Blog Archive

My work here began with the Village Situational Analysis through which I identified several needs of the community. From there I set out with the goal of creating individual community member led project teams for each of the requested projects. I would organize, guide and facilitate these teams but leave a majority of the work and responsibility in their hands. I met with the community to define feasible projects, explain the project life cycle, review, clarify and prioritize the requested projects and to propose this strategy. They supported it and we assigned leaders to each of the 12 project teams. I met with several of the team leaders individually and set tasks and objectives for their specific projects. However, months went by and it seemed like little progress was being made. I was nearly ready to abandon the strategy for another, when suddenly the team leaders started seeking me out with questions or coming to me with information I had requested a while ago. I was encouraged by their initiative and my hope and motivation were refreshed. Nonetheless, I had been spending a lot of time thinking about what I am really trying to do here and how I could make a lasting impact. I was also reading literature on, and having complex conversations about business management, leadership, systems analysis and intervention, sustainability and community development. It was this contemplation that led to my realization of project purpose and my new system of project prioritization. I have now categorized my projects into primary and secondary projects. Primary projects are those that increase capacity, while secondary projects are those that increase comfort. I have detailed the proposed qualifications for them below:

Defining Characteristics of Primary and Secondary Projects for Development Workers:

A primary project should be one that will outlast the volunteer’s service. It should be focused on long term sustainable development through community capacity building. It should utilize sustainable practices to enable the community with the capacity to develop itself. It should focus on the transfer of skills and knowledge to competent, motivated individuals in the community who will carry on the work after the volunteer is gone. It may not produce visible results while the volunteer is serving or for some time thereafter. The volunteer’s role should diminish as the project progresses. The project should be targeted at the community’s current stage of development with the goal of advancing the community towards economic independence and community driven, self sustainable development. It should transcend the paradigms of the culture and open the people to new understanding. There will be many obstacles to succeeding. Gratification will be delayed and often frustrated. The majority may not understand. But this approach will have the greatest impact on bringing about lasting positive change.

Secondary projects should be more immediately achievable. They should be focused on advancing the comfort level of the community, aiding the volunteer in interacting with and consequently integrating into the community, and providing the volunteer with positive, productive, visible work. Secondary projects should be in line with primary projects, providing resources, skill training, education or anything to further the primary cause, or at least to not hinder it or contradict the primary objective. Secondary projects may be (but need not be) carried out mostly by the volunteer, as long as the end result is beneficial to the people – They may be “handouts”, as long as they do not interfere with the primary project objectives. Secondary projects may be thought of as ‘gifts’ given to the community to increase their comfort level, make them happy, and give the volunteer something to do while underlying work is being carried out on long term capacity building.

Declaration of Primary Project:

I am declaring my primary project as the creation of a select team of a small number of competent, motivated individuals from my community who I will meet with on a regular basis to train and discuss strategies for long term capacity building and development. My initial role will be organizer and facilitator, but I will transfer increasing amounts of power and responsibility to the team members as we progress, leaving all power with them, and making my role and influence obsolete by the end of my service. I have outlined the Development Team training agenda below. The training will be ongoing throughout the remainder of my service, and I intend for it to be very repetitive. I want to make sure they know everything I know about development before I leave. I will also be making an effort to expand my knowledge on the topic as we go (if you have any literature suggestions please let me know). I have very little pre-existing knowledge on this topic; most of the ideas have come simply from spending large amounts of time thinking about it, and by talking to others about it. Therefore, if you have any suggestions for improvement please advise. Thank you.

Development Team Project Syllabus:

I.                 Purpose of the Development Team (see above)

II.               What is Development? Sustainability?

III.             Ultimate goals of development.

a.       Educated population

b.      Economic Independence

i.      Food security

ii.      Capital income

c.       Modern amenities

i.      Electricity (preferably alternative)

ii.      Running water

iii.      Waste management systems

iv.      Improved infrastructure

IV.             Process of development

a.       Key to Capacity diagram (food, shelter and clothing → access to education → drive for education → Key to Capacity)

b.      Acquiring economic independence

i.      Creating a more efficient system of commerce

ii.      Exports

c.       Creating infrastructure and governing regulations

d.      Establishing a capitalist economy

e.       Pioneering social, political, economical, and technological advancements

