The views and perspectives presented in this blog are mine personally and do not represent the US government or US Peace Corps.
Tour of My Home in The Gambia
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Welcome to my Peace Corps crib!
At last! A glimpse into my home in The Gambia. I found a rare moment when no (human) family members were in the compound and decided to shoot a video. But first, to clear a couple things up. First, I don't normally wear "african" attire as shown in the photo above, although I always get many nice complements when I do. I prefer capris/yoga pants and lightweight T-shirts and tanks, like this.
The groundnut harvest has begun! Here I'm removing groundnuts from the roots of the plants. We shell them all one-by-one and when we have a good amount we'll roast the nuts and take them to the machine to be ground into peanut butter. Peanut butter is an ingredient in several of the typical local dishes.
Second, I don't have a parquet wood floor in my room. What you'll see in the video is an inexpensive flooring material that is a little heavier than shelf paper. Much easier to keep clean than the cement floor. Hope you enjoy the video!
For the first time in my village, the girls can fetch water without having to pump or haul it from a well The Gambia is blessed with a good supply of groundwater. Or at least good enough to generally meet the demand in this undeveloped country. Groundwater is used for drinking and other household uses (cooking, bathing, washing clothes, watering animals, etc.) and gardening. If there is any use of groundwater for industry or irrigation, it is very limited. The groundwater quality is also quite good. This is predominantly because local land uses aren’t likely to cause groundwater contamination. Much of the land in The Gambia is used for farming but the country does not have the resources for the widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides that can contaminate groundwater aquifers if over applied. It also has very limited heavy industry and no heavily trafficked transportation corridors in the upcountry regions - these can also be sources of groundwater contaminants. This is a...
Just a few pics of typical activities in my family’s compound. My Ba (short for Baay or father) slaughtering a goat with helping hands from Hassan, Dembu and Sarjeko. This pregnant goat was slaughtered after Ba determined that its babies had died in the womb. The goat was otherwise healthy as far as could be determined. If the goat had been sick or injured it would have been hauled to the field for the vultures to eat. My understanding is that it is contrary to Muslim teachings to eat a sick or injured animal. It is also their practice that men conduct the slaughter. The women may undertake butchering but the men ( or boys) kill the animal. Ah, the cycle of life! A few weeks later here is the two day old offspring of another goat in my family’s menagerie. Mam Hoja doing laundry. This is how I do mine as well, although I sit on a short stool. I can’t fathom how these women can so easily maintain this position for hours at a time - doing laundry, weeding...
For reasons I can't explain, I haven't been very good about blogging about my Peace Corps experiences in The Gambia. Sorry! But it feels like time for a quick update because a lot has happened/is happening now and I wanted to let my friends and followers know about my whereabouts. I decided on Feb 22 to resign from Peace Corps and come home to Colorado to be with and support my mother through her last phase of life. I arrived on Feb 28 and am staying with my sister and her husband in Longmont, CO. I also have a brother, sister-in-law and nephew living nearby in Erie. My mom had an apartment in an Independent Living facility nearby for the past three years. She was assigned to hospice care last fall due to cancer, with an estimated 3-6 months to live. I was able to come home to spend a couple great weeks with her last fall, before she started declining. And I was able to spend 2.5 weeks with her since my return in February. After celebrating her 92nd birthday last Friday, en...
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