My New Home! (for 2 years...)

Well I just returned from a 16-day stay with my training host family sans internet. I actually wrote this post well before then (April 9^th) but couldn’t connect to the internet at our training center so am posting it now.

I did indeed find out my permenant site! While I assumed I would be moving to Kolda, the region in the south of Senegal where most of the Fulakunda speakers live, I’ll actually be moving to Tambacounda, a region in the middle part of the country over to the east. I am the only person from my language training group moving there. Tamba is one of the largest regions in Senegal, but there are only 17 Peace Corps volunteers based there, so there is lots of opportunity for collaboration. The region has 1 economic development volunteer, 5-6 health volunteers (including me), and the rest are all focused on agriculture work.

I will be based in Saare Aladji (Aladji Village), population around 750.  I got to visit my village for one night and meet my new host family. My host father is the chief of our village and he has 3 wives, all of whom live in our compound with their respective children. This will be very different from my training homestay since I was in a 1-wife household then.

In this setting, I will have my own hut within our compound rather than a room within the main building. I still don’t have electricity, though our house has a solar panel so we have minor light in the evenings and a place to charge my cell phone. I can paint my room, so stay tuned for pictures once I move in – I’ve got some big ideas :)

My New Hut - view from the backyard!

Sunrise view from my backyard :)

The Volunteer who has been serving in my village for the last 2 years

I will move into my permanent site sometime around May 15^th, and then the true work begins!