Hey Adiv Readers!
I'm just finishing up a trip to Kombo where I've been having a good mixture of in-service training and a bit of R&R. Now that my training group has successfully served about 4 full months in village, it was time for a bit of additional training for more technical projects. Some of the key topics training focused on throughout the week included:
* bee keeping, honey extraction, wax processing (working with Killer African Bees, mind you)
* small-scale enterprise development and opportunities for small-scale development loans
*tree grafting (a truly fascinating idea, no joke, but also very hard to get right!)
* the effects of carbon emissions and climate change in The Gambia
* designing wood lots and re-forestry initiatives
* different venues for grant applications
* various types of composting and fertilizing
* pest management
* small-scale irrigation techniques
* poultry projects
* rabbit projects
* and addressing various issues and experiences we have encountered at our sites
Our training was a truly unique one in that the director of Peace Corps worldwide, Mr. Ron Tschetter, happened to be vising West Africa and was in Gambia during the weekend we began our training sessions. He came to the first day of training to tell us about different projects going on around the world and fill us in with the experiences he has had visiting different sites around the world.
Interestingly enough, a few days before training started he also happened to be in Gambia for the swearing-in ceremony of the newest group of health volunteers to begin service here. I came to Kombo several days early to get to go to the ceremony and have a chance to meet Mr. Tschetter. After the ceremony was over I had the chance to chat with him for a short while and I brought up the fact that he and I are both from Huron, SD! Of all places, he and I share the same home-town! He seemed pretty excited about this and had his assistant come over and give me an interview and took some pictures together. Supposedly in the near future you should be able to read my interview and see our picture in the Huron Daily Plainsman. I'll let you know if I see it printed. So that was cool.
Training was fun and very rewarding. Now that we've all been at site for some time we have a much better idea of the projects that our communities are actually interested in, and also the likelihood of being able to implement a specific project. For example, I'm very excited about the different prospects of bee-keeping, but it's been difficult to get people in Chargel excited. So, unless they want to do it, I really have no place starting a project. However, I may start a small project for just me and my compound to work on, and people can see the benefits of a bee project that way. I'll keep you updated!
During another day of training we were at a demonstration farm called "Gambia Is Good," when who should show up for a walk-about than His Excellency Ahlaji Dr. Jaya A.J.J. Jammeh, President of the Republic of The Gambia. It seemed a bit odd when a caravan of armored vehicles just randomly showed up and kind of surrounded us. (armored as in soldiers with machine guns pointing in all directions atop very intense vehicles) We were in the middle of a discussion on pest management, but when he started coming our way with his entourage we got kind of distracted. We're not exactly sure why he chose to visit, but he basically just made some small talk, welcomed us to Gambia and made some jokes about who we might be voting for in the upcoming US presidential elections. That definitely made for an interestingly random day.
Training was additionally fun because our training session was opened up to volunteers from the same sector but from other countries. I was able to meet several volunteers from Senegal and Guinea Conakry. The volunteers I met are also speak Pulaar in their villages, so it was interesting to compare the lifestyles between the different countries. I was actually surprised to learn of the relatively few differences between our cultural experiences. It looks like you can draw up country boundaries wherever you want, but the cultures and traditions of the peoples who were living there before the boundaries separated them into different colonies will remain the same, or at least very similar, for quite some time. One volunteer from Senegal who I got to chat with quite a bit actually doesn't live too far away from me, so some of us are hoping to go visit him sometime soon and experience a Fula village there. I'll keep you posted!
Now training is over and I'm just spending a few extra days in Kombo to catch up with some office/paper work and to enjoy a bit of a small vacation. Plus, down here by the coast the temps stay around the 80s and 90s, which is absolutely beautiful coming from the 140s!! (I actually get really cold at night, which is sad, but I'm ok with it.)
It's been nice to have some down time to chat with friends, visit the beach, catch up on some emails, and upload more pictures. But I also miss Khiva and the compound, and I'm excited to get back to them soon. And strange as it may sound, I'm actually looking forward to the food back home (in Chargel). I guess my stomach is adjusting. But don't let that worry you. While I've been back in Kombo I've done my share of splurging on cheeseburgers, pizza, pasta, fried chicken, and of course, ice cream!
Another good thing about getting back to site is that three of the new health volunteers are placed at sites pretty close to me! I finally have a neighbour closer than a few hours away! Travis is at a site just a few kilometers away from me, and a Ruco and Kristi are just up the south-bank road. I'm excited to get back and visit them, welcoming them to the up-country heat!
Well, I that's about all I have for an update right now. While I'm in town and have access to good computers I intend to upload another round of pictures, so you can be looking forward to that very soon!
Other than that, it's hot, it's fun, it's crazy, and life is never predictable. I'm doing well and pray the same for you!
Until next time, I wish you the best!
