Arriving in Thies

After watching “According to Barney,” and part of “Paul,” with little sleep on my behalf, we arrived in Dakar at 5:40am after an eight hour flight. We were met by the safety and security officer and the country director as well as some current PCVs. I was surprised at the ease of customs, more specifically the lack of inspection, although the last time I travelled internationally was to NZ and Australia where their inspections are intense! After watching our checked luggage be loaded into a large, white truck, we were given a liter and a half of water and crammed into two busses for an hour and a half drive. It was the Islamic holiday of korite, the end of Ramadan, and the first day people eat during daylight hours so we were going to have an “off day” mostly when we arrived. We saw numerous goats being skinned, baguettes and biscuits for sale by individual vendors, as well as women with bananas on their head on the side of the street. It is the end of the rainy season, and we watched parts of the streets flood as we drove due to the light rain that was occurring. There were also goats and horses seen on the side of the road. We unfortunately missed the African Renaissance statue recently created by current President Wade. Since I did not sleep as much as I wanted to on the plane, I dozed off a bit on the ride over.

Once we arrived at the Thies Training Center, one of the few permanent buildings Peace Corps has in a country; we were informed that we must stay within the compound for the next four days, as a safety precaution. We had breakfast (baguettes with a nutella like spread) and I took a much needed nap! After eating lunch, a large shared bowl of seasoned rice with beef in the middle for 4-6 people (which we ate with spoons or our right hand the portion that is right in front of us), on mats in a hut on the ground, we split up into the three groups (AgFo, Sust, Urban) and took turns: filling out paperwork (getting paperwork regarding the upcoming training) and turning in our passports, getting a tour of the grounds, and getting a lesson on “Turkish toilets,” (e.g. squat toilets). Then, the day was ours. I did some reading we were given and then did yoga with a couple others. It was hot! I constantly found myself navigating towards the shade or a building with a fan. Not unbearable, but I am certainly not used to it yet. A few people played basketball on the half court, and killed time until dinner. For dinner, we ate in the same room we had breakfast and it was spaghetti with a spicy meat sauce. We tried to do a movie night, but it didn’t really work. I left after the start of movie number three.

Staging

I was woken up by my roommate Kathleen at 11:30; our staging event started at noon. I didn’t even think to set an alarm because I figured I’d wake up at 10 at the latest. However, I clearly underestimated how tired I was! I quickly got ready and made it down to the lobby to wait in line, turn in paperwork, and then go into a conference room to sit for a couple hours while the other 55 people did the same thing. This took nearly two hours. The schedule was until 7pm. Since I woke up late, I also did not have time to submit the Wolof and AgroForestry tests online, so I did that during this time. Once everyone made it through, we were officially welcomed by our staging directors Amy, Abdul, and Jeff as trainees rather than just invitees. We were constantly welcomed by guests throughout the day as "part of the family."

We were also very fortunate because we had the deputy director, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, as well as the director of the Peace Corps, Aaron Williams, come to speak! Apparently, staging groups are lucky if they have just a single of those two to attend. Carrie is a RPCV (returned Peace Corps volunteer) who served in Somoa during the 80s and went on to have a long career in international development before her current position. Two memorable quotes that she shared was that the Peace Corps is "the toughest job you'll love," and it is the most "intense and transformative experience outside of marriage and childbearing." Aaron was also a volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 60s. He discussed how now is a good time for the PC because of the current supportive administration (particularly with Obama having grown up in a developing country, and Clinton having visited every country that the PC is now active in), the bipartisan support in congress, and the fifty year anniversary this year and how it is an opportunity to implement the new vision and key strategies for the PC (while maintaining the original mission statement). Each were very inspiring and made me excited for my service.

I was particularly happy to hear that "new vision and key strategies" seem to hold true to critiques I had in my undergrad about the problems with developmental organizations, particularly exceptionally bureaucratic ones. For instance, an evaluation of the PC showed that countries with the most resources were not ones with the most "need" (using the human development index [HDI] as a means to determine need). For instance, Ukraine had over 200 volunteers whereas Ethiopia had only 60. Therefore, a major change is that as an organization, they were going to rationalize the number of volunteers in a country according to a country in need. Further, they were going to minimize the sorts of projects in order to maximize the impact of volunteers, although this is by maintaining six key sectors (Education, Environment, Health, Small Business Development, Youth Development, and Community Development), with a total of 40 different specific projects (i.e. I am in the Environment sector working on an AgroForestry project).

We also split up into groups several times to talk about safety, anxieties, aspirations. Tomorrow we meet in the morning to head to the health clinic for the DAY before going to the airport to fly out at 5:40PM on a direct eight hour flight!

All in all, staging was exhilarating despite the necessary logistics! I believe that it achieved its purpose is give us as trainees the "opportunity to reflect on one's commitment to service while orienting to the Peace Corps and general demands of being healthy, safe, and effective."

Washington DC- Early Arrival

From the airport, Katie, another Washingtonian, and I caught a taxi to the Holiday Inn Georgetown. We put our luggage in our respective rooms and then took to the city. We walked to the area where the Memorials are before the sunset. It was really interesting to see a US city with such beautiful, large, and ornate buildings. Coming from the west coast, I am certainly not used to the architecture, although I love it! We saw the Lincoln memorial, Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool under construction, several war memorials (Vietnam, WWII), Constitution Gardens, the White House. Afterwards, we went and grabbed Indian food and then walked back to the hotel. We met a few more volunteers and I went to bed with the intention of sleeping in since I am a bit “behind” on sleep.

