The past few months...

Tijan, my agriculture counterpart and a farmer as we intercrop cashews in the weeds and peanuts.

Marathon March- since I live in the Kiang region, I got to go with the new trainees on a 14 mile/23 km hike through mangroves, rice fields, and some of the few hills in the Gambia. This was just at the beginning.

The new Education Volunteers on a boat trip along the River Gambia.

Ousman coming in my house. He hasn't peed in my house in months!

Binki and the kids as we fill in the stagnant water in front of our compound.

I just love this picture, too bad my foot is in there...

Naming Ceremony in Kuli Kunda village. The village elder just gave Ousmalia his name.

Stuck in the mud. This looks alot more promising than previous stuck in the mud experiences I've had thus far...

My friend Jessi and I at Obama-Rama open mic on 4th of July.

Women dancing in the rain in the garden.

The UNDP people came to check out the women's garden they had funded. Dancing and singing in the POURING rain!

Ousman and Halimatou.

Heading to the rice fields.

Women plowing the group rice field.

Running race around the mosque.

The kids who hang around my compound all day.

Impromptu garden meeting around the well.

Daranding Drammeh, weeding in the women's garden. It's amazing how GREEN it got after months of dust....

Ousman in my hat. He's so cute!

Coming back home, Halimatou on my back and Ousman in the background.

Mmm...coos with leaf sauce...Bon Appetit

Jarra Sameteh - my counterpart's daughter playing in the dirt

Just a glimpse...

Beach at Brufut- What a GREAT 4th of July!

Tesito - building a dike around the women's rice fields

Well construction in the women's garden.

I just got a new camera, so will be able to take more pictures for next month!

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you are all enjoying the summer festivities; BBQs, fireworks, lightning bugs, watermelon, and being around friends and family! We had a party of our own this afternoon with American food and a baby pool at our boss' home. It was so nice to still get to celebrate the 4th despite being an ocean away!

The past few days, we've had an All-Volunteer conference where we were able to share project ideas, new PC administration rules, and talk about our experiences thus far as PC volunteers in the Gambia.

One initiative that we, as a whole, are working on is a Malaria Bed-Net Campaign. While I was living in the city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, I remember being frustrated at mosquito net distribution efforts because (a) they distributed them in the city, where people have more access to resources and disposible income, (b) they would distribute them with no education, and (c) donors thought that if everyone had a mosquito net, malaria wouldn't exist. This was very frustrating.

Now, I am living in a rural area of West Africa where people cannot afford bednets, they can't even buy them within a 5 hour radius. Although people are aware of malaria and the risks involved to some extent, more education is definetly needed. Medical services are scarce in rural areas and local medicines can only go so far in prevention and treatment of Malaria.

I'm not a big fan of fundraising and asking people for money, but supporting bed net distribution and sensitization is something that you can help with from home. Against Malaria is working with current and past PCVs in The Gambia to, hopefully, bring a whole container of low-cost, insecticide treated nets here for distribution. We will be helping with education and sensitization along with the distribution of nets. Also, a generous donor has agreed to match our donations dollar for dollar. Each net costs less than $5, so with the match, $5 can buy 2 nets. Epidemiological studies have suggested that for every 20 bednets used 1 life is saved.

You can donate at http://www.AgainstMalaria.com/maggierudick . Thanks for your help!

The Beekeeper, The Fisherman, and the PCV

After a long day of Tesito, I walked back to the tree where I rested my bike. I was exhausted, it was the heat of the afternoon, and the only things on my mind were taking a bucket bath and wondering what mystery sauce would be on my rice for lunch. As I was about to take off, I saw Janga, the village beekeeper, and Amadou, one of the fishermen. They were also helping at tesito.

Janga had a flat tire. Frustrating. I decided to stop go over and help him and Amadou fix it. Amadou is really good at fixing things, I had a bike patch kit, and Janga had a pump. Between the three of us, we fixed the flat tire fairly quickly. Without each of us, Janga would have had to walk his bike home. I had to chuckle; things always just seem to work out perfectly, don't they?

