10 Month Mark! (And What I've Learned)

Hello All!

Long time, no speak. I hope things are going well in your corners of the world. In Senegal, we’ve just entered rainy season! That means there’s a whole lot of mosquitos, but, more importantly, it’s time to PLANT! For Senegalese farmers, like those in my village, they are furiously rushing to get their fields seeded with crops that will provide their food for the year. For me, it means that I’m reminding people to outplant their trees that we cared for together, despite their very busy work schedules.

Besides that, I’m very excited for a Moringa Tourney that I’m planning. For most of you, those two words probably mean absolutely nothing. SO, what it is is a series of trainings that I am organizing in my village and 9 other nearby villages on the nutritional benefits of the leaves of the moringa plant and how to grow it. I’m working with some awesome volunteers to coordinate trainings for 300 Senegalese community members in 10 different sites. Some of my favorite work as a volunteer has been working with my fellow volunteers as well as Senegalese farmers. This led me to the idea of these trainings and inspired me to go through the somewhat challenging process of writing a grant to get funding for this project from Peace Corps. It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming along! Will keep you all posted with plenty of pictures when it occurs J

Other than that, life is going! At over 10 months in country, I am getting the hang of things and learning a lot, recently mainly about how to make living here sustainable for the next year and 4 months. This includes visiting other volunteers, having them visit me, and finding ways to do meaningful work in my village or surrounding villages. My mom and two of her good friends will be coming to Senegal next February and spending a night or two in my quaint village, so I am already looking forward to that!

I truly cannot believe that I have been in Senegal for 10 months. As someone stated during training, the days are long here but the months are short. Ten months seems like a lot! But, every day has certainly not flown by. I’m looking forward to making it to the one year mark in just a couple of months. My ability to navigate life in my village, and in this country more generally, is increasing all the time, and I feel that I’m becoming a tougher, more resourceful person.

I’m going to end this post with some of the things I’m most grateful for here:

- The everyday, smallest interactions that always make me happy. These include the really nice grocery bagger at the supermarket that I visited in Dakar recently who walked me half a mile down the street to help me find the nearest ATM. We chatted in Pullu Fuuta, the language I learned here, the whole time because it turned out he was from the same region as where my village is in Senegal.

- My Peace Corps friends who just get what I’m going through, listen to me, and give me strength everyday.

- My host mom, Binta Balde, who is so loving and caring. She calls me “my baby” and came to sit with me in my hut recently when I was so nauseous I couldn’t get out of bed.

- The fact that I can fluently speak a language I never knew that I would master, Pulaar.

- The amazing volunteers around me who immediately agreed to host trainings in their sites for the training series I am currently planning.

- My awesome boss in Peace Corps who constantly encourages me and tells me I’m on the right track with my work when I’m having doubts about myself.

- ALL my wonderful friends and family from home who support me and whose words honestly mean the world to me and often come at just the right times.

I hope each of you are well, and I look forward to keeping in touch!

XO,

Sophie