Elections in DRC

I just thought I should write briefly about the elections that took place yesterday in the DRC, becuase they haven't received a whole lot of press coverage here, so so it seems. FAS partnered with UNIFEM to send independent consultants into the country during the campaigning process to raise awareness among people in the DRC about the women candidates for president (there are 4 out of a total of 34 candidates...not nearly enough, but its a start). They also had people working to make sure that women were registered and allowed to vote. It looks like the election results won't be out for a few weeks and it seems unlikely that any of the women candidates will win, but it's a really important process and will hopefully be a turning point for the country.

Le Retour

Well, I made it back to the US safe and sound. My emotions about leaving Senegal are very mixed. On the whole it was an amazing and unforgettable experience. I arrived at FAS at a really important time and was immediately taken in and given responsibilities and projects to work on. But of course the amount of work I did meant that a lot of other things got left behind. It actually wasn't until a new intern started at FAS about 3 weeks ago that I began to realize how little I'd experience of Senegal outside of the office and my host family. She is a good deal younger than me and this is her first time living in another country, so she's been going out to clubs and going to the beach most days and not really doing much work at all. She also found herself a Senegalese man already and spends most of her time with him. But although seeing her has made me realize how much I didn't do, it hasn't made me reget the way things have gone for me at all. To the contrary, the best of part of my time in Senegal has been centered around the relationships I built with people in my host family and people at work. And she actually left her host family because she didn't get along with them and people at work havn't been too thrilled with her either because she's never there. So, I think that given the reasons I was in Dakar, I did things right for me. And I made some great friends who I think I will stay in touch with and hopefully be able to visit in the future.

In terms of adjustment to being back, things haven't been too difficult. I don't really feel like I'm experiencing reverse-culture shock. Maybe that's because I was ready to be back or because I wasn't really gone that long. I'm not sure. But there are certainly things that I notice and appreciate about being back in DC. Last night walking down Connecticut avenue I remarked at how orderly and quiet and calm it was, observations that I don't think I would make about a major DC street under normal circumstances. I also really appreciated my nice ong hot shower that I tiok when I got back, as well as the fact that I can put ice in my drinks and drink the tap water again. And there are a million other little things that are different, some in a good way and others that I will miss a lot.

I'm in the process of uploqding pictures and will post the link as soon as I finish. I have over 400, so I'm trying to pare them down to a bare minimum to avoid overwhelming you all.

alive and well in Dakar

Hi again. Sorry I haven't updated at all this week. Don't worry, it's not because my illness from last week suddenly got worse or anything...in fact, it's mostly a good sign. There are two main reasons I haven't written in awhile...the first is that since I only have a little time left in Dakar, I've been trying to get out and about and take in the city and its surroundings a bit and spend less time at the office. The second reason is that the two times I've been at the office this week we haven't had any electricity (or internet). In fact, there have been sporadic power outages all week, which has made it pretty hard to get much of anything done. But it has made me feel less guilty about ditching work to play a little.

This past weekend, I didn't really get out and about much because I was resting and recovering from being sick and working hard at the conference in Mbodiène. But on Monday, I went around town and had a great day. Papis and I went up to the top of the lighthouse where we could see the whole peninsula of Dakar, which was beautiful. I also went downtown and did a bit more shopping at the market. I've gotten pretty ruthless in my bartering skills, although I have to admit that I'm not going to miss haggling over prices when I get back home.

Tuesday I tried to go to work but didn't have power after about 10 am, so I went back into town and did more shopping, this time with my co-worker. Another thing I'm not going to miss too much is feeling like I have to have a chapersone everytime I go into town. I mean, I'm learning ly way around and I could easily go into town and be fine on my own, but if I don't have a Senegalese person with me, people constantly come up to me and try to sell me things (or ask me to marry them and take them home with me...)

Wednesday I got out of Dakar and went to Lac Rose, which is a salt lake whose water is pink because of the minerals and salt (i think...they explained it to us but I didn't quite understand the chemistry of it). In any case, it was really interesting and I had a great day there. You'll have to see the pictures to really get a sense for it. But it was one of the few days I've had here where I really felt like I was on vacation...except for the busride home, which was awful - we were stuck in traffic for several hours, crammed into a bus that was hot and crowded. But it was a small price to pay for the day off.

Today I'm trying to work again, but we still have no electricity. So I'm across the street at an internet cafe that has a generator. It's hard to believe that I only have one more day here. I'm trying to take it all in and take advantage of it. There are so many things I'm going to miss and a lot of things that I'm going to be happy to leave behind, so I guess overall my feelings about leaving are really mixed. I'm ready to come home, but I hope to come back before too long too.

