Home is where the heart is

Where is home?

Some say,
home is where the heart is.
But where is my heart?
I've left pieces of it everywhere
and with everyone that
I've ever met along the way.
I could try to retrace my steps
but why?
So I ask myself,
do I have less of a heart now that
I've given away

so
          many
                            pieces...

to distant lands I once called home,
to strangers I once called lovers.
Am I less whole,
less complete?

Don't be foolish.

I am more full

with each piece that is given away.

The End of Another Chapter

I thought it was appropriate to post this at the one year anniversary of my spinal TB diagnosis (remember this: 10 things I learned from a hospital bed in Paris).  This last weekend also marked the last day of my treatment, well - at least the pills I've been taking for the last year. I'm sure the 'treatment' will be for the rest of my life :P

This post marks the end of several chapters. The (roughly) last year in Senegal, the end of graduate school, and the completion of my thesis.

I left Senegal on August 5th and for the next three weeks I slept in 7 states, boarded 5 flights, and met up with some amazing friends and family, many of whom I hadnt seen in 1-2 years. For the time being, I'm living in Idaho Falls with my loving sister Hanna and her wonderful family (thanks!). My final months in Senegal went by way too fast, as they always do. I've noticed that for some reason, even when I know my time is running out, I am never see and do everything I want before I go. I guess that's another reason why I'm never terribly sad when I leave, because I have faith that I will be back.

The last few months, outside of my research, were scattered with music concerts, a bit of travel outside of Dakar, and more exploring inside Dakar city limits.

Îles de la Madeleine - Islands right off the coast of Dakar

Ship wreck at Îles de la Madeleine

Part of the beaches at Popenguine and hour and a half outside of Dakar

In May there was an amazing several week long event called Dak'Art. This event was the 12th biannual event. It started in 1992 as a platform for contemporary art with cultural roots in Africa and aims at being a space of of different prejudice-free visions on approaches and inspirations to analyze in relation to a plurality of influences from both immediate and farther sources. There were light shows, tons of exhibits, and some concerts. In my subjective opinion, the best part of the entire month long extravaganza was the Cheikh Lô and special guest concert.

Literally the best of the best!

 Here is a short clip of some of the performances throughout night:

 As exciting as it was, May was also a sad month as so many of my dear friends left Dakar, including my lovely roommate. This meant I had to leave our beautiful apartment in Liberté 6.

Claire, Brenda, and I soaking up some sun on one of their last days.

The beginning of June was marked by the start Ramadan. As the holy month came to an end, we celebrated Korité (aka Eid al-Fitr) and suddenly it was mid July and I had only a couple of weeks left in Senegal.

Praying during Ramadan

Attaaya (tea) for sale at Marché Sandaga!

I went with a friend on a day trip to Lac Rose. The guides claimed that it was the saltiest lake in the world but I'm not sure. When I visted the Dead Sea I was told that it was the second-saltiest body of water on earth, after Lake Aral in Djibouti.
 Either way, it was a beautiful day!

Going for a ride on the dunes checking out the beach

The lake wasnt particularly pink on this day because it wasnt windy enough.
Apparently its pink when its windy.

For my birthday in June I took a quick trip to Amman, Jordan with a day lay over in Istanbul, Turkey. While waiting in the airport for my flight out of Dakar I saw a very familiar looking man. 

I met Cheikh Ndiguel Lô!!! If you dont know who he is - look him up on youtube!
One of the most famous, world renowned Senegalese musicians!

I cant think or talk about my last few months in Senegal with out talking about sama kër Seck (my Seck family):

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Finishing my M.A. and my research in Senegal was such an epic event. To date, it's definitely my biggest accomplishment. Which obviously wouldn't have been been possibly without my family and friends (and doctors!). I've written extensively on my blog about my research so I wont go into too much detail. I deviated slightly form the original research proposal and during the data collection I wrote three posts detailing the life histories of the six social mobilizers I worked with during the research process (one, two, three).

The star marks the end!

Briefly, this research explores how and why Tostan’s Social Mobilization Agents (SMA) do their work in rural Senegal. Using a grounded theory approach rooted in feminist epistemology, I participated in field observations and conducted several in-depth interviews with six SMAs, two men and four women. By creating individual portraits of their lives, we see them as whole persons made up of unique experiences. After having a close up look at their lives, we take a step back to look at the larger picture and see several reoccurring themes. I saught to answer one major research question: "Why and how do social mobilizers do their work?" and two sub questions: "What are the elements that motivated them?" and "What are the strategies they use in the field?". From this research, academics, practitioners, and a larger global audience will better understand the motives and methods of social mobilizers in rural Senegal today. With these findings, one can continue the quest for more knowledge and/or attempt to replicate the methods of social mobilization elsewhere.

