I am up, have gotten rid of my bed head and am listening to the waves on the beach. Molly and Lib have not yet emerged for breakfast, so I have a few minutes to write. I was re-reading my post from last night. I am struck by how difficult it is to express my feelings about what we have witnessed and felt over the past week. Coming to Senegal I already had a deep understanding of the nature of Tostan's programs and approach and I already understood the profound transformation that individuals, villages and village regions were experiencing and I already felt like I had found a "home" with Tostan...an alignment of values, philosophy, and strategy and a sense of friendship and even family with the staff I had met. I could not have anticipated that there was deeper to go and greater connection to be had.
And...we're off again. I have to sign off. We are going to the Tostan Training Center in Thies and to meet with the staff from the Senegal national office. Then onto a nearby village.
It is now 11:00pm and I am so very tired. I am hoping to sleep deeply. I think all that we had done and learned is catching up with me. This is the last night I will (try to) sleep in Senegal. Tomorrow is our last day and we head to the airport at 10:00pm. It looks like I will be filling in the gaps about this journey once I am home. There is so much to share.
Enjerama.
ME
Monday, February 1, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
One week later...
We have been in Senegal for a week?! How is that possible? The time has flown by. We are now at Molly's house in the Somone on the Atlantic Ocean. We went swimming last night at sunset after an 8 1/2 hour car ride from the eastern Senegal town of Tambacounda. The water was delicious. I have not been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean since 1998.
OK, where to begin to describe what we have seen and done and who we have met over the past several days...I'll start by saying that sadly, I cannot include any pictures. I'm having technical difficulties downloading the photos from my phone to my computer. I'm bummed...you would be in awe of the beauty of the people we have met - their physical beauty and the beauty of their hearts and souls that they share so readily. Once I get help from my resident technical advisor (Matt), I will post photos after I get home.
Our journey (commentary and profound thoughts to follow)
Tuesday
We left Dakar at 6:00pm by small plane to Molly (founder and director of Tostan) and Mory Camara (co-director of Tostan programs). We flew to the Casamance region of southern Senegal into the town of Ziguinchour. It was immediately clear that we were in rural Africa having left behind the developed city of Dakar. It was not village life and also definitely not urban life - goats wandering through the streets, small stall-like "boutiques" (the same as the "tiendas" of Latin America) lining the streets, trash and dust everywhere, donkey-drawn carts and bicycles with 2-3 people on them. It was a pleasure to land here and get beyond Dakar.
Already our journey was enriched by traveling with Mory. He is smart, funny, warm, and incredibly committed to the work of Tostan. He is 37, has 4 children and speaks 5 languages. We stayed at a lovely, small hotel where we ran into numerous people that Molly knows - members of a Senegalese medical delegation in the region working on an AIDS program and a man who is so committed to the work of Tostan that even though he has retired as a teacher, travels the region training teachers about Tostan's early child development program module and promoting non-violent discipline for students (violence as part of teaching is prevalent here) and engagement with parents in support of their children's education. His passion and commitment were almost palpable.
Wednesday
We met Pierre Coly, the 5th member of our travel group, who would be our driver for the next few days. Pierre is quieter and a bit more reserved with us than Mory, but got used to our chattiness and jokes and joined right in after a bit. He entertained us on our long drives with the most eclectic mix of African music. Pierre is a member of the Joola ethnic group of the Casamance region, he is 33, has a 15 year old son, and speaks 6 languages.
We met with the staff in the Ziginchour regional office for about an hour. Every time we meet with Tostan staff, I have to really focus to follow the French. I wonder what they think of me at times - I stare at them while they talk thinking somehow that that will help make the French more clear. I can catch enough to get the gist of the conversation. If I let my mind wander even for a second, I get completely lost. Lib's French is such an asset. Between her, Molly and Mory (who speaks English well enough to help me out) I am doing just fine. Everyone comments on how good Lib's French is and how amazed they are that she speaks with no (English) accent.
Before leaving for the village of Niaguis, we stopped back at the hotel to get dressed for our village visit. Lib and I borrowed beautiful Senegalese outfits from Molly. I wore a deep pink with white embroidery long tunic over a matching panga (wrap around skirt). Lib wore a flowing purple tunic over a purple panga. Mory was also dressed in traditional clothes - the most beautiful indigo blue tunic high at the neck and long to the knee with matching pants. The tunic was embroidered in silver thread and small buttons. We looked beautiful. We then piled into two cars (the regional staff and us) and drove about 1/2 hour to the village of Niaguis.
Niaguis has gone through two of the Tostan programs:
First the CEP (Community Empowerment Program) - a 3-year program focused on human rights, democracy, problem solving, health & hygiene, literacy, environment, and economic development. The program facilitator lives in the village and they meet 10-12 hours a week for 3 years. While going through the program, the community forms a CMC (community management committee) that implements and oversees projects taken on by the community and is also responsible for sharing what the community is learning with neighboring communities (what Tostan calls "organized diffusion"). In almost every village, the participants are predominantly women and teenage girls though men do participate in the classes and often hold some seats on the CMC. But, it is clear that the women are taking on the transformation and leadership of their community through this program.
Then the Peace & Security program which is about 18 months long and focuses on mediation and conflict resolution.
Third, the RPP (Reinforcement of Parental Practices) about a year long program that teaches participants all about brain development, the importance of development 0-3 years and how and why to interact with their children when they are young (something not traditionally done in the villages based on long-held superstitious beliefs that you bring your child bad luck and evil spirits by focusing too much on them and drawing attention to them).
