Making the Most of It

These last few days here I've been trying to to soak up every minute of left. I'm still going to the hospital each morning and absolutely love it. One thing I've always wanted to do in Africa is make really good friends with some local women. There's nothing like a sick baby to unite two people. The mothers at the hospital are generally around my age or younger and want to know all about my culture and if I would PLEASE marry their son. I always tell them "Absolutely, but first we have to get him over this pneumonia and maybe grow for another 20 years!" My responsibilities at the hospital are increasing substantially and I'm going to be sad to go.

I've only been working half days at the hospital so I can spend the afternoon enjoying the last of my time here. I've spent a lot of time with friends around gorgeous pools at some of the most beautiful resorts here. I've also done a LOT of shopping the last few days. There are a few different types of markets here. Practical markets with food, hardware, clothes and fabric, kind of like Africa's Wal-Mart. And then there are craft markets. They have tons of different vendors all selling the same gorgeous things. I love the craft markets because you can watch the men and women make what they are selling. Men sit outside their stalls carving wood all day to make beautiful animal statues, chairs, masks and other designs. Other men weave on large looms or stretch animal hides over drums they've created. Women piece together necklaces, or sew dresses and bags to display from the trees. It's a beehive of activity and everything they make is beautiful. When I worked at the UN I was able to "window" shop every day on the way to and from work, promising to return when it was time to go home. This week they have been SO happy to see me coming.

Today I went with my friend Famara to a crocodile pool (everyone here has exciting names like Famara, Modu, Abdukabbir, Fatou, and Fatmata~ I've gotten used to it but they still can't say my name so I go by Binta Jammeh.) To get to the crocodile pool, we wove through miles of dirt roads with open sewers and very old homes peppered in between ramshackle tin compounds. The crocodile pool is a sacred place for infertile women who take a dip in the pool to help them have a child. Despite its obscure location, it has become a bit of a destination place. They have a great museum depicting initiating ceremonies, masquerades, major wars that the Gambia has been involved in, instruments and masks from various tribes, different types of amulets, called jujus, that are used to protect and heal the owner or hurt his enemy, as well as a variety of agricultural and domestic tools. The instruments were my favorite because many of the instruments we use at home have their roots in Africa. Very early versions of banjos, fiddles, guitars, harps, xylophones, flutes and drums all originate here.

The actual crocodile pool was incredible. It was a very small pond with countless crocodiles. I lost count at 25 massive crocodiles, some sunbathing, many swimming around in their mosquito-infested home. I'm not good at estimating length or size, but they were HUGE. In addition, there were countless smaller beasts from tiny babies, that make it difficult to imagine they can grow to be so big, to 5-6 feet long teenagers. There's no fence or boundary between observer and reptile so it was and having a staring contest between countless animals

a little unnerving to be a few feet away and having a staring contest between countless animals that could tear you apart. You couldn't give me enough money to get in that water. I don't know how those women do it. Unfortunately, my camera has gone on strike, so I don't have any pictures and probably won't these last few days (leaving in just 3 days!) Enough writing for now, must continue exploring!

Dreams

Sometimes I catch myself watching the people and things around me like I'm in some kind of wonderful dream. I see the things around me like the opening scene of a movie where they show shot after shot of whatever beautiful and exotic place it was filmed at, where even the smallest task looks beautiful and intriguing. It catches me in the most unexpected moments: walking through a crowded market with colorful fabrics and foreign foods; seeing a child carry giant loads of water on top of her head, walking tenderly so not to get her gorgeous African dress muddy; watching mensit in circles discussing the Quran and making pot after pot of excessively sweet tea over an open fire; hearing hundreds of brightly dressed women, with babies strapped on their backs, chatting as they wait for hours on end to see a doctor; waking up to the beautiful call of a long-tailed, royal blue bird; catching the sharp aroma of dozens of flowering trees. Sometimes I catch myself observing these things as if I weren't a participant, as if I were some far away observer seeing how beautiful life is here. When I catch myself, I get a stupid, silly grin and can't help but can't help but think how incredibly fortunate I am to be able to experience this. As with everything that is good, or brings us joy, I so wish that I could
share it with everyone I know. Trying to diminish it to words or pictures is like trying to describe the ocean to someone who has never seen it. I'm trying my best to show how incredible it is here, but I'm afraid I'm failing miserably. You'll just have to come visit for yourself, and when you do, bring me along with you!

