Here is what I learned last night:
1. Snails do not like to eat asparagus.
2. Earth worms are nocturnal and are incredibly light sensitive.
3. Snails seem to like dandelions.
4. There are some people who are interested in my thoughts, musings, and questions as I continue finding my way along this path toward and for women & girls, human rights, local vs global.
I spent last night with my mom, Ellen, and my friend of 26 years, Marguerite. I've been back from Congo a month and still very few people have heard my stories and seen pictures from the trip. I hopped off the fast-moving train of everyday life for a little bit for my Congo adventure, but that train keeps on chugging. I was plopped right back onto that train when I got back and have been moving fast since I got back. There just hasn't been a lot of space and time to sit down with folks and download everything I saw, learned, experienced.
So, last night we had dinner at my mom's and talked and talked and talked about Congo and women and history and books and Molly Melching in Senegal and fundraising and gorillas. We looked at pictures taken by myself but mostly other women on my Congo trip who had cameras with HUGE lenses! Beeeeeautiful photos of beeeeeeautiful people! It was sharing on a deep level - not just stories and pictures of places I went and people I met but of the dynamics of our group, what it means to take a trip like this in terms of "what's next", questions and wonderings about "what's next" for the girls/women at City of Joy, what it was like for the Mayo docs and the politics involved to get a CAT Scan machine for Panzi Hospital, what it must feel like for Andre, the animal caretaker at the gorilla sanctuary near Virunga National Park, to have a 10 year old gorilla drape itself around his neck and be carried around. One topic lead to another.
I am grateful for the time with them...to keep Congo close and present in my everyday life. With every day it feels farther and farther away. Yet, I feel it under my skin. It's something I want to keep scratching to bring it to the surface. Sometimes it is hard having it on the surface, and I need a break. For example, while reading "King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild (http://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/0618001905) the long-time suffering of Congo and the Congolese just gets to be too much. I mean, seriously, how is it possible for one country to endure so much abuse and suffering for 150+ years?
Our conversation went from Congo to Senegal where Molly Melching founded an organization called Tostan over 20 years ago (http://www.tostan.org). This is truly transformational human rights work on a community level. This program resonates for me on a deep level - a level where it all just makes so much sense - a theory of behavior change rooted in community and social norms. It takes time and patience and faith and IT WORKS! Her work has resulted in thousands of rural Senegalese villages denouncing female genital cutting and child marriage; increased literacy and commitment to keep boys and especially girls in school; primarily women learning to manage projects and start businesses for increased economic security for families and entire communities...I could go on and on. There is a fantastic book called "However Long The Night" written by Aimee Molloy. It is a biography of Molly Melching and the birth of Tostan. Please read it! (http://www.amazon.com/However-Long-Night-Melchings-Millions/dp/0062132768) It is a fantastic story, easy read and is inspiring...if you ever thought you couldn't do something, this book will show you that it's all possible.
My mom and Marguerite encouraged and inspired me to keep blogging...to share my thoughts, musings, questions as I continue down this path towards and for women & girls, human rights, service, fundraising, local vs. global. As someone who is more naturally a verbal processor and face-to-face connector, blogging isn't what I would gravitate towards as a way to advocate for things I feel passionate about. But, why not? I'm going to try.
I left my mom's house at around 11:00pm (that is super late for this early-to-bedder!) It was a cool, rainy evening. I got home, plugged in the car and noticed a whole bunch of snails crawling along our driveway retaining wall. My first thought was, "Oh shit! I hope the snails are not eating the asparagus plants!" Side note: I have been longing to plant asparagus ever since I read Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" about 8 years ago. Fabulous book about a family's year-long journey of eating things found within 10 miles of their home (http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/). I finally planted asparagus last week. They are a labor of love in that there are many steps to the initial planting and then you wait TWO YEARS before the first harvest. There was going to be hell to pay if those snails were munching on the new sprouts on the asparagus plants! Luckily for them and me, the snails were completely uninterested in the asparagus. But, they were everywhere! I grabbed a flashlight and started my hunt bucket in hand. Within 15 minutes I had harvested over 50 snails from the garden! I found them on the branches of the Hebes, mounded on the previously-weeded dandelions lying on the sidewalk, crawling on trellises, over the stone steps. I found a few slugs right along with them. Long, thick earth worms that disappeared instantly into holes at the sight of the flashlight. The snails were oblivious to the light. It was a complete rainy-night party going on in the garden!
This morning, Lucas, Che and I headed down the block to the neighbor's house. They have about 10 chickens. If you don't already know - chickens love to eat snails! They see us coming and we say our usual greeting, "Good morning, Ladies!" And they come running. Chickens running at full speed is absolutely hilarious! We dumped the bucket of snails and watched the feeding frenzy. It was a great morning for the chickens...not so much for the snails.
So, that is the story of my evening last night. More blogging to come.
One last note: Molly Melching is coming to the States in May and June to talk about Tostan's work. I am going to host a dinner for Molly when she is in Seattle. If you would be interested in joining us for dinner, please let me know. Also, if you know of anyone else who might be interested in meeting Molly and learning more about Tostan, please pass the word along.
much love,
ME
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