You want me to do what???

Sorry I've been bad about updating (I know I say this every time but I mean it) - it's absolutely insane here. Hearing all the stories about "West African time" and having the volunteer coordinator telling me she was worried about me adjusting to “sedentary” work style in Senegal because my job experiences had all been in a "fast paced and hectic office environment”, I'm quickly realizing that my job here in the Fouta is an anomaly, even for Tostan (most volunteers are trying to find “make busy” projects right now and going to the beach on the weekends). While I couldn’t be more grateful for the huge amounts of responsibility that my boss, Abou Diack, gives us out here (how many 22 year olds can say the go to UN meetings on a weekly basis), it’s still rather overwhelming. Here’s a taste of what’s in store for me for the next two weeks:

Sunday November 2nd
- My boss is sick (we’re really worried about him – at 6’5” he looks like he’s maybe 140lbs, if that, has no appetite, and has visited the hospital 3 times in the last 2 weeks) and is sending us (myself and Jenna, the other volunteer) to a meeting in Matam in his place. Unfortunately he’s really bad at passing along critical information, so we have no idea who the meeting is with or what we’re expected to do. We’ll have to wing this one!

Monday November 3rd
- Meeting with the Tostan Development Supervisor to go over microcredit and funding numbers in preparation for the UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation’s visit, as well as the TOSTAN Sweden/Swedish International Development Agency delegation visit, which are both happening next week. Need to get all the numbers (how much has been funded, how much has been used, what has it been used on, etc) and memorize them so I can be the walking Toubab encyclopedia. If only these were useful numbers for pub trivia nights!
- As soon as that meeting is done, I’ve got to get myself to a village outside of Podor (about 3-6 hours away) where I’ll be spending 1-3days gathering data for the UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation’s visit so I can write a portrait, giving them a background on the village, what programs have been implemented, what their impact has been, and the various successes and failures.
- Jenna is hopefully off in the other direction (still needs to finalize times) to write up 2 village reports for the UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation visit, so the office will be volunteer less, which means that it will be even more overwhelming when we get back as we won’t know what’s happened while we’ve been gone (plus they’ll probably be a whole bunch of new things waiting for us to do when we get back too)

Tuesday November 4th
- Still researching in Podor. Hopefully if everything goes to plan, I’ll be back in time to watch the American election results down at the local watering hole (read the only watering hole) some of the local Peace Corps volunteers. If not, I’ll be sleeping outside under a mosquito netting and the stars…
- Jenna will still be gone…

Wednesday November 5th
- Either still in Podor or desperately trying to get the portrait cranked out. Possibly in mourning too if John McCain wins…
- Jenna will still be gone, so it will be just me here at the office which means LOTS of random tasks and computer woes to fix (I’m still living up to my techie role – the Gerard Kennedy campaign would be proud!)

Thursday November 6th
- UNFPA planning meeting all day. While Jenna is the official UNFPA volunteer, my boss has been sending me to all of the meetings as well so I can “fill in” whenever she’s not around and for when she leaves (she’s only here until March – tear!). This meeting is to plan the budget and activities for the UNFPA and Tostan’s “acceleration of the abandonment of female genital cutting” program for the next fiscal year. Intimidating much? Not sure what we’re supposed to do, other than observe and provide commentary/feedback/insight. Hopefully Jenna will be back in time, otherwise I will still be flying solo.
- Still trying to get the report cranked out so it can be published and translated in time for the UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation’s visit.


Friday November 7th
- Same as Thursday, plus dealing with any last minute changes/logistical problems for the two delegation’s visits
- Time for our weekly beer night, which involves one Gazelle (a 500ml local beer for $2.50 CDN) each and then splitting whatever the cheapest item on the menu is. It’s rather sad, but it’s a nice escape. This is often followed up by an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, which I am becoming addicted to since I lost all of the TV shows that I brought over here and it’s the only one that Jenna has. It makes us forget that we’re in Senegal for an hour, and makes me realize how much I miss coffee, cardigans, cool weather, and nice kitchens. Sad I know – I’m such a prep.

Saturday November 8th
- I should technically have this day off, but that would be deluding myself into thinking that we work set hours. I’m sure I’ll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
- Going to my friend Haby’s older sister’s place so I can get my hands and feet hennaed for the upcoming declaration. I’m pretty excited!

Sunday November 9th
- The UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation arrives. Their itinerary has yet to be finalized, so more running around.

Monday November 10th
- The Swedish delegation arrives.
- A Swedish reporter arrives that I’m going to be accompanying to the village in order to do translations in between French and English. You would think that a Swede’s French would whip a Canadian’s French, but apparently this is not the case. She’ll be interviewing a number of the participants from the declaration in order to write up a shiny news article.
- Get to eat supper with the Swedish delegation, inch’allah – it’s always a bonus when we get fed for free.

Tuesday November 11th
- The day of the public declaration in Sedo Sébé against FGC and child/forced marriage. It’s an all day event with over 200 people expected. There will be lots of speeches, dancing, and eating. I’ve got a “grand boubou” that’s being made especially for this event, so there will be lots of humorous photos of me all dolled up ala Senegalese. I’ve also been informed that I will be made to dance, which I think is in large part to entertain the Senegalese. Apparently there’s nothing funnier than a toubab dancing, so Jenna and I are going to try to memorize a complete line dance as we feel like that would make them pee their pants with laughter. We aim to please.
- Still translating for the Swedish reporter and trying not to make an ass of myself. I’m still really disappointed by Tostan’s local language training (all 4 hours that we got in Wolof and nothing in Pulaar) but I’m taking comfort in the fact that my French has improved by leaps and bounds. Hopefully the Wolof and Pulaar will come soon – the Wolof makes more sense to me, but I’m in a predominately Pulaar region so I’ve got to try to make more efforts to learn that one, even if it makes as much sense as Klingon…

Wednesday November 12th
- After a full day the Swedish delegation leaves. The UNICEF/UNFPA/Government of Senegal delegation will still be around – not sure what we’re going to be doing for that but I’m sure they’ll spring something on us.
- Supposed to be doing some kind of microfinance/fundraising seminar that I’m really hoping gets cancelled/rescheduled as I have NO idea what to do for it!
- Hoping to get some time to wind down and relax for a little while, though there's another declaration coming up on the 25th...

In other words, you can sleep when you’re dead, so there will be two very stressed, very sleep deprived volunteers running around up here in the Fouta. I apologize for not responding to people’s emails during this time, but random words of encouragement and sanity will be GREATLY appreciated. Enjoy cold weather, tea, beer, nibs, avocados, orange juice, cheese and thai food for us so we can live vicariously through all of you back home! I will try to put up a bunch of photos I’ve taken over the past couple of weeks on Picasa, so keep checking the link that’s on the right side of the blog. I’ll try to take lots of videos too (hopefully you can use these too Katie and say hi to your class for me!). Lots of love to everyone back home!