Obstacles

I have really seemed to be getting into the groove here and have loved learning about the culture, getting to know the people and am acutually starting to enjoy the pace. Everything here seems to be an obstacle, from small things like getting a hot shower to bigger things like traveling, and I enjoy the challenge. There's almost constant celebration whenever an obstacle is overcome or there is some small luxury. My friend described coming home from dinner and having power as "better than Christmas." The celebrations make all the obstacles exciting and almost fun to overcome.

One obstacle that I've been struggling with is just being sick. I've always gotten bad headaches and muscle aches when its going to rain and rainy season in Africa is no exception. Luckily, I brought some migraine medicine and that does a great job. Also, sometime around my first day here I got a parasite. I've never had a parasite and I kept contibuting it to the new foods I was trying or my malaria medicine. I know 3 other people that have been just as sick as I have, so we just laughed and said "It's Africa!" Like everyone that comes to Africa undoubtedly is isck for months on end. I've been sick for almost 2 months now with only 2-3 day reprieve every couple of weeks. It hasn't been too bad, with the exception of a dull headache due to dehydration and fatigue. Unfortunately, 3 days ago I started getting flu-like symptoms with high fever, chills, etc. I went to the pediatrician I've been volunteering for and he was furious that I hadn't told him yet and now I have a respiratory infection too! He put me on a total of 9 medications, 3 of which are antibiotics, a rehydration regime and some others. I've been sleeping for 3 days and its about to drive me crazy! I feel so lazy, that I'm losing days to be exploring Africa.

I have wonderful friends that are taking good care of me, bringing me food and checking in on me every couple of hours. I was never under the illusion that being here was going to be easy or without challenges, and I've actually never met anyone that's come to Africa without getting sick. I'm going to have a major celebration when I finally get over this little obstacle.

Banjul

Yesterday I went to Banjul, Gambia's capital for the first time. I was expecting lots of big buildings, wide roads and lots of government officials out and about on the swampy island, but I was sorely mistaken. Banjul is a small island formed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gambian river. It holds significant importance in the formation of the Gambia because in the British fight against France for the area that makes up Senegal and Gambia, the British were able to hold Banjul and the Gambian river. The British were trying to enforce abolition of slavery, while the French still were trying to use this influential river to get slaves for their colonies. The British won, but there are still several tourist sites where one can see where slaves were sold and shipped to the Americas. This gives Gambia its odd geography as a country surrounded by Senegal on all sides.

Banjul looks a lot like anywhere in the Gambia, small buildings, dirt roads and lots of people. There are a few things that make it stand out. First, there are 2 national monuments to commemorate significant dates of independence (a tall metal cone) and the coup that took place in 1994 (a very beautiful marble arch). There are a couple of large parks, which can be hard to find in other parts of the country. The nation's only tertiary hospital is located in Banjul. My good friend, Mafo, is finishing up med school and spends most of her time there, so we went for a tour of the hospital. Every ward is sponsored by a different organization (e.g. Shell) and you can easily tell which wards are well funded, and which ones are struggling. The security guide took as all over the hospital trying to find the official tour guide, but by the time we actually found him, we had already seen the whole thing and just asked the tour guide a few extra questions. At the hospital I've been volunteering at we send a lot of patients to this hospital. They had a little bit more equipment, but in general it wasn't that much different, just bigger.

We also went to the national museum, which was incredibly interesting. They had all kinds of artifacts from Miss Gambia 1985's gown to burial treasures from 10,000BC. Humanity began in Africa (the Garden of Eden is largely thought to have been in Ethiopia or Sudan), our first major civilizations were here, and it holds such a rich history that its impossible to think of all the contributions to the modern world that Africa has made. This small museum was rich with artifacts dating back to our earliest forefathers, like the club shown above, and some of the earliest iron tools that were made. I also really enjoyed reading about colonialism, the fight for independence and how political history has shaped this area. My favorite things to learn about were the masquerades that are still practiced here, in which men dress up in a variety of scary costumes, carry machetes and scare away evil spirits. Most people hide inside while these are going on. Here is a photograph of a Simba, or lion, masquerade. The museum also had a variety of incredible drums, the earliest xylophones and early guitars and banjos ("banjo" is actually an African word!)

After a short afternoon it was too hot and we had seen all the highlights in the guidebook so we headed on home. It was a great afternoon and a learned a lot! I thought I would be living on Banjul, but I'm actually living just across on the mainland. I'm so happy because there is SO much more to do and not quite so isolating, but it was a great place to visit.

