What to send Alex, fyi [from his Mom]

[from Lolo, Alex's Mom]
You all should know that Alex will not be on email until February or March now; he is on his 3 month challenge. But he has a cell phone and you can call him; call me or send me email if you need his number. Isn't technology now amazing??? No electricity, no running water, but phone coverage...

We spoke to him on Christmas eve and he sounded in great shape.

Many of you have asked what you can send him. As usual, Alex said he doesn't need anything. At this village he gets some fish and one vegetable (squash at the moment) besides the rice.
He says he can buy most things there in the capital, since there is one Western market. But he needs to get there and they cost money, which he doesn't have much (and he wants to live like one of them).

When pressed, here is what he said are items that can be sent:
- letters, of course; it will make his day. It takes about one month either way. They go to PC headquarters and they distribute once a month.
- magazines (he has Newsweek and Economist subscriptions already)
- books, especially books about Africa (history, novels, etc)
- power bars or energy bars (they don't have those there)
- individual oatmeal packages
- trail mix (no chocolate because of the heat) and dried fruit are hard to find
- meaty things: beef jerky preferred; canned tuna or chicken
- nuts, canned fruits, canned beans, etc.
In small cans since he has no refrigerator.

Thanks for caring.
cheers, Lolo

A Typical Travel Day in The Gambia

[Note from Lolo: This is a partial post - Alex couldn't finish it before he had to go back to village. Since he is now on his 3-month village challenge, I don't expect he will be able to get access to the web to finish it until March... but I thought it was interesting - his description of his trip from his village to Banjul, the capital which is in the Kombo region]

I am glad to finally have made it to the capital region for our Christmas gathering. My day began at 4:30 a.m., and I arrived at the Peace Corps dormitory at 3:30 p.m. What should have been a 3 to 4 hour journey turned into an 11 hour adventure.

The trip into Kombo for Christmas started the night before, when my host brother called the Gele gele driver to let him know we, my two peace corps friends and I, were traveling the next day. One gele will pass by my village if the driver knows he has customers.

4:30am: We woke up; the driver is known to come as early as 5:00 and we had to be ready or he would leave without us. By 6, he was still not there, which was of no concern because there is no schedule. My host brother tried calling him, but his phone was turned off. At 7 I was worried, because I have never heard the gele pass by after 6:30. My host father called and found out he was not coming.

7am: We then walked 1.5 km to the next village where a morning gele leaves. After a 20min walk we arrive in village to find out we just missed the gele. The next gele would not come until early afternoon. We decided we did not want to wait because the geles usually have to wait to fill up or might not show up, and we did not want to risk losing a day of travel. We checked on a donkey cart to the main road from the village which is about 8 km. The driver wanted to charge us 400 Dalasis (22 Dalasis to the dollar) which we thought was outrageous. We decided to walk back to my village.

9am: Upon arriving back at my village, we decided we could walk to the main road where it would be easy to catch a gele (6km) or try and get someone in village to take us on a horse cart. Someone whom I knew offered to take us for 250 dalasis. We thought it was a lot of money, but we did not know the price and it was cheaper than the other guy. I figured the guy in village would give me a fair price becuase the village was small and we are not suppose to bargain with people in village. We decide to take the donkey cart, because we have bags and it would be far to walk.

9:40: Finally left our village again on donkey cart. Once we got to the main road, we stood by the edge of the road trying to wave down geles. We waited about 30 minutes to find a gele which was not full. After a 40 min ride, we arrived at the ferry terminal.

12:30pm: We arrived in Banjul by ferry. We walked about 15 minutes to the car park only to find there were mobs of people. Many people were coming home from the village after Tobaski. When the volkswagen buses pulled up people would mob the door making if difficult for the people trying to get off. It took us an hour of pushing and shoving to get in one of the cars, and we only made it because some gambians were friendly and basically pushed everyone out of the way to let us on.

close to 3pm: Rode by bus for about 25 min to the next car park to switch taxis, and take a new van to the Peace Corps residence. We treated ourselves to GamJuices, similar to flavored icies, but made with real fruit.

3:35pm: We finally made it!!!!

Happy holidays

Merry Christmas. I am back in Kombo for a couple days to celebrate the holidays. It does not feel like Christmas without the lights, decorations, and music, but we have a potluck dinner with turkey, mash potatoes, desserts, and secret santa tonight. It should be a good Christmas, and we watched Elf last night to get in the spirit.