How to describe the greeting we received...drumming and a larger group of women, dressed in colors almost too beautiful to process, dancing and clapping. They enveloped us as we got out of the car and danced us into the center of the village where we continued to dance some more. Lib and I were in our element - in a circle of joyous women, taking turns dancing in the center of the circle, celebrating together. I didn't want it to end....a feeling I experienced on each day to come. We shook hands, touched cheeks and exchanged Joola greetings. We were then seated in the "seats of honor" with Molly and Mory while the villagers proceeded to share with us all that has changed and developed in their village since they started the Tostan programs:
Thursday
We left at 9:30 from Ziguinchor and drove to Guinea Bissau. Normally the trip should only take about 90 minutes but due to frequent border stops and checks in Guinea Bissau, we did not arrive until 12:30. What was amazing is that when the men and women doing border control saw our papers and realized that we were from Tostan, their faces lit up and they began talking to us about how important Tostan is in Guinea Bissau. It was really incredible for us as of course this was totally unexpected and spontaneous. The first man said that he knew what Tostan was doing because he regularly listens to the Tostan weekly radio program. He said he thought it was great that women are being taught about their rights and life is now changing for the women. When another man at that same border control realized that we were from Tostan, he came running up and told us how great the program is. Molly asked how he knew about Tostan and he said that he is from the town of Gabu where his family lives and he said that EVERYONE had abandoned FGC and that the women's lives had changed so much since the program. "Elder women who had never been to formal school are now able to read and write and they now are managing their own projects!!" he exclaimed....he seemed so thrilled by this. We then started asking all the agents we met when we were stopped (3 more) if they had heard of Tostan and they all said - "Yes of course! We listen to the radio programs on human rights. But the only problem we have is that you need to be doing this program in our region and not just in Gabou and Bafata. When can you come to our communities? Every community in Guinea Bissau needs this program to achieve development." What incredible validation and verification of the efficacy and impact of Tostan.
We briefly met the staff in the GB national office, shared a delicious Senegalese lunch of dried fish and rice (eaten Senegalese style) and then Lib, Molly and I changed into our Senegalese dresses before driving to the village of Ginane. This was the beginning of our adventure into the true African bush. Seriously...it was what you picture (perhaps from movies) of what a small, poor, in-the-middle-of-nowhere African village looks like. We started the drive thinking it was about an hour away. It took us 4 hours on incredibly rough roads that got smaller and smaller as we got closer to the village until we were on a dirt track barely wide enough for the car winding through tall African grass land. You also have to consider the number of animals that run across the "road" and also walk out and stand in the road - cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, donkeys. Pierre is truly one of the most skills drivers I have ever seen.
Ginane was smaller than Niaguis, very poor, very remote and has not yet finished the CEP - they are in the third year. Our welcome was joyous and powerful. There are very few visitors here and many of the villagers had probably never seen white people before. More than one small child screamed and cried when they saw us! Once again, their beauty is breathtaking. Much simpler clothes here but no shortage of color and pattern and pride in who they are and what they are doing. We danced and heard presentations and watched a play. And you have to remember all of this is being conveyed through the local language of Creole or Pular and translated into French and English for us. It is truly incredible. We were reluctant to leave but it was getting dark and we had to re-trace the rough route we had come on.
We arrived at the Triton Hotel - what might one expect from a small hotel in a rural area of the very poor country of GB? The rooms were like prison cells, there were goats wandering in and out of the dining area and Lib's room smelled so thickly of a latrine that we slept together in my double bed. It made for a lot of laughs among our travel tribe.
Oh, there is so much left to write and thoughts to share but I have to go to sleep. It is Sunday night at 12:30am (so I guess it's actually Monday) and we have a full day tomorrow. We are off to the Tostan Training Center in Thies and then onto a nearby village. We are heading out about 9:00am so I must try to sleep. I am having trouble sleeping on this trip and have therefore slept very little relative to how much I sleep at home. And yet, I feel a powerful energy and alertness that I often find lacking at home. I realized this today while having a bit of downtime. I am often so tired at home and suffer on some days from a profound lack of energy. And yet over the past week with little sleep, hot temperatures, and highly demanding days I find myself with energy, present and in the moment. Have I been consumed by some degree of complacency at home? What is missing in my days to give me energy and inspiration and to stimulate me? Something very important for me to explore more deeply. I hate how tired I feel daily at home. It scares me and it makes me mad. I am surprised by my stamina here. I want to preserve it. I want to absorb it and take it home with me and use it and share it with others.
I will write more tomorrow. Yup, just as we prepare to leave Senegal I will finally get a full description of what we have been doing out to you all!
Beaux Reves! Sleep tight!
ME
OK, where to begin to describe what we have seen and done and who we have met over the past several days...I'll start by saying that sadly, I cannot include any pictures. I'm having technical difficulties downloading the photos from my phone to my computer. I'm bummed...you would be in awe of the beauty of the people we have met - their physical beauty and the beauty of their hearts and souls that they share so readily. Once I get help from my resident technical advisor (Matt), I will post photos after I get home.
Our journey (commentary and profound thoughts to follow)
Tuesday
We left Dakar at 6:00pm by small plane to Molly (founder and director of Tostan) and Mory Camara (co-director of Tostan programs). We flew to the Casamance region of southern Senegal into the town of Ziguinchour. It was immediately clear that we were in rural Africa having left behind the developed city of Dakar. It was not village life and also definitely not urban life - goats wandering through the streets, small stall-like "boutiques" (the same as the "tiendas" of Latin America) lining the streets, trash and dust everywhere, donkey-drawn carts and bicycles with 2-3 people on them. It was a pleasure to land here and get beyond Dakar.
