Earworm Wednesday: Vaycay

Like an "I"m leaving town for somewhere to explore and eat and drink" vaycay. Not an "I'm leaving town to go see my family for the holidays" vaycay (even though I absolutely love seeing them).

It's a good thing I got my ticket to Bellingham, Washington last week. I'll be exploring and eating and drinking with my sister and one of my best buds soon enough. Going to Washington in February isn't going to be as warm as I'd like, but it's a place I've never been and there are mountains! I'm so pumped. Plus, we are flying in and out of Seattle-- we are putting aside a few hours to explore the city. I LOVE cities and I can't wait to get lost in Seattle. And Bellingham. One of my favorite podcasts, Here Be Monsters, is out of Bellingham.

I've been trying to stick to my Wednesday earworm posts for consistency-- I have been really busy over the last few weeks and I'm having a hard time finding something to write about. Ideas? Links to ideas? This is something Pinterest can't solve for me.

Today's song is one that picks me up and brings me back to Dakar. Now THAT is a city. I love it there.

Sigh. Get me out of town!!!!!!!!!!

Flaunt Your Cause: Clean Water for the World

I am extremely excited about the "Flaunt Your Cause" link-up from Lindsay and Emmy:

I've been wanting to write about Clean Water for the World again for quite awhile and this is a perfect excuse. I mentioned this lovely organization in my "I Left My Heart in Dakar" post, but I'd like to devote a little more time to talking about something that is very near and dear to my heart. By near, I mean they are a local non-profit organization doing amazing things globally. By dear, I mean they are some of my favorite people in the world. Here's their organization and my story.

If you are reading this blog post then you probably have regular access to clean water. You brush your teeth with it and drink it out of the faucet (the only reason you might not is because you don't like the taste of it). You bathe or shower in it without worrying about getting sick, where the water is coming from, or what would happen if you used too much of it.

Did you know that a child dies from a water borne illness every 15 seconds?

My interest in access to clean water for everyone came from my research trip to Senegal in 2010. While there, I met a man from an international non-governmental organization in the United States who had been contracted to clean up the hazardous waste in a village's only water source. The village had lost fifteen children because of a battery acid contamination in the water. There was no place to dipose of chemical waste and the acid had leaked into the groundwater. The way this man spoke about the people in the village angered me. He talked about how the people didn't care about their own people, how they "just didn't know" how to clean up after themselves, and other ideas that reflected the attitude many Westerners have towards African-- and other developing-- countries that are still trying to move towards progress after colonialization.

A well in L'ecole des Sables (Toubab Dialaw)

Just one of many trips to get water from the well. 

When I got home I wanted to find a way to combat attitudes like the man's while still trying to make a change in the world. That's when I met Jerry, Judy, and Paul. You can read about them and other members of the Board of Directors here. These people are the most open-minded, caring, and giving individuals that I've ever met. They don't assume that people in communitites with little or no access to water, dirty water, or other issues with water are ignorant or stupid. They (and other Clean Water for the World delegations) don't storm into cities and villages telling them how to make things better. They work with communities and it's a beautiful thing.

We installed one system at the school.

My experience with Clean Water for the World started with a student trip last summer. We installed a system in a school and community center in Pikine, a suburb of Dakar. You can read the details about the installation here. Here are some installation highlights:

Waiting for the water to come from the source.

Turning on the system after we finally got it hooked up!

Fatima drinking the water. I had some as well and had no issues!

When we got home, I decided I was a Clean Water for the World lifer. Because they do not allow groups to buy the systems (it is all donated to places and sustained for life) Clean Water for the World raises money with The Walk for Water. As the co-advisor of a Peace Jam group at my school, we thought it would be perfect for our students to participate. Paul came in and presented talked about the systems and my students were hooked. You can tell when people are passionate about what they do and it's contagious.

Getting ready to walk 3 miles AKA the distance many women and children in countries without easy access to clean water must walk more than once a day. 

