In doing this participatory needs assessment I have systematically worked through the processes of identifying problems, looking at what has been done and what is being done now to solve problems, prioritising problems, identifying causes and beginning action planning. In partnership with local people in the communities we have used the following techniques to gather information, mostly from focus groups of women, village elders and men.
Over the past week or so we have carried out the following activities:
Social and Tribe map of Abene village (indicating wealth by compounds and locations of tribes);
Group interview with Abene Kafo leaders (women);
Meeting with Alkalo of Abene (Chief);
Social and Tribe map of Dianna village;
Meeting with Hawa Touré, director of Dianna English Language School to discuss feasibility of various ideas for projects that could involve her;
Group interview with women from Dianna;
Group interview with men from Dianna;
Group interview with Abene Elders, including Imam
Seasonality Calendar;
Causes tables;
Visioning Matrix;
Farming Calendar;
Daily Routine Diagram;
Historical profile of education in the villages;
Venn diagram;
Matrix scoring;
and Transect Diagram.
My team has grown to include Lamin Sonko who has been translating in meetings for me between English and Mandinka. He’s one of the locals who spends time in the Gambia, which is why he speaks English, but he went to school in Abene which is where his mother lived when she was alive.
Lamin has facilitated a focus group of men in Dianna. I have tried to give him some basic training in facilitation.
Problems Identified:
Children’s education:
Class sizes are large, without enough classrooms or teachers; teacher’s strike due to infrequent pay; school buildings are in varying stages of disrepair; schools lack sufficient teaching materials including books and pencils; school attendance is poor due to inability to pay school fees, food in school including lunch and breakfast, and transport to get to school in the case of the secondary school in Kafountine.
Adult education:
Many adults lack literacy; a common language between tribes in the community; vocational training to gain professional employment; European languages and students who are able to go to University drop out early.
Community educational facilities:
The current library facilities are inadequate and although there is internet access it is inaccessible to the majority and the connection is slow and unreliable.
Action Planning
Now that we have identified the problems we need to look at how we can find sustainable solutions. All three communities currently fund the provision of education for children with income generated by producing and selling palm oil as a community.
As a result of the PNA two focus groups, one of men and one of women have formed committees to look into the feasibility of generating funds in a sustainable way from producing and selling fruits and vegetables.
The focus group of men in Albadar are looking into the feasibility of transferring the skills they have gained from their palm oil business to produce and sell mangos and oranges. These crops are plentiful in their village, but the main barriers to the business are not having previously considered it together, lack of transport to take the produce to Dakar where it can be sold, and a store to keep the crops in.
The focus group of women in Dianna are considering the feasibility of growing vegetables to sell to fund educational projects in their community.
There is of course much more… but I will add more here as and when I have the chance.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Monday 25 May
Background to villages – Abene, Albadar and Dianna
Several tribes live in the same villages together, mostly in separate residential areas with smaller mixed areas. Mandinka is the most prevalent tribe and the principal language spoken. Many local people speak several languages, including Mandinka, Wolof, French, English, Jola, Fula, Karoninka, Mandjako and Balanta. Families are large, with women having many children. The concept of family is wide, including extended family, neighbours and even one’s peer group.
There is a natural link between the three villages of Abene, Albadar and Dianna – which sit on the three points of a triangle – as families are spread out between the three. Dianna is 2km from both Abene and Albadar, and there is just 1km between the two later villages. Local people from all three villages also frequently tell me all three villages are in the same situation, with the same problems. There are also strong links with communities in the Gambia. Some local people travel regularly between the two, with family members living in both areas. Farming is the main source of income, followed by fishing. The Imam in Abene said to me if you want to know our culture, pick up a hoe.
Karoninka is the poorest tribe in Abene. They are the minority in number and religion, as Christians in a predominantly Muslim area. They keep pigs which (amongst many other animals) roam freely in the village and cause annoyance. Tiny worm like parasites that come from pigs are picked up in people’s feet from the sand in the street.
Local people are very poor and lack opportunity. Women work hard, and long hours, both in the fields in farming rice and vegetables and also at home in the compound in cleaning and looking after children.
Many local people’s hopes are pinned on going to Europe to make money and some of getting a European wife who will bring money in to the family.
Many men are locally seen to be lazy. Their time working in the fields in concentrated in the rice planting months during the rainy season in August to October.
The climate is dry until July when it rains heavily and the ground is waterlogged and the plants grow well and almost uncontrollably. By November the rain stops and it is suddenly much cooler. This is the coolest month of the year. With the rain comes opportunity to grow crops and for the wells to fill again after drying up at the end of the dry season when well water can become undrinkable. There is also a higher prevalence of illness with mosquitoes breeding in the puddles of stagnant water and incidences of malaria high from July to October.
The three villages are predominantly Muslim with Christians living along side. Most women observe the Muslim custom of covering their hair by wearing a tikoo (head scarf), although it is not obligatory. Both African dress and Western-cut clothes are worn by men, women and children.
The belief that God is great and will provide is deeply engrained in the culture. Generally local people can find a way to meet their basic needs of food and shelter somewhere, usually from within their extended families. It is common for compounds to be busy with many people staying from outside the immediate family and food is generously offered at meal times.
The responsibility of looking after young children is passes on to and shared with children only a few years older very early on. Children can be seen walking and playing in the street barefoot and wearing torn and dirty clothes. The health advisor at the clinic in Albadar told me children grow up under-developed and lack adequate nutrition.
Communication problems
I’m so busy with meetings now that I don’t have much time or energy left to study Mandinka (the main local language and also the language we are using to communicate in for the assessment). It is definitely a disadvantage not being fluent in the language and thus reliant on others to translate between Mandinka and English. This has led to much mis-communication. But thankfully I think we have been able to work it out most of the time – if not during the same meeting then at the next one.
Experience and achievements
At this stage now with only a few weeks left before the conclusion of the participatory needs assessment (PNA) I find myself reflecting and evaluating our progress. The assessment is a hard task to do without support from a colleague from outside the local community. However I think we have achieved a lot. The assessment process is providing opportunities for people who are poor and powerless to become involved in making real choices about their own lives. Local people are participating in gathering and interpreting the information in the needs assessment, as well as in identifying problems and prioritising them and finding solutions.