Finally, if that was at all interesting to you, you can read the entire thesis called Motives and Methods of Social Mobilization in Rural Senegal.

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And finally to end with one final (for now) Wolof proverb:

"Réeroo amul, ñàkk a waxtaan a am"

Literal translation: ‘There is no such thing as a misunderstanding; there has simply been a lack of discussion.

Metaphorical meaning: ‘Misunderstandings occur when people do not talk’

Benn baaraam mënul yëkëti doj: One finger alone cannot lift the stone

Ibrahima, Fatou, and Diaraye.

 
This post will mark the end of the life histories of a handful of Social Mobilization Agents (SMA) in rural Senegal. The first two posts can be read here and here, and for more background you can read my research proposal.

Cherif, my interpreter, and I set out bright and early toward Kaolack, the capital of the Kaolack region several hours from Dakar. After finally finding a 7-place and taking off, the wind blowing in through the windows slowly became hotter and hotter as we ventured the into the interior of the country and the sun rose. Finally we arrived in Kaolack. Originally, we had planned to do one interview the first day, and two interviews the following day. But, because of our late arrival and the difficulties of finding public transport to go out to the villages, we decided to do all three interviews the following day. Kaolack is so hot during the day that its hard to do anything but lay around. 

The next morning we took off early to head to Ibrahima's house in Gandiaye village in the Kaolack region of Senegal. The other two mobilizers I would interview that day, Fatou and Diaraye, would meet us at Ibrahima's house.

The gate to Ibrahima's compound. If you look closely at the plaque you can see his name and family name.

 

I was warned by my interpreter Cherif before the interview even started that Ibrahima Sankhare was a retired teacher, and really "knew how to talk". I reminded Cherif to try to keep him on track when answering the questions, but the interview lasted more nearly four hours. My longest to date and hopefully my longest ever. 

Ibrahima is from Gandiaye village but he spent his childhood in Suma Mousa, both found in the region of Kaolack. He comes from a massive family and was his fathers 20^th child. His father had six different women, some of which he had divorced but many of which he was married to simultaneously as Senegal is a polyamorous country.

When I asked Ibrahima how many siblings he had total, it took him quite some time to count. Finally, he responded with 36, but he wasn't too sure of himself. As a young boy, he cultivated land for his parents and looked after their cows, sheep, and goats. Finally, when he was 15 years old he was able to start primary school. Normally, a student of his age would have only went to school to get the Primary Certificate and end there because the maximum age for the Secondary School Entrance Exam was 15 but because of a fire that burned all of the schools documents, Ibrahima was able to have a new birth certificate made that made him appear younger than he actually was. He then went on to finish college and become a teacher. He didn't meet his wife, who was divorced with two children, until he was 32 years old and had been teaching. They went on to have seven children together.

As I looked deeper into Ibrahima’s motivation for his work as a Social Mobilization Agent, he revealed to me a traumatizing story of his childhood. He had been away at a wrestling match in the village and upon returning home he found one of his sisters, the one whom he shared a bed with. “I jumped over the wall at the back of the house and stepped on her [sister] arm as she was lying there. They had done the tradition on her and she was bleeding…I went into the room to get my flashlight and turned it on and saw that the blood was gushing then I shouted…and said they killed her.” They did not kill her, but his sister has suffered since that night. She has been pregnant more than 10 times losing all but one child. The doctor attributes this to the way that they had performed the tradition. After this, he explained that one of his Aunts had similar problems due to the tradition as well. As he told these two stories, I saw the pain in his eyes as he recounted how he had stumbled upon his wounded sister. He admitted that he was still emotional when discussing the topic, but it was clear that these events where large motivators in his work.

After he learned about Tostan through the publicity of the Malikunda declaration, Ibrahima was eager to become part of the program. He said, “Yes, it really motivated me, so I said to Demba Diawara I am going to work with you, even if don't give me a penny, and I worked with Demba Diawara and his people for three year without receiving a dime. During three years.” Finally, after the classes had ceased in his village he was asked to become a SMA in 2001.

