelings on what happens to these children. Some countries have government-funded orphanages, group homes, and some, no resources at all. The countries most plagued with high numbers of orphans today are the developing nations of Africa. Though Africa is home to the highest number of orphans in the world, currently only four countries are open to international adoption; Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Liberia. Although it is happening in other countries it is extremely frowned upon, very difficult, and or illegal. As for domestic adoption, it simply does not happen frequently or even exist at all. Cultural standards do not see adoption highly. “Why adopt when you could have your own children, one that has your blood, and one that looks like you,” a statement from one Senegalese student at l’Ecole Normale Superior. Again adoption of any sort seems to be highly frowned upon, whether it be domestically or internationally.
The number of abandoned children remains important in Senegal.” (Kergal). With approximately 560,000 orphans, Senegal has a pressing issue to address and fight. Two resources available to house orphaned children in Senegal include; The Rescue orphanage and The Pouponniere. In Senegal Islam is behind the vision of both structures, yet is not a priority when admitting children. While these two institutions do not have the same objectives, they share a common feeling, to come to assistance of abandoned children. The founders of each structure had unique, yet alarmingly similar experiences that inspired each to dedicate their lives to the well being of these children.
The Poupenierre of Medina started a longer time ago in 1955 by four French sisters. These sisters were requested by influential Muslim leaders, and began by assisting in the pediatric departments of hospitals. Working there and seeing children abandoned day to day in front of the hospital fueled their work and visions in a different direction. Their work at the hospital evolved into creating resources for children abandoned on the streets, and places to house them in times of need. Eventually abandoned children became the minority of children admitted into The Poupenierre, instead most are fathers surrendering their infants when the mothers became deceased. “They are poor and do not have the time or resources to deal with these infants,” stated one sister. What differentiates the Poupenierre of Medina from other orphanages is that its main priority is to reintegrate children back into their families, and they are very resistant towards adoption. “We believe in keeping children with their families, no matter what it takes. If one family member is unable to care for their children, then another family member will assume responsibility. We believe in family and helping one another, terranga. That is why we are so against adoption” explained Mbacke Fall another student at the University in Dakar. Yet, sadly children are still often left without any family members at all, or forced to be given up because sickness or economic means of a family are unable to support the child, and that is where the Poupenierre and the sisters step in.
One of the largest focuses of the Poupenierre is to house infants and children whose mothers are sick, and or hospitalized. Once the mothers are healthy and able, the children are reintegrated back into their families. While children are still surrendered, they make up only 15 % of whom the Poupenierre houses. The Regional Court of Dakar entrusts these children that are found on the street to the sisters. The children are only permitted to stay at the Poupenierre for the period of one year, during which the family keeps in contact with their children with required visits every two months, but many more come for weekly visits. Thus when time for departure comes, the children are easily integrated back into their families. This year is to simply allow the family to get back on their feet, and find the means to provide for their children. For two years after reintegration the families are permitted to return to the Poupenierre to receive food assistance. Disabled children are surrendered permanently because most families have no means of caring for them properly. Along with disabled children, if families miss so many monthly visits and do not return after one year; then only are the children applicable for adoption. Thus adoption within Senegal is very difficult, and only 18-20 children are adopted from the Poupenierre each year, and not without a lengthy process.
Aissatou Diagne founder of The Rescue Orphanage in Dakar started her Islam based orphanage project in May 2005 after a gruesome experience, which changed her life forever. “Six years ago, I was changed. I saw a dead infant, intertwined in a plastic bag. This baby was not just anywhere; it was in front of a house.” Unlike The Poupenierre, Diagne’s orphanage or rescue home is only able to house 25 children at a time, being newly established its finances and infrastructure do not allow for any more. The children are admitted from 0-5 years of age and remain until they are 18 years of age. “We signed a convention with the state. Once here, it is obligatory that we keep them until they are no longer adolescences” (Diagne). Thus within this orphanage children are not eligible for adoption. They are educated from early child hood to maturity, in order to one day become productive members of Senegalese society. Daigne exclaims; “The objective is to prepare them to become autonomous. They will receive an academic laic instruction of quality. Some of them will reach the higher realms of the State. One of them will become perhaps president of the Republic!”
