I am hanging out in Tamba at the regional house right now-- trying to escape the harsh reality of ramadan in the village. its actually not really as bad as i thought it would be but its starting to get old. my family wakes up around 5am to eat before sunup and then doesnt eat again until sundown around 7:20. by noon everyone is tired and a bit cranky so this is a good opportunity for me to catch up on my reading or to just sleep. the best part of the day is 7:21 when everyone has that first bite of "break fast" and we all calm down for a bit. to break the fast we eat tapalapa (village bread) and drink "coffee" which is really just sugar water with a dash of coffee. if there are 2 things senegalese love its sugar and oil. ramadan lasts until the end of this month then its the holiday of korite. from what i understand you put on a new outfit and eat all day-- doesnt sound so bad, right?
I have been back at site for a couple weeks since IST (in-service training). IST was a bit overwhelming-- we had sessions from 8am to 5ish pm covering everything from gardening practices to how to work with local health posts and schools. I have started my baseline survey and after talking to some of my neighbors, i am realizing that getting things done is not going to be easy. for example, there is a case de sante in my village. it is basically another hut except with occasional meds and maybe sometimes some gauze. this is the closest health facility for 7km. as my host father so eloquently put it, a hospital without meds is just another room. this is a major problem for my village because most people dont have the funds for both transportation to the closest town and also to buy medicine. why would you go to the hospital in your town if you know there isnt anything there to help you? another big issue in my town is the need for robinets (running water from a spigot). almost everyone has gardens and crops in or around their compound and having more water sources would make life a lot easier. there are a lot of opportunitites for improvement obviously.
for now i am completing my survey, making an action plan for the next 2 years, and not believing that i have been here almost 6 months.