V.                Development Strategy: Specific strategy for the village of Sami Koto, URR, The Gambia

Current stage of development: Pre-Capacity

a.       Make education more accessible

i.      Provide transportation

* I am currently communicating with an organization based out of England called Jole Rider, which provides donated bicycles to underdeveloped schools, primarily in The Gambia. In our last correspondence they told me they had contacted the schools I requested, and hopefully they will be sending bicycles to those schools in the near future.

ii.      Provide financial aid

b.      Make education a higher priority

i.      Incentives

ii.      Laws/taxes

iii.      Cultural pressure

c.       Start laying foundations for commerce

i.      Cashew orchard (most profitable export product)

ii.      Bee keeping

iii.      Poultry keeping

iv.      Skilled trades

v.      Etc.

And for sustainable environmental practices

vi.      Bio fuel

vii.      Solar energy

viii.      Waste management

ix.      Appropriate technology

As you may see above, our focus, as it stands now will be on (1) making schooling more accessible, possibly through the provision of financial aid and transportation (bicycles), and (2) making schooling or education a higher priority. If you would like to support these projects please contact me with your ideas for helping.

Declaration of Secondary Projects:

For my secondary projects I would like to focus on increasing the comfort level of the people in my community through providing resources, skill training and education. I have subcategorized my secondary projects into major and minor projects. The major secondary projects are the following 13 projects that were requested directly by my community (in the community’s order of priority, ascending):

* If you would like to support any of the below projects in a non-financial way please contact me here. To make a financial contribution see the individual project links below.

Major Secondary Projects:

1.      Water Distribution:

Currently there is only 1 borehole providing clean drinking water to the 761 people of Sami Koto, and 1 for the 600-700 people of Sami Kuta. Not only does this make accessibility a problem – women often have to wait in long lines at the pump for water, but the distance people must carry their water to their homes is also an inconvenience. For these reasons the village has requested a solar pump water distribution system with 4 taps distributed throughout the community.

Current Status:

I am working on applying for a Peace Corps grant for the project and am working with a local organization called Regional Solar for the contract of work. The engineer from Regional Solar quoted the project at 290,000 Dalasis, or $10,740.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Water Distribution project, please click here:

2.      Boats

The villages of Sami Koto and Sami Kuta are very closely related with the villages across The Gambia River. Their daughters are often given in marriage and the families are divided on either side. For this reason transportation across the river is very frequent. However, it is also dangerous when traveled in one of the hollowed out tree canoes. According to people in my village 10 people have died in the past 8 years in attempts to cross the river in some of the small wooden canoes. 5 years ago seven (7) people drowned in a boating accident. 3 years ago three (3) people drowned, including a pregnant woman. For these reasons the village has requested the donation of 4 metal boats, 1 for the main river crossing (in addition to 1 that is already existing there, but that has had to be repaired several times), 2 for the secondary river crossing, and 1 for access to the river crossing during the rainy season when the fields flood.

Current Status:

Each metal boat costs 50,000 Dalasis, or $1,852. I was originally intending to apply for a Peace Corps Partnership Program assistance for this project, but that would require that people donate the exact requested amount ($7,408 for all 4 boats) and that the community contribute 25% (all the transportation costs), and I am not sure how willing people would be to support this project. As of now I am not sure what the best way to approach this project is. I think 4 boats may be a little excessive and I would not be disappointed if we were able to get 2, but that is still a lot of money that I’m not sure people in America would be willing to pay the bill for. Therefore, if we are not able to receive enough support for this project from abroad I may have to resort to trying to organize the community (median family income is $65 per month, or a little over $2 a day) to raise the money for 1 boat.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Boat project, please click here.

3. Medical Clinic

Once-a-month The Gambia’s Ministry of Health provides free Reproductive and Child Health clinics to women and children throughout all of The Gambia. The nearest RCH clinic is 1.5-2 miles from Sami. Most women and children do not have any sort of transportation and must walk this distance. For that reason they have requested the construction of a clinic in Sami.