I'll try to write once more before I leave, but if I'm not able to, Ill provide a full update of my last few hours here when I'm back in DC this weekend.

Update: Ca Va Mieux, Merci

Yes, I'm feeling better. Not 100%, but I think it's safe to rule out Malaria. But apparently all of the other participants were told I was sick and were concerned (ahh, the poor white girl can't handle africa :) so I've been saying "ca va mieux" all day long. In my defense, a couple of the other african participants also got sick, so I don't think it's just my fault.

The conference ended today and were heading back to Dakar tomorrow. I'll write more about the conference when I'm not paying a ridiculous amount for the internet. But I wanted to update you all since I was still a bit feverish during my last posting and didn't want to alarm anyone.

Also, today the countdown begins...only one week left before I come home. Refelctions are in order and are forthcoming...

beautiful scenery and a nasty parasite...

I'm currently in Mbodiène Senegal for a workshop on Gender and Peacebuilding in Africa. The workshop is being held at a beachside resort about a 2 hour drive from Dakar, though I couldnt tell you which direction (but I think we drove south...). I arrived sunday after a ridiculous situation in which the bus company decided to send two small busses to pick all the participants in Dakar up rather than the big one we'd ordered, so there wasn't enough room fo everyone. I ended up squeezing into a little mini-bus we rented along with eight other people and our photocopier.... ahh africa. But I sat next to this really amazing women who participated in the peace talks in the Sudan and we kind of bonded, so it was all worth it. We also drive past a bunch of Baobab forests on our way here, which kind of reminded me of joshua tree, only Baobabs are bigger I think (though I can't remembe joshua tree that well because I lost my camera after that trip, along ith all my photos of it).

Anyways, the landscape was a bit dry and desolate except for the Baobab trees. But the beach here is gorgeous (or so it looks, I have yet to actually walk out to it...and I've been here three days...terrible, no?)

So, the conference itself has been really interesting and the participants are from all around africa and work in all kinds of awesome NGOs and organizatins doing peacebuilding in Africa. I've been designated the rapporteur for the conference again, so I've been in the room each day taking meticulous notes and have learned a lot. Unfortunately, I also seem to have acquired some kind of terrible parisite that has made the last 6 hours of today (and a few hours monday night as well) pretty hellish. Monday afternoon I was taking notes in the room when I was overcome with stomach cramps. I spent that evening holde up in my room going to the bathroom every couple of minutes until Rosalie came to take me to the doctor (my first experience with an african doctor!), who gave me three different types of medicine and sent me home. Tuesday I felt 100 % better and thought things were fine, but then today (wednesday)

I woke up and my whole body was sore, even my skin hurt (it felt like I has a really bad sun burn - which is kind of ironic given that I'm staying on the beach and haven't spent any time in the sun). I went to the conference in the morning but the aching continued and I had chills, so I went back to my room and tried to sleep again. When I woke up this afternoon, my body was burning up, so I called the doctor and he came to the hotel and took my temperature. It was 102° (39.1° Celcius...I had to text a friend in Dakar to ask her what that was in Farenheit). Long story short, the doctor gave me three more medications (the count is now up to 6) and told me I would be fine. One of the medicatinos is an anti-malarial drug, just in case...but he doesn't think that's what I have. My fever seems to be breaking and I feel a little better. But I'm not going to work at all tomorrow, I'm just going to relax and even go to the beach if I'm up to it. Unfortunately, the workshop particpants are going to their field visit to a training camp for peacekeepers tomorrow, which I'd really like to attend.

Okay, that's my update. Sorry it's not more interesting. I'll try to write more about the people here and the workshop next time, that is if I even go to any more of it. In the meanntime, calls and e-mails are appreciated...it sucks to be sick in a foreign country.

le bureau

I've refrained from writing much about my life at the office lately, not so much because I've been spending any less time here, but because my expereinces and observations are mostly about how poorly run this organization is, which I'm not sure are necessarily things I should write in detail about on a public blog. But, suffice it to say that I'm learning about a lot more than just gender, peace and security here at this internship. Luckily, despite some serious managerial and administrative shortcomings, there are also a few really great people working here and I've really been enjoying talking with and working with them. Unfortunately, if the other problems aren't dealt with I think FAS risks losing them.

Rosalie is the program director, and is such an awesome woman. She has a lot of experience in the international development world and has a great understanding of how things should be run. Unfortunately, she hasn't been given the leeway to implement a lot of the things she knows need to be done to move the organization forward. But she and I have become good friends and last night I went to her 7 yr old son's birthday party with her and met her family.