When Ibrahima shares his stories in the field as a SMA it becomes particularly effective because the subject is still taboo in many places. The experiences his Aunt and his sister have had are not unique. Ibrahima brought to life the first time he had share this story with others in a small village in Kaolack. “There was a woman who…put her arms on her head and fell down crying. She said ‘so this is why I don't have children’…When she did that, then people started thinking more.”

On being a Social Mobilization Agent, he said: “It's a personal commitment that you take in heart and spirit, you said I want to be a social mobilization agent; I want to work in this specific domain because it in line with what I believe and wanted to do in my life, so the judgment is obvious.” 

To me it seemed that this work was something that he wanted to do for pretty much his entire life.

When I asked him how the work of a Social Mobilization Agent made him feel he replied by saying, “I am happy first and then I have a feeling of satisfaction. I started fighting these situations when I was a little boy. I hated them and was afraid of them, so when I see an NGO or other people who come and say let's go together and fight those issues, I am happy.”

Finally, after about four hours, we made it through all of the questions. Ibrahima was so thrilled to have been able to share his experiences with me, he had even told me that he wished he could keep talking to me all the way into the evening. When we ended the interview, it was time for lunch.

As tradition, we all formed a circle around this plate of Yassa
Ginaar (Yassa (onion sause with rice) and chicken.

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A Peul from the Fouta region of Senegal, Diaraye Bâ’s self-assurance was palpable. She is presently living in Kabakoto, in the region of Kaolack, but was borne in Medina Yoro Foula, in the region of Kolda. She was raised in a big household which included her two parents, two younger brothers, two younger sisters, and two older sisters. Although she was gifted and excelled in school, her mother made her stop schooling around the age of 12 after she had received her Primary School Certificate. Her mother was very worried about Diaraye’s carefree nature and thought she needed to get married so that she would not bring shame to the family.

Diaraye was the first to admit that she was not like typical young girls. Interrupting herself with small bursts of laughter, she recounted to me the way in which she used to bring her grandmother lunch. “You see the mango trees in Yoro Foula, when I would bring lunch to my grandmother I wouldn't step on the ground. I would be swinging from one mango tree to another…I would spend the whole day in the bush bare footed.”

Diaraye posing for the photo after her interview

She also learned from a young age that women needed to defend themselves and make something of themselves. She was constantly looking up to women who were busy with their own activities and told herself that she just needed to imitate what they did. After she stopped formal schooling, her father, who was an intellectual, found her several jobs such as working with health vaccination projects and the government census.

It was in Medina Yoro Foula that Diaraye got married and had her first child. When she moved to Kabakoto after getting married, her husband had encouraged her to continue her education and take part in local literacy classes. She then went on to receive her diploma and went on to be a facilitator for Village Management and Organization Project. It was also at this time that she decided she would set a good example for other women by joining every single association that was functioning in her community.

From here, Diaraye continued to excel. She was a “rural information agent” and soon the vice president of vice president of CLCOP, Local organization of big producers with 400 local economic interest groups. By this time, she had had another five children bringing the total to six. Eventually, Tostan heard about Diaraye and one of the regional coordinators came to pay her a visit before the Tostan classes began to see if she might be interested in facilitating or being involved.

After they started, the classes weren’t doing well because of attendance. So Baba, the Tostan coordinator who originally approached Diaraye, told her that she should go and try to motivate them. After this, she explains, “When I was not working I would come to the classes. I observed that two or three days and I started getting less engaged with the other job.” She became less and less interested with her job and eventually ““My eyes were opened then, I attended the classes for two months and my eyes got open like never before.” Diaraye left her job to become a Social Mobilization Agent with Tostan.

To her, the purpose of being a Social Mobilization agents was:
"For people to be healthy and live in peace. Because if people are not healthy there can be no peace. There will be no economic growth either"

I also asked her how it felt to work as a mobilizer. she replied with: "Dafa neex" - which literally translates to "it feels good" but is stated in a manner that puts emphasis on the verb. In this case, the verb is ‘neex’ meaning ‘to feel good’. Another question I always ask to the mobilizers is about them working in groups, why do they do it? "Benn baaraam mënul yëkëti doj.
" is what she said to me. This is an old Wolof proverb which loosely translates to "One finger alone cannot lift the stone."