Current Status:

I spoke with the Regional Health Team about the feasibility of making another clinic location in Sami and they told me that Sami is actually the preferable location over the current one because of the population, but because there is no designated clinic building in Sami they are unable to hold a clinic there. Our project team received a quote for the construction of a clinic building to be 150,000 Dalasis, or $5,556. I still have more information to gather on this project like whether we could use the school or another pre-existing structure to host the clinic, whether there are any government organizations that would help finance the project, or whether we could simply get the community to build the structure with traditional materials.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Medical Clinic project, please click here.

4. Football Field Improvements

The football (soccer) field in Sami Koto currently has a large Baobab tree encroaching on a quarter of the field in the North West corner. The goal posts are made of Y shaped sticks with a stick across the top. The youth of the community requested that I help them relocate the field – which may require compensation to land owners or land acquisition, or remove the large tree – which I would prefer not to do, and provide metal goal posts. They also requested uniforms, shin guards and footballs (soccer balls) if possible.

Current Status:

I recently went to get pricing on how much it would cost to build metal goal posts. I was told it would be 5,650 Dalasis ($209) for the materials, and 4,000 Dalasis ($148) for the labor. I have not yet had discussions with the owner of the adjacent land about shifting the field over into his property.

If you would like to make material donations to this project please contact me here.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Football Field Improvements project, please click here.

5. Bicycles for the school children

There is a Lower Basic School (Elementary) in Sami Koto, but young children from the surrounding villages must walk miles to this school every day since they do not have any transportation. Also, the nearest Basic Cycle School (High School) is located 5 kilometers from Sami in the village of Garawol. Many children drop out of school after Lower Basic because they do not want to walk the 5 kilometers to and from school every day. For this reason my village has requested the provision of bicycles for school children.

Current Status:

I have been in contact with an England based non-profit called Jole Rider, which donates used bicycles to underdeveloped schools, primarily in The Gambia. Our communication seems promising so far. In their last email they told me that they had contacted the Sami Koto Lower Basic School and the Garawol Basic Cycle School. My worry is that these schools will not receive whatever form of communication Jole Rider sent them, or that the schools will not respond in a timely manner. I will be following up with all who are involved.

If you would like to support this project please contact me here.

6. Farming Implements

88% of the adult male population and 99% of the adult female population state their primary income source as farming and/or gardening, not to mention it is their primary source of sustenance. Currently they prepare and sow the fields with horse or donkey drawn plows, and weed and harvest the fields by hand. There is one tractor in the village, owned by one family, that may be rented for daily use. The village has requested the provision of additional farming implements, these may include fertilizer, herbicide and insecticide.

Current Status:

Not started – unclear as to what exactly is being requested. However, if you would like to support the Faming Implements project please contact me here.

7. Skill Training

The village requested that I provide skills training in the following specialties: tailoring, driving, wiring, auto mechanics, painting, masonry, carpentry, agriculture, welding, engineering, electrical repair, road construction, tie dye, soap making, smithing/iron work, poultry keeping, bee keeping, embroidery, farming and fishing.

Current Status:

Not started.

If you would like to support this project please contact me here.

8. Youth Orchard

The youth in the village requested that I help them start an orchard.

Current Status:

Not started – I would like to work on this with the intent of making it a large cashew orchard, as cashews are the most profitable cash crop, earning on average 3,000 Dalasis per tree per year.

If you would like to support this project please contact me here.

9. Tie Dye and Soap Making

The women in my village requested that I provide them with the supplies for making Tie Dye and Soap.

Current Status:

Not started

If you would like to support this project please contact me here.

10. Road Repair

The roads in the village are made of sand and are severely eroded. Not only is this unsafe for traveling on at night, but it is also inconvenient for larger vehicles. The village has requested that I help them get the roads repaired and possibly reinforced.

Current Status:

I have met with the Area Councilor, who is responsible for such work in the district, and we are currently awaiting the return of the Council Chairman (should be returning within the next few weeks) to discuss possible solutions with him. If the Area Council is unable to help us we will have to rent tractors (700 Dalasis, or $26, per trip) for transporting gravel, and either way the community members will contribute the labor.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the Road Repair project, please click here.