We all begin down the path from the rice fields to the village. Maybe a kilometer into the trek, Amadou's chain breaks. Again, the three of us stop and are able to fix it together. We laugh again, and back on the path.

About half way through the 8 km bike ride, I was ahead of Amadou and Janga (mostly because my bicycle has breaks and pedals, unlike most of the men's bikes in my village) and must have hit one too many rocks, and POW...flat tire... Are you kidding me?! I'm hungry, thirsty, dirty, and tired...thankfully, I knew Amadou and Janga were shortly behind me. Amadou makes some sort of comment how the three of us together is just bad luck. I felt very differently. They were able to help me, and we all made it back to village for lunch- 1 hour, a chain link, and 2 bike patches later.

Yeah, I suppose it looks like bad luck- all 3 of us with bike problems; what are the chances of that? But really, I think we had the best luck of all. We were all able to help each other. Without myself, Amadou, and Janga, we would have all been stuck and had to walk home.

You never know when you're going to be in a bind and chances are, there will be someone to help you out. Let's keep this thing going...There are so many things we can do in the states which might inconvenience us SLIGHTLY, but can make someones day- stop and help someone fix their flat tire, help your neighbors carry in their groceries, invite an elderly neighbor over for dinner. The possibilities are endless!

Tesito

Thank you to EVERYONE who has sent me care packages and letters. I really can't thank you all enough for your love and support. Happy 4th of July- I'm sad not to get to see FIREWORKS, but we had a BBQ this afternoon. Have fun at the community day canoe races in Perkasie :)

After In-Service Training, I returned to site extremely motivated and ready to get dirty working! That week, everyone asked me if I was going to Tesito. I had no idea what tesito was, except that it involved work in the rice fields. So I hopped on my bike on tesito day and rode 8km to the rice fields. I learned that tesito means everyone coming together to work for a common cause. Hundreds of men and women, young and old were busy shoveling dirt into bowls and building a dike with the dirt. It's a looong, tedious process; but a dike kilometers long was built! It's amazing how much work can be accomplished when everyone works together. Many hands makes light work.

The dike construction in my village got me thinking about how this kind of approach could be used in America as well. (No, I'm not a socialist...) If there was a park that needed to be cleaned, or a road that needed repair, what if everyone from that area just cleaned it, fixed it, and been done with it. What if we all planted two trees a year? When everyone can commit to a cause, the work is easy! Now, the women have expanded their rice fields and are planting 120 hectares of rice! With food security being such a big concern in The Gambia, people are trying more than ever to promote OPERATION: FEED YOURSELF. This country has the land to produce enough food to not have to rely on imports, if resources are used correctly!

The community garden is READY and the women are outplanting their vegetable seedlings this weekend! Can't wait to get some pictures to show you all- I know alot of people have been asking about this! The rice and garden initiatives will surely help food security in Jali!

Informal Studies

This past week, all the new environment volunteers came into town for "In-Service Training"; a chance to reflect on 3-months in village and practice some technical aspects of our job that were touched upon during our Pre-Service Training. We spend a few days learning about bees, harvesting honey, processing beeswax, and gorging on honey comb. Then we learned how to graft mango, citrus, and cola trees. We spent a whole day at a picturesque garden learning about composting, organic fertilizers and pesticides, and inter-cropping produce to maximize output. And we touched upon food security issues, seed collection, and woodlot production. I'm feeling extremely motivated to return to Jali, check out some hives, graft some mango trees, and build the perfect garden. Uh...maybe I should take it slow...But either way, I'm feeling confident that I can bring more skills and training to my village! I've been told not to set my expectations too high, but it's hard, and I'd like to think optimistically. At this point, I want to try everything I can! My job is to seek out motivated individuals, and at that point, I think the direction of my service will become clearer.

The day before I left for IST, I dedicated my whole day to collecting seeds for the Peace Corps seed exchange. But this day ended up being much more than a day walking around the bush trying to identify seeding trees. I ran into some boys I know from helping at the Upper Basic School (Grades 7-9) and asked them to help me find seeds. We found quite a few trees and spent a large part of the day sitting around, removing Flamboyant seeds from their hard shell casing. The boys, Kasam and Alamaso, were eager 9th-graders, preparing for their National Assessment Exams on 11 May, with dreams to play soccer, go to school on the coast, and move abroad.

