Monday

Today I am writing from Tahir Senior Secondary School, on Mansakonko Road, in Pakalinding, just north of Soma in the Lower River Division. I am here visiting Ani, a second year ICT volunteer, to try to get some work done on two projects. One with his school and one with mine – both done in “African time”, as I am increasingly recognizing and getting a feel for its attributes. I will save this onto my usb drive – my favorite computer tool thus far in this country, and then hope to post it in a couple days at my (somewhat) trusty internet café in Fara Fenni.

Things here are good – I have been visiting friends in Njau last week Friday / Saturday, and then last night and today here in Pakalinding. The Soma is a transit hub for the south bank, and there are often people here passing through on their way to or from the Kombo region. This Friday is mail run, and then a week from tomorrow, Tuesday, I am heading to Basse, to do some work and have Thanksgiving. My training group is all gathering there – it will be a fun reunion of just us, as the rest of the volunteers are in Kombo for an All Volunteer meeting and Thanksgiving celebrations.

After the fun and excitement of Koriteh, and about two weeks consecutively in Fara Fenni, I was ready for a change of scenery. I think I appreciate the place most when I am not there all the time. Especially when I go to places like Njau, a small village in the North Bank area of Central River Division. Two friends are there, one on the Wollof side of the village, and one on the Fula side. She speaks great Fula, and Chris – my colleague from training – speaks very good Wollof. And no one in town really speaks Mandinka. So, I am the useless third wheel of languages, and a bit fish out of water with the village lifestyle to boot. It was good practice, and I’ll go back, but I was happy to be able to get more food that I like, or just have some variety in the day, when I came back to Fara Fenni. Life here is definitely not like it is in the village, and though I thought I would be missing out, I am coming to capitalize on the benefits of being here, and taking the opportunities I have to get out to other spots as well. I think I want to try to do it every month, go somewhere smaller, and hang out for a couple days.

Then, a trip down to Pakalinding, to catch up with my people there. Colleen (aka Woman), Elizabeth, and Ani are the closest people I have to sitemates, both in travel time and in face time. We went to a birthday party Sunday night for a German woman who was here with the World Food Program. She actually works – as does her Italian colleague (who made yummy pasta that I fear was a bit lost on the hordes of Gambian kids plowing through it, but it was food to them too) – for a European shipping company – like FedEx, I think – whose name I have forgotten. They are allowed to go work for the WFP for three months, keeping their salary and returning to their jobs afterwards. The company actually donates most of the money for their WFP projects, and so is more or less sending along its own labor to distribute the donations. It’s a great program from their side of it. Unfortunately, they end up doing marginally useful things, and spending too much money doing them, in some cases. I don’t really think I am doing much that’s more useful, but I have a better idea about how things could be accomplished. And it’s so rarely one-size fits all. I mean, it might actually be possible to help fix a lot of this country’s problems, if we were willing to spend huge amounts of money and resources and build a lot from the ground up, with people in situations like mine given big budgets after about six to twelve months immersion. But even then, they would have to be trained civic architects, and lots of technical specialists, and all willing to listen and live with the people. We could certainly ease some of the major problems – the roads and the electricity among them – if we did that. But then, eventually, “We” leave, and then what? How do we make ourselves obsolete in that scenario? That’s what I bang me head into at every point – why are we here if what is most needed is for this country to get down to the business of taking care of itself? Or changing so that it can?

And, I think the answer to that question is that we see the people that are a part of that equation. Because life really isn’t about countries and economies and infrastructure and development. It’s really about people, relationships, living. And perhaps we can build better lives in smaller ways, help out in little things, learn to be better citizens of the world by being decent people here. That, and it’s a great chance to get to know ourselves and each other – the volunteers I have met are almost exclusively very good people, some with their issues and approaches, but good people. And it’s a treat to be able to get to know a big group of people who share a big experience and some sort of outlook on life. It’s about both the people that live here and the people with whom we have come.

I think I am done sermonizing now. Mostly, I think it’s written for myself, as I try to figure out some sense from this experience. I know I am lucky to have the chance to do this – both the living in Africa and the exploration itself. Hope you all are well,

Love, Zac