11. School Supplies

School supplies are very limited in undeveloped countries. Children in Sami do not have access to pencils, paper, journals, note pads, exercise books, literature, uniforms, art supplies, etc., and the schools do not have the resources to supply them. My village has requested the provision of these supplies.

Current Status:

I have had an initial meeting with the project team leader to discuss the desired supplies, as listed above. I gave him the task of finding out the prices of these materials and am waiting to hear from him.

If you would like to make material donations to this project please contact me here.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the School Supplies project, please click here.

12. Current Orchard Additions

The village currently has a small orchard with several different species of fruit trees that is maintained by one of the men in the village. They are requesting that I help them acquire fencing and several wells for the orchard.

Current Status:

I submitted an application for a grant several months ago and am awaiting a reply. I recently followed up with the person responsible for the grant and was told that they had not made their final selections for this year, but that I should hear from them within a few months.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the School Supplies project, please click here.

13. And Adult Literacy Education

My village requested an adult literacy education. They have received this in the past through an organization named Tostan, but I am assuming they would like more opportunities.

Current Status:

One of the teachers from the Lower Basic School told me that he would be willing to voluntarily teach an adult English literacy class several times a week. School has been out for the summer, and so the teachers have gone to summer training sessions. But school will resume in September and I will discuss this in further detail with said teacher when he returns.

If you would like to support this project please contact me here.

Minor Secondary Projects:

The minor projects are those that I have recognized and will take upon myself. These include bee keeping, moringa planting and sensitization, nutritional counseling, appropriate technology training (mud stoves, universal nut shellers, bio digesters, etc.) and so on. These will also serve to keep me busy and get me out in the community doing visible work. If you would like to support my minor secondary projects please click the following link to contribute financially, or contact me with ideas for other ways of contributing.

It has been a while since my last post, so let me try to give a short recap of what I have been up to since you last heard…

We officially swore in to our service on March, 13 2011. The ceremony was at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence and was nationally televised. For the past three months I have been living at site, working in my community and integrating myself into society. A majority of my work has consisted of what we call a Village Situational Analysis, or VSA. The VSA is an in-depth survey of our village with the purpose of assessing our community’s needs. In my opinion it has been an indispensable tool for not only helping me better understand my village, but also for helping the people of my community better understand me and aiding my integration. As a result of the VSA I now have an extensive list of potential projects (I hope to publish my VSA report in a separate post along with my list of projects, links and information on how those who are interested may be able to contribute). For 3 – 4 weeks I went to a different compound each day and conducted a 2 hour survey with the compound owner and those who were present at the time of the interview. Here are some interesting statistics I have discovered about my village:

-          Total population: 761 people (352 males and 409 females)

-          17 family compounds

-          Average compound size: 45 people

-          Largest compound: 178 people

-          Smallest compound: 8 people.

-          There is 1 resident English speaker and 3 non-resident teachers who speak English.

-          There is 1 Lower Basic School (Elementary) and 1 Arabic school.

-          2% of the adult population is educated (graduated grade 12).

-          35% of all school age youth are English students, 59% are Islamic students and 9% are out of school.

-          88% of the adult male population and 99% of the adult female population state their primary income source as farming and/or gardening. Secondary sources of income include fishing, gardening, shop keeping, family members abroad, teaching Arabic, bed making, working abroad and other small business activities.

-          The median family income is 1750 Dalasis ($65) per compound per month.

-          The main food staples are coos, rice, fish and groundnut. Vegetables are grown locally and consumed in small amounts. Fruits are consumed seasonally. The average compound consumes approximately 12 cups of sugar per day. The main protein source is fish, which is consumed daily.

-          There are 40 smokers in the community.

-          34% of the population claim to understand what HIV/AIDS is and how it is contracted.

-          The most prevalent communicable disease is Malaria (with a 90% awareness rate), followed by Pneumonia.

-          Only 21% of the surveyed population claim to use soap when washing their hands. The other 79% only rinse with water.

-          Sources of water include 2 boreholes (potable) and 9 open wells.