That seems to be the dream of any young girl or boy: getting out of this country. Can you blame them? Job opportunities are few and far between. Who wants the same life as their parents, grandparents, and so on as subsistence farmers who can barely provide for themselves? I was always told growing up that I can do whatever I want to do if I work hard. But for Kasam and Alamaso, working hard will inevitably lead them back to Jali village or maybe selling cell-phone holders on the streets along the coast. We learned a lot about “brain drain” in my college development courses where “scholars” say that Africans continue to live in poverty because all the bright minds are leaving their home countries to pursue job opportunities abroad; that if they stayed in their home country to help build its infrastructure, poverty wouldn’t be as prevalent. I talked to Kasam and Alamaso about this idea; that Gambians should try to make their country better instead of wanting to leave. Kasam agreed, and said, so dignified, “I want my family to live a better life than me, so if I can find a job in Europe or America, and send money home, then maybe my kids will know how to make Gambia not poor.” He’s right, why not take advantage of an opportunity that most Gambians can only dream of, but when will this cycle end? Why can’t it be Kasam who changes this country around instead of his children? And what can be done to provide more Gambians with more opportunities?

My mind is constantly racing with ideas- day and night. “They could plant a huge fruit tree orchard and sell the fruits to tourists. Wait no! They can learn how to dry mangos and sell them during the off season! Yeah, wait, better yet, they grow thousands of cashew trees and then open up a cashew nut production factory…or…” This is why I’m so tired… but really, at this point, are these visions realistic? Probably not. Now, families are unable to grow enough to feed their families. Now this seems like a realistic goal and potential for opportunity. If we can improve crop yield, families may have the opportunity to sell their excess and make a profit. If families can make a profit, perhaps they can afford to send their kids to higher education. If their kids spend less time helping with farm chores and more time studying, their advancement potential is higher. If all farmers are producing better and more crops, perhaps they could export them- providing additional income and business opportunities for all.

Call me idealistic, yes, I know. But let’s just start with trying to feed one’s family. Development is a long process, even the term “development” is pretty loaded and such a western idea. Although I am living in a village and see problems and issues facing people, I am only here for 2 years. “Development workers” have lived here before me and they will live here after I leave.

All I can do is plant some positive seeds for improvement. Like all seeds, some won’t grow, others may grow for a few years and then fade away, and a couple may even grow to be big, sprawling mahogany trees. So why not just plant some and see what happens.

This is my home

17 April
I've been staying in Jali village for about 3 months now. The Drammeh compound is where I eat all my meals. And the vast bush of the Kiang Region is where I've spent most my days working. Though, until recently, I still felt like a visitor. It was a few days before Easter, I was missing home, wishing I could spend the holiday back in Pennsylvania; laughing with my family and oodling over the dog. So I decided to trek up to Basse in Eastern Gambia to go to church and cook with some Peace Corps friends posted out east. It was great to cook American food, play cards, laugh about all there is to laugh about here, and spend such a special holiday with people I really care about. I returned back to site, in high spirits, and was blessed with an unexplainable feeling that this place, Kiang Jali village, in the Drammeh compound; is exactly where I belong. This is my home.

I came back from my 4-day Easter excursion with high spirits and ready to work! While I was gone, the men (finally) finished the fence for the women’s garden, 2 wells had been dug the desired 3-meters into the water table and 2 more were being worked on, and I was greeted with big smiles and genuine greetings from the villagers. Despite being exhausted from my journey (took an extra day because “sometimes transport is a problem in Kiang”), all I wanted to do was walk around, greet people, laugh, and talk about what a great village Jali is. My little host brothers saw me walking along the dirt path to the compound and their faces lit up with instant smiles as they ran around yelling in Mandinka, “Habie came! Habie came!” (That’s my Gambian name…) At that moment, I put down my backpack and nearly broke down in tears. My host mother came out, just as excited, and said, “you came home!” “Yes”, I replied, “I came home.