Leaving Seattle

On Saturday, I was conscientious of the news regarding hurricane Irene since flights were cancelled in DC that day due to the airport closure. After running errands in the morning with my mom to gather last minute items (i.e. bug tent that comes highly recommended by current volunteers, recent pictures, bed sheets, etc), I finally actually packed (my apologies to people if I intended to see you and didn’t!). The piles around my room have been slowly growing over the past month, particularly in the last week since I’ve (finally) been home! It was interesting because for once, I was packing with more of a weight restriction rather than a size restriction. I wasn’t going to be backpacking so larger bags than I would normally travel with would be acceptable; it’s weird that I am temporarily moving rather than just travelling. Therefore, much of my packing are “living” sorts of things, rather than clothes and toiletries (although I do have quite a stockpile of sunscreen, toothpaste, and shampoo). That evening my parents and younger brother went out to dinner (Mexican since it tends to be a food I miss and is pretty irreplaceable abroad) and drove around, chatted. It was wonderful! Fortunately the following morning, getting to the airport was a breeze thanks to my parents. I did have to reorganize a bit at the counter for my checked bags, but it was quick since I only packed the day before. I ended up bringing my: 90L duffle bag, a large rolling duffle (checked) and a backpack and purse (carry-ons). I feel almost “over packed,” but I won’t know until I get there since I am not quite sure how I will be living and working on a day to day basis, and consequently, what I will be using-- I’ll find out! After a tearful goodbye, I went through security and immediately found Katie, another PCV flying out of Seattle. We chatted before boarding and I am really looking forward to meeting everyone else! On the plane, I finally had time to read the mandatory agroforestry articles. Further, I finally looked over my Wolof language learning materials. I am going to be consumed with this language soon! The flight had a bit of turbulence halfway through but overall was quite easy.

Conference Call

This morning I participated in a half an hour conference call with other soon to be Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). The director gave us a briefing about what our first few months (i.e. training, host communities, etc) will be like as well as general expectations (hard work, dedication, high level of language (Wolof) competence, cultural sensitivity, immersion, etc). There are 55 of us arriving in Thies (pronounced Chasse) on Wednesday, and it was nice to hear that our initial host community we will be with 2-3 other PCVs. I knew the Peace Corps had long standing roots in Senegal, but I did not realize that the agriculture sector in Senegal is the largest Peace Corps program (it is technically split into three sectors: Sustainable Agriculture, Agroforestry, and Urban Agriculture). In addition to our project area, we are also expected to help other volunteers with their projects in: malaria prevention, environmental education, small enterprise development, and healthcare.

The most pertinent concern was about backup plans for hurricane which is supposed to hit DC on Sunday, the day I fly in, although most people are travelling on Monday. We were given a phone number to contact so lets just hope that we can stick to the initial plan!

A few days to go

Two weeks before arrival in Senegal, I received an hugely resourceful email from the director. However, I wish I received it earlier! Relatively simple questions people asked me (i.e. what is agroforestry, what will you be doing, etc), I now have a better ability to answer. I feel like I am in school again with a bunch of literature to read and a language to learn. I would love to leave it all for the plane, but we have a conference call and a language test before our departure to Senegal. On top of packing (which I absolutely have not done), I feel a little behind. Nevertheless, I am doing what I feel is important, and prioritizing friends and family before I leave! Packing has to, and will, get done, even if it done through the night before I fly out. I just hope I've purchased everything I need...

Aspiration Statement

So here is a document that I submitted to the Peace Corps for the people in Senegal when I was invited for service. I figured it may be interesting to someone!

A. There are a number of professional attributes I plan to use during my service in the Peace Corps the first of which is good communication skills. I believe being able to listen and ask questions is essential to a better understanding by both parties. Although this will be difficult due to the language difference at first, I will strive to become immerse myself as proficiently as possible. I also strongly believe in the importance of patience and flexibility and consistently make an effort to practice these traits. Most importantly, I aspire to make a difference, however wideranging, in the lives of particular individuals, although hopefully a community. I studied development throughout college and understand, to a certain extent, the, often, idealistic aspirations of economic development and its subsequent shortcomings; therefore, I hope to create a realistic and attainable goal for the time while I am in Senegal.

B. In order to effectively work with host country partners to meet expressed needs, I intend to do a lot of listening in the beginning stages. I am an outsider coming in to see what the needs of the people are and do not believe I am in a position to tell people what they want or need, although I am in one to help once I know where help is needed.

C. Adapting to a new culture will differ for everyone depending on one’s own previous exposure and experiences. For me, I am fortunate to have immersed myself in a culture before in rural India, and found that dressing similarly is a great first step. I know that I will be conspicuous regardless, but at least it is beginning to breaking down barriers and differences.

D. I expect pre-service training to be an intensive but absolutely necessary component of volunteer service in order to gain specific skills and knowledge about what I am expected to do in the upcoming years. In particular, I look forward to the technical knowledge and skills that I am expected to teach in the future as well as strategies that will be introduced.

E. When my service ends, I know that it will be an incredibly impactful experience. I have never done anything quite like this and cannot anticipate how it will change me so I am hesitant to make aspirations as I am a person committed to following through on things. Nevertheless, I am interested in going to graduate school, possibly in public policy, although this academic study area may change. I also love the idea of working for a philanthropic organization such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or a smaller one as well. After spending so much time away from friends and family I expect to spend the first few months with people I kept in touch with although likely were not able to see during my service.

Natural Disasters

As I am preparing this week to depart for Washington DC followed by Senegal, Hurricane Irene is expected to hit the east coast Sunday, the afternoon I am anticipating to land; this is after the exceptionally unusual earthquake that just hit that area as well... we will see how these natural phenomenons impact, if at all, my departure!