Already our journey was enriched by traveling with Mory. He is smart, funny, warm, and incredibly committed to the work of Tostan. He is 37, has 4 children and speaks 5 languages. We stayed at a lovely, small hotel where we ran into numerous people that Molly knows - members of a Senegalese medical delegation in the region working on an AIDS program and a man who is so committed to the work of Tostan that even though he has retired as a teacher, travels the region training teachers about Tostan's early child development program module and promoting non-violent discipline for students (violence as part of teaching is prevalent here) and engagement with parents in support of their children's education. His passion and commitment were almost palpable.
Wednesday
We met Pierre Coly, the 5th member of our travel group, who would be our driver for the next few days. Pierre is quieter and a bit more reserved with us than Mory, but got used to our chattiness and jokes and joined right in after a bit. He entertained us on our long drives with the most eclectic mix of African music. Pierre is a member of the Joola ethnic group of the Casamance region, he is 33, has a 15 year old son, and speaks 6 languages.
We met with the staff in the Ziginchour regional office for about an hour. Every time we meet with Tostan staff, I have to really focus to follow the French. I wonder what they think of me at times - I stare at them while they talk thinking somehow that that will help make the French more clear. I can catch enough to get the gist of the conversation. If I let my mind wander even for a second, I get completely lost. Lib's French is such an asset. Between her, Molly and Mory (who speaks English well enough to help me out) I am doing just fine. Everyone comments on how good Lib's French is and how amazed they are that she speaks with no (English) accent.
Before leaving for the village of Niaguis, we stopped back at the hotel to get dressed for our village visit. Lib and I borrowed beautiful Senegalese outfits from Molly. I wore a deep pink with white embroidery long tunic over a matching panga (wrap around skirt). Lib wore a flowing purple tunic over a purple panga. Mory was also dressed in traditional clothes - the most beautiful indigo blue tunic high at the neck and long to the knee with matching pants. The tunic was embroidered in silver thread and small buttons. We looked beautiful. We then piled into two cars (the regional staff and us) and drove about 1/2 hour to the village of Niaguis.
Niaguis has gone through two of the Tostan programs:
First the CEP (Community Empowerment Program) - a 3-year program focused on human rights, democracy, problem solving, health & hygiene, literacy, environment, and economic development. The program facilitator lives in the village and they meet 10-12 hours a week for 3 years. While going through the program, the community forms a CMC (community management committee) that implements and oversees projects taken on by the community and is also responsible for sharing what the community is learning with neighboring communities (what Tostan calls "organized diffusion"). In almost every village, the participants are predominantly women and teenage girls though men do participate in the classes and often hold some seats on the CMC. But, it is clear that the women are taking on the transformation and leadership of their community through this program.
Then the Peace & Security program which is about 18 months long and focuses on mediation and conflict resolution.
Third, the RPP (Reinforcement of Parental Practices) about a year long program that teaches participants all about brain development, the importance of development 0-3 years and how and why to interact with their children when they are young (something not traditionally done in the villages based on long-held superstitious beliefs that you bring your child bad luck and evil spirits by focusing too much on them and drawing attention to them).
How to describe the greeting we received...drumming and a larger group of women, dressed in colors almost too beautiful to process, dancing and clapping. They enveloped us as we got out of the car and danced us into the center of the village where we continued to dance some more. Lib and I were in our element - in a circle of joyous women, taking turns dancing in the center of the circle, celebrating together. I didn't want it to end....a feeling I experienced on each day to come. We shook hands, touched cheeks and exchanged Joola greetings. We were then seated in the "seats of honor" with Molly and Mory while the villagers proceeded to share with us all that has changed and developed in their village since they started the Tostan programs:
- Abandonment of FGC (female genital cutting), child marriage and women's empowerment and new leadership.
- Generally improved health, income generation, a clean environment and end of violence against children and women.
- They discussed how there is much better organization in the community. The village now has systematic birth registration in place and has all children registered in school. They have a garden and "factory" for making fresh juices and jams.
- They presented several drawings that had been sketched by a young artist from the community on how the village was before the program and where they are going in the future and their action plan to achieve their goals.
- The women sang songs on democracy and human rights.
- The did a play on how the P&S (Peace & Security) module had helped to reduce conflict in the community and in the area in general and showed, through the skit, the steps for successful mediation. They discussed how the Peace Committee had been called to do mediation, not only in their village, but in surrounding communities.
- They also discussed how they loved the RPP module and were now interacting with their babies and infants, explaining that the information on brain development had led them to end violence against children in the school and in their families. They said they were hoping to have more education classes in their community and also in surrounding communities.
We were then invited to eat at the home of the Coordinator of the CMC - we had salad from their garden and also fruit drinks they made from local fruits - ditax, guava and mango juice.
While in the village, Lib and I were given Senegalese (Joola) names after two of the kick-ass women leaders in the village. Lib is now known at Hadi Sambu and I am Adama Sane. What an honor!
We left at 9:30 from Ziguinchor and drove to Guinea Bissau. Normally the trip should only take about 90 minutes but due to frequent border stops and checks in Guinea Bissau, we did not arrive until 12:30. What was amazing is that when the men and women doing border control saw our papers and realized that we were from Tostan, their faces lit up and they began talking to us about how important Tostan is in Guinea Bissau. It was really incredible for us as of course this was totally unexpected and spontaneous. The first man said that he knew what Tostan was doing because he regularly listens to the Tostan weekly radio program. He said he thought it was great that women are being taught about their rights and life is now changing for the women. When another man at that same border control realized that we were from Tostan, he came running up and told us how great the program is. Molly asked how he knew about Tostan and he said that he is from the town of Gabu where his family lives and he said that EVERYONE had abandoned FGC and that the women's lives had changed so much since the program. "Elder women who had never been to formal school are now able to read and write and they now are managing their own projects!!" he exclaimed....he seemed so thrilled by this. We then started asking all the agents we met when we were stopped (3 more) if they had heard of Tostan and they all said - "Yes of course! We listen to the radio programs on human rights. But the only problem we have is that you need to be doing this program in our region and not just in Gabou and Bafata. When can you come to our communities? Every community in Guinea Bissau needs this program to achieve development." What incredible validation and verification of the efficacy and impact of Tostan.