I previously lacked experience in International Development and PNA. My team also lack key skills in carrying out such an assessment. The process would greatly benefit from all involved having training in PNA techniques. That would also provide greater opportunity for empowerment as lack of skills and experience are barriers to empowerment.
Even still I feel the partnership is a success in meeting the objectives of generating useful information and involving local people. We have taken a systematic approach whilst being flexible and adapting our plan according to the needs as they arise. I hope local people involved in the PNA would also agree that I have shown respect for and valued the views of local people. I have certainly gained much insight into and understanding of the local culture on a level I hadn’t previously expected to achieve. This past week I have been in the homes of two village chiefs – the most influential person in a village here. It has been a humbling experience to explain myself to them whilst sitting on their sofa on a sand floor with children running around and screaming in the next room. They have been very warm and welcoming and said prayers for me in front of me. An experience I won’t forget as I thought to myself how lucky I was to be there.
Current self-help projects
There are a number of self-help projects in the three villages. The communities have organised themselves to fund their modest health clinics (in each village) and maternity facilities (in Abene only), by collecting money from each compound on a quarterly basis to pay for health advisors (locally known as doctors, although they lack adequate training and qualifications). In Albadar and Dianna the community works together to produce and sell palm oil used in cooking, with the income funding the building and repairs to the local primary school in each village.
The educational provision provided by the government for children is limited to paying for teachers’ salaries. There are frequent teacher strikes due to conditions and infrequent payment. The primary schools in the villages were built by local people. There is a strong history of self-help and participation.
Kafountine
9km from Abene and Albadar (2km less from Dianna) is the small town of Kafountine. There is a large area by the beach used by fishermen in smoking and processing fish on grass mats elevated from the sand on sticks, and in the town a busy market area selling vegetables and other goods with a more choice and at a cheaper price than in those available in the villages.
Secondary school
The secondary school which serves a large area including the dozen villages on the islands off Kafountine was built on the road between Dianna and Kafountine, about 2 km out of the town. It is a long way to walk and takes about half an hour to cycle there from Abene. Classes are staggered with some children attending in the early morning and others later in the day. At various times throughout the day children can be seen walking and cycling up and down the road on their way to or from home in their uniform of blue shirts and beige trousers or skirts.
Several tribes live in the same villages together, mostly in separate residential areas with smaller mixed areas. Mandinka is the most prevalent tribe and the principal language spoken. Many local people speak several languages, including Mandinka, Wolof, French, English, Jola, Fula, Karoninka, Mandjako and Balanta. Families are large, with women having many children. The concept of family is wide, including extended family, neighbours and even one’s peer group.
There is a natural link between the three villages of Abene, Albadar and Dianna – which sit on the three points of a triangle – as families are spread out between the three. Dianna is 2km from both Abene and Albadar, and there is just 1km between the two later villages. Local people from all three villages also frequently tell me all three villages are in the same situation, with the same problems. There are also strong links with communities in the Gambia. Some local people travel regularly between the two, with family members living in both areas. Farming is the main source of income, followed by fishing. The Imam in Abene said to me if you want to know our culture, pick up a hoe.
Karoninka is the poorest tribe in Abene. They are the minority in number and religion, as Christians in a predominantly Muslim area. They keep pigs which (amongst many other animals) roam freely in the village and cause annoyance. Tiny worm like parasites that come from pigs are picked up in people’s feet from the sand in the street.
Local people are very poor and lack opportunity. Women work hard, and long hours, both in the fields in farming rice and vegetables and also at home in the compound in cleaning and looking after children.
Many local people’s hopes are pinned on going to Europe to make money and some of getting a European wife who will bring money in to the family.
Many men are locally seen to be lazy. Their time working in the fields in concentrated in the rice planting months during the rainy season in August to October.
The climate is dry until July when it rains heavily and the ground is waterlogged and the plants grow well and almost uncontrollably. By November the rain stops and it is suddenly much cooler. This is the coolest month of the year. With the rain comes opportunity to grow crops and for the wells to fill again after drying up at the end of the dry season when well water can become undrinkable. There is also a higher prevalence of illness with mosquitoes breeding in the puddles of stagnant water and incidences of malaria high from July to October.
The three villages are predominantly Muslim with Christians living along side. Most women observe the Muslim custom of covering their hair by wearing a tikoo (head scarf), although it is not obligatory. Both African dress and Western-cut clothes are worn by men, women and children.
The belief that God is great and will provide is deeply engrained in the culture. Generally local people can find a way to meet their basic needs of food and shelter somewhere, usually from within their extended families. It is common for compounds to be busy with many people staying from outside the immediate family and food is generously offered at meal times.
The responsibility of looking after young children is passes on to and shared with children only a few years older very early on. Children can be seen walking and playing in the street barefoot and wearing torn and dirty clothes. The health advisor at the clinic in Albadar told me children grow up under-developed and lack adequate nutrition.
Communication problems
I’m so busy with meetings now that I don’t have much time or energy left to study Mandinka (the main local language and also the language we are using to communicate in for the assessment). It is definitely a disadvantage not being fluent in the language and thus reliant on others to translate between Mandinka and English. This has led to much mis-communication. But thankfully I think we have been able to work it out most of the time – if not during the same meeting then at the next one.
Experience and achievements
At this stage now with only a few weeks left before the conclusion of the participatory needs assessment (PNA) I find myself reflecting and evaluating our progress. The assessment is a hard task to do without support from a colleague from outside the local community. However I think we have achieved a lot. The assessment process is providing opportunities for people who are poor and powerless to become involved in making real choices about their own lives. Local people are participating in gathering and interpreting the information in the needs assessment, as well as in identifying problems and prioritising them and finding solutions.
I previously lacked experience in International Development and PNA. My team also lack key skills in carrying out such an assessment. The process would greatly benefit from all involved having training in PNA techniques. That would also provide greater opportunity for empowerment as lack of skills and experience are barriers to empowerment.
