My Time in Senegal With the Peace Corps: Time To Plant Some Trees!

July has come and gone. In that time we have had, according to the farmers, a wonderful amount of rain. The corn in one month's time has gone from the size of simple young blades of grass to towering well above my head. The flamboyant tree that I planted last year in my backyard has been soaking up all the water and has doubled in size. Take a look!

Rain here brings more than just food crops. It brings life to everything. The amount of bugs increases daily. I've also noticed, every time that I take a moment to look, that the amount of random things living in every crevice of my back yard increases. Just look at all the wonderful things I've found!

I have several species of mushrooms

I have no idea what this is, but it's alive!

Of the million kinds of bugs, I might as well show a few.

Here is one little guy who I found on my yoga mat.

Some flies had fun having their babies in a bag of seed I left out in the rain... ugh!

These GIANT centipedes like to hide under things. when they sting it hurts!

Village happenings.

So my biggest projects are done and I'm on the down hill slope in my village, preparing for my departure and the arrival of the volunteer who will replace me. So, is work slowing down? No and yes. Yes as in I have no more giant projects. Yes as in people are farming from sunrise to sunset so it's almost impossible to get them to do anything for me. However, my to-do list has been a mile long. Just a few things on my list are: get groups to out plant their demonstration live fences, get members to plant trees from their private nurseries. Promote and attempt to do rainy season gardens, organize people to plant ornamental trees on main road, organize grafting formations, meet with new neighborhoods who want to discuss starting a group, and strengthen the liaison between my leaders. Oh, and have tea with Issa. Yes, there is a lot to do.

I've gotten the groups to out plant their trees for their garden demonstration live fences. See them planting the trees?

The women who planted trees during the formation were excited to take them and plant them in their fields. Here is one happy woman and her trees.

The politics of the groups are ever changing as well. These days this has become one of my favorite sectors to work in. My new counterparts continue to help me in organizing the groups, and the group members and presidents alike are starting to question the role of my “special helpers”. This month I've had talks about it and arguments about it with several people in my groups, including group presidents. I've also discussed it with my counterparts. Basically, it's a lot of drama. The villgers argue: “Are the counterparts the bosses of the groups? But they aren't in any of the groups! Who has the right to make decisions? The groups are doing their work, the counterparts should do their own. We have our wells and they have theirs, leave them to their fields and us to our groups!”
At the end of the month I sat down with my counterparts and my presidents facing one another, said a few words, and then sat back and let them duke it out. The counterparts hashed it out to the presidents saying “there is no individual work here. The groups work together, we all work together. Lets face it, we all have knowledge. If one is not there to help, the other one can, then we can tell the others about it. Some of us know what good soil is, some of us know how to plant trees, and some of us know how to organize people. It's all for one cause and we all need to work together instead of doing everything individually. We are here to support the volunteer, who is here to help us. You are part of her work as well as us. If we work together, her work will be more likely to succeed.” The presidents could do nothing but agree. And if they agree, the groups' members will know. It's a start.

How about a test in organization?

I had each group plant many flamboyant trees. A flamboyant is a really pretty tree that has fern-type leaves and has beautiful orange flowers. I discussed with them from the start that these trees were for the main road. Well, the trees grew, and this last week, we out planted them. The great part was, I played a very small roll in it. My leaders are really coming along.
So, towards the end of July we managed to plant about half of the trees. I was head organizer, giving advise to my group president, my counterparts, and everyone wanting to plant trees. It was hectic, and according to my counterparts, I didn't do it right. I was needing to leave town the following day. I actually think they were glad. They told me that when I came back, all of the trees would be planted the way I had requested. And it's true, when I went back, they were all planted. How about that for work partners? A Peace Corps Volunteer couldn't ask for more.
Some photos:

here are the trees. I got metal signs made so the trees would have owners.

We painted the name of the caretaker for the tree on the signs

Each tree got a sign.

Ideally, every person will protect his/her tree when the rain stops. They all knew upon planting the tree that this was the case. So, even more ideally, in 10 years the main road in Thiabedji will be lined with flamboyant trees. Like I said, it's a test in organization. Success rate can be 0% or if we are lucky 50%.

The 4th of July in Kedougou.

Every 4th of July, Kedougou hosts a rather large party and volunteers from all over the country are invited. This year we threw a wonderful party! There was food, drinks, music, games, a singing of the national anthem, and even fireworks!
The day started out with a nice 4k run in the center of town for anyone who wished to attend. Many volunteers as well as locals, participated in the race. It was very fun. I didn't run, I opted to stand by and take some photos.

The start of the race