And the liggeey (work) begins!...(Finally J)

 

Hey everyone! 

I am now a month into my actual service and am still earnestly trying to learn Wolof and also some Pulaar!  Its difficult. To say the least.  Probably my top frustration. Since learning a language is hard enough.  Fortunately I have some awesome young girls in my family and they help me out immensely by first of all being very enthusiastic to teach me things but secondly being very knowledgeable and instrumental in my language learning since they have been studying French in school and I speak French for the most part; it is how they are effectively able to explain to me certain words in either Pulaar or Wolof.

  In addition to practicing my language I am getting to know the community and how things work around here.  I have played with the children, learned cooking tips, spoke with my neighbors and conversed with the professors at the school.  I am growing restless however as I am very excited to start work.  I have decided to start up a project led by Peace Corps and carried out by volunteers and their communities.  It is entitled the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship and is designed to be a small type of scholarship for young girls at the middle school level. In 1993, Peace Corps Senegal created the Michele Sylvester Scholarship (MSS) Program for Girls Education.  The program allows one volunteer to raise $180.00 to pay the upcoming year’s school fees and supplies for 9 middle school girls.  Along with the teachers, we choose the top 3 girls from each class to submit an essay and interview to receive the Scholarships

I would like to carry out this scholarship as an incentive for the girls to achieve high grades and to want to succeed, but also as a motivation for the school to continue to encourage their students, especially the girls, to be eager to learn, to stay in school, and even go on to attend a University.  I know the girls in my family love school to socialize with their friends and are eager to learn but have many other responsibilities around the household and village as well.  School does not always have a regular routine and therefore might be easy to lose touch with when other responsibilities are expected of them.  Since I am new to being a volunteer, I am a bit rusty as to the logistics of how this project should be carried out but I am excited to explore it and have fun as I get to know the school, the teachers and principal at the school, the students, and their families at the same time!

My job now is to raise money to provide for these scholarships.  I am asking you to participate in any way at you can because a little seriously goes a long way.  Only 180 American Dollars which roughly translates into 40,000 CFA, can help pay inscription fees and buy supplies for these 9 girls ensuring they have what they need to stay in school.  It can also be a wonderful emotional and mental booster for them as it builds their credibility among their peers and professors. This scholarship is a great and easy way to alleviate the economic burden for the village and the families, can help express a young girl’s potential, in addition to illustrating the importance of a young girls continued education with the rest of her life.

  Below are a link and the instructions for how to donate if you kindly choose to do so.  Unfortunately, there is a deadline of July 9, 2013 in order to ensure that funds are received in time for the next school year. 

How to Donate:   Click here to donate to the Peace Corps Senegal CountryFund and enter the amount you wish to contribute in the box on the right.  This will bring you to the payment page.

In order to ensure that the money goes toward my Scholarship fund in particular, you must input the following phrase into the comments box of the donation:

“This donation is to support MSS scholarships in PCV Christina Bryant’s village of Thiawando.” 

Your participation means an incredible amount to my village and since I get to be a part of helping young girls, like my younger sisters, get excited for school, I very much enjoy bringing this program to them!  This will be my first project as a volunteer so I am ready to make it a success!

For more information on Peace Corps Senegal’s gender equality initiatives, check out the  SeneGAD Blog which explains a little more about SeneGAD, a Peace Corps original initiative to help out with gender equality.

 

In other news,  it is mango season and the start of rainy season.  That means bugs and humidity and mangoes!!  It is lovely when it rains and despite the strange creatures that take refuge in my room when it pours, I really welcome the beauty of a storm after so much sun and dry air!!  I have about a mango or 5 a day and wish I could start drying them to have my much missed dried mangoes from the US J  Another Peace Corps project with Economic Development is in fact creating simple devices to dry mangoes and I hope that it catches on soon.  I look forward to finding out more and also bringing that to my region.  Other than mangoes, milk is a daily supplement.  Fresh milk straight from the udder.  And I finally succeeded in milking a cow and having actual milk come out!! (yay me!)  It is super relaxing to get away to the cow fields as the sun goes down.  The sunsets are not the most spectacular each night but the weather is perfect and breezy and I so enjoy that time of day in the fields.

 

I have some funny things to talk about but I am again running out of time in the city so until next time!! 

Ba beneen!