Heera Doron in Karamohobugu #Sweet2Senegal

The Bambara Squad! 

Quote of the Day

“If you met my host family, you would understand.”

THE STORY

My new name is Makine Sangrehe.

WAIT, WHAT?

It has been awhile since my last blog post so let me catch you up…

After being at the Thies (pronounced like “Chess” the game!) Training Center for a couple of weeks, we were finally able to go to our CBT (Community Based Training) sites for cultural integration.

What did we need to do before leaving?

 Get our new language! 
- Friends and Family I am learning the language of Bambara! Although the most popular language and the only language that people understand it is in the country of Senegal is Wolof, I was selected with two other volunteers to speak the minority language that is spoken all throughout West Africa. It sounds like Japanese and Mexican fusion in my opinion!

Our beautiful sandy garden

-         I learned some new agricultural techniques that are used in Senegal that I will be extending throughout my service such as:

o   Double Digging

o   Composting

o   Using onion bags to sift through manure…

o   SO much more!

-         Learned about cultural dynamics in Senegal and how the family works through my LCF (Language and Cross Cultural Facilitator) who also will be with us for the entire CBT stay

-         Learned all the acronyms that go along with Peace Corps and Washington D.C.’s main headquarters.

After all that, they let us go to our site to meet our new family.

THE MEET AND GREET

As soon as we arrived to the small Bambara village of Karamohobugu, I was immediately out of my comfort zone as tons of kids and adults came rushing towards us to greet us. My family was in their compound and immediately helped me with all of my stuff and showed me to my room which consisted of four walls, one floor, and one bed, yet I felt right at home!

After unpacking all of my things, I rejoined my family outside and that is when I got my new name of Makine (mah-Kine-A). I was named after my host mother and the adorable baby. My family is small and consists of the main host mother and father, their son, his two wives, and then their 3 children. We have one room to use the toilet which is a Turkish style bathroom…. A hole in a room and then separate room that we take our bucket showers in. Let me tell you folks, bucket showers are the new thing. I love them.

Hair braiding with my Fam Jam + all the children
on the block

During the CBT stay, we have to attend language classes every day for four hours on a mat under a tree. It is typically surrounded by kids who can’t afford to go to school and also we are surrounded by a market where the wives of the compounds come to shop for lunch and dinner. A pretty distracting environment for me but I have learned so much so far!

At the end of the lessons, working in the garden, and taking bucket showers two times a day, I usually end up the night sitting under the stars with my host mom selling peanuts and showing her different constellations in my broken Bambara language.

THERE IS SOME MANGO ON YOUR FACE

Oh yeah, my town has a road market that sells mangos the size of my face. Eating is well… an experience.

THAT’S A WRAP

After the two stays that I have had with the family, I have loved every second of it. I have botched up so many words, made my host family laugh at me not with me, and have had a village come watch me do my laundry because they didn’t think I could do it.

I have one more stay with the Sangrehe’s but first, I get to see my permanent site! There is a tradition in the Peace Corps in Senegal where to introduce your site you have to be blindfolded, then you walk to the site on this map we have that covers our basketball court. Surprises are to come!

P.S.

Forgot to mention what Heera Doron actually means…. “Peace Only” my friends!