Even still I feel the partnership is a success in meeting the objectives of generating useful information and involving local people. We have taken a systematic approach whilst being flexible and adapting our plan according to the needs as they arise. I hope local people involved in the PNA would also agree that I have shown respect for and valued the views of local people. I have certainly gained much insight into and understanding of the local culture on a level I hadn’t previously expected to achieve. This past week I have been in the homes of two village chiefs – the most influential person in a village here. It has been a humbling experience to explain myself to them whilst sitting on their sofa on a sand floor with children running around and screaming in the next room. They have been very warm and welcoming and said prayers for me in front of me. An experience I won’t forget as I thought to myself how lucky I was to be there.
Current self-help projects
There are a number of self-help projects in the three villages. The communities have organised themselves to fund their modest health clinics (in each village) and maternity facilities (in Abene only), by collecting money from each compound on a quarterly basis to pay for health advisors (locally known as doctors, although they lack adequate training and qualifications). In Albadar and Dianna the community works together to produce and sell palm oil used in cooking, with the income funding the building and repairs to the local primary school in each village.
The educational provision provided by the government for children is limited to paying for teachers’ salaries. There are frequent teacher strikes due to conditions and infrequent payment. The primary schools in the villages were built by local people. There is a strong history of self-help and participation.
Kafountine
9km from Abene and Albadar (2km less from Dianna) is the small town of Kafountine. There is a large area by the beach used by fishermen in smoking and processing fish on grass mats elevated from the sand on sticks, and in the town a busy market area selling vegetables and other goods with a more choice and at a cheaper price than in those available in the villages.
Secondary school
The secondary school which serves a large area including the dozen villages on the islands off Kafountine was built on the road between Dianna and Kafountine, about 2 km out of the town. It is a long way to walk and takes about half an hour to cycle there from Abene. Classes are staggered with some children attending in the early morning and others later in the day. At various times throughout the day children can be seen walking and cycling up and down the road on their way to or from home in their uniform of blue shirts and beige trousers or skirts.
Saturday 22 May – Day ? Lost count still
I’ve been really very busy lately… too busy to write the blog as getting me and my laptop somewhere with electricity has been a challenge, and the whole process of writing up and then going to the internet café after is so slow. I couldn’t fit it in between meetings and having to go home to cook lunch every day. Still I’m at Kebaa’s house now and sitting outside under a tree. Kebaa kindly says I can come and plug in my laptop whenever I like, even when there’s nobody here as he has electrical sockets outside the house under the verandahs.
The participatory needs assessment is in full swing now, with meetings every day. Usually one in the morning at about 10am and another after lunch at around 4pm. And that’s as much as is possible in one day here. It’s hot. It’s already started raining at night time – I see the marks in the sand under the corrugate roofing of the house where the rain has fallen. I thought at first that the watery indentations in the sand along the line of the front door was Samurai pouring water to walk through the line of water when he wakes up in the morning after a bad dream as I’ve learnt is part of the culture here, but it can’t be… the line of water goes all around the house. The rain is on its way.
The participatory needs assessment is in full swing now, with meetings every day. Usually one in the morning at about 10am and another after lunch at around 4pm. And that’s as much as is possible in one day here. It’s hot. It’s already started raining at night time – I see the marks in the sand under the corrugate roofing of the house where the rain has fallen. I thought at first that the watery indentations in the sand along the line of the front door was Samurai pouring water to walk through the line of water when he wakes up in the morning after a bad dream as I’ve learnt is part of the culture here, but it can’t be… the line of water goes all around the house. The rain is on its way.
Thursday 7 May – Day 45
Thud. As you pass a mango tree one of the bad ones - before the season starts and the fruit is ripe - drops to the ground. One day I’m sure I’ll have one on my head. Not a good place to sit, under a mango tree at this time of year.
Impromptu music starts in the internet café/crêpe bar. There’s a man playing the guitar, singing in a gravelly voice with others joining in. It seems to be the same song over and over again, about Serrekunda and Freetown. Or maybe the song just never ends.
You start a conversation with someone in a shop asking for something, or greet them as you ride past on your bike and maybe they don’t speak Mandinka, but you don’t know that until they tell you Francais, or just don’t reply. They look back blankly, because they speak Fula, Jola, or maybe even Mankine – from another ethnic group with their own language. I chat to the man I buy the bread from for breakfast in the mornings in Mandika, but he is Jola. So we exchange all I know in Jola – Cassumei, cassumeichep. The spelling is only a guess, and my pronunciation of it is probably off too.
Everyone wears some ju-ju on their body, and has some in their house. On the body it tends to be small square leather pouches containing tight wads of folded up paper with Koranic texts scribed on them, all joined together by a length of black string and tied around the waist. Then there are bits of animals, such as horns, that hang above doorways, on the inside. And as I have discovered last week by witnessing (and also putting a bit of elbow grease into) the building of a modest house – just two small 4x4 metre rooms – at the time the foundations are being laid it is standard practice to make a little hole in the dirt for one of these ju-ju wads of Islamic texts sealed in a plastic bag and cover it with cement. For all the four corners of the house. It turns out after chatting with a different local about it later, that just one of the pouches would do, in the middle of the floor for example before the tiles are laid, and in the case of a round house, just one in the middle of the house. The ju-ju is said to ensure protection from bad things, peace for your compound, family, body, etc., depending on what you’ve asked to be written, by the marabout who makes ju-ju.
Why do tasks that you often see happening at the side of road, take so many people to do? I have witnessed one such task today involving four men repairing the clutch on a 4x4. One of the four is a qualified mechanic, another owns the car and is giving a hand, one is one of the mechanic’s ‘boys’ – a loose term which I understand to mean anyone they have regular contact with, have lived with at some point, or lived near, and is usually younger than them who they can use as a gopher, sending them to do errands for them when required – this guy’s task would seem to be to roll the joints. The last man who has just turned up has always been a bit of a character when I’ve seen him before, but is now taking an active part in the proceedings, taking it seriously, brushing off dirt from one of the car parts. The mechanic’s kit half fills an old 1970s suitcase, a family heirloom of the Dutch wife of the owner of the 4x4. It’s now falling apart.