My other work experience so far includes going to the monthly Reproductive and Child Health clinics, or RCH. This is a monthly clinic where the local Village Health Workers, Community Health Nurses and Public Health Officers come to a facility where they provide free post-natal care to women and children (child weight and health monitoring, vaccinations and family planning resources). At these clinics I mostly weigh the children and determine the vaccines they need based on their age and previous visits. I also went on a 4 day Polio campaign where I joined up with a team of other public health workers and went out through different communities giving Polio vaccinations to all children under 5 years of age. Furthermore, I taught a class on communicable diseases at the Lower Basic School in local language, assisted the Medical Research Council with Malaria and Schistosomiasis testing in my community, and went on a bee keeping trek with some other Peace Corps volunteers in some of the nearby villages.

In my free time I have been helping my family with work around the compound, which in the past few months has consisted primarily of building houses.

I witnessed the “Manyoo” ceremony of my host brother Sinjang’s new wife Tida, which lasted for one week (The Manyoo ceremony is when the bride moves into the husband’s compound).

I built a “home gym” out of trees, buckets, concrete, rope and pulleys in my back yard, planted a garden with egg plant, tomato, peppers, carrots, cucumbers and okra,

went on several hiking and exploring trips with my friend, and other PCV, Remy,

went to watch an African wrestling tournament with my host brothers Mamadou and Ebrima, and I have been simply spending time with, and hanging out with the other Upper River Region Peace Corps volunteers in Basse (the 2^nd transit house location). At this moment I am at the Fajara transit house in Kombo.

This past week was our In Service Training, and today was the final day. As a part of our training we presented our VSA reports, reviewed health issues in The Gambia, discussed sources of funding for our projects and received training on several other health and environment related issues. I will be heading back to site on Monday… This is just a brief summary of what I have been up to in the past three months. I apologize for the lack of detailed information. If there is anything you are interested in knowing more about please let me know and I will try to address it in the next post. Thank you for reading.

*Click on the above pictures to view more.

Picture Slideshow: My New Home In Sami Koto

We have just returned from a 4 day visit to our permanent sites. Sami Koto is beautiful. Unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures of the village while I was there because I did not want to add to all the excitement by revealing my camera, although I am sure there will be plenty of pictures to come. The landscape up country is quite different from the coastal region. The Kombo area (Coastal region: Banjul, Serekunda, Fajara, etc) is fairly westernized with tourist areas, nice restaurants, expensive hotels and shopping centers. The further up country you go the less western influence there is (unfortunately this also means less amenities are available) and the more rural Africa it becomes. The villages have a much more indigenous appearance similar to how I envisioned an African village to look; poor dirt roads leading to clusters of round mud block huts with thatched roofs and grass fences in the middle of the African bush. That is except for my hut, which has a shiny new corrugated metal fence and can easily be picked out as you approach the village. There are also hills here, which allow for vast beautiful views of the open country side. I definitely like it out here in my new home. Sami Koto is a small village, but it is adjacent to another village and about 5 kilometers from Garawol, which is a larger Serehule (one of the tribal ethnic groups of The Gambia. The Serehules tend to have more money and nicer villages) village with electricity, a local hospital and public transportation. My hut is on the west end of Sami Koto, just beyond the school and the soccer field. There are 6 other huts in my family compound and the sun sets behind a large very old tree at the edge of our compound. It is definitely a captivating setting, and Katie, one of the PCV leaders who helped prepare the sites, said that mine was one of the more beautiful ones. I hope you all will come visit at some point and see for yourselves… I have not familiarized myself with everyone in my family yet, but I know my father Lamin Sanawo, his two wives Fenda Jammeh and Kumba Fatty, and 3 of my brothers: Ebrima (near my age), Bakary and Mamadou, although there are many more. My family is very nice and extremely welcoming. They were all very excited to meet me and they took tremendous care of me while I was there. My father does some carpentry work although her only has one arm. Before we arrived at site Peace Corps had selected an individual from my community to be my counterpart. His name is Demba Fatty. He is the Village Health Worker and is highly respected in the community for being very active in community projects. He was extremely helpful during my visit to Sami Koto and I feel lucky to have been placed with such a counterpart. He speaks some English. In the three days that I spent at site Demba took me to meet the Alkalos and Imams of Sami Koto and the neighboring village Sami Kuta, as well as the regional chief and hospital director in Garawol. We also visited the community Garden, watched a couple soccer games and I got introduced to the rest of the village. The two closest volunteers to me, Julia and Sonja from Fototo, came to visit me on the first day and hung out with me all that day, which was nice. They both seem very cool. Julia is at her 15 month point and Sonja is around her 6 month point. I was happy with the food too. We had a variety of different Gambian meals during my three days there with the primary sauce being domoda (groundnut sauce, also my favorite so far), although I am certainly beginning to miss the tastes and variety of American food. All of the trainees have begun to find ourselves consuming more sweets here and many more carbohydrates than most of us would have in the states. I very much appreciate anything that resembles American food when I come across it, and I am quick to consume as much of it as I can, regardless of nutritional content, haha. I think I may actually be gaining weight at this point. I have already cemented my role among the other volunteers as the guy with the largest appetite The other new Upper River Region volunteers: Abby (from my training group in Madiana), Alex and Remy are all very cool. I enjoy hanging out with them and I am sure we will make a great tight nit group… I will be returning to Sami Koto in 2 weeks after we swear in, and I look forward to providing a more detailed description of my new home. Fo wo tumo (till then)!

