Let's Hear it for the Girls!

This past weekend, after much anticipation and hard work, Kounkane hosted it's first Girls LeadershipConference!  I along with my friends Ally and Jenae, organized and facilitated the two day conference with the much needed help from fellow volunteers in the surrounding area.  The conference was a huge success, and I'm so happy with its turnout.
The main goal of our conference was to encourage girls to stay in school, while also presenting problems or obstacles that may arise, and how they can overcome them.  Here in my region, and in many other parts of Senegal, girls don't always have the ability to continue with school for a number of reasons. The most common problems we see are early pregnancy, financial hardship, and forced/premature marriage.  Oftentimes in the villages, girls are married off in their early teens by their parents, and not many of them have the option to refuse, even though most of them don't want to get married so young (at least from my experience and what some of the girls have told me).
In collaboration with the prinical and surveillant of the CEM Kounkane (middle school) (and PC funding), we were able to make this project a reality :) We invited 50 girls from the 4eme level (ages range from 11 to 14) and our Michelle Sylvester scholarship candidates (9 in total, but 3 were already invited because they are in the 4eme level), which made our total number of participants 56 girls!  We started saturday morning with the opening ceremony and introductions, and after we just jumped right into the days activities which began with a portrayl of the PC film, "Elle Travail, Elle Vit!" (She works, She lives!).  It was a film made by PC Senegal, and it goes over some of the hardships girls encounter as students, but also highlights the importance of staying in school.  The film was followed by a short question and answer session led by Awa Traore, a language teacher, motivational speaker, and a crusader for creating awareness of the Gender issues here in Senegal.  She is probably one of the most amazing people I've ever met! We are so lucky to have her available to help us out with our work!

Participating girls :)

Awa leading a discussion

The next block of our conference consisted of a pannel discussion with guest speakers: 5 AMAZING Senegalese women who really had an amazing story to share with our invitees.  We had Mme Mane, a college graduate and economist/engineer for Sodagri, (an agricultural company here), Salimatou Loly BA, Director of the Case Foyer de Femmes and a teacher of food transformation practices, and Salimatou Sabaly, the Matrone of Kounkane who discussed what it is like to work in the medical field. We also had Mama-Ramata Diallo, a radio DJ for RadioDiaobe, and lastly NeNe Gale Diallo a young but intelligent teacher at the school in a nearby village.  All of these women shared an important message with our girls, and many of the girls had questions and comments to share with our pannelists.  It was really amazing!



Pannelists: Awa, Nene Galle, Loly, Mama-Ramata, Mme Mane, Saly



Awa introducing the pannelists

After our pannelist session, we had lunch: Domada (a tomato-y sauce on a bed of rice, garnished with meat and local vegetables) and then we went into our last and final session of the day discussing obstacles that girls may encounter in school, how to overcome them, and finally, goal setting.  All the girls set 1 long term goal and 3 short term goals.  At the end of first day, we awarded the girls a bracelet which represented their goals and the support they have from us and our pannelists. It was a really successful day!

Getting ready to serve lunch

Day two had a different focus. We started the day with a short game going over the gender biased questions like, Are boys smarter than girls? etc. Then we jumped straight into our health session led by our Matrone, Salimatou Sabaly.  She educated the girls on the female parts of the body, the menstruel cycle, sex and STDs, and HIV.  We thought this was something important to talk about because 1) Girls aren't really educated on things like this in the public school system and 2) For most of the girls, these topics are not something they can really discuss with their parents.  All of these girls are at the adolescent age and are curious about their bodies and sex, and we felt that these topics were really important to highlight.  Especially considering that the Kounkane/Diaobe area where the girls and I live, has the highest level of HIV prevalence in Senegal!
Our health session was followed by an activity where we presented 10 scenario questions all with an underlying theme.  All of the scenarios were something that many girls in Senegal encounter as an obstacle in theirs lives, and it was really a great way to have Awa discuss the issues with the girls and give them a slightly different perspective on it.  Our scenarios touched on the following topics: Pressure to have sex with a boyfriend, Sexual harassement from a teacher (which happens a lot more than you would think), forced marriage, Safe sex (use of condems/contraceptive), Being the only girl in your village to go to school (not all village girls have the opportunity to go to school), Poverty and its affect on their studies, Living far away from school, and equally important, Rape.  We assigned the girls into groups of 10, about 5-6 in each group, and each group received a scenario.  We had them discuss it in small groups first and after, they shared what they discussed with the rest of us.  All of the girls had very important things to say, and Awa did an amazing job of educating them on aspects they may not have considered.  This by far was my favorite session!  All of the volunteers helped facilitate it! :)