We briefly met the staff in the GB national office, shared a delicious Senegalese lunch of dried fish and rice (eaten Senegalese style) and then Lib, Molly and I changed into our Senegalese dresses before driving to the village of Ginane. This was the beginning of our adventure into the true African bush. Seriously...it was what you picture (perhaps from movies) of what a small, poor, in-the-middle-of-nowhere African village looks like. We started the drive thinking it was about an hour away. It took us 4 hours on incredibly rough roads that got smaller and smaller as we got closer to the village until we were on a dirt track barely wide enough for the car winding through tall African grass land. You also have to consider the number of animals that run across the "road" and also walk out and stand in the road - cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, donkeys. Pierre is truly one of the most skills drivers I have ever seen.
Ginane was smaller than Niaguis, very poor, very remote and has not yet finished the CEP - they are in the third year. Our welcome was joyous and powerful. There are very few visitors here and many of the villagers had probably never seen white people before. More than one small child screamed and cried when they saw us! Once again, their beauty is breathtaking. Much simpler clothes here but no shortage of color and pattern and pride in who they are and what they are doing. We danced and heard presentations and watched a play. And you have to remember all of this is being conveyed through the local language of Creole or Pular and translated into French and English for us. It is truly incredible. We were reluctant to leave but it was getting dark and we had to re-trace the rough route we had come on.
We arrived at the Triton Hotel - what might one expect from a small hotel in a rural area of the very poor country of GB? The rooms were like prison cells, there were goats wandering in and out of the dining area and Lib's room smelled so thickly of a latrine that we slept together in my double bed. It made for a lot of laughs among our travel tribe.
Oh, there is so much left to write and thoughts to share but I have to go to sleep. It is Sunday night at 12:30am (so I guess it's actually Monday) and we have a full day tomorrow. We are off to the Tostan Training Center in Thies and then onto a nearby village. We are heading out about 9:00am so I must try to sleep. I am having trouble sleeping on this trip and have therefore slept very little relative to how much I sleep at home. And yet, I feel a powerful energy and alertness that I often find lacking at home. I realized this today while having a bit of downtime. I am often so tired at home and suffer on some days from a profound lack of energy. And yet over the past week with little sleep, hot temperatures, and highly demanding days I find myself with energy, present and in the moment. Have I been consumed by some degree of complacency at home? What is missing in my days to give me energy and inspiration and to stimulate me? Something very important for me to explore more deeply. I hate how tired I feel daily at home. It scares me and it makes me mad. I am surprised by my stamina here. I want to preserve it. I want to absorb it and take it home with me and use it and share it with others.
I will write more tomorrow. Yup, just as we prepare to leave Senegal I will finally get a full description of what we have been doing out to you all!
Beaux Reves! Sleep tight!
ME
Monday, January 25, 2016
Tostan - Day 1
After 28 hours of travel, we met Molly outside the Dakar airport at 10:30pm (Senegal time) amidst throngs of Senegalese meeting friends and family coming in our flight from France. It was immediately Africa - the warmth in the night air, men in quiet voices saying "Madame" and waving keys at us asking if we wanted a taxi, bright colors of the women dressed in boubous (traditional Senegalese dress), the rocky and sandy parking lot...
Lib and I were pretty dazed. Beyond tired after having only slept for a couple of hours over our journey. Instead of napping and lounging at the Paris airport, we hopped the local RER train into Paris and spent 3 hours walking around. We came up out of the subway right at the Notre Dame cathedral! What a glorious view!
Ignore the puffy, squinty, jet lag eyes! Lib was a great tour guide. My first time to Paris!
To go from Seattle, to Paris to Africa in 28 hours...3 completely different cultures and settings. It's incredible really. Molly drove us to the King Farad hotel. It is on the Atlantic Ocean at the western most point of Africa. We so so tired and yet needed to decompress before sleeping. We didn't go to bed until about 1:00am. We reluctantly woke up at 9:45am to shower and get dressed before the hotel stopped serving breakfast at 10:30.
We met Molly at 11:45 and went right to the Tostan International office. We met all 30+ staff members in one large group and then spent the next 7 hours meeting with the various departments separately. The entire staff eats lunch together every day. We ate on large mats on the floor after we ll removed our shoes. We were served a delicious meal that reminded me of Moroccan couscous. Large platter of white rice with mixed veggies and a grilled chicken in the middle. We ate directly from the platter with spoons though Senegalese eat normally with their hands (Lucas would fit in well here!) I got to share my lunch with Fatou, the 3 year old daughter of a Tostan staff member. She is a hoot. She loved walking around in both Libby's and my shoes.
The diversity of the staff is remarkable - members from England, Italy, Senegal, France, Zimbabwe, Togo, US. We really got to hear in depth about the work of the various departments - grants, evaluation, programming, and time with the directors. It is a lot for the staff to meet with all of the visitors who come. It was so generous of them to give us their time and answer our questions. You can really see that the organization focuses on working collectively like the villagers who go through the Tostan Community Empowerment Program do - with a respectful, integrated, communicative approach.
I wish I had some pictures to share of the street scenes from today. I was outside so very little...just got to see the area from the car. Dakar is much more developed and cosmopolitan than any city I saw in Congo. The roads are in excellent condition, there is even an elevated auto-route with on and off ramps! But right along side all of the cars are still the horse-drawn wooden carts used for hauling brush, construction materials, etc. There is rock and rubble and garbage everywhere. Young men hanging out with little to do. Road side stands selling fruit and veggies. In all of these ways it is so very similar to Congo. It is Africa.