Animals roam about all over the place. In the street, through the village, through any compound that hasn’t been walled off, and that’s most of them as the sand bricks may be cheap but are unsuitable for any walls without a roof on top and cement is less easy for many to come by to build long walls around their large land that is their compound. Chickens, dogs, cows, pigs, goats, cats, guinea fowl, frogs and lizards, - admittedly I haven’t seen a huge number of cats, and the guinea fowl don’t venture in to the village, but the rest - are prolific. The dogs have problems with flies in their ears, many have had their ears docked before the flies eat away at them. Cats are thin and have skin complaints. I wish I had veterinary training and could help them. I’m told the nearest vet is in Ziguinchor, a few hours bush taxi away. I find the flattened form of a now rather dehydrated frog in the path.
I see kids in the street playing, laughing in the sand and it makes me smile. They play with bike wheels and a stick, pushing it along, or a small mango maybe or stone in a bucket, bouncing the stone out and catching it in the bucket again. Or throwing freshly picked cashew nuts (in their shells, before being cooked) into a ring marked in the sand, like boules.
In a taxi to Dianna – this time in a hurry, so pay for a private hire fare, not a shared price, squeezed in with many others – the car is in a similar state of disrepair as all the others I’ve been in to date. Inside the car, from a back seat position you get a good view of all the bits that are either hanging off, sticking out or worn down. There are lots of things hanging in the front from the rear-view mirror – Islamic paraphernalia, a toy rabbit, and a money bag. There are stickers on every window; two of Che Guevara and two eagles holding flags for liberty and peace. This time I had a view of the road moving beneath me, through a 50p coin sized hole beneath my feet. The front windscreen is cracked all over, there are no seat belts at any of the seats, but the radio works. Priorities.
Burping, in the middle of your own sentence causes no surprise. Neither does bringing up phlegm in the street. You don’t hear farting, except in private. But otherwise regardless of gender, or status, all will share their bad air and anything unwanted in their mouths with you. It has taken a while for me to get used to that.
My answer to the not so high probability of not getting a decent hair cut in 3 months was to have braids with extensions woven in to them. But when I got it done in my first week it hurt my scalp so much I couldn’t take more than 5 days of it. Kids here start from a young age with corn rows or braids, toughening up their scalps, but mine was too sensitive for it, getting covered in tiny scabs all over. So I decided to do as the Romans do and cover my hair with a head scarf. Not for the first time, as I got used to it during stays in Iran. But this doesn’t cover you up so much, just around your head, not over your neck and shoulders. Now no one can see the unkempt nature of my hair and I fit in a little better, looking slightly more Islamic. I’m working on getting some nice African outfits too, from a cheap wholesaler in the Gambia next week. And then have a tailor in Abene do his stuff, hopefully for a mates rates price, through a friend, and not at a toobab rate like a tourist.
There’s a Muslim hero, a follower of Saint Touba I think, whose image festoons shop fronts all through the village and has been photocopied and stuck on to the front of the windscreen of a friends 4x4. I’ve also seen lots of men wear his image as heavy necklaces. He’s no longer alive – was alive a long, long time ago apparently. Though I point out that it couldn’t have been that long ago as there’s a photograph of him, and photography hasn’t been around that long. Speaking of which I have seen no signs of Africa going digital. In London it has got increasingly difficult to use film, necessitating my reluctant move to digital. But I think it will be a long time before the change here as people just don’t have the capital to cover the costs of buying new equipment. I wonder what the portrait businesses will do when the photographic chemicals aren’t being produced anymore.
The weather has changed. Not normally a topic of conversation here as there isn’t usually much change from sunny and more sunny. But we can see the rainy season is on its way. It’s been very hot, too hot to get about much and then the next day is the coolest yet with an even cover of cloud. Very mixed. Soon it will be very hot, very wet and full of mosquitoes. This is the time of year when most of the white people start going back to wherever they’re from. A chance to escape the worst of the weather and earn some cash to pay for their stay here.
Impromptu music starts in the internet café/crêpe bar. There’s a man playing the guitar, singing in a gravelly voice with others joining in. It seems to be the same song over and over again, about Serrekunda and Freetown. Or maybe the song just never ends.
You start a conversation with someone in a shop asking for something, or greet them as you ride past on your bike and maybe they don’t speak Mandinka, but you don’t know that until they tell you Francais, or just don’t reply. They look back blankly, because they speak Fula, Jola, or maybe even Mankine – from another ethnic group with their own language. I chat to the man I buy the bread from for breakfast in the mornings in Mandika, but he is Jola. So we exchange all I know in Jola – Cassumei, cassumeichep. The spelling is only a guess, and my pronunciation of it is probably off too.
Everyone wears some ju-ju on their body, and has some in their house. On the body it tends to be small square leather pouches containing tight wads of folded up paper with Koranic texts scribed on them, all joined together by a length of black string and tied around the waist. Then there are bits of animals, such as horns, that hang above doorways, on the inside. And as I have discovered last week by witnessing (and also putting a bit of elbow grease into) the building of a modest house – just two small 4x4 metre rooms – at the time the foundations are being laid it is standard practice to make a little hole in the dirt for one of these ju-ju wads of Islamic texts sealed in a plastic bag and cover it with cement. For all the four corners of the house. It turns out after chatting with a different local about it later, that just one of the pouches would do, in the middle of the floor for example before the tiles are laid, and in the case of a round house, just one in the middle of the house. The ju-ju is said to ensure protection from bad things, peace for your compound, family, body, etc., depending on what you’ve asked to be written, by the marabout who makes ju-ju.
Why do tasks that you often see happening at the side of road, take so many people to do? I have witnessed one such task today involving four men repairing the clutch on a 4x4. One of the four is a qualified mechanic, another owns the car and is giving a hand, one is one of the mechanic’s ‘boys’ – a loose term which I understand to mean anyone they have regular contact with, have lived with at some point, or lived near, and is usually younger than them who they can use as a gopher, sending them to do errands for them when required – this guy’s task would seem to be to roll the joints. The last man who has just turned up has always been a bit of a character when I’ve seen him before, but is now taking an active part in the proceedings, taking it seriously, brushing off dirt from one of the car parts. The mechanic’s kit half fills an old 1970s suitcase, a family heirloom of the Dutch wife of the owner of the 4x4. It’s now falling apart.