This is the first opportunity I have had to update my blog since we arrived here in The Gambia in January. I have a lot of experiences to share and I would love to share them all with you, but I have a limited time to do so, and I am sure I will neglect to recall some. In fact, the only reason I am able to write this now is because I am staying at the transit house in Fajara tonight because a bunch of us got sick from some of the food (I am feeling fine now, but our medical officer required that anyone who wasn’t feeling 100% come stay at the transit house so that they can monitor us and make sure we are alright to go visit our permanent sites on Monday). Anyway, I will go ahead and try to give a short summary of my experiences here so far… The first 3 months of our service (pre-service training) have nearly come to a close. Our days have been full of language, cultural and technical skills training, field trips and new experiences of village life in West Africa. There are 30 volunteers in our training group, 18 including myself staying in Madiana, 3 in Yuna and 9 in Mariama Kunda. Our training villages are all fairly close in proximity to each other. All the volunteers are subdivided into groups of 3-4 volunteers with 1 LCF (Language and Culture Facilitator) per group. A typical day begins with waking up around 7 and having breakfast with our family, which for me usually consists of tea with rice porridge or bread with mayonnaise, butter, beans, or eggs.

We then meet with our LCF for language/cultural lessons or bike 5K to Yuna for group classes; occasionally we will pile into PC transport for an educational field trip. Nick and Abby are the other two volunteers in my group. Our first LCF was Ibrima S. Bah, and our current LCF is Daniel Demba (they rotate LCF’s half way through training). They have both been great teachers and counselors, and we have all grown very close to each other.

For lunch we usually have a bowl of traditional Gambian food, consisting of rice with fish, chicken or beef with different sauces, and fruits and vegetables on the side.

Lunch is followed by the continuation of lessons. In the evenings we will return to our individual compounds and spend time hanging out with our host families or attending ceremonies. Dinner is served to us by our families and is most often what we have come to call “bone fish and rice”. It is simply white rice with a small, very boney fish and some sort of fish sauce. It is usually always disappointing to see this in your bowl, mostly because of the difficulty in picking out the many tiny toothpick bones in each bite, but the taste itself is pleasant.

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Family:

My host family surname is Sawaneh and the members of my family are my father Sakou, my mother Swadu Swari (women retain their maiden names) and my siblings Sali, Howa, Bubakar, Muhammed, Isatou, Fatou, Lamin and Mariama (Mariama is married and no longer lives with the family).

For more pictures please visit my facebook album. I am sure I have left out some details that you would like to know about, so please comment on this post and let me know what you want to know. Ala baraka (thank you)!