Tomorrow (Wed) we have a more relaxed morning - time to sleep in and then go to a local market with Molly. Then we head back to the airport to catch a plane to souther Senegal. We will be visiting a regional office and village in Zingunchor. Then on to Guinea-Bissau the next day. We will visit 3 villages over the next few days. We will head to Molly's house at the beach on Sunday.
I don't know what the internet access will be like until. Will post again once we have access. Inshallah.
lots of love!
Lib and I were pretty dazed. Beyond tired after having only slept for a couple of hours over our journey. Instead of napping and lounging at the Paris airport, we hopped the local RER train into Paris and spent 3 hours walking around. We came up out of the subway right at the Notre Dame cathedral! What a glorious view!
Ignore the puffy, squinty, jet lag eyes! Lib was a great tour guide. My first time to Paris!
To go from Seattle, to Paris to Africa in 28 hours...3 completely different cultures and settings. It's incredible really. Molly drove us to the King Farad hotel. It is on the Atlantic Ocean at the western most point of Africa. We so so tired and yet needed to decompress before sleeping. We didn't go to bed until about 1:00am. We reluctantly woke up at 9:45am to shower and get dressed before the hotel stopped serving breakfast at 10:30.
We met Molly at 11:45 and went right to the Tostan International office. We met all 30+ staff members in one large group and then spent the next 7 hours meeting with the various departments separately. The entire staff eats lunch together every day. We ate on large mats on the floor after we ll removed our shoes. We were served a delicious meal that reminded me of Moroccan couscous. Large platter of white rice with mixed veggies and a grilled chicken in the middle. We ate directly from the platter with spoons though Senegalese eat normally with their hands (Lucas would fit in well here!) I got to share my lunch with Fatou, the 3 year old daughter of a Tostan staff member. She is a hoot. She loved walking around in both Libby's and my shoes.
The diversity of the staff is remarkable - members from England, Italy, Senegal, France, Zimbabwe, Togo, US. We really got to hear in depth about the work of the various departments - grants, evaluation, programming, and time with the directors. It is a lot for the staff to meet with all of the visitors who come. It was so generous of them to give us their time and answer our questions. You can really see that the organization focuses on working collectively like the villagers who go through the Tostan Community Empowerment Program do - with a respectful, integrated, communicative approach.
I wish I had some pictures to share of the street scenes from today. I was outside so very little...just got to see the area from the car. Dakar is much more developed and cosmopolitan than any city I saw in Congo. The roads are in excellent condition, there is even an elevated auto-route with on and off ramps! But right along side all of the cars are still the horse-drawn wooden carts used for hauling brush, construction materials, etc. There is rock and rubble and garbage everywhere. Young men hanging out with little to do. Road side stands selling fruit and veggies. In all of these ways it is so very similar to Congo. It is Africa.
Tomorrow (Wed) we have a more relaxed morning - time to sleep in and then go to a local market with Molly. Then we head back to the airport to catch a plane to souther Senegal. We will be visiting a regional office and village in Zingunchor. Then on to Guinea-Bissau the next day. We will visit 3 villages over the next few days. We will head to Molly's house at the beach on Sunday.
I don't know what the internet access will be like until. Will post again once we have access. Inshallah.
lots of love!
Saturday, January 23, 2016
On Our Way
We are at Seatac airport waiting to board our flight to Paris. The news playing in the background is of the snow storm extravaganza on the east coast that delayed our trip. Just heard from our brother, Marc, in the D.C. area that they have power and are doing well. The photo of his front yard is pretty amazing...there is easily over a foot of snow!
Lib is going to play tour guide for me for a few hours in Paris during our long layover. It will be my first time to France! We packed a coat and a warm hat in our carry-ons (two things we will NOT need in 80 degree Senegal) for our short Paris jaunt.
We are happy to be on our way and are looking forward to the first sights and smells upon landing in Dakar Sunday night at 9:00pm Senegal time (8 hours ahead of PST).
More soon!
Lib is going to play tour guide for me for a few hours in Paris during our long layover. It will be my first time to France! We packed a coat and a warm hat in our carry-ons (two things we will NOT need in 80 degree Senegal) for our short Paris jaunt.
We are happy to be on our way and are looking forward to the first sights and smells upon landing in Dakar Sunday night at 9:00pm Senegal time (8 hours ahead of PST).
More soon!
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Back to Africa
Libby and I are off to Senegal to spend 2 weeks with the remarkable and inspiring Molly Melching, founder and director of Tostan (tostan.org). Tostan is an organization that offers a 3-year informal education program to rural villages in Senegal and 7 other West African countries that is deeply routed in human rights and founded on the tenets of respect, love and dignity. The organization celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. I believe this organization and program are THE model for what sustainable social change looks like. It is dramatically impacting quality of life and individual empowerment throughout West Africa currently with the vision to scale this impact globally.
Libby and I have been involved with Tostan for nearly two years, deepening our relationship with Molly and our understanding of and commitment to the program. It is an honor to get to go to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to see this work up close and to witness the transformational change that is happening in the villages.
I highly recommend the book "However Long the Night" by Aimee Malloy. It is the story of Molly Melching and the birth of Tostan. It is a page turner. Seriously. You will want to keep reading and reading. You will become a believer, too.
