Firewood

Today I went out to collect firewood with the young girls of my household and the surrounding neighbors. My family protested strongly at me participating in gathering wood because it is tiring, it hurts your body, the trees and thorns give you scratches, and it is a long walk in the sun with no water. Despite their objections, I decided to go anyways to see what this was all about.

Collecting firewood is a typical activity that many NGOs highlight as a household activity that school-aged girls are forced to do which limits the amount of time they have to study. There is a lot of NGO work done to improve cooking methods and fuel sources in order to cut back on this time girls spend away from the house (for PC/Senegal examples, see the rocket stove and paper briquettes). In my household at least, which is fairly progressive towards women, the girls only go out on the weekends or when they don’t have school. The girls I went with are between the ages of six and 12 and are in elementary or middle school.

The tree line 

They head out either in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon and walk out into the bush where there are more trees. The area around the village has long been cleared of dense vegetation, but it is only about a 10 to 15-minuet walk into a heavily forested area. There is a distinct visible line where the trees start compared to the sand dunes near the village. It was striking to see how clearly deforestation has shaped the landscape around Taredji.

On our way out, we spot a goat that has clearly been attacked and eaten by something. I am warned by one girl to run if I see a dog, because they eat people and goats. For some reason I still don’t understand, the girls laugh in disbelief when I say that I am able to run.

Jeri Bah collecting wood from the bushes 

Along the way to the forested area, the girls stop every now and then at a bush to see if it is dead and dry. Only dry branches can be used as firewood, and I was horrible at distinguishing the light yellow from the light brown branches. If there was a dead branch, the girl who found it would pull on it or step on it in any way possible until it broke off. This usually resulted in several minor scrapes and occasionally a fall into the sand when a branch unexpectedly snapped. This continued until we reach the tree line. As all of the trees in our region have thorny branches, I was told I was not allowed to collect wood from the trees and only the branches of the bushes. Of course the girls are adept at carefully picking of the thorny branches with only minor scratches from the thorns, while I sustained major cuts when I tried.  Each girl would gather her own branches and as the branches became too much to carry at one time, she would leave them in a pile for her to pick up on the way back and continue further out into the bush. All of the while, the girls are joking with each other and singing songs.

Jeri Bah, Ana Bah, and Mara Bah bundling their piles of wood

When the girls have collected enough wood, they return to all the piles they have made, break up the branches into manageable pieces, and use scraps of fabric to try them into bundles to make it easier to carry. These bundles are sometime larger than the girl herself. Then the girls take other strips of fabric or their skirts and wad them up into a ball, place it on their heads, fold their bodies in half so that their heads are upside down, and deftly flip the wood onto their heads as they stand up. Then we walk the rest of the way home and drop of the wood to the respective families.

All the girls carrying wood on their heads standing on sand dune

Some of the highlights of the trip were me trying to collect wood and failing, me trying to balance the wood on my head and failing, and the girls finding a dead lizard about 2 feet long. My family got a kick out of me going out and collecting firewood with the girls and how dirty and scratched up I got when I really didn’t collect much wood at all. While it was really fun for me, it was just another chore like washing the dishes or folding laundry. 

Us collecting wood and me looking ridiculous with 2 sticks on my head. 

Another attempt at the picture

A third attempt at the picture 

Girls Reproductive Health Talk

Disclaimer: This post is about an activity that I had no part in planning or organizing. All of the credit goes to my wonderful sitemate (fellow PC volunteer in Taredji) and his work at the local health post, the Dispensaire Donaye. I was a mere observer, and these are my observations.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a health talk that my sitemate planned. His hard work brought together 12 girls ages 12-17 to talk about reproductive health, sexuality, and women’s rights. These girls were chosen to attend because of a scholarship program that PC Senegal runs called the Michelle Sylvester Scholarship (MSS) Program. The girls are in the top of their respective classes and went through interviews to be chosen for the scholarship (I hope to continue my sitemate’s work with the scholarship program so expect future posts on this).

The sage-femme of the Dispensaire Donaye led the talk. My sitemate provided the talking points and some informative diagrams and statistics, while the sage-femme did most of the talking. The discussion included basic anatomy, STDs including AIDS, protection, abstinence, marriage, and financial independence. The girls were very engaged throughout and participated heavily in the discussion. What was most impressive, however, was the conclusion of the talk. Each of the girls decided of their own accord to be “ambassatrices” or female ambassadors to their school and spread this knowledge to all the girls at the Donaye College (middle school) and Lycee (high school). They took it upon themselves to organize, gather phone numbers, arrange with the sage-femme to meet again, and to formally talk to each grade level in turn.