A view of my village with some of the local kids.

So I did not make the three months in village due to Christmas, but the two weeks in village have been a challenge. The first first three days were the roughest. At one point in the middle of the day, I layed down on my bed completely overwhelmed asking myself what am I doing here. Slowly I am started to feel more comfortable with my family. I still have difficult speaking to them and understanding what they are saying, but I am learning. I found a tutor at the local school, and I plan to start lessons with him when I go back. Some days are better than others, but everyday I try to find one good thing I did. If I am feeling down, I go for a walk in the fields, read, write in my journal, or text a friend.

In village I have a lot of time and not a lot to do. I still need to learn about the community and the people before I can begin any projects. I mostly sit outside teaching the kids the ABCs, reading, or listening to conversations (trying to understand them). I dug a garden bed in my backyard and planted vegetables, but otherwise I have not done any work. I visited some of the local villages and some of the peace corps volunteers near me.

The village kids on Tobaski.

So far my family is nice, and patient with me. Most of my conversations end up with either them or I laughing because we do not understand each other. Usually I say something that does not make sense or I cannot get a sense of what they are talking about.

A couple days ago we had Tobaski which is a big muslim holiday. I think of it as their Christmas. Everyone dresses up in nice clothing and does make up. They kill a goat or sheep (meat other than fish in the food bowl is a rare treat) for the food bowl. At night the kids go around in groups and ask for salibo, kind of like Halloween. The villagers give the kids money with which they buy candy or biscuits.

My two host moms and I inside my compound on Tobaski


from wikipedia:

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى ‘Īd al-’Aḍḥā) is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide as a commemoration of Ibrahim's (Abraham's) willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, under the order of Allah. It is one of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from the Quran.[1]

Kombo

My time in Kombo is coming to a end. Today is my swearing in ceremony where I become a real Peace Corps Volunteer. Every month or so I should come to Kombo to take money out of the bank, check e-mail, stock up on food, or hang out with other Peace Corps volunteers. We stay a short distance from the beach, and it is relaxing to go for a swim or walk along the sand. I am fortunate to be near a beach instead of a land locked country.

To get from my site to Kombo or anywhere else in the country, I travel by gele-gele or bush taxi. They are these big vans where the drivers cram people tightly together. In a seat where they should fit four they put five. The geles are in two conditions; old and falling apart. Traveling back from my site I rode with another Peace Corps trainee. We bounced around on the road squished between people with our bags on our laps. I have to pay extra to put a bag on top, so I try to take a small enough bag to carry. The main north bank road is newly paved which is a miracle because most roads are in bad shape. Only a few roads are paved, but it is often smoother to drive next to the road than through the potholes.

Site Visit - First thoughts

I visited my new home for the next two years. The village is small with less than 100 people and 7 compounds. I have the second smallest village for a peace corp volunteer in The Gambia. I live in a compound with my host father and his brother. Each of them have two wives. There are a bunch of kids and it is extremely difficult to figure out which kids are part of my compound and which ones are part of others. Even my older host brother who speaks good english could not remember everyone when I made the family tree with him.


The area is extremely deforested and even the village has few trees. The villagers do very little gardening, but a few have some casava plants ( a plant of which you eat the root, similar to a potato). The village has a lot of cattle, and one of my host brothers is a sheperd for my father's herd. Everyday they come through the center of town to fetch water from the open well. The water table is so low that they hook a donkey up to a rope. The small boys then run with the donkey away from the well to draw up the water. It is fasinating to watch.


I do not know most of what goes on in my town, but I have two years to find out. Within a short bike ride are a school and a few villages which are all included in my work area. There is a lot of flexibility as to where I can work. Once I familiarize myself with the area, I can decide where I want to work and what projects I would like to do. Possible projects include alley cropping, gardening, soap making, poultry, bee keeping, fruit drying, and much more. Currently I am interested in live fencing, woodlots, and grafting, but I will need to learn what the villagers want, and what I think is feasible. I will try to blend their interests' with my own.

I am back in the Kombo area for the next week where we, the trainees, will visit government agencies, NGOs (non governmental organizations), and Gambian Associations such as the Beekeeper's Association to learn about the groups with which we can work and support. If I pass the language exam on monday, I can be sworn in on December 7th and become a Peace Corps Volunteer. I head to site on the 9th.