Animals roam about all over the place. In the street, through the village, through any compound that hasn’t been walled off, and that’s most of them as the sand bricks may be cheap but are unsuitable for any walls without a roof on top and cement is less easy for many to come by to build long walls around their large land that is their compound. Chickens, dogs, cows, pigs, goats, cats, guinea fowl, frogs and lizards, - admittedly I haven’t seen a huge number of cats, and the guinea fowl don’t venture in to the village, but the rest - are prolific. The dogs have problems with flies in their ears, many have had their ears docked before the flies eat away at them. Cats are thin and have skin complaints. I wish I had veterinary training and could help them. I’m told the nearest vet is in Ziguinchor, a few hours bush taxi away. I find the flattened form of a now rather dehydrated frog in the path.
I see kids in the street playing, laughing in the sand and it makes me smile. They play with bike wheels and a stick, pushing it along, or a small mango maybe or stone in a bucket, bouncing the stone out and catching it in the bucket again. Or throwing freshly picked cashew nuts (in their shells, before being cooked) into a ring marked in the sand, like boules.
In a taxi to Dianna – this time in a hurry, so pay for a private hire fare, not a shared price, squeezed in with many others – the car is in a similar state of disrepair as all the others I’ve been in to date. Inside the car, from a back seat position you get a good view of all the bits that are either hanging off, sticking out or worn down. There are lots of things hanging in the front from the rear-view mirror – Islamic paraphernalia, a toy rabbit, and a money bag. There are stickers on every window; two of Che Guevara and two eagles holding flags for liberty and peace. This time I had a view of the road moving beneath me, through a 50p coin sized hole beneath my feet. The front windscreen is cracked all over, there are no seat belts at any of the seats, but the radio works. Priorities.
Burping, in the middle of your own sentence causes no surprise. Neither does bringing up phlegm in the street. You don’t hear farting, except in private. But otherwise regardless of gender, or status, all will share their bad air and anything unwanted in their mouths with you. It has taken a while for me to get used to that.
My answer to the not so high probability of not getting a decent hair cut in 3 months was to have braids with extensions woven in to them. But when I got it done in my first week it hurt my scalp so much I couldn’t take more than 5 days of it. Kids here start from a young age with corn rows or braids, toughening up their scalps, but mine was too sensitive for it, getting covered in tiny scabs all over. So I decided to do as the Romans do and cover my hair with a head scarf. Not for the first time, as I got used to it during stays in Iran. But this doesn’t cover you up so much, just around your head, not over your neck and shoulders. Now no one can see the unkempt nature of my hair and I fit in a little better, looking slightly more Islamic. I’m working on getting some nice African outfits too, from a cheap wholesaler in the Gambia next week. And then have a tailor in Abene do his stuff, hopefully for a mates rates price, through a friend, and not at a toobab rate like a tourist.
There’s a Muslim hero, a follower of Saint Touba I think, whose image festoons shop fronts all through the village and has been photocopied and stuck on to the front of the windscreen of a friends 4x4. I’ve also seen lots of men wear his image as heavy necklaces. He’s no longer alive – was alive a long, long time ago apparently. Though I point out that it couldn’t have been that long ago as there’s a photograph of him, and photography hasn’t been around that long. Speaking of which I have seen no signs of Africa going digital. In London it has got increasingly difficult to use film, necessitating my reluctant move to digital. But I think it will be a long time before the change here as people just don’t have the capital to cover the costs of buying new equipment. I wonder what the portrait businesses will do when the photographic chemicals aren’t being produced anymore.
The weather has changed. Not normally a topic of conversation here as there isn’t usually much change from sunny and more sunny. But we can see the rainy season is on its way. It’s been very hot, too hot to get about much and then the next day is the coolest yet with an even cover of cloud. Very mixed. Soon it will be very hot, very wet and full of mosquitoes. This is the time of year when most of the white people start going back to wherever they’re from. A chance to escape the worst of the weather and earn some cash to pay for their stay here.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Wednesday 13 May - Day ? lost count
It's been over a week since my last blog, which was straight after the second Assessment team meeting. It was a tricky one as I had to rethink my strategy and I know I need to write up details of that meeting, which I will do soon when I can connect to electricity and type up on my laptop, rather than in an internet cafe as it will take a bit of time. I'm in the Gambia right now, enjoying cheaper and quicker internet connection, so writing straight in to the blog rather than in Word on my laptop. QWERTY keyboard at last!
I've come to Brikama to buy African fabric to make outfits from. I think it is important to look like you fit in a bit more when communicating with people in Abene, Albadar and Dianna on the assessment as I think it shows I am more committed to the project and am not just passing through. I'm also looking for Mandinka language learning books and a bike for Yousoufa to use when we go to villages together as walking or asking around for a bike takes up so much time. But neither is an easy task. The book shops here are nothing like Borders or Wterstones! They're tiny and with very little stock. So trying to get a book involves trawling around all the shops and shop keepers making phone calls, telling you to come back the next day and so on. Still not got anything yet. The bike I've seen is pricey, so hopefully I'll get something soon in Serekunda, another town in Gambia that should have more choice.
The third Assessment meeting went much better and I really feel now that each time we are able t understand each other that bit better. So we did a historical profile of education in the 3 villages together using bits of paper, felt tip pens and blu-tak on the wall. Then we did a Venn Diagram showing the important institutions and groups in Abene, drawing it in the sand. The Chief (Alcalo) and his Elders were of course large, in the centre, and then the school association, nursery, health committee, hospital, Imam and church featuring smaller around the Chief in the centre. Followed by the traditional healer both in and out of the circle and the secondary school outside the circle. This reflects its geographical position and relationship with the village in terms of it being so distant.
The historical profile showed that there is a history of courses being provided in all three villages in the local languages, Mandinka, Jola and Fula. But that the only courses running now are those funded by Tostan in Abene and Albadar. But they are not focused on literacy, but general adult education.