Wedding Festivities

Yesterday I went to a true African wedding. My friends, Lucy and Okwin, have some friends in town that are teachers in New Mexico and have a house here as well as a family that they have "adopted." Judy and Valentine are in town to celebrate their God-daughter's wedding and graciously invited us along. I have never been to anything like it and I only stayed for the beginning of the festivities! Bento, the bride married her cousin, an arranged marriage, which is common practice in their household. The first part of the wedding, the part I attended, was held at the bride's family's compound which houses around 40 people from 3 generations: grandparents, 9 siblings, their spouses and children. The house was one long corridor of rooms with doors facing to the outside, like a motel, and a common living space, bathroom and kitchen outside. All of the rooms could easily fit inside my parent's house and the lot could probably fit into their backyard, so you can imagine how crowded the compound is everyday. Today everyone was outside in the most beautiful clothes, cooking for everyone and enjoying the festivities.

When I first got there it was about 1:00 and all the women were busy preparing food and the children were everywhere. I was introduced to countless people and we all hugged and kissed three times. Only women com to this ceremony (with the exception of just a few) and the men go to the mosque to pray and do the actual marriage. Only men are allowed in the mosque, so women have their own celebration. The women cooked lots of rice, eggplant, fried fish, and some kind of spicy gumbo-looking stuff. We all sat around and chatted and fanned ourselves while the bride got ready. When she was finally ready (about an hour and a half late) she arrived with 2 taxis blaring their horns and drummers drumming and blowing whistles.

Everyone ran to the street to greet her and get lots of pictures. There were only a few cameras (the 3 American women and the official photographer) so whoever had a camera became very popular. She was in a beautiful, colorfully embroidered gown with henna designs on her hands and feet and a lime green linen veil. The whole neighborhood was out cheering and dancing. When she finally made it in the compound they did a little ritual where she and her sister drank some water, then it was poured on her feet. A mat was laid at her feet where women opened their pocket books and poured money onto it. This is to honor the bride but it also honors the giver because it shows that she has enough money to spare. It was small money, not more than the equivalent of 20 cents to $2, but it added up to at least $15. Even the bride threw some money in! Finally they picked up the mat and danced around with the money.

After more pictures were taken with the bride and her family (I, along with the other Americans were considered part of the family). Then the drumming, singing and dancing began. There were 3 drummers that were hired and boy did they have rhythm. There was a woman's group there who sing at weddings. They didn't have very pretty singing voices but they did a great job leading the group in upbeat and festive chants and songs. My friend called them "clowns" to indicate that they were just there to provide entertainment. We formed a large circle in the compound and all the women danced these intense energy-filled dancing where they stomped and jumped and moved their arms and bodies in ways that are difficult to describe. It was an invigorating and exciting dance and they would literally push each other out of the way to dance. I don't think they minded being pushed out of the circle through, it was so hot and the most energy-sapping dances, it was almost like they were getting "tagged out of the ring" like they do in those fake wrestling matches. They danced for about 2 hours and then lunch was served.

Communal eating is common here. Everyone eats off of one plate using only the right hand, no utensils. You pick it up and use your fingers to kind of roll it into a ball and then pop it in your mouth. It's really hard to not ever use your left hand but that is used for dirtier tasks and not considered sanitary. I'm a slow eater by nature and am always still hunger after communal eating. I hadn't had anything to eat all day, it was already 6:00, and after our communal meal I was still very hungry. I decided to leave so I could get a more substantial meal and take a nap. After I left they were going to carry all of the bride's belonging through the street in a great parade to her in-laws' compound where she and husband are going to live. At that compound the festivities will repeat themselves, with a lot more drumming, singing and dancing, more eating and then more dancing and eating. This can go on for days and days.

After only 5 hours I was exhausted. I need to work on my African stamina! The whole thing was a blast and a true celebration. I'm so grateful that I was able to be a part of it!

Health Care

These last two weeks in the Gambia, I am volunteering at a local hospital in the pediatric ward. So far, I absolutely love it. I am working in the pediatric ward with children from 2 days old to 16 years. We see all kinds of ailments from hypoxia, asthma, malria, pneumonia, head trauma and many more. Malaria season is begining so we are starting to see more Health care in the Gambia is "free" in theory, it's only about 4 cents to admit a child and food, drugs and most other care are free. However, there is a shortage of food and drugs so the families end up having to spend a lot of money at privately owned pharmacies for their loved ones. Many families can't afford the medications so the kids just stay in the hospital with no treatment at all. There is also no food provided, the kitchen is out of order so families are expected to buy their own food too. Once again, which some families cannot afford.

