Busy...Busy

For the past month I have been in village, I have been taking Mandinka lessons, connecting with the people, holding meetings with the school and the health committee in my village and nearby towns. I am currently working on a project to build a bigger health hut for my village.   I also have developed the next steps I need to take for the Case de Santé project by meeting with the NGO and, sensitizing the 3 villages and the health committee about the project. They have been very responsive to my idea and have given to me their full support.

 I will be meeting soon the president of the committee in Toubacouta and the mayor in Karang. They are very influential figures in their respective communities. I feel like there is no right way of doing this job. You just have to get yourself out there and take a leap of faith.  It’s been great approaching people and having them be open to my ideas, and to be willing to help in whatever capacity they can. In the end, I want my village to benefit from these resources, and it would also be a nice way to connect and strengthen the ties between people from different parts of the region. Even if Peace Corps does not recommend volunteers to start right away  I just feel for certain ideas I have to start being on the radar of people. It’s also another way to know Senegal and to put myself out there as a Peace Corps volunteer.

I have also been invited to many events.  I went to the elementary school at Djinack Barra, a small island off Senegal. My counterpart’s brother is the director of the elementary school and has strong ties with an NGO who has built their case de santé and school. Since I have been introduced to them, he also spoke of my project and the NGO is interested to receive the report. I am crossing my fingers that everything works out because they are very eager to work on the project.