Our bags are packed (though I still can't figure out why Libby's duffle bag has so much more extra room in it than mine, and I have a fraction of the clothes she's bringing), alarm set to wake up at 5:00am to head to the airport tomorrow morning, and family dinners cooking when we get the email that our flight from Seattle to Washington DC tomorrow is cancelled due to the forecasted mega snow storm due to hit the East Coast tomorrow evening. Big drag. I know it pales in comparison to what the folks living on the East Coast are going to be dealing with over the weekend.
Not much to do but enjoy dinner with the family and explore our options. We were lucky to find open seats on a Delta flight mid-day on Saturday. We will miss out on 2 full days of our original Senegal itinerary and spend a 7+ hour lay-over in Paris, but we still get to go to Senegal.
So, a bonus day at home tomorrow without last minute trip preparations. Extra time to get our heads and hearts more deeply into the purpose of the trip - to listen, to witness, to question, to participate, to learn, to enjoy. Thank you for reading. Can't wait to share our experience with you.
Stay tuned...
Libby and I have been involved with Tostan for nearly two years, deepening our relationship with Molly and our understanding of and commitment to the program. It is an honor to get to go to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to see this work up close and to witness the transformational change that is happening in the villages.
I highly recommend the book "However Long the Night" by Aimee Malloy. It is the story of Molly Melching and the birth of Tostan. It is a page turner. Seriously. You will want to keep reading and reading. You will become a believer, too.
Our bags are packed (though I still can't figure out why Libby's duffle bag has so much more extra room in it than mine, and I have a fraction of the clothes she's bringing), alarm set to wake up at 5:00am to head to the airport tomorrow morning, and family dinners cooking when we get the email that our flight from Seattle to Washington DC tomorrow is cancelled due to the forecasted mega snow storm due to hit the East Coast tomorrow evening. Big drag. I know it pales in comparison to what the folks living on the East Coast are going to be dealing with over the weekend.
Not much to do but enjoy dinner with the family and explore our options. We were lucky to find open seats on a Delta flight mid-day on Saturday. We will miss out on 2 full days of our original Senegal itinerary and spend a 7+ hour lay-over in Paris, but we still get to go to Senegal.
So, a bonus day at home tomorrow without last minute trip preparations. Extra time to get our heads and hearts more deeply into the purpose of the trip - to listen, to witness, to question, to participate, to learn, to enjoy. Thank you for reading. Can't wait to share our experience with you.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Half Way
Just when we thought our adventure had come to an end we have found ourselves stuck in Dallas, Texas for two days. Dallas was hit with snow and freezing rain over the past few days and many flights were cancelled...including ours home to Seattle. We were able to land in Dallas from San Jose, Costa Rica on Saturday but could not find 3 empty seats on any flights going to Seattle until Monday morning! Time to click back into adventure mode.
So, we donned what warm clothes we had and ventured out into the weather to hail a taxi to a nearby hotel. Lucas was chilly but happy to see some snow as we waited for a ride.
Into the taxi for the 20 minute ride to the hotel. Lucas promptly fell asleep and stayed asleep for the next 3 hours. He never moved even through carrying him from the taxi, checking in, riding the elevator to the room and plopping him on the bed. He was catching up after a couple of long travel days.
Having never been to Dallas, I had no idea what to expect. One thing for sure, it is NOT a remote island paradise in the Caribbean! The view from our hotel window is a bit different. What do you think?
View from Dallas hotel:
View from Casa Cayuco on Isla Bastimentos:
To say that we were disappointed to not get home yesterday would be a true understatement. We had said our good-byes to Central America and had turned our energy towards our re-entry into Seattle. It was a big shock to have to switch gears and adjust to an unexpected change of plans. Dallas, to be truthful, is not all that inspiring, it was especially dreary with the low, grey clouds, freezing rain and 25 degree temperature, we hadn't eaten since our 6:30am breakfast in Costa Rica, and we had no idea where to station ourselves for the next 48 hours.
We found our way to the Lumen Hotel across the street from the SMU campus (no, we did not opt to visit the George W. Bush library.) We spent the first evening eating room service, watching videos and exploring every nook and cranny of the hotel. Lucas and I discovered that the elevator opens on the 4th floor onto an outdoor sitting terrace that I'm sure is lovely when it is not covered in a sheet of slick ice!
Matt came down with a cold the morning we left Panama...not sure where he picked it up on that remote island. So, he has pretty much taken to his bed here at the hotel and hasn't moved except for a quick jaunt to the hotel restaurant for a bowl of oatmeal this morning. Lucas and I have embraced our circumstances and have resurrected our sense of adventure. We hopped in a taxi with a lovely man named, Robert, who is a born n' bred Dallasite and proud to be so. He took us into downtown Dallas for some...wait for it...ice skating! Yup, the polar opposite of where we have been for the past 6 weeks - an indoor ice skating rink in the middle of a 4 story shopping mall.
This is where we got to know Dallas a bit more. I was struck by the incredible diversity here - it was a rainbow of different colored kids and their parents on the ice. It was so wonderful to experience...something I am constantly aware is pretty much non-existent in Seattle. Latinos, Asians, African Americans, Indians, Africans, and Caucasians all shuffling around in a counter-clockwise circle on the ice. There were also countless girls and young women walking around with thick make up on and big, colorful, stiff bows on the tops of their heads. What was with the bows? I finally asked a young woman and learned that this weekend was the national cheerleading competition held every year in Dallas. 26,000 people in town for this event.
Lucas and I skated for an hour and a half with him getting more confident and faster with every lap.
It was super fun and is nothing that I could ever have imagined that we would be doing 2 days after visiting a remote, indigenous village in Panama!
We ate lunch in a Tex-Mex restaurant where we got to happily engage our waiter in Spanish. I am not ready to give that up. Then off to Hagaan Daaz for an ice cream cone before heading back to check on Matt at the hotel. He rested and watched a movie and feels a bit better.