The Rescue’s vision is to help these children thru out the span of their life. They highlight not only immediate needs, but emphasize on their future. If we help them only at the beginning of their existence, we do not know what they become, nor what their families do”, insists the director. Again adoption does not exist for this orphanage, for they want to provide an entire education until 18 years of age. Unlike the Poupenierre where most families entrust the children with the sisters, the children of The Rescue are children from the streets brought to the orphanage by the police force or people who know of the orphanage. Yet similar to the Poupenierre, the Rescue wants to reduce the amount of abandoned children, thus it set up an assistance council for women in distress. Diagne states that “women should not be giving up or killing their own children, if they are, then there are serious problems, and we want to address those.” As you can see both The Poupenierre and The Rescue have their own objectives, but both are available to help the needs of children, mothers, and families. Equally each would like to see children remain within their families, hence the assistance each organization gives to mothers and families. But with most organizations in developing countries both are suffering from underdevelopment and underfunding.
For The Poupenierre the majority of funding comes from private contributions from various foundations and companies. The state allocates a certain amount of money, but it isn’t even enough to cover electricity costs. With The Rescue it is the same situation, “the state does not give any subsidy, city hall gives us rice bags, but it is not sufficient.” The rest of the funding again comes from various private organizations. Thus these orphanages are lacking in funding, which makes it difficult to give the children the appropriate care. I wonder if adoption would open more opportunities up for these children? Despite the fact that I commend these organizations and the state of Senegal for wanting to keep families together, and allow these children to be educated in their own culture, I wonder if the children from the Poupenirre will end up in the same situation after assistance stops. Also should any child have to live their entire lives without a family? If family is so important, a main reason for the resistance toward adoption, then why do the children at The Rescue live years with no real family? I asked these questions to various Senegalese students and got mixed answers.
Some responded by stating that possibly orphanages like The Rescue are replica’s of families, “one big family” (Mamadou Faye). Pape Fall believes that families will do all they can to support their children and keep them, with the assistance provided by these two organizations-families are able to do just that. He does not believe that after the assistance ends the children will go back to the homes, because he thinks that with the time away the families truly do everything to create means. I asked the students if they believe adoption should be more emphasized and his response was mixed. “Every child deserves a family, a mother and a father, but every family also deserves a child of their own, thus I am torn” (Mamadou Faye). After learning about these organization and listening to the feelings of Senegalese students, I believe the only real way to know what is wrong and what is right, is to hear directly from the children experiencing these things. If adoption is an option, currently it is difficult, and only extreme circumstances permit it.
The two procedures are l’adoption pleniere and l’adoption simple-both created by the family codes of Senegal. With l’adoption plieniere families and children must fulfill several requirements, and the adoption is irrevocable-under all circumstances. L’adoption simples is less constraining then the prior. Children always have ties back to the family of origin-and the family always has the rights to gain back custody of the child. The procedures for both are very different, plenary adoption being a much longer and grueling process, and simple by the name of course being faster and simple. Neither of these adoptions being allowed internationally.
A couple requesting l’adoption pleniere must have been married for 5 years, and one of the two being at least 30 years of age, and both must have a 15-year difference from the child. You mustn’t have children already if you want an adoption pleniere. When the adoption is complete the family of origin has only 3 months to retract the adoption before it is final, after the child has all the same rights a legitimate child would have. L’adoption simple has none of the same perquisites as the prior, yet the adoption is and will never be final. At any point the family has the right to retract their child with justification at any age below 15, if the child is 15 or old retraction is only permitted on serious and justified grounds. “Justification is vague.” Because of the stigmatization and poor perception of people not having their own children, formal adoption is very rare within Senegal.
As you can see with cultural differences, governmental restrictions, and stigmatizations, adoption and orphans are a sensitive subject to Senegal. It is never praiseworthy for a country to admit that there are children on the street without families, but sadly it is a fact all over the world. With only few resources, and no government funding for orphanages or support for adoption-many children are left without families, begging on the streets to survive. With little cultural belief in domestic adoption, I believe international adoption is important for every country. It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that if adopted internationally a child might lose their culture- but the benefits have to be weighed over the costs. Working at an orphanage for the last weeks I have seen both the benefits and the costs to international adoption. Most families want and hope to maintain the child’s culture, but also have come to terms with the difficulty of doing so. What is most important is giving these children and happy and healthy life-with a loving family, how can anything else take priority? I believe that is an opinion that is deep down shared by every person in the world, even if at this point it is difficult to see.
A Blessing in Disguise.
Monday, June 29, 2009
L’ile de Goree (Goree Island
June, 23 2009
L’ile de Goree (Goree Island)
A day that started out remarkable quickly turned to chaos. Emily, Becca, Izzy, and I woke up at about 6:30 am to go on a jog. We dressed in our running shorts and tank tops, equipped with our ipods. We began to run our way down the broken streets of Dakar, struggling through humid air. The streets are already full of people and as we turn heads we come to the realization that our attire may not have been the best idea, the stares are piercing diminishing the comfort that we felt when we started our run on campus. If our clothing wasn’t bad enough, running with ipods when there are people and children are sleeping on the streets, it seems wrong in a way, we have yet to run again. After our run we got ready for our trip to Goree Island.