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Granddaughter of a traditional cutter, Fatou Bâ was being primped and primed to become one herself, and she says she would have went on to do just that had she not taken part in Tostan’s CEP classes. Born and raised in a small community in Kaffrine region called Nguigui, Fatou’s childhood was cut short after she went through the tradition at the age of eight and married at 14.

Fatou in her traditional boubou leaning against Ibrahima's house after the interview.

As a child, Fatou was very close with her grandmother who taught her about life and how to behave with people, especially your husband and his family. She didn’t know her husband before her marriage as her parents and the parents of the suitor arranged it. After the suitor sent kola nuts to the family signifying he wanted to marry her, they accepted. At this point he wanted to visit Fatou, the purpose being to judge if she would make a good wife or not. The parents agreed under the condition that he would bring a goat to honor their daughter.

After the marriage, they went to live in a community called Missirah in Tambakounda where she had two children. After a rough patch where the family lost all of their farmland and animals, they moved to AblayFanta. Here, Fatou had another seven children, losing one twin which would have made her total ten. Of the nine living children, she has three girls, all of whom when through the tradition at five or seven years old.

She began moving between two villages to sell milk and sugar which was profitable and allowed her to provide for her family. She even trained and helped other women to get into the business as well. Soon, she was offered a loan to buy and breed sheep. This was especially lucrative around Tabaski*.

In 2004, Tostan came to her community and began their CEP. Both her and one of her sons decided to attend. As a Peul, Fatou learned to speak Wolof after she had married and moved with her husband. In the class she struggled with the literacy portion but was always able to answer questions orally. The facilitator counted on her to liven up the class; one of her fondest memories was singing and dancing during the classes. Although her husband didn't attend these classes, she would go home every evening and recount to him everything she had learned. While all of the classes and modules of the CEP were helpful, Fatou admitted that Module 7, the one that discusses FMC had the most impact on her and is the reason why she is not a cutter today. Before the classes were finished, Tostan asked Fatou to be part of the Kaolack SMA Team. She would attend classes but also go into the field with the team to do sensitizations (sort of like a workshop) in villages in the region, something she has been doing for over 10 years now.

What is “It's discussing to educate, when you hear social mobilization it's about educating people, telling they things they didn't know about, making you hear things that you had never heard of. And all that by discussing until we find an agreement without fighting.” 

Although these topics are not discussed until the end of the sensitization, as they are very taboo and difficult to talk about, the topics of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) and Child Marriage are of the utmost importance in their work. These are century long traditions that are being abandoned from grassroots educational initiatives such as the social mobilization teams thanks to Tostan. But this work is not easy - you cant just ask people to stop doing something they have been doing for centuries, but in Fatou's own words she explained to me that,  “I said things are changing and when things are changing you have to adapt. You cannot wait until it's too late” By this she means that things change - because they are now aware and educated of the complications and problems that come along with these two specific harmful practices.

Ibrahima with his family

These three mobilizers work together on a team comprised of five SMA in total. They each have their own specific function as a team member.

Now that all of my interviews are completed, soon I will be writing and sharing a short post about my findings and analysis! First I need to finish my these and graduate. Then I will have time to put together a post about my last month/weeks in Senegal (for now - inshallah) and the conclusion to my research.

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Wolof Proverb:

“Lu kenn mën, ñaar a ko ko dàq"

Literal Meaning: "Many hands make light work"
Actual Meaning: "What one person can do two can do better"

Deweneti - Eid Mubarak - Festival of the Break Fast

Above, the three things needed for a successful Korite. I had not one but two stylish outfits.
On the top right you can see the laax and finally the piles upon piles of chicken.

 As a follow up to my previous post about Ramadan, 

I wanted to share my experience celebrating Korite
in my lovely home of Dakar. 

Where I grew up in the United Sates, and in many places I've lived in the US, the calendar revolves around a handful of holidays. Notably, our own birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, the 4th of July, and maybe a few others.

Here in Senegal it appears to me that there are two main holidays: Tabaski (definitely the most important) and Korité aka Eid al-Fitr (in Arabic). To be on the safe-side, we can add two others that have a lot of weight: Christmas (even though its 95% Muslim) and the Islamic New Year (referred to as Tamxarit in Senegal). Korité is the Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and is sometimes referred to as the festival of breaking the fast.