I will always do whatever I can to support Clean Water for the World. I encourage you to check them out and to please message or comment with any questions or for more information. If you're in Michigan next spring maybe I'll see you at the Walk for Water. :)

I Left My Heart In Dakar: Post Resurrection

I've spent time in Senegal the last two summers and I am feeling extremely homesick(?) because I won't be there this summer. There just aren't any resources for me to make a trip happen.

I say "homesick" because Senegal is a place where I feel welcome. I've never met cooler people. I miss the food, the heat, the Chocopan (Senegalese equivalent of Nutella), speaking Wolof, listening to Wolof, the music, the students, Africulturban, the smell of the ocean... I even miss the occasional goat herd narrowly missing you as you try to get into a taxi.

View from a taxi window.

In honor of my homesickness, I'm going to resurrect some posts from the trips in 2010 and 2011. I hope to get enough money together to volunteer with 10,000 Girls next summer or to scrape together enough French and Wolof skills to work with students from Pikine again. I wish, wish, WISH there was a way to bring them over to Michigan. I WISH I was going to Senegal this summer. I miss everybody and I hope they haven't forgotten me.

I wear these bracelets (that I bought after about an hour of bartering at Soumbedioune Market) when I miss Senegal the most.

I'm crying under my glasses because I didn't want to leave the kids I met in Senegal last summer.

The rest of this post is filled with my memories from the last two summers. Please read, enjoy, and message me with any questions. I would love to talk to you about my experience and guide you towards the best things to do/eat/see in Dakar.

Lastly, I invite you to visit this website: Clean Water for the World. I worked with Clean Water last summer and I absolutely love everything about everyone involved in this organization. 



Senegal 2010: Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Research Trip

This was my first experience traveling abroad. I was away for 5 weeks on a research trip. This is the trip that made me fall in love with Dakar. Although I'm mouthy and outspoken I'm also very anxious. However, being in Dakar brought out my adventurous side and helped me set aside my anxiety. Thankfully, I had some great travel buddies who made this trip extremely enjoyable and the best learning experience I've ever had in my life.

Just a couple of my travel buds.

1. Adventures in Packing One Suitcase for 5 Weeks 

2. What to Bring People in Senegal? I decided on t-shirts and school supplies.

3. First Post from Senegal!

4. Colonization and Goree Island

5. Daily Marriage Proposals... Sorry dudes, I can't be any man's second wife.

6. One of my favorite posts from the trip: Yoff, Kids, and Mangoes

7. Road Trip to Thies... Imagine 5 hours in a van on the bumpiest road ever. Worth it.

8. Another favorite post: E'cole de la Rue (The School of the Street). Inspiring.

9. What I did in my off time: Hunting for Live Music

10. My third favorite post and the coolest pictures I got on this trip: Student Protest on Campus- It looks worse than it was.

11. So frustrating! Language Barriers

12. This one makes me miss my friends: Teraanga, or Senegalese Hospitality

13. My last favorite post, where a relationship started that continued the next summer: Africulturban

14. The one where I got pissed about being a woman in a Muslim country (those marriage proposals started to get to me): Why?!

15. Saying a Hopeful Goodbye

16. Decompressing: I made it to Paris!

Senegal 2011: Urban Youth for Africa Student Trip

I still can't find the words to articulate how I really felt about last summer's two week trip and I don't know if I ever will. I do know that my experience on this trip was one of the best-worst in my life. I don't really know how else to explain it-- it's been almost a year and I thought I would have the words but they are yet to be found. Until then, here are some of my words from last summer:

1. An introduction to the students.

2. A Thank You to Our Donors

3. First Post from Senegal

4. Chillin' with Teachers and Students from Mama Yelli Badiane

5. Language and Cultural Barriers: This will happen anytime you travel with students.

6. An introduction to the students of Mame Yelli Badiane
7. A post about Amelia, one of my students. I consider her my niece and I still mentor her.

8. A post where I (politically correctly) let go of all of my frustrations in dealing with teens abroad.
9. The Art of Graffiti in Senegal
10. One of my favorite posts and experiences from this trip: Hanging with Binetou's Family

11. Letters and Language
12. The reason for the trip and my favorite post from last summer's trip: Working With Clean Water for the World
This organization is very near and dear to my heart. Please visit Clean Water for the World's website for more information.