Shortly after the scenarios, the girls' parents arrived; we served them all a lunch of oily Thieb (national dish) and then Awa led a lecture to the girls and their parents about supporting their daughters with their goals, the detriments of early pregnancy and forced marriage, which unfortunately are serious problems here in the Fouladou (Kolda region).  She also talked about rape with the parents.  Awa really has a way educating people! The parents disucssion was great!
We ended the conference with a short skit from a local theatre troupe who talked about forced marriage, and it was then followed by Awa, the Sous-Prefet, and some of us volunteers awarding the girls with a Certificate of Completion and a bracelet! We even made a special announcement about our 9 scholarship candidates and awarded them their dipolma first! 

Awa talking about the role of the parents in their daughters lives

Our girls and their Certificates! One of the proudest moments of my life :)

I'm so excited that our first major project was a success! I admit, some things could've run a little more smoothly, but I can't complain. We had a great turnout for both the girls and their parents, awesome pannelists, an amazing team of women who cooked 2 big lunches for our guests (that's an incredible amount of work!), love and support from all of the volunteers in the Velingara department (Love you guys!), and none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for all of our motivated Senegalese counterparts and work-partners who did more than their fair share of the work! This conference was amazing and so rewarding! I've never in my life done something that just feels so important. I'm truly passionate about the things we discussed.  Forced marriage, early pregnancy, and HIV are major issues here, and we want every girl to have the option to go and stay in school!  Can't wait until the next conference! We are hoping this will be an annual thing, inchallah!
Girl Power!

A very "village" Birthday

Birthdays here in Senegal are nothing like they are in America.  Oftentimes, Senegalese people don't know their exact date of birth, and their age is an approximation.  My family members have told me they have a certain age, but their identity cards say something different.  Apparently, parents often change their childrens' birthdays for schooling purposes.  Birthdays are not really celebrated in this country either.  There have been days when I would come home in the evening after spending an entire day with a friend who would casually mention, "Oh well, today is my birthday", like it was just another day. It's completely different than the big deal most of us make of it in America. So this month my birthday fell on this past thursday, the 19th, and I decided to share a bit of American culture with my family.  What better way to share than with a Senegalese/American birthday party? I have to say, I really had a great time, and i think my family enjoyed it too!
 I started my day started off with lovely birthday wishes from my PC friends here in Senegal, which was shortly followed by an awesome meeting in a nearby village called Tayel.  We are doing a scholarship there at the middle school, in addition to the 4 other schools in the Kounkane area. I spent the afternoon with Pam and by the evening we were running errands, buying supplies for dinner, and picking up my birthday cakes :)

My other friends from the area came to celebrate my birthday in the evening. We cooked a similar dish to macaroni and cheese, but we had to use what was available in Kounkane: macaroni noodles, a can of vegetables, Vitalait (extra fattening powdered milk), and Vache qui Rit cheese (similar to Velveeta because it doesn't need to be refridgerated, but different because it's white and creamy).  We added some fresh ground pepper, that Pam literally pounded herself, with some garlic and onions, and voila, we whipped up a Senegalese mac n cheese :)  I'd say about 1/2 my family liked it and the other 1/2 didn't.  Us volunteers loved it though!
After dinner we had a dance party...not my personal choice, but still somehow it happened.  My brothers busted out the stereo and started blaring Senegalese music.  We danced "Yuzza" with my family, but of course, loud music in this country attracts a stampede of neighborhood children.  We were forced to dance for a bit, but later I had to beg my family to turn off the music so all the univited guests would leave.  I didn't buy enough cake and boisson to feed all of Kounkane.....