The three things* that are needed for Korité (in addition to family and friends) are:
1. A new stylish outfit to show off
2. Lots of laax
3. Even more chicken

I was invited by my old house family and my friend Xam-xam to spend Korité at their homes. To get the full experience, I should have really went the night before when the preparations for the laax began. Instead, I was busy preparing my last sukaraa koor (Ramadan sugar aka gifts given during Ramadan) -- Bissap Juice!

Bissap leaves with mint boiling away. Dont forget the sugar. It made 4 bottles!

Laax is a chunky sweet mixture of millet and soured milk. After the millet is cooked, you scoop it into a shallow bowl and level it out. Then on top you at the soured milk (lait caillé). I've seen this sour milk to vary between thick milk to yogurt texture - both ways and every way in between is still delicious! This meal is eaten as a sort of late breakfast/brunch/early lunch type of meal. Its very heavy, and the portions are big. Remember, this celebration is the first day in which Muslims have been able to eat during the day.

Xamxam and I dressed to impress!

After binge eating laax, my hosts could see I was uncomfortable in my tight, rigid, un-breathable taille basse** and they gave me a beautiful pink gown so that I would be more comfortable while we chatted, made attaaya, and waited for lunch.

Attaaya in the making

A purit off! (purit is the foam at the top of the tea created by pouring it again and again and again)

As I've mentioned in previous posts, salutations and greetings are of the utmost importance here in Senegal. In my last post about Ramadan, I shared a short exchange that is added to regular salutations:

Person A: Baal ma aq - Forgive me (for all of my sins, everything I have done)
Person B: Baal naa la - I forgive you
Person A: Yalla nañu yalla boole baal - Allah has assembled us together and forgives us all
Person B: Amen - its optional to say Amen several times

Well, it turns out this short salutation is also said on Korité and for the several weeks and days following the holy month when you see someone for the first time. For example, your Aunt is in town visiting, the first time you see her you will both have this exchange. But you wont greet her with this exchange again because you have both forgiven each other. 

Finally, around 4:30pm, lunch was served. And what a beautiful plat it was:

Après l'effort de 30 jours de jeûne, le réconfort du repas de fête:
After the effort of 30 days of fasting, the comfort of the holiday meal

Decoration and set up of the communal plate is very important here in Senegal. It is part of the cooks job (aka the woman's job) to make the plate look presentable and appetizing. All of the food on the plate above was for only three of us!! 

  

Deweneti, which is part of the title of this post, means "May God give us life to see the next Ramadan!" in Wolof and is exchanged during the holiday along with the salutations above. 

After relaxing for a short while after dinner, I finally headed to my families house down in Mermoz just in time to see the kiddies wandering around.

Little Sedou, his wooden prayer bead, and bright yellow xaftan!

Noguiy with her cousins, Baay Fall and oops I forgot his name!

As part of the tradition here in Senegal (and possibly other parts of West Africa), after the main meal (añ in wolof, lunch), the well dressed youngsters parade around from house to house saying "Jox ma sama ndewenalu!" I havent figure out what ndewenalu literally translates to, but in this context it means money. So the phrase says "give me my money". Imagine kids going around on Halloween dressed in costumes asking for candy -- this is similar. You dont have to give much, anything from 10 cfa to 1000 cfa (2 cents to $1.70).

Kids participating in the tradition,
Collecting money from friends and neighbors

Dinner (rééw in wolof), although not as extravagant as lunch, also consists of a lot of chicken, or as they say in wolof, ginaar bu bari. After hours of hanging out, drinking tea, chatting, and visiting others in the neighborhood, I finally called it a night and headed back home to sleep.

Grandmere and I

Korité is a very special day that follows by a very holy month. It is on this day where people seek forgiveness from their friends, family, colleagues (everyone!) for things that they have done, whether intentional or not. This holiday is celebrated together and everyone wears their best clothes, usually freshly made by a local tailor. I was blessed to have been able to share this holiday with two families here in Dakar.

But don't think the celebrations are over just yet...

Approximately 70 days after Korité, they will be celebrating Tabaski

The biggest holiday of the year!

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And finally to end, another Wolof proverb:

"Yàlla, Yàlla bey sa tool"

Literal translation: ‘Invoke God, but cultivate your own field’

Metaphorical meaning: ‘Help yourself, God will help you’

*Every family is different and my celebrate in a different way. These three things are from my experiences thus far, and from what several Senegalese friends have told me.  

**Taille basse = traditional outfit usually for younger women that is made up of a top and a tight fitting skirt or a wrapper (2 yards of fabric that you wrap around you like a skirt)