13. The End?
14. Something I didn't write about last summer-- When we arrived home, my best friend picked me up at the airport and when I got into the car I cried and cried the whole way back to my house. I think her favorite part was when I started sobbing after I saw a guy mowing his lawn. My shoulders shook as I cried, "Oh. My. God. I can't believe we just have lawn mowers here! Why do we live like this?" I was delirious. She couldn't stop laughing.


I feel an ache when I think of what I might be missing this summer. Sigh. Time to batten down the hatches and finish my master's degree course work. Until then, I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs from Senegal:

I want ceebu jen and mad fruit...

Really Trying...

... to understand the culture of polygamy and a woman's role here.

Wolof language lesson for the day:
Jekker- Husband. Jek= Front of, or head. Ker= House (some may argue heart)
Jabar- Wife. Ja= Keeping your eyes forward or locked onto something. Bar= Following fast or running fast.

Not cool.

As a loudly opinionated and fiery woman, I get pretty fired up at some of the ways women are treated in this country. When I first got here one of the men at our orientation told us that men will frequently ask you to marry them and it's just part of the culture and to not take it too seriously. So I didn't... for the first two weeks. But every time a meet a man over here, I usually catch the word "jekker" in his first through fifth sentences usually leading up to a very irritating question.

I've got some issues with this. I'm so glad that the first thing men think when they look at me is that I have a neon sign hanging around my neck that says, "HEY, I'm just a Western gal who wants to come here and marry the first dude who asks!" A male colleague of mine put it into perspective for me... I am a woman traveling without a husband. It's not common for women in this country to just leave their husband for a month to do research, hence, I must be single. Okay. Understandable.

Issue number two. Getting asked to be a wife or second wife isn't something that happens once a week. It happens almost every day and it is wearing on me, even though I try to joke about it. I bought a fatter silver ring than the one I was wearing and I carry a dogeared picture of Nate and I around in my pocket that I frequently whip out and show pretty much everyone and they STILL ask. Someone even asked if Nate wouldn't mind if I was his wife in the United States and the other dude's wife here. Excuse me?! Why is it such a casual thing to ask someone to marry you? Seriously, instead of saying, "Hey lady whose name I don't know, how is the weather," I hear, "Hey. Are you married? Be my wife."

This all leads me to ask: How many women from out of the country come around here looking for a husband? Also, why do men here have all of this control? It is a part of the culture that I cannot get used to. I've really been trying to do some reading on this to understand the male behaviors here but I still can't wrap my head around it. I even had a discussion about polygamy with a university professor at UCAD to understand all of this. His basic answer? Men are weak and need more wives so they don't cheat. Also what if a man marries a woman who doesn't have a strong sexual drive? Then he'll need another wife to satisfy that. Also, women are stronger and can handle all of that. Um, really?

And yes, there is class to consider and race and religion and... the list goes on. I still get mad.

I miss my guy friends because I know that they just like to hang out because they are awesome and have no ulterior motives.

And I miss Nate even more because I know he doesn't run around asking random women to be his wife and he is cool with being married to a loudly opinionated and fiery woman.

From Dakar 2010

Peace,
Jen, who is still having a blast, but trying to learn about the context of these gender issues and the struggles women my age and younger are having in Dakar with blurring cultural lines (believe me, they are trying)

Pictures

Fulbright Fellowship 2010

Check the link above often for pictures. I apologize for not having explanations of each picture. If you'd like to know what a picture is about, just leave a comment with your question and I will explain! If you leave a comment anonymously, make sure you leave me your name so I know who is writing to me. :) It is wonderful having technology here, but our limited technology makes it difficult to post pictures in my posts. This is my solution.

This week is going to be very busy and hectic, but I will try to post on our research here when I can. This is for your sake as much as for mine. I am learning so much that I need to organize all of my thoughts and this is my outlet.

It is 7:45 and the call for prayer is being projected all over the neighborhood. I love this sound! I'm not Muslim, but the call for prayer centers me and helps me find my bearings, even in a foreign country.

Peace,
Jen