The hospital I'm working in, Serakunda Hospital, was built by Thiland and opened about a year ago. It is beautifully built with several 2 or 3 story buildings with one ward per floor. The wards are long rooms with bed after bed. There is no privacy at all, but the families often get to be good friends. Lots of people sit and lay in the courtyard wiating for their turn to see a doctor. There are plenty of nurse's assistants and tech's but not really enough nurses and doctors. The assistants are very important because they translate for the patients. (There are 7 tribal languages and most people don't speak English unless they went to school. Education is "free"~still lots of fees that keep people out~but the average years in school is 2nd grade education, so most people don't speak English.) Many of the doctors and nurses here are Cuban and some from other countries, so they do not know the tribal languages very well.

In addition, there are very few resources to actually treat patients. We have only 1 tank of oxygen for the entire hospital, but it has been out of oxygen since I got there. There is also only 1 nebulizer for the whole hospital, but it doesn't work if there is no power, which happens about 8 hours a day. It seems like a generator could save a lot of lives but those are expensive and there is a fuel shortage here, so who knows?

One thing that is interesting is that many people go to Imams before going to the hospital. An Imam is an Islamic religious leader that looks at the ailment, writes parts of the Quaran on a sheet of paper and puts it on a little pouch that goes on a person's neck or around their arm. It costs SO much money to go to an Imam and people can spend all their money on this before they go see a doctor. Many people believe that someONE made them sick instead of someTHING. That is, perhaps their uncle is mad at them so they cursed them. We saw this quite a bit in Haiti as well, so it doesn't suprise me. But it can be frustrating because so many patients come in past the window of opportunity to treat them. They are often on their death bed when they show up and all you can do is send them home.

Despite these many obstacles, it is really neat how much the hospital does with so little. Many patients come in very sick and incredibly attentive staff miraculously, they leave healthy! At home we depend so much on technology, but people can actually get better without it! I love seeing how happy people are when they or their loved one finally gets better and can go home. I think I'm really going to enjoy my time there.

A Different Calling

Yesterday was my last day with the UN World Food Programme. I have mixed feelings about my time there, but I am so happy that I had the opportunity. I was in the programming division, that primarily focused on providing school lunches to about 500 schools nationwide (almost every school). The main problem I had with WFP is that I didn't have a clear role so it was difficult to fill my days with any kind of meaningful work. Sometimes I was asked to do a task and when it was complete my supervisor didn't want it anymore or had changed his mind. So I designed several national studies, analyzed quite a bit of data, wrote several national reports and presentations that may be used in the future, but right now are just sitting in my supervisor's e-mail box. I also expected to be much more hands on, in the field and with the schools and I wasn't given that opportunity so that was very disappointing.

On the other hand, when I was doing meaningful work that is actually being used I loved it. I designed an ad campaign of posters that are going to be posted in every school in the country. There are 6 different posters that say "Every Child Must Eat" in response to a policy that some schools have that if children can't pay a small fee for lunch than they aren't entitled to it. This is completely wrong, the WFP pays for the food and it is intened especially those who are most vulnerable. Hopefully, everyone will see my posters and feed those kids!

A second project I worked on is analyzing regional data on all of the school infrastructure that needs to be repaired or replaced. Several schools do not meet standards for toilet to child ratio, number of classrooms to children ration, do not have adequate kitchens, water supply etc. I put together a very large report (somewhere around 200 pgs) and presentations to present to donors so that some of the most desperate schools can have improved infrasturcture.

My last major project was putting together a national forum to bring together 60 of the government ministries, donors, ambassadors, aid organizations, and other stakeholders to discuss the future steps of school feeding program and some really great ideas came out of the day-long forum. The forum was on Monday and it was by far the most fun I've had and I really felt like I would start getting more responsibility in the future. On my second to last day I found about 500 2011 calenders that hadn't been distributed. I gave them all away to people at the UN and tried to give force them to take enough for the family, friends, cousins....anyone! I felt like the most popular girl at school! I really got a chance to talk to some of the most incredible people from all over the world. I even took on to a woman that begs down the street (her name is Fatou)! I was really starting to enjoy being there! However, I had already turned in my two weeks notice and it was time to leave.

I chose to have my last 2 weeks as kind of "free weeks" to do whatever I please. This morning I volunteered at the local hospital, and will continue to do so, in the pediatric ward. I'm also trying to use the afternoons to explore the country a bit more. I'm planning on exploring more markets, the capital, going to Senegal and whatever else I happen to fancy. I don't think I will take any pictures of the hospital, I just don't feel right taking pictures of sick kids. But look at any sad picture of tons of sick kids packed into too few beds and you'll get a good idea of what it looks like. Anyway, I'm really looking foward to enjoying my last few weeks here and I'll let you know how it goes!