KT in The Gambia

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...

I was fortunate to be one of five PCVs in The Gambia who recently traveled to the capital area with a teacher and four students from our local high school to visit colleges/universities and hear from Gambians presenting on topics like career development, gender equality and the downsides/dangers of The Back Way (i.e., illegal migration to Europe with the hope of finding a better life). The attached video gives you a glimpse of the experience from the students' perspective. The students are now back home and sharing this information with fellow students and their parents through assemblies, speeches and dramas.

It’s been a long time since my last blog post – how did that happen? I’ve been in Africa for over six months and already it’s starting to seem like two years is a rather short time. These past two months have been filled with a lot of Peace Corps trainings and programs that took me away from my village. It’s great to be eating more normally and hanging out with other Americans, but it also causes my language skills to decay and leaves me feeling a bit disconnected with my purpose here. I’m heading back to village later today, just before the start of Ramadan which begins the evening of June 5 th . I’m sure I’ll have more to say about that later. And I also expect to have more to say about my water projects soon as well. Both grants (one to bring water taps into the village and one to improve the water supply for the women’s garden) are well along in the administrative process. I’m thinking we’ll be in the construction phase in June, inshallah. If you are interested in reading more ab...

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...

Fetching water for the fields We are officially in the "cold" season now. Yesterday it didn't even reach 90 degrees! Eighty-eight was the high I believe, although it's forecasted to return to the 90s tomorrow. It is also the dry season (~ Nov thru May/June) and a time when there is a 2-3 month lull in intensive work on commodity crops. We just wrapped up the groundnut harvest in Dec and it will be a month or two before the cashew fruits ripen. This is the time of year when the weather and seasonal cycles of farm work are most conducive to gardening.  Gardens are most commonly the women's projects but not exclusively. Gardens provide nutritious food for the food bowl and hopefully produce enough surplus to sell locally, either in village or at the closest market. There are two weekly pop-up markets, or "lumos" within a few kilometers of my village - a small one to the east on Tuesday and larger one to the west on Saturday.  But the...

Heading home after a day in the groundnut field I've been in village for 2.5 weeks and am settling into the groove. Our first three months in village are a time for integrating into our community rather than focusing on projects/work. Our success ultimately depends on our relationships in the community, so integration is job #1.  It is also a time for figuring out our own rhythms for food, sleep, exercise and generally taking care of ourselves. I've been cooking my own breakfast over a single burner propane  stove (omelet with onion and shaved sweet potato) and taking lunch and dinner with my family. I've also started a 3x per week routine of doing an out-and-back bike ride along the one and only paved road for about 20-25 miles. It is dark from about 7 PM to 7 AM and that doesn't change much with the seasons since we are close to the equator, so it works well with my preferred early to bed/early to rise schedule. And I've been spending a good bit of...

Two days ago (Dec. 5) I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia along with 38 others in my cohort. With me in the photo are our Peace Corps Country Director, the charge d'affaires from the US Embassy and the Minister of Environment.  We are a proud and happy group!  Yestersday and today were full of celebration, shopping for household goods to bring to our sites, and packing. Tomorrow we travel to our permanent sites to begin our two-year service.  The big adventure begins! I feel so very fortunate for the opportunity to take part in it and for the amazing people who are on this journey with me. I look forward to sharing updates with you along the way.