A Whirlwind Month

While I typically avoid "this is what I did" blog posts and try to write about specific topics, the month of May has been such a whirlwind of experiences that could be blog posts in their own, that I have decided to condense it all into a series of mini posts in this one, to best capture the many goings-on of the hottest month of the year.

Bassari Initiations 

Each year, a group of 12-15 year old Bassari boys are initiated into manhood, and, this year, we were fortunate enough to participate in the celebrations.  The Bassaris are a minority ethnic group who live in Southwestern Kedougou (quite far from where we live).  They are distinguished from most of the other ethnic groups in the region due to their Christian/Animist traditions.  Their distinctive culture is appreciated around Senegal, and people from far and wide come to observe the initiations.  

The Kedougou Peace Corps volunteers (and a few friends from other regions) rented out a car to take us to Egath, the village where the initiations were held this year. 

We had a few too many people than would fit in the mini-bus, so I got  to ride to Egath on top.  It was exhilarating, and I only got a little sunburned (though very dirty).

Things got going on Saturday evening with the sounds of whistles and coming from the forest.  Then this procession emerged with ornately beaded costumes, goat hair ankle, and each with a scarf from the first woman he had slept with.  These were not the initiates but the older warriors.  This parade of whistling and marching continued with no breaks until about 1 am, when they retreated back into the forest.

Eventually, the initiates joined in the parade with their red and white outfits.  Most Senegalese boys and men shave their heads, and it was so different to see these boys with their braids.  Families choose the initiation dates for their boys up to three years in advance in order to prepare.

As the parade continued on into the evening, we set up camp and partook in the festivities, which included palm wine, honey wine, and millet beer.  It was so different to see alcohol consumed in a village setting.  You take a cup and go from house to house, and your cup will be filled.  Senegalese hospitality a la Bassari.

The next morning, the whistling came from a different direction of the forest surrounding the village.  The warriors emerged with their masks, their bodies covered with clay.  This parade didn't last nearly as long, and was merely a procession to the area designated for the actual initiation: the fights.

Women aren't allowed to watch the fights, but Pat was able to describe it to me.  (Children aren't allowed to watch either, but every ten minutes or so kids would come sprinting away from the fighting area, chased by a figure covered in clay brandishing a big stick.)  Each initiate is armed with a bow that serves as a shield, and a long wooden sword.  The initiate runs forward and hits the older warrior, and after a few hits, weapons are dropped, and it turns into wrestling.  In all but two cases, the older warrior won easily.  After a few hours, all of the men emerged back into the village where the women (the female Peace Corps volunteers in particular) were busy buying beautiful Bassari jewelry.  The new health volunteers were arriving in Kedougou that afternoon, so we had to hustle back to welcome them.  We are now the senior health volunteers, which is nuts.

Fighting Malaria in Paradise
Peace Corps Senegal has a great relationship with the President's Malaria Initiative, which has two resident advisors who work with the Senegalese National Malaria Control Program.  Because of this relationship, another volunteer (who also is a Masters International Student at Tulane) and I were invited to participate in a 4 day workshop regarding the roll out of an exciting new piece of the arsenal in the fight against malaria.  Seasonal Malaria Chemoprophylaxis is the provision of monthly malaria prophylaxis (like what travellers take) to kids in zones where malaria transmission is highly seasonal.  It is being rolled out in the four southern regions of Senegal this rainy season and is expected to reduce cases of malaria in the target age group (kids under 10) by 75%.  This workshop was for the National Malaria Control Program and partners to take the World Health Organization recommendations and turn them into an action plan for operations in Senegal.  Technical guidelines and tools for communication and monitoring and evaluation were created, and it was really cool to be able to help with that.  I have to say, I don't think I've ever learned so much in any other four day period.  After a year working at the district level of the health pyramid, it was fascinating to see how things work at the national level.  
 

Added bonus: the workshop was held in Saly, a beach paradise.  Pat was doing his mid-service health exams in Dakar for the first three days but was able to join me on the last day.  It was an all inclusive hotel, and the buffet of Western food was a great break...I had hit a brick wall the food at site and really felt like I needed a good break to be able to endure it for another year.

Festival du Jazz
We scheduled our mid-service health appointments in Dakar around the Jazz Festival in Saint Louis (it's such a trek from Kedougou to the coast that you have to make it count).  It was a great weekend in a really cool city.  Saint Louis' architecture really reminds me of New Orleans, so it was fitting to hear jazz music there (although nothing can ever compare to JazzFest in New Orleans).

Saint Louis--colonial city about as far as you can get from Kedougou within Senegal, in terms of geography, climate, and appearance.

Dakar

All volunteers are required to do mid-service health check ups in Dakar. Over the past year, between the two of us, Pat and I have experienced giardia, worms, skin infection, and typhoid fever.  Our mid-service check up was basically just a brief physical, a TB test, and a trip to the dentist.  It did provide a good excuse to explore Dakar while waiting for the 48 hours for my TB test to be read and then waiting a few more days in order to get a ride down to Kedougou in a Peace Corps car.

The first few days in Dakar were spent soaking up every last minute with our dear friend Ian before he left us for America.

Last blast on Ngor Island

Pat and I found these traditional Malinke mudcloth boubous in Saint Louis (we haven't been able to  find them anywhere in Malinke land, and the salesman was so stoked to meet us and told Pat that he was a real Malian (most Malinkes are from Mali and Guinea).  We got Ian a matching one as a farewell gift, which ended up being hillarious because he was given three other boubous within his last few days in Senegal.

A few girls from my training group were also in Dakar for mid-service, and we decided to go on an adventure to the Ile de Madeleine.  It involved negotiating with fishermen to get a boat out, but  all the sketchiness we encountered in that phase of the adventure paid off.  The island was beautiful, and we had a blast.

Now, after two and a half weeks out of site, it's time to hit the ground running with projects.  Pat says that rainy season started with a vengeance a few days ago, tearing apart the grounds at the Kedougou regional house.  Rainy season means malaria season, and there is a lot of work to be done to get ready for all of the interventions that are being rolled out in the next few months.  Good thing this whirlwind of a working vacation has us rested up and ready to go!