So I realized I haven't done a basic photo show of my village yet and it's about time I share that with all of you! This blog post will be mainly photos with a few stories thrown in there!
 |
| View of the area surrounding my house in mid-April when I came for my first visit |
My room was a labor of love. I wanted to paint, wanted to decorate a bit and have it feel homey. Supplies just aren't the same here as in America haha. Tape does NOT stick to the wall (though the 110F heat probably doesn't help with that) and painting walls without a roller is a task. But it's done now and I love it.
 |
| The map of Senegal that many of you signed hanging prominently on my wall |
 |
| My desk/dedicated IU corner. I couldn't resist. And yes, I painted that symbol myself. There was a masking tape job involved but I'm super proud of how it turned out! |
 |
| My bookshelf with dedicated kid-writing space |
 |
| Panorama view part 1 |
 |
| Panorama view part 2 |
My village does not have many immenities. We have an elementary school, a "hospital" (run by a volunteer health worker in our village), and a mosque. That is pretty much it. We do have one household that runs a small store out of their house with oil, spices, soap, etc. These establishments are all in varying conditions, and a repair of the hospital (pictured below) is one of the projects I'm hoping to embark on while I'm here.
 |
| Our health hut (ie hospital) |
 |
| Our mosque - this is right outside of our compound so I usually wake up for the 5:30am call to prayer |
These are various pictures of the grounds of my village. This is pretty much the entire thing - I could walk from one end to the other in about 5 minutes. The first pic is a field view looking into the village. The next shows what most of the houses look like - my hut is identical to those you see. The third picture is a far away view of the hospital (the white building) and the main community well is right in front.
 |
| Our whole village is farmers so the entire area is surrounded by these fields |
 |
| After the call to prayer, this is the sound that wakes me up the most, the daily pounding of corn or millet into a floor type texture for cooking. You can hear the pounding ALL day starting around 5:30am! I've tried it - not easy! |
The biggest transition I have experienced thus far in village is that of hot to rainy season. We had a very slow start to the rain, which really concerned everyone since our crops are our main food source. Things have picked up now and it's amazing how much the village transformed! I really enjoy rain, so those rainy days in village are some of my favorite :)
 |
| The rain moving in! |
 |
| View from my backyard of a rain storm coming towards us! |
And just to illustrate how drastic the change has been, here is a side by side comparison of my first visit to village and the same view now. This is right out of the fence surrounding my back yard.
The greenery is awesome and I'm already dreading the time it will go away. The work done to protect our crops is quite something. The main things we grow are corn, millet, beans, and peanuts. Many of you may not be as familiar with millet, but it is actually one of the main ingredients used in bird seed in the states (thanks mom for this detail!). I saw this fact in action recently - my 12 year old brother has a slingshot that my host dad fashioned for him. His daily job right now is to go into the fields and use the sling shot to fling rocks at the birds and chase them away as they try to eat our millet. I just keep thinking that it's the perfect job for a 12 year old if he has to work in the fields! I'll try to get a picture of this in action...
 |
| Corn growing outside our compound |
 |
| The well by our school surrounded by crops - that is millet you see growing in the background. |
With rainy season also came a change in diet. We now eat meals consisting mainly of dairy 2-3 times each day! This is usually an oatmeal-like thing mixed with yogurt in the morning, and fresh cow milk mixed with pounded corn or millet for dinner. I have never consumed fresh dairy like this and I really like it! Next step: learn how to milk cows (something on my bucket list!)
 |
| My host dad and one of our cows |
 |
| Our young farmers having their milk/millet snack. This gets delivered daily by women in our house. |
 |
| But watch out for hungry cows... |
 |
| And corn taller than your head! |
 |
| I'm practicing to be part of the breakfast delivery crew, but right now I only trust myself with empty bowls! Otherwise I fear no one would eat at all... |
And no matter how hard times might get, when you wake up to this sunrise out your door, it's hard to feel anything but fortunate!
Thanks for reading. Peace & love,
Lindsay