It was really good to be able to discuss the information I think we need to gather, such as the existence, coverage, accessibility and acceptability of educational services in the area; levels and sources of income and levels of employment; a community profile and evidence of self-help projects that the community has led and sustained, etc. I'm using the book Partners in Planning again as a guide on this.
We have had difficulty in working out how to get information quickly and easily as members of the team have said they would build a community profile by walking house to house rather than asking government for data. As I understand it they are not seen to be a suitable source of reliable information.
I have had a really interesting, a long chat over cups of Attire (Green tea) with Ossaino, who works with a school that is supported by the Christian Children's Fund, in Brikama. He has lots of experience of doing participatory needs assessments here in a community that is very similar to the Cassamance region, where I am based. It has been a real boost talking over the methods and difficulties with him. He has used many of the methods I've been reading about in my book and was able to give great advice. He has very kindly offered to come and help us out at the action planning stage of the assessment. At only 5 weeks to go before my return flight I hope we will be able to arrange that soon. The clock is ticking on my assessment and we both agree that this 3 month period is too short for a thorough assessment which is needed and that perhaps we could plan a longer assessment for later in the year, autumn maybe. He agrees with me that the members of the Assessment planning team really do need training in order for it to be most effective. Fortunately for me he is an experienced trainer and has been trained and has experience in participatory needs assessments. So the plan for this period now is of course to make the most of this opportunity, but recognising its limitations at this stage and working towards planning a pilot programme depending on the results, of adult literacy for example.
With Ossaino I have been able to work out the best methods to use to get the next information I need at this stage - social and resource maps of each of the villages ( I have a resource map of Albadar only so far), including showing roads impassable in the rainy season which has an impact on communications, and areas where different ethnic groups live, as well as some form of wealth-ranking to highlight the poorer households and levels of wealth in the villages. Ossaino suggested doing this by a walk around the villages with a map noting the building and roofing materials of the house as an indicator of wealth.
Also a Seasonality Calendar to show times of malaria which has an impact on school attendance, farming also as this has a knock on effect on every aspect of life for the community, periods of most power cuts, etc. And a Transect Diagram to put together all the information gathered and easily compare it for each village, looking at the 6 main issues that the team has identifies - needs for vocational training, improves school resources and infrastructure, school food, adult literacy, library facilities and improved access to the internet.
So when I get back to Abene, from the Gambia I will have my work cut out and will hopefully be in a position to go full steam ahead with the assessment process. I am pleased to say I have had continued support from all the original members of the planning team and none of them have dropped out!
I've also been learning about local building methods which will be very useful if we do come to build a school, or centre of some kind. I've even been giving a hand brick-laying for the first time in my life! It's been hard work, but great fun and a good opportunity to practice my Mandinka on the builders. I learnt more about Ju-ju practicesm including putting little plastic bags of Koranic texts on paper folded up tightly and tied with thread into the foundations before the cement is laid. Interesting.
As my friend points out there is more to the place than just nice weather and friendlt people!
I've come to Brikama to buy African fabric to make outfits from. I think it is important to look like you fit in a bit more when communicating with people in Abene, Albadar and Dianna on the assessment as I think it shows I am more committed to the project and am not just passing through. I'm also looking for Mandinka language learning books and a bike for Yousoufa to use when we go to villages together as walking or asking around for a bike takes up so much time. But neither is an easy task. The book shops here are nothing like Borders or Wterstones! They're tiny and with very little stock. So trying to get a book involves trawling around all the shops and shop keepers making phone calls, telling you to come back the next day and so on. Still not got anything yet. The bike I've seen is pricey, so hopefully I'll get something soon in Serekunda, another town in Gambia that should have more choice.
The third Assessment meeting went much better and I really feel now that each time we are able t understand each other that bit better. So we did a historical profile of education in the 3 villages together using bits of paper, felt tip pens and blu-tak on the wall. Then we did a Venn Diagram showing the important institutions and groups in Abene, drawing it in the sand. The Chief (Alcalo) and his Elders were of course large, in the centre, and then the school association, nursery, health committee, hospital, Imam and church featuring smaller around the Chief in the centre. Followed by the traditional healer both in and out of the circle and the secondary school outside the circle. This reflects its geographical position and relationship with the village in terms of it being so distant.
The historical profile showed that there is a history of courses being provided in all three villages in the local languages, Mandinka, Jola and Fula. But that the only courses running now are those funded by Tostan in Abene and Albadar. But they are not focused on literacy, but general adult education.
It was really good to be able to discuss the information I think we need to gather, such as the existence, coverage, accessibility and acceptability of educational services in the area; levels and sources of income and levels of employment; a community profile and evidence of self-help projects that the community has led and sustained, etc. I'm using the book Partners in Planning again as a guide on this.
We have had difficulty in working out how to get information quickly and easily as members of the team have said they would build a community profile by walking house to house rather than asking government for data. As I understand it they are not seen to be a suitable source of reliable information.
I have had a really interesting, a long chat over cups of Attire (Green tea) with Ossaino, who works with a school that is supported by the Christian Children's Fund, in Brikama. He has lots of experience of doing participatory needs assessments here in a community that is very similar to the Cassamance region, where I am based. It has been a real boost talking over the methods and difficulties with him. He has used many of the methods I've been reading about in my book and was able to give great advice. He has very kindly offered to come and help us out at the action planning stage of the assessment. At only 5 weeks to go before my return flight I hope we will be able to arrange that soon. The clock is ticking on my assessment and we both agree that this 3 month period is too short for a thorough assessment which is needed and that perhaps we could plan a longer assessment for later in the year, autumn maybe. He agrees with me that the members of the Assessment planning team really do need training in order for it to be most effective. Fortunately for me he is an experienced trainer and has been trained and has experience in participatory needs assessments. So the plan for this period now is of course to make the most of this opportunity, but recognising its limitations at this stage and working towards planning a pilot programme depending on the results, of adult literacy for example.
With Ossaino I have been able to work out the best methods to use to get the next information I need at this stage - social and resource maps of each of the villages ( I have a resource map of Albadar only so far), including showing roads impassable in the rainy season which has an impact on communications, and areas where different ethnic groups live, as well as some form of wealth-ranking to highlight the poorer households and levels of wealth in the villages. Ossaino suggested doing this by a walk around the villages with a map noting the building and roofing materials of the house as an indicator of wealth.