Country of Service: The Gambia

Program: Environment

Job Title: Water and Sanitation Extension Agent/Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Agent

Dates of Service: March 2011- March 2013

Orientation Dates: Jan. 4 – Jan 5, 2011

Pre-Service Training: Jan. 2011 – March 2011

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The Gambia:

The Gambia is one of Africa’s smallest and poorest countries, but also considered one of the safest countries in West Africa. ¹

Geography:

Area: ²

Total: 11,295 sq km

Country comparison to the world: 166

Land: 10,000 sq km

Water: 1,295 sq km

Area – comparative: Slightly less than twice the size of Delaware

Climate: There are two seasons:  a short rainy season from June to October with temperatures ranging from 80-130 degrees Fahrenheit, with high humidity; and a cool dry season from November to May with temperatures ranging from 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit. ¹

Economy:

GDP: $3.196 billion (2009 est.) Country comparison to the world: 173 ²

People: ²

“The Gambia is conservative by U.S. standards,” (Peace Corps Assignment Booklet).

Population: 1,824,158 (July 2010 est.). Country comparison to the world: 147

Life expectancy at birth:

Total population: 54.07 years

Country comparison to the world: 201

Male: 52.32 years

Female: 55.86 years (2010 est.)

HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate: 0.9% (2007 est.). Country comparison to the world: 55

Major infectious diseases:

Degree of risk: very high

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Vector borne diseases: malaria

Water contact disease: schistosomiasis

Respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis

Animal contact disease: rabies (2009)

Ethnic groups: African 99% (Mandinka 42%, Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli 9%, other 4%), non-African 1% (2003 census)

Religions: Muslim 90%, Christian 8%, indigenous beliefs 2%

“Although most Gambians have little knowledge of other religions, there is a high degree of religious tolerance in the country,” (Peace Corps Assignment Booklet).

Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous vernaculars

Government: ²

Conventional long form: Republic of The Gambia

Conventional short form: The Gambia

Government type: Republic

President: Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH

Independence: 18 February 1965 (from the UK)

Capital: Banjul

Peace Corps/The Gambia

The Peace Corps has been in The Gambia for 42 uninterrupted years working in a variety of programs.

Refer to The Gambia Welcome Booklet pgs 7-10

Resources:

¹ The Gambia Welcome Booklet

² CIA World Fact Book

Visit the Gambia

My Assignment: Environment

At present, 30 environmental Volunteers are attached to several government departments including the Departments of Forestry, Agriculture, Parks and Wildlife, and Fisheries. Water sanitation Volunteers are essentially extension agents who work with local communities and individuals in well construction and repair, improved latrine and soak pit construction, small scale irrigation, hygiene education, pump repair and maintenance, waste management and other environmental sanitation efforts. Environmental and water resource engineering Volunteers primarily work with government and community officials in the design and management of water and sanitation facilities that serve the general public. As an environmental and water resource engineering Volunteer, I will help with larger scale community development projects, including designing and constructing: potable water sources and supply systems, sewage systems, irrigation systems, garbage collection facilities, earthen dams, and concrete spillways.

Secondary Projects:

Volunteers are encouraged to become involved in extra-curricular activities and community projects outside of regular responsibilities. Possibilities include activities with out-of-school youth, sporting activities, poultry raising, small-scale irrigation, bee-keeping, gender and development activities, working with non-formal literacy groups, environmental education activities, HIV/AIDS prevention activities and small business development or household income generation activities.

My primary interests for secondary projects are in charitable efforts, health and fitness related fields, horticulture and agriculture, and small business development. I hope to share my passion for health and fitness with the people of my community by engaging them in sporting/exercise activities and nutritional education. Also, due to my involvement in hunger relief, I hope to get the opportunity to document the effects of hunger first hand and possibly aid in relief efforts in the field (whether that means travelling or even coordinating secondary projects with the people of my own host community).

Living Conditions:

Environmental Volunteers are usually posted up-country, living and working in small, remote rural communities in the poorest and most environmentally degraded areas of The Gambia. Houses in rural areas are usually made of mud block and are round with thatched roofs. They are generally situated in or near a family compound which contains several other such houses. In towns, cement-block (rectangular or square), two-room houses, with corrugated tin roofing are more common. Volunteers who live in the capital area often share a house with another Volunteer, sometimes in a family compound. Volunteers posted in small towns normally live in a compound for renters or in a family