After talking with my sitemate at the end of the discussion, we both agreed that it went surprisingly well. He was actually shocked at how responsive the girls were and how they organized. Here are some reasons we came up with as to why it was so successful:

1. The Sage-Femme

Bare with me this is the longest one. I promise the other reasons will be shorter.

Short story: When my sitemate first approached the sage-femme about the talk, she was mildly indifferent.

“Sure, sure. I’ll talk to them.” However, when my sitemate gave her the slides to reference and confirmed that she would help lead the talk, she told him that he should just lead the talk himself. At that point he was confused.

“You think they will actually listen and talk to me about this?” As a man in his 20’s, it seemed improbable that teenage girls would open up to him about sex.

The sage-femme responded, “Sure, why not?”

            “Because they are teenage girls?”  replied my sitemate.

“YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?! WHY WOULD THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT?”

Clearly, there had been a miscommunication about the age group of the attendees. This reaction from a sage-femme, a woman who sees a lot of teenage pregnancies and STDs, really surprised me. Even so, the sage-femme went on to lead the talk after some encouragement from my sitemate.

The sage-femme at the Dispensaire Donaye is a stern-looking woman with a strong speaking voice. She is the kind of woman who demands respect and inspires confidence (important to young girls who are nervous about talking about sex). She treated them like adults and also was very open to questions. She expected and demanded participation. The sage-femme knew exactly how to talk to these girls (in a way that me or my sitemate probably could not have done). Her presence was the most important reason for the success of the discussion.

The fact that the sage-femme was so reluctant then went on to give a great talk that the girls were very responsive to was extremely justifying to a self-doubting Peace Corps volunteer. What can I possibly do for this community with my limited knowledge of Senegalese culture, the language, and agriculture? Well, I can inspire others in the community to take action who otherwise would not have like my sitemate did with the sage-femme. Without his push, the sage-femme would have never felt compelled to talk to this age group about sex, an age group that is in the more dire need of information. Without my sitemate and the sage-femme, these girls and all of those they go on to instruct would never have gotten a formal sexual health education.

2. Girls as Leaders

Secondly, the girls themselves were already leaders in their communities to begin with. Through the MMS application process, they had already proven to be hard-working, driven, and intelligent. They are in the top of their classes despite cultural practice dictating that they do all of the housework that their male peers are spared.  While me and my sitemate were shocked that they began to plan out future talks all on their own, we probably shouldn’t have been. Because of their own initiative and drive, the girls took initiative on their own to organize themselves and continue talking about reproductive health.

3. Girls familiar with PC Sessions

The next reason for the success of this discussion is again related to the scholarship. As part of the MMS program, my sitemate and other volunteers in our area held sessions with them previously about women’s rights and the importance of the girls’ education. This is important for two reasons.

First, they were already familiar with the format of sessions and knew they would be expected to participate in an open discussion. This format is very different that what most young people would be familiar with in school. By having attending prior PC sessions, they were prepared to participate.

Second, having worked with each other in similar sessions before, the girls were comfortable talking about a potentially embarrassing topic. They girls had been give the chance to establish peer relations before the reproductive health talk and had credibility and confidence in each other, giving them the courage to speak their minds.

4. Size and Location

Finally, the size and location was perfectly chosen for this type of discussion. The Dispensaire Donaye is a small health post situated on a large piece of land surrounded by a fence. There are a couple of buildings where the nurses and doctors see patients, and there are also a few outdoor shade structures. One of these shade structure is where the meeting was held. By chance, the design of the structure allowed the girls to sit in a circle. Rather than being in a classroom where the instructor stands at the front of the room and everyone merely listens, sitting in circle outside further encouraged discussion and made the session seem less formal. Also, the size of the group was ideal for a small group discussion. With 12 girls, everyone was given a chance to speak, and the girls were not intimidated by having too few to or too many other girls listening to their experiences.

While I hate the use a buzzword, this is the type of project that is the definition of sustainability. My sitemate identified the natural leaders in the community (the sage-femme as well as the girls) and gave them an idea for a project. The rest was more or less carried out by locals. Hopefully, the sage-femme and the girls would attended the session will be inspired to continue talking to more young girls. All of this will happen without any more work by the Peace Corps Volunteer. And hopefully, I can figure out ways to make my own small projects in agriculture as sustainable and successful as this one.