So, we have confirmed seats on a flight tomorrow and the weather here is warming up. All looks good for our arrival in Seattle tomorrow. This little travel detour has reminded me that we don't need to go to Central America or to go away for 6 weeks to live an adventurous life. It's just about embracing what each day brings with an open and curious and adventurous spirit. The couple of days here in Dallas has been a cultural experience not too far from home. I am grateful for the experience and the reminder to continue to look for and make adventure in each day.
Home tomorrow! I am ready for some dark, leafy greens, a snuggle with Che, and catching up on all of your adventures over the past 6 weeks.
xoxo
So, we donned what warm clothes we had and ventured out into the weather to hail a taxi to a nearby hotel. Lucas was chilly but happy to see some snow as we waited for a ride.
Into the taxi for the 20 minute ride to the hotel. Lucas promptly fell asleep and stayed asleep for the next 3 hours. He never moved even through carrying him from the taxi, checking in, riding the elevator to the room and plopping him on the bed. He was catching up after a couple of long travel days.
Having never been to Dallas, I had no idea what to expect. One thing for sure, it is NOT a remote island paradise in the Caribbean! The view from our hotel window is a bit different. What do you think?
View from Dallas hotel:
View from Casa Cayuco on Isla Bastimentos:
To say that we were disappointed to not get home yesterday would be a true understatement. We had said our good-byes to Central America and had turned our energy towards our re-entry into Seattle. It was a big shock to have to switch gears and adjust to an unexpected change of plans. Dallas, to be truthful, is not all that inspiring, it was especially dreary with the low, grey clouds, freezing rain and 25 degree temperature, we hadn't eaten since our 6:30am breakfast in Costa Rica, and we had no idea where to station ourselves for the next 48 hours.
We found our way to the Lumen Hotel across the street from the SMU campus (no, we did not opt to visit the George W. Bush library.) We spent the first evening eating room service, watching videos and exploring every nook and cranny of the hotel. Lucas and I discovered that the elevator opens on the 4th floor onto an outdoor sitting terrace that I'm sure is lovely when it is not covered in a sheet of slick ice!
Matt came down with a cold the morning we left Panama...not sure where he picked it up on that remote island. So, he has pretty much taken to his bed here at the hotel and hasn't moved except for a quick jaunt to the hotel restaurant for a bowl of oatmeal this morning. Lucas and I have embraced our circumstances and have resurrected our sense of adventure. We hopped in a taxi with a lovely man named, Robert, who is a born n' bred Dallasite and proud to be so. He took us into downtown Dallas for some...wait for it...ice skating! Yup, the polar opposite of where we have been for the past 6 weeks - an indoor ice skating rink in the middle of a 4 story shopping mall.
This is where we got to know Dallas a bit more. I was struck by the incredible diversity here - it was a rainbow of different colored kids and their parents on the ice. It was so wonderful to experience...something I am constantly aware is pretty much non-existent in Seattle. Latinos, Asians, African Americans, Indians, Africans, and Caucasians all shuffling around in a counter-clockwise circle on the ice. There were also countless girls and young women walking around with thick make up on and big, colorful, stiff bows on the tops of their heads. What was with the bows? I finally asked a young woman and learned that this weekend was the national cheerleading competition held every year in Dallas. 26,000 people in town for this event.
Lucas and I skated for an hour and a half with him getting more confident and faster with every lap.
It was super fun and is nothing that I could ever have imagined that we would be doing 2 days after visiting a remote, indigenous village in Panama!
We ate lunch in a Tex-Mex restaurant where we got to happily engage our waiter in Spanish. I am not ready to give that up. Then off to Hagaan Daaz for an ice cream cone before heading back to check on Matt at the hotel. He rested and watched a movie and feels a bit better.
So, we have confirmed seats on a flight tomorrow and the weather here is warming up. All looks good for our arrival in Seattle tomorrow. This little travel detour has reminded me that we don't need to go to Central America or to go away for 6 weeks to live an adventurous life. It's just about embracing what each day brings with an open and curious and adventurous spirit. The couple of days here in Dallas has been a cultural experience not too far from home. I am grateful for the experience and the reminder to continue to look for and make adventure in each day.
Home tomorrow! I am ready for some dark, leafy greens, a snuggle with Che, and catching up on all of your adventures over the past 6 weeks.
xoxo
Friday, February 27, 2015
Where There Are No Roads
Warning: This post will be long and all over the place. This is the last post of our trip, and I've got a bunch of stuff to talk about!
First, the Ngabe (pronounced Naw-Bay...I mispronounced it when I first wrote about this indigenous tribe from northern Panama.) There are many Ngobe communities across northern Panama and throughout the islands of Bocas del Toro. Where we stayed on Isla Bastimentos was very near the community of Salt Creek, fairly large at almost 900 residents. The Ngobe have traditionally been a Nomadic tribe and it has only been fairly recently that they have settled down. The Salt Creek community is about 70 years old. Hidden in the jungle, set back from the beach about 600 meters, you would never know the community was there if you didn't know where to look. There is a narrow river that opens to the sea that winds through mangroves that leads to the community. The water passage was opened by the founders of the community, hacking a path through the thick mangroves. We followed a couple up the inlet as they silently paddled their cayuco, the wooden, hand-carved, traditional Ngobe boat.
You come to a dock and a long cement (yes, cement) walkway that leads into the community. I can only imagine what it took to actually build the walkway that is incredibly long (perhaps 1/4 mile) - getting the supplies to this remote location and then actually building it over very swampy terrain.