But, back to the work update...we're currently preparing for a seminar on GEnder and Peacebuilding that is being jointly run by FAS and the University for Peace. It's taking place next week in Mbodiène, which is a littel resort town about an hour and a half outside of Dakar. I'm going to be going to it and I'm hoping to attend the workshops rather than spend all of my time dealing with logistics, but we'll see how that pans out. On Thursday we're going on a site visit to a tactical trainig center where they train UN and AU peacekeepers and other military folks. I'm pretty excited about that and I'll be sure to take pitcures and update you all when I return. I leave for Mbodieène on Sunday and am hoping to have a bit of time before I go to get out and about a bit in Dakar, but something tells me I may just be seeing more of the office, as there is much still to be done to prepare for the workshop. I keep telling people that if I come home as white as I left, no one is going to believe I spent the summer in Africa...but as it is, I haven't gotten a whole lot of sun in the past few weeks.

a few pictures...

I walk down this little street everyday to come to work. The tall white house at the end of the street is my house. It's three stories and my room is on the second floor. In the picture you can kind of see the terrace on the third story to the left and then the kitchen to the right. Behind the kitchen are stairs that lead up to the roof.

This is the apartment building where my office is located...so now you can picture where I've been spending nearly all of my time here...

Me and Madame Ndour, one of my coworkers, at the award ceremony in Bamako

Mohammed, the little rapper-to-be, in ly room. You can see the Senegalese flag I have hanging up in my room too, a gift from Papis, my other host brother. He made it 4 years ago when Senegal was in the world cup.

Okay, that's all for today...I'll try to put more up soon...but at least now you have a little taste for what my life looks like here:)

Observations on gender, religion and status

So, there are a few themes that have run through my stay here in Dakar that I haven't blogged much about because they are sort of just constant undercurrents to my daily life here. But I've been observing and reacting to them over the past couple of months and feel like I should take the time to write about them before I leave. And, since I'm a student and am here partly to do research on some of these very issues, it's only natural that I start to do a little analysis of my observations.

Of course, the main reason I'm in Dakar in the first place is to learn about gender in peacebuilding in Africa, so it's only appropriate that the first of these themes is gender. I wrote a little about attitudes towards polygamy when I first arrived, and that continues to be a subject of conversations from time to time between me and several of the men I live and work with here. Polygamy is legal here, and men are allowed to have 4 wives, under the condition that they can manage them and treat each one equally. But opinions about whether that's even really possible (or desirable) differ greatly between the men I've talked to. One of the things that has surprised me the most is that Moussa, one of my co-workers, seems to have the most traditional view of gender and has very little respect for women, yet he works at an NGO that is working to promote women's rights...and he doesn't seem to see the disconnect there. He tells me he wants to have a women in every city in Africa and that women don't know how to manage things and shouldn't be allowed to be in charge...little things like that that make me question exactly why he's working here.

The second theme is religion, and my observations about it come from the fact that I'm living in a majority Muslim country for the first time and am woken up nearly every morning by the call to prayer from the mosque right by my house (if not that, then it's the roosters outside my window). Senegal is 90% Muslim and Islam is definitely a big part of people's lives here. It's not uncommon for me to stumble upon one of my co-workers praying in the kitchen at work or find my host mother praying when I get home in the evening. They just unroll their prayer rugs wherever they happen to be and pray, 5 times a day. At first it made me kind of uncomfortable, because I felt like I was intruding or something, but then I came to realize that it's just part of their daily routine and it doesn't matter if I interrupt or intrude...they're used to it. Also, the kids (at least I think it's only the kids) wear these strings around their bellies with pictures of their Marabou tied to them. Marabous are traditional religions leaders and hold a lot of power in Senegal - especially in politics. It's pretty hard to get anything done without their support. But, although religion is very much a part of the daily life of pretty much everyone I interact with, it's almost never something that comes up in conversation. They don't talk about it much, it's just sort of there in the background (quite literally, sometimes, like when I'm having a conversation with someone up on the terrace and they start praying at the Mosque and I can't hear anything else...)