All 12 of us piled onto the university bus, with Pape, Fatou Mata, Nde Coumba (pronounced pop, fata mata, ne coumab). Adi, Maria, Dou Dou (doo-doo, don’t laugh) and Dou Dou son came with us as well. We drove to the port and waited for the ferry to arrive to take us to the island. The port had a small gift shop, where I bought post cards, but I am having trouble finding stamps ( I will buy them soon I promise.) Anyways after we got out of the shop there was a line of people waiting for the ferry, the women were dressed in their beautiful clothing, and men were equipped with goods from Dakar that they would bring to the island. The lady standing in line next to me asked me how I was doing, what my name was, and proceeded to introduce her self when I returned the questions. She said you must come to my shop today (at goree), don’t forget me. What I thought was simply a friendly conversation and polite invite would be something I never prepared my self to handle, I had yet to experience the way of the women shop keepers, and ohhhh was I in for treat, all of us were.
All the women on the boat introduced themselves to us, and with their cunning charisma were sure to get all of our names. As the ferry pulled into the dock, the sight was unbelievable, the colors, the beach, the buildings, I was in heaven. We started walking through the Island as we were told the dark and cold history of this place. Goree Island was occupied by Dutch and later by the French, and it was a large part of the Atlantic Slave Trade, where slaves were held in the esclave maison, and exported literally like goods out of the country. It was the first place in Africa to be settled by Europeans. Through all of its sad history it has grown into a gorgeous island, where most of the residents seem to be living fairly comfortably, compared to most in Dakar.
While we were trying to learn the history of Goree and take in how the slave trade impacted the country, there was a constant distraction of the women shop owners, asking if we were going to come to their shops, repeatedly telling us their names, repeating ours, and saying “you don’t forget me now, you come to my shop after your tour.” The beginning of our tour was fairly peaceful but as we were leaving the le maison des escalaves something that would be illegal in the States began, stalking and harassing. Literally 6 women would surround you and say. “come to my shop, my sister,” you’re my sister, you want a pretty necklace. Despite what I thought was will power I got haggled into buying a bracelet. It was getting a little stressful, but we just kept telling them we had to go to lunch and then we would come back, it was the only way to get away from them. We then had lunch at this nice little outside restaurant I had amazing rice with this weird saucy like thing. During lunch little baby kittens stood under our table staring at me with their hungry eyes. I must fragrant an I love animals odor because they sat right under my chair and stared up at me the entire time, who knew that cats could beg. I had such a hard time not feeding them, but I knew if I did they would never go away, and they could be really sick, so not the safest idea :/.
As we finished our meals, the women were lingering outside of the restaurant and literally waiting for us, the surrounded us and said “my sister, my friend you come to my shop, saying our names, mainly our seneglese names Koddu Koddu you promised you would come to my shop, you don’t like me, and again we had to just deter them for a little while longer, by saying after we swim, after we swim. More women approached us, and we probably told 13 women we would visit their shops, the worst idea ever. We then headed to le plage to go swimming.
The beach was full of beautiful, skinny women, and adorable children. We stripped to our bathing suits and headed for the water. Keep in mind for some reason Senegalese people don’t really know how to swim, including Pape. It was the funniest thing ever, he would freak out if we went to far, and if he couldn’t touch, he is just so darn cute. While we were swimming some boy started throwing dead fish at us, and like little girls we all screamed and swam away, fueling his torture, haha it was pretty amusing, but then Pape started to get mad and way like heeyy booooy (can’t really explained how he said) but the boy listened instantly, I think it might have meant something else, but just sounded like hey boy, it my favorite because of the way he says it. But once again Pape saved our lives. We mingled with all of the Senegalese people, who are by far the kindest people I have ever met. This 4-year-old little girl started swimming with us, and I was throwing her in the air and she was the cutest thing ever (parents no where in sight), until she proceeded to pants Emily, in front of all these teenage girls and boys, haha they got a kick out of it. The ocean was absolutely amazing and we had soo much fun with Pape, words can’t even begin to explain how much fun we were having. As we were in the water we could see our new Senegalese sisters lurking near by close by waiting for us to ascend. The minute we left the water we were again surrounded, and mistakenly again told them we would come, requiring that we fulfill our promise. We layed on the beach for about 20 minutes, and thinking that my 4th application of sun screen that day, would protect me, wrong again, the burn afterwards, killer I tell you.