Family and neighborhood dance party

So my family, sang me a sort of mixed version of Happy Birthday in English and Joyeux Anniversaire (the French version).  It was really sweet! They put a large candle right in the middle of my cake.  We cut up the cake, and of course it was devoured in about 5 minutes with all of my family members.  We all shared boissons (Sprite and Orange Fanta) and mintues later me, Ally, Pam, and Jenae retired to my hut for a late night of more cake (yes I had 2), red and rose wine, and lots of laughs!

Most of my family and I on my bday!



Ally n I cuttin bday cake! :)







 It was a great way to spend my birthday in the "somewhat" village Kounkane is....and in addition to my petite Senegalese celebration, I received lots of bday messages from friends on facebook and text messages :) Thanks for the love! The day following my birthday, I went to Velingara to get the mail and picked up 4 care packages bursting out the seems with American goodies! Thanks Mom and Mike! Now I have deliciousness to last me until vacation! :) So much better than rice and oil :)

A jaraama buy (Huge Thank you!) to all my friends and family for the birthday love!

One really amazing thing about serving in the Peace Corps is all the amazing people you meet, both the locals in the country of service and the other volunteers who serve along side you.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by the people in my Kounkane cluster! In the past nine months since I've arrived I've gained 3 amazing work partners and friends (and many more not mentioned in this post) who've helped make my birthday fabulous, and who also enhance my service everyday.  Peace Corps wouldn't be the same without them! Life long friends: another great benefit of Peace Corps service! :)

My loves...

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

A very special blog post to all the moms out there all over the world! I know the actual holiday was yesterday, but I’m gonna post a day late.  I did skype with my momma yesterday! It’s so nice to talk to Amerik J

The book I’m reading actually got me thinking about posting something for all the amazing moms out there! I’m reading the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells because, well, I find myself with a lot of spare time.  The book is entertaining, and it primarily focuses on a mother and daughters relationship.  It got me thinking about my own mom and our relationship. I miss her terribly! She is not only my mom but an amazing friend, pillar of support (especially with my PC service), and an awesome listener.  I don’t know what I would do without her! She is amazing! Happy Mom’s Day Mom! I loff you!  J

Luckily for me, I have, technically, three Senegalese moms…officially….but the way Senegalese families are, I guess you could consider all women in this country to be my mom.  In fact, I often call complete strangers (females only) that I meet on the street or in the market, Néné, meaning mom, because everyone else does and sometimes because I’ve forgotten their true name. But I would like to acknowledge them also because they’ve helped me in so many ways here: integration, teaching me how to tie a head wrap, the importance of wearing earrings all the time, how to make follere, etc. (so many more things too!)

So I would just like to acknowledge some awesome Senegalese women who I’ve crossed paths with:

My host mom during training was Maryama Baldé; she stood up for me when a tailor in Mbour tried to rip me off on my Korite outfit because I am white. We really bonded during PST; I still call her from time to time to say hello!

 My second host mom during PST was Ruby Saar.  She was three years younger than me, and my father’s second wife.  She laughed at me all the time, but was really helpful and supportive with teaching me Pulaar and letting me try new things like carrying water on my head or pounding leaves into a pulpy glob J

Ruby is on my right and Maryama is in green holding the baby

Then, of course, there is my current host mom in Kounkané, Salymatou Ba who informs everyone that I live in her house. She gave me my Senegalese name; I’m her namesake J She is the head of the house hold, a strong woman, an entrepreneur, and she is willing to help out everyone in the community J Glad she is there to help me out from time to time….. (pic of her in the Tabaski post J)
Above all, I’d like to note how strong and amazing I find Senegalese women, especially Pulaar women.  They have multiple children, they cook, they clean, and they put up with Senegalese men with their cat calls, laziness, and suppression….among other things…. I’m amazed at how strong and beautiful Senegalese women are J

Happy Mom’s Day!!! I’m so grateful I have such amazing moms in my life J especially my “real” mom J

Love. xxx