Also a Seasonality Calendar to show times of malaria which has an impact on school attendance, farming also as this has a knock on effect on every aspect of life for the community, periods of most power cuts, etc. And a Transect Diagram to put together all the information gathered and easily compare it for each village, looking at the 6 main issues that the team has identifies - needs for vocational training, improves school resources and infrastructure, school food, adult literacy, library facilities and improved access to the internet.
So when I get back to Abene, from the Gambia I will have my work cut out and will hopefully be in a position to go full steam ahead with the assessment process. I am pleased to say I have had continued support from all the original members of the planning team and none of them have dropped out!
I've also been learning about local building methods which will be very useful if we do come to build a school, or centre of some kind. I've even been giving a hand brick-laying for the first time in my life! It's been hard work, but great fun and a good opportunity to practice my Mandinka on the builders. I learnt more about Ju-ju practicesm including putting little plastic bags of Koranic texts on paper folded up tightly and tied with thread into the foundations before the cement is laid. Interesting.
As my friend points out there is more to the place than just nice weather and friendlt people!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Sunday 3 May - Day 41
Just come out of the second Planning Meeting. It was quite long, longer than 'd expected,but no one seemed to be in a hurry and a few arrived late. Every one who attended the first meeting a week ago came back- a great sign. Allexpect Diibril who was sadly attending his brother's funeral in Ziguinchor today.
What an experience. I found I had to hhave a complete re-think during the meeting, a change of tack and adapt to their style. A bit of a cultural difference in working methods, but we got there in the end and afterwards Miri assured me it wasn't a problem.
We identified issues and the team are going to go out this week and get more information on them. I'm just typing quickly now in the internet cafe and will writemore on it tomorrow when I'll be in Brikhama in Gambia with hopefully a cheaper and quicker internet connection. It is dark, although there is electricity in the place I can't see the keys very well!
Until tomorrow inshallah...
What an experience. I found I had to hhave a complete re-think during the meeting, a change of tack and adapt to their style. A bit of a cultural difference in working methods, but we got there in the end and afterwards Miri assured me it wasn't a problem.
We identified issues and the team are going to go out this week and get more information on them. I'm just typing quickly now in the internet cafe and will writemore on it tomorrow when I'll be in Brikhama in Gambia with hopefully a cheaper and quicker internet connection. It is dark, although there is electricity in the place I can't see the keys very well!
Until tomorrow inshallah...
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Comments - love 'em
Thanks for all the comments. They're great. Give memore comments on the blog please - at the bottom of my post you can post your comment.
Rachel, you're the fuzzy peach, right... where's the question mark on the keyboard! Thanks Helen for your motivating words. I have supportive friends here now which make it a lot easier, it's just the odd moments, invariably after dark! When you feel frustrated and have to have a bit of a cry. But it's great. I am having an amazing experience, culture, languages, new stuff all the time, and such an experience doing this needs assessment and teaching.
Let me know what you likeabout my blog and what you'd like more (or less) of.
C xx
Rachel, you're the fuzzy peach, right... where's the question mark on the keyboard! Thanks Helen for your motivating words. I have supportive friends here now which make it a lot easier, it's just the odd moments, invariably after dark! When you feel frustrated and have to have a bit of a cry. But it's great. I am having an amazing experience, culture, languages, new stuff all the time, and such an experience doing this needs assessment and teaching.
Let me know what you likeabout my blog and what you'd like more (or less) of.
C xx
Saturday 2 May - Day 40
Looking forward to the next Planning Team meeting here in Abene tomorrow. It's so exciting to be in this position of instigating a participatory community project. Iam hopeful that it will be a success and that the assessment will have the backing of the community. It dawned on me last night in bed that I haven4t actually seen the Chief of Abene since I was here in December. I also need to make a point of meeting the Chiefs of the other two villages, Albadar and Dianna to discuss the plans with them as I am told things don't happen without their knowing!
I've just made a few corrections to my typing, sorry if there are any I've missed- I'm using the strange AZERTY keyboard againin the internet cafe. Well it's really just a bar/restaurant with one laptop and a satellite internet connection. I want the same thing to use with my laptop at home. It'snot always open in the mornings when I want to connect on my way out somewhere and I'd be happier doing internet banking, etc on a connection at home. So I went in to Kafountine this week -on my own - and managed to ask around to find the man who could tellmeabout getting an Orange connection. But at 64 pounds to start off and then 24 a month I really don't have the funds to pay for it. it's also a &12 month contract, so impractical for 2 months only. If I come back in the autumn to live - yes I am considering it now!- I would probably get it then, but i'd wait for a special offer on the start up price.
I hadan interesting day yesterday, completely oblivious to it being May Day as I hadn't seen the date in a while- nor any news. I'm relying on my mum telling me in our brief and expensive chats on my mobile if there is anything earth-shattering I would need to know about. I wonder if I could get the Guardian Weekly posted here. But I know fron friends that posting anything here from the UK can take anything up to 3 months to arrive. A friend in London felt sorry for me not having lighting indoors at night and living by torchlight with the ghqstly big shadows it throws out, so he wanted to post me a solar light he bought in halford,but a friend here tells me it wouldn't be likely to get here before the date ofmy return flight in June. Shame. But now I have some light in the new place I'm staying. I thinking about camping soon in a tent in the bush. The bush is great - such beautiful birds of varying lengths and colours. Just like in the book I've been looking at on Birds of West Africa, but nothing like the drawings at all! They lookso much better in the flesh, on a tree. I just stop in my tracks and marvel at them. I saw the smallest birds I've ever seen the other day walking along the back route through the houses in Abene. Tiny little things feeding on something on the ground. I love it. Then there are the reptiles- all I know is that theymust be related to lizards, or chameleons with a orange head I think it is. Bobbing up and down as they look around them. So I was starting to tellyou about my day yesterday... I started trying to get a local (African) friend here to prepare a business plan for the restaurant he is planning on opening in the future. He doesn't read or write, so we made a list of the costs with drawings of electricity and water- interestingly different kinds of drawings from how I would draw them from my Western perspective - well they would be different wouldn't they! So we write off the 'costs' of buildings after much dicussion... the favours he does for people he would do anyway, so the favours others do for him (in transporting sand, producing concrete blocks, etc) don't really have a cost to him. We discuss this at length and I come to the conclusion that the 'life system' as he explains it of doing for others and giving when they need it and recieving when you need it is just an earlier formof LETS or Time Banks which is being immitated in the West. Africans, or is it Muslims? I don't know, may well have invented this kind of system first. Whatever I decide that for all our efforts in the west to take money out of the system and do things for each other asan exchange of skills or time is not nearly as advanced or widespread as this here. Hawa and I, on the flip-side look at people who don't worry about where their next meal is coming from, as Allah will provide and thinkhow foolish, we couldn't be comfortable with that for ourselves, but then she finds that yeswhen she has run out of money for food somebody passes the house with a handful of fish for her, or cigarettes when she has run out. Allah provides? Perhaps.
