back to school

After two eye opening months at site, getting to know the village, the language, the people, we are all back at IST (In-Service Training) to actually learn how to do our jobs. The way it seems to me is that PST works as a crash course in Senegalese culture and development basics, and in IST we get to really dive into the practical side of things.

We kicked off the two week training with a party at our country director’s house in Dakar to celebrate the end of our five week challenge. If you recall, he had bribed us with American food, and as we are starving Peace Corps volunteers, this proved to be very effective…and tasty. We dined on Coco Puffs, Frosted Flakes, guacamole, popcorn, quesadillas, more chicken wings than one could ever imagine, ice cream, brownies, cake, and topped it all off with an ice cold Corona and lime. It was heavenly.

After that culinary delight, we all head back to Thies to get to work. We have been covering all sorts of projects and technical aspects; behavior change, appropriate technologies, child and maternal health, malnutrition, environmental education in the schools, gardening techniques, the list is endless.  It’s been informative, and I’m excited to get back to site and actually try out some of what I’ve been learning.  And of course, it’s been fun to hang out with my whole stage for two weeks J

Last weekend we took a field trip to a Serere fishing village not too far from the training center for a tree planting activity. A few months ago during PST we had seeded hundreds and hundreds of tree sacks to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the Peace Corps, and in memory of all the volunteers who have served in Senegal, and this past Friday we out planted seven or eight hundred of them. I was excited because it was a Serere village. Anyways, had a lot of fun, got dirty, learned how to use a pick axe…have the blisters to prove it.

I am here for a few more days, and then we have a meeting for SeneGAD, which I explained in my previous post. Again, if you are interested in donating to the girls scholarship fund the link is right here: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-181

Once that wraps up, I’ll be heading back to village just in time for Ramadan. Not quite sure what to expect, but I would imagine that there will be some stories coming out of that experience…

SeneGAD

I am currently in the midst of my first real project as a PCV and would love to share it with all of you. PC Senegal has a special program here that focuses on gender and development, SeneGAD, which works to improve the lives of women and young girls throughout Senegal. Within SeneGAD, there is a program called the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship, that works with girls in the college level, or the equivalent of our middle school system. In Senegal, the rate of enrollment for females is always below that of males, and drops off even more once they reach secondary school. After the fifth or sixth year of schooling, the rate of female dropouts also significantly increases. This can be caused by several factors, such as the family not having the money to provide school fees and supplies, or if the girl is needed in her household to help with cleaning, cooking, etc., or if her family simply doesn't support her educational endeavors, and in some cases the girls are married before they have a chance to finish their schooling. The scholarship identifies nine girls that demonstrate financial need and have a history of academic achievement. The scholarship provides the school fees for each of the girls, three of whom are selected as winners and are also provided with school supplies. The girls are recognized at a ceremony held at the school, and gender-equality events are also held at the school as a way to follow up. I am currently in the midst of the scholarship, and I am working with one of the new volunteers who lives down the road from me. We are doing the scholarship in the town where the students from her village go to college, and next year we hope tot expand to the town where the students from my village go as well. It has been great to have an actual project to do in these first few months, and also to get a chance to work with the girls in my surrounding communities. 

This is the SeneGAD website if you want any more information on the scholarship or the other projects that they work on : http://senegad.pcsenegal.org/

And if you have any interest in donating to scholarship fund you can donate to the Senegal Country Fund, and earmark the funds for either SeneGAD or MSS: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-CFD