Since I've returned some really good developments have happened in my village, and I can already feel my remaining months here filling up fast! I was kind of concerned about what would happen with the bee-keeping project when I went back to the States and wouldn't be around to keep encouraging it for a few weeks, but it turns out the guys who attended the training are all still really excited about it, and most of them have actually made the grass hives like they were trained to do and ahve gotten them placed in good apiaries. I'm excited about the potential for this in my area, and it's good to see the guys taking strong initiative about something like this.
De-shelling the peanuts and getting them ready to sell at market or plant in the next rainy season.
Also, the skills center in my village, in cooperation with Future in Our Hands (a Swedish development organization), has arranged to have two trainings in the months to come. In March we are doing to have a week-long seminar/discussion thing on "gender issues" in Gambia. I think we are mostly going to focus the discussions on the division of labor, but it's a conversation that the community (well, most of the world) needs to have, and I'm excited to be a part of it. It will be three days long, and some of my female Peace Corps friends are going to come help facilitate it, also. So I'm encouraged for the kind of empowerment that could come from this. Even if habbits don't change all that much, maybe at least they will value sending their children (daughters, especially) to school more, or something along those lines.
A boy dressed as a traditional "konkurang," a figure that scares the evil spirits out of the village.
Then in April we are going to have a tree-nursery and live-fencing workshop. I hope to arrange to work together with the school on this and make it more of an area-wide thing. The only drawback is that April is the WORST month (because of the high temperatures) ...so the workshop will be taking place early morning and late afternoon to accomodate the weather. But that's fine, because it's also just before the rainy season, and really the most appropriate time for this kind of workshop. And it will encourage me to do more than just sit under a tree and sweat!
So these projects, along with being a co-regional coordinator for the Gambia All-Schools Tree Nursery Competition, should keep me occupied through June when the rains come. To note on the Tree Nursery Competition (TNC), a good friend of mine and I are working together as co-regional coordinators. I won't get into it too much since I plan to do a detalied blog entry on it (with pictures) in a few months, but it's basically a program which allows Amy (a good friend or mine who is also a PCV here) and I to visit the schools in our region and talk with them about ways to protect and enhance their tree nurseries and then also give follow-up advice on the outplanting process to help produce the best orchards and such. It's a cool project and, if done correctly throughout the country, could really help with re-forestation, which this country DESPERATELY needs.
But again, you can be expecting a good blog entry on it over the next few months.
Another project that has just picked up since I've been back, is that my host, Lawo, as well as the school in my village, have been accepted to be a part of a nation-wide poultry-production program. In a nut-shell, they will be part of a program looking for "middle-men" to help produce poultry (chickens) locally for the tourist industry, as well as local consumption. A business is in place to import the chicks from Senegal and provide the feed and medical attention. The role of Lawo and the school (as well as many others throughout Gambia) will be to raise the chicks and get them fully ready for consumption within 6 weeks, as opposed to the usual 8 weeks.
Cutting grass for the roof of the new chicken house.
The program has good potential, and each group in Chargel will be raising 500 chickens for four cycles a year, meaning a total of 2000 chickens per year. There is a very good prospect for income generation from this project, granted close care and attention is given to the project. I'm excited to be a part of this project from the begging stages! And I will be sure to give more updates in the months ahead as the project gets under-way.
I hope you are all doing well! I look forward to sending out (hopefully) many updates about these projects in the months to come.
Finishing the day with a football match.