I'm not exactly sure what I expected to find when I arrived in Salt Creek. I went with Lucas and some other guests from the lodge we were staying at. Dave and Suzanne, the owners of the lodge, are very involved here and also very liked, welcomed and respected here. Dave knows everyone by name, has an easy rapport and is immediately swarmed by the local kids. It is an example of how gringos, tourism and native culture can come together positively and respectfully and quite beautifully.
Salt Creek is beautiful - there is a fresh water creek, it is open and green, in the center is a soccer field adjacent to the school and small playground. It was washing day when we visited, so there was lots of color added to the landscape from laundry hanging out to dry.
There is no electricity or running water here...something that struck me in the juxtaposition with the many resorts in the islands with their blenders for fruity rum drinks and internet capability for their guests. There is very little byway of work in the village - fishing to sell at market in Bocas Town and perhaps hauling (building supplies or whatever) in ones cayuco. So, herein lies the challenge - tourism brings jobs but also brings with it exploitation, being undervalued and disrespected, unsatisfying work, and the impossible-to-bridge gap of have and have not.
I spent all week really watching the Ngobe people I encountered - curious about their culture and life style and relationship to gringos. The relationship was so very different from our experience in Costa Rica. We found Costa Ricans very open and interested in connecting. This was not my experience with the Ngobe. I had all sorts of assumptions and questions - are they bitter and can't stand gringos? are they an unhappy/serious people? is the have/have not gap just too big? When we switched to Casa Cayuco (Dave and Suzanne's place) and I had daily encounters with the same people, I attempted to communicate every day respectful of boundaries. A lot of connection was made through Lucas. People are curious about him, find him funny and appealing, and cute as a total gringo kid. I had a lot of time with Jose, the main guide at Casa Cayuco. He has a very large family, many of whom also work at Casa Cayuco, and it was lovely to swap stories with him about our lives.
What I learned from Dave is that in general the Ngobe are more timid. They also are wary of "letting down" gringos, worried about expectations and conceded that they can't communicate well due to language barriers. Plus, many are not used to foreigners taking interest in connecting with them like I am inclined to do. Dave explained who all of the staff are actually very chatty and silly when they are away from work...something we saw when we went to the village.
Lucas, who didn't initially didn't want to visit Salt Creek, ended up at the playground with kids of 3 of the women who work at Casa Cayuco. It is a beautiful thing to behold - put kids together, let them play and it doesn't matter that there isn't a common spoken language between them. They all just laughed and had fun.
When it was time to go, Lucas said, "No, I'm having so much fun. I want to live in Salt Creek!" I wish I had more time there. Relationships were just starting to spark. It is what travel is all about for me - meeting people, learning from each other, witnessing different ways of life. Where we were was so remote - everything about day-to-day life there was so different from what day-to-day life looks like for me. I would have liked to have gone deeper into it all. My heart felt so full our last night there when after dinner, Lizbeth and Maricena, who help prepare food at the lodge, wanted to say good-bye to Lucas and give him a bracelet their kids had made. Though there weren't many words exchanged over the week, connection was happening between us as moms, between them and Lucas and it turns out between their kids and Lucas as they were going home each day and talking about Lucas. It was extra special to go to the village today and see their house and have them call out "Lu-CAS" as we came up the walkway. I will think of them a lot...
Panama turned out to be a great addition to our trip despite the rocky start. The beauty, the water, the beach, the remoteness, the Ngobe, and Casa Cayuco. The best part about staying there is the bond that starts to form between the guests. We eat together and go on excursions together and hang out together. Over our 5 days there we met 2 women from Austria, 2 from the states, 2 couples from NYC and a family of 6 traveling with grandparents from New Hampshire. I miss them all and our delicious family-style meals swapping stories about our lives.
One morning, Matt, Lucas, and I headed out on kayaks with Gerard, dad to 10-year old twin girls who Lucas LOVED. We went in search of a lion fish - an invasive, no-native fish that is causing problems. Gerard wanted to catch one. It is a beautiful fish with stripes and feathery-like bands that are actually stingers that pack a punch. So, off we went with snorkeling gear and hawaiian slings that are a sort of spear for fishing. Here is Matt getting ready to go on the hunt.
No Lion Fish were speared or even spotted, much to Gerard's disappointment. He was on a quest. The rest of the day found Lucas and me playing around on the stand up paddle board...endless fun. I've always wanted to try it but the water is just too cold around Seattle.
Oh, I know there is so much more to write about, and I find myself getting very sleepy. We are back at the Hotel Buena Vista outside of San Jose. It is strange to be in the very same room we were in our very first night in Costa Rica exactly 6 weeks ago today. We even had the same customs officer today coming back from Panama that we had the day we arrived in Costa Rica. It has been a long, somewhat crabby and unremarkable day to end what has been a truly remarkable and life-changing adventure. I started to feel a bit bummed about that and caught myself immediately. What has been so lovely about this adventure was just letting things unfold naturally and being in the moment. This was never about trying to make it some perfect "trip" every minute we were here. So, Matt has a cold and Lucas did some acting out and I got impatient and the hotel went to the wrong place at the airport and couldn't find us so we waited for an hour and a half and then had to catch a cab and we couldn't go to our fantasy restaurant for patacones and strawberry milkshakes. We woke up to the sound of jungle birds and swam in the Caribbean Sea and toured an indigenous village and flew over dense jungle where there are no roads and a kind man at the airport negotiated a fair taxi price for us and we joked around with the waiters at the hotel restaurant and Lucas and Matt are now passed out snoring. No big fanfare to mark the end of our six weeks. Just a lot of gratitude.
We will be up early in the morning to catch our flight home. It is time. I say that with sadness as I will miss it here and miss living the adventure, and I also know it is true. We miss our people and our place. We will carry Costa Rica back home with us in our hearts.
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