After my attempt at a business plan we move on to literacy. Hawa Toure, a skilledand experienced Early Years teacher is giving me training on literacy teaching, which I amputting in to practice with Yousoufa. He is soaking up new letters like a sponge, has some difficulties with pronunciation but after less than 24 hours he can writa 7 letters, c,a,d,o,g,s,and e. In that order. He recognises lots of words starting with those lettersand doesn't stop repeating the letter sounds and has the paper he's written it all on in his hand almost continuously. he is really proud to be learning and incredibly motivated. Literacy levels are really low in this area and it strikes me just how luch there is to gain from the skill, a whole host of information, which equqls knowledge and power, as well as a vital means of communication, in reading writing, emailing and the internet.
I have heard- I'll keep it anonymous- froma friend that her Senegalese (and black) husband, believes that white people are known to be more clever than black people. Yeah, we were both stunned too. The difference is that we have had better access to educationand fora lot longer. Incredible and shocking to hear something like that.
I've just made a few corrections to my typing, sorry if there are any I've missed- I'm using the strange AZERTY keyboard againin the internet cafe. Well it's really just a bar/restaurant with one laptop and a satellite internet connection. I want the same thing to use with my laptop at home. It'snot always open in the mornings when I want to connect on my way out somewhere and I'd be happier doing internet banking, etc on a connection at home. So I went in to Kafountine this week -on my own - and managed to ask around to find the man who could tellmeabout getting an Orange connection. But at 64 pounds to start off and then 24 a month I really don't have the funds to pay for it. it's also a &12 month contract, so impractical for 2 months only. If I come back in the autumn to live - yes I am considering it now!- I would probably get it then, but i'd wait for a special offer on the start up price.
I hadan interesting day yesterday, completely oblivious to it being May Day as I hadn't seen the date in a while- nor any news. I'm relying on my mum telling me in our brief and expensive chats on my mobile if there is anything earth-shattering I would need to know about. I wonder if I could get the Guardian Weekly posted here. But I know fron friends that posting anything here from the UK can take anything up to 3 months to arrive. A friend in London felt sorry for me not having lighting indoors at night and living by torchlight with the ghqstly big shadows it throws out, so he wanted to post me a solar light he bought in halford,but a friend here tells me it wouldn't be likely to get here before the date ofmy return flight in June. Shame. But now I have some light in the new place I'm staying. I thinking about camping soon in a tent in the bush. The bush is great - such beautiful birds of varying lengths and colours. Just like in the book I've been looking at on Birds of West Africa, but nothing like the drawings at all! They lookso much better in the flesh, on a tree. I just stop in my tracks and marvel at them. I saw the smallest birds I've ever seen the other day walking along the back route through the houses in Abene. Tiny little things feeding on something on the ground. I love it. Then there are the reptiles- all I know is that theymust be related to lizards, or chameleons with a orange head I think it is. Bobbing up and down as they look around them. So I was starting to tellyou about my day yesterday... I started trying to get a local (African) friend here to prepare a business plan for the restaurant he is planning on opening in the future. He doesn't read or write, so we made a list of the costs with drawings of electricity and water- interestingly different kinds of drawings from how I would draw them from my Western perspective - well they would be different wouldn't they! So we write off the 'costs' of buildings after much dicussion... the favours he does for people he would do anyway, so the favours others do for him (in transporting sand, producing concrete blocks, etc) don't really have a cost to him. We discuss this at length and I come to the conclusion that the 'life system' as he explains it of doing for others and giving when they need it and recieving when you need it is just an earlier formof LETS or Time Banks which is being immitated in the West. Africans, or is it Muslims? I don't know, may well have invented this kind of system first. Whatever I decide that for all our efforts in the west to take money out of the system and do things for each other asan exchange of skills or time is not nearly as advanced or widespread as this here. Hawa and I, on the flip-side look at people who don't worry about where their next meal is coming from, as Allah will provide and thinkhow foolish, we couldn't be comfortable with that for ourselves, but then she finds that yeswhen she has run out of money for food somebody passes the house with a handful of fish for her, or cigarettes when she has run out. Allah provides? Perhaps.
After my attempt at a business plan we move on to literacy. Hawa Toure, a skilledand experienced Early Years teacher is giving me training on literacy teaching, which I amputting in to practice with Yousoufa. He is soaking up new letters like a sponge, has some difficulties with pronunciation but after less than 24 hours he can writa 7 letters, c,a,d,o,g,s,and e. In that order. He recognises lots of words starting with those lettersand doesn't stop repeating the letter sounds and has the paper he's written it all on in his hand almost continuously. he is really proud to be learning and incredibly motivated. Literacy levels are really low in this area and it strikes me just how luch there is to gain from the skill, a whole host of information, which equqls knowledge and power, as well as a vital means of communication, in reading writing, emailing and the internet.
I have heard- I'll keep it anonymous- froma friend that her Senegalese (and black) husband, believes that white people are known to be more clever than black people. Yeah, we were both stunned too. The difference is that we have had better access to educationand fora lot longer. Incredible and shocking to hear something like that.
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