The third theme is status/hierarchy, which I already had to adjust to when I moved to DC, since it's much more important there than in MN or San Fran, but is even more relevant here from what I've observed. The biggest manifestation of its importance is just the fact that pretty much everyone who can afford to has a maid here. It's pretty unheard of to do your own laundry or clean your own house. At my house, we have two young girls who cook and clean. They don't live there, but they arrive pretty early in the morning and are there until the evening everyday but Sunday. It's taken a little time for me to get used to it, and I still haven’t gotten to the point where I can just shout their name when I need something (which is what the other members of the family do), but I must admit that I could get used to having someone do my laundry back in DC too...though it's especially nice here because it's all done by hand and so it takes nearly all day to do one load. But the theme of status extends beyond just having a maid. It has been particularly apparent at the different conferences I've attended and has been kind of disturbing to me because I think it's really been detrimental to the efforts of FAS...I say that because one of the things FAS tries to do is to empower women at the grassroots level to be more involved in peacebuilding by connecting them to women and men at the higher up levels and increasing their visibility. But what I've noticed is that women who have achieved a certain status really like it to be clear and sort of hold it up as something that sets them apart from others. They have chauffeurs and they wear really extravagant outfits and treat their inferiors with very little respect. And all of that seems to get in the way of their ability to connect with women at the grassroots level and help them. I think it also has prevented the women from including youth in the movement, which is an issue that comes up a lot in their discussions but is never really addressed very adequately. I think there is a recognition that they need to make an effort to involve more young people in their activities, but the way they treat the youth illustrates that they don't think they merit the same respect or position as the older women.

So, there you have it, at least my initial musings about gender, religion and status in Senegal. I'm sorry they aren't more well-developed or articulated, but consider it a work in progress. I imagine a number of these themes will come out in the paper I have to write at the end of this internship anyways. But for those of you who aren't all that interested in these things, I'll spare you the longer version.

Traffic Jams and other miscellaneous items

I left work early yesterday to meet a women I met in Banjul for tea at her house downtown. Her name is Leila and she’s Tunisian, but lives in Dakar with her family. She is very friendly and has sort of taken me under her wing as a daughter/sister (she’s just barely old enough to be my mother, but prefers to think of me as her American sisterJ). On the way to her house, I experienced Dakar rush hour in full force. During traffic jams, people are constantly filtering through the traffic selling all kinds of things. Seriously, at just one intersection men came by selling water, kleenex, t-shirts, peanuts, fans, phone cards, remote controls and probably a good number of other things that I’ve forgotten (granted, we were there for about 10 minutes, but still).

After drinking some Tunisian tea (very sweet) and meeting Leila’s son and daughter, I headed back home to watch the second to last game of the world cup. There are some mixed feelings here about France’s success – but whether people support them or not there is a consensus that the only reason they’re any good is because nearly all of their players are African. I think that also makes people a little more likely to support them, although the other day when Italy won you could hear people cheering all over the neighborhood. I can only imagine what it must have been like when Senegal beat France 4 years ago.

Later in the evening, I was in my room working (since I left work early, I brought a laptop home with me to finish some work there) and listening to music when Mohammed came into my room to see what I was doing. So, I decided that it was an opportune time to introduce him to some other types of American music other than just hip hop. So, I played him some Lucinda Williams, which he got into. I also played him a little Brandon Patton for good measure (B- he said to tell you that he likes your music, by the way). After a little folk, though, I also played him some Public Enemy and Black Eyed Peas just to make sure he knows that there’s more to American hip hop than just 50 Cent (his favorite…he tattooed 50 on his arm with pen the other day).

I think I mentioned near the beginning of my time here that I was eating in my room separately from the family…well I finally managed to convince my host mother that I didn’t mind eating with them and that, in fact I preferred it. So I’ve started eating with them (and eating with my hands, I should add). She was worried that I wouldn’t get enough to eat because they eat fast and all off the same plate that they put in the center. But I actually think this way I’m going to be made to eat even more because no matter how many people are eating out of the same bowl, they finish what there is, and the past few times they’ve left it to me to finish it all...

I'm working on posting some pictures for you all as well because I realized that since I have a digital camera, I don't actually have to wait until I get home ti put them online, and this way you can see where I am. Although now that I have only a few more weeks left it's a little late for that. But, still, I'll see what I can do.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to all you Americans over there on the other side of the Atlantic. I'm back in Dakar and it's just another day at the office here, but you've been in my thoughts. I would have liked to have seen fireworks tonight, but the sunset produced some beautiful pink clouds so at least I was able to imagine that there were fireworks.

I got back from Banjul on friday and seem to have had writers block since then, so I apologize for not keeping you all updated on things since my return. I slept and relaxed a lot this weekend, watched some more soccer and went to the beach again. I've been bonding mre with my family here as well. My host brother is taking his BAC (the end of school exams that pretty much determine your future) this week, so he's been busy studying and preparing for his exams. But I've been spending the evening hours up on the terrace with my host mother and my other host brother chatting because it's the coolest place in the house (in both senses).

It's well into the evening now, so I'm going to go home. But I promose to write a more substantive update soon. I have many thoughts brewing that I want to share with you, so stay tuned.