Anyways we then went to get to ice cream and were literally swarmed by the women, I am not even joking like 15 women all trying to get us to come to their shops. They kept saying “did you forget me, you promised, how could you forget your sister.” We all proceeded with the separate ladies that we each promised the most. Unfortunately the lady that stalked me the most, did not have very good things, and was trying to get me to buy everything. I told her I only had a little bit of money, and Pape tried to help me haggle, but then the lady started screaming wolof profanities at Pape, because she couldn’t stand that he knew what was acceptable to pay.
All of the women hated that we had Senegalese people with us, because they wanted to manipulate us in anyway they could. We literally were being pulled by the arms between these women to come to their shops, despite the fact we told them we spent all our money. The kept saying just to look just to look, and then of course wouldn’t let you leave until you bought something. They would really get into our heads by saying, what you don’t like my face, you don’t like me, you promised, we have made no money today, you will help us so much. It was very overwhelming there was no escape. They tried to trade for our bags, the earrings in our ears, our necklaces, anything. One lady spent forever trying to convince me to give her my timbuk 2 bag, she saw a fingernail file in my bag and I showed her what it was, gave it to her in hopes of getting away, while she did leave me alone the others did not. I had only the smallest amount of money left in my hand, and one lady sold me a necklace that she tried to sell for double the price earlier. Seriously the most overwhelming experience any of has ever been through, we just wanted to run, and leave the island. One lady seriously chased Emily down and tried to take the tiny silver earring from her tragus piercing. She kept saying just try just try, while Emily attempted to run away and say I can’t take it out. I finally grabbed her by the hand and yelled “NO MERCI” to the lady, and she got sooo mad at me and yelled very loudly in a language I couldn’t understand. It was insanity.
What a shame it is that we went to an island to learn about history, and to try to understand how slavery will forever be a part of this island, it could have truly been a humbling and emotional experience, but instead we were overwhelmed and exhausted by being seriously stalked and harassed by these women. The one thing at the end of the day that makes me realize that the women have good hearts, and their intentions may be pure is the one lady that Alisha traded a toy triceratops man for a beautiful bracelet because she wanted a toy for her children. She was willing to sell a beautiful piece of art, to bring a smile to her babies’ faces.
All in all I can still stay that the trip was remarkable, astonishing, despite the hell of the last hour. You really have to take every experience here and analyze why things are the way they are.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
sell to survive
We were now right in the midst of city life, and with the city come thirsty vendors, and begging children. There were cats and dogs running throughout the streets. I walked around with eyes wide open, trying to take every second of it in. The men shop owners began to approach the group of dazed Americans, and from there on we were sucked in, and unable to find a way out. The shop owners here have small hut like buildings that are about 4 feet deep and 3 feet wide, and filled with beautiful handmade gifts of all kinds- painting, jewelry, clothing, carved woods, wonderful things. Yet the difference in sales strategies is immense, but one must take into account that it is the difference between desperation and greed. These men would bring you into there shop and persuade you with any means to buy something, they would say just look just look, and then try to get anything out of you. They make it extremely difficult to say no, especially when you know that any thing they sell, is sold to support their families. You bargain everything here, you never pay full price, and these people will take even the lowest prices at the end, because they truly need any amount of income they can get. Pape (pop) our Senegalese friend did all of this for us, he is amazing. When one stops to really reflect on these things, it is really sad. But here you can’t really reflect on these things too much, or you would spend the whole time here depressed.
The hardest part of all of this for me is the little children walking around with their tin cans, and holding their hand out to you. These children have broken shoes and dirty clothing, and their ages range from 3 years old to 13 years, no parents in sight. It is hard to comprehend that even though I have so much more than these children, I still cannot give money to every child, because there are so many, and one would go broke very quickly. But they are so grateful for everything they get, one thing that separates these people, these children; from American people and children. The word ungrateful doesn’t seem to exist in this country. One of the girls here was so smart; she gathered a bunch of toys and candy from home and brought it here. Instead of money she gave these to the children, and I don’t think I have ever seen a child’s face light up so much. I swear they were happier to get toys and candy than money, because it is a treat to them. You saw the kids playing with their toy cars on the ground, flying their batman through the air, just ecstatic to have a toy. After a long day of shopping and being surrounded by shop owners, and children;we hopped on the bus to go home, I wont mention the excitement of the roads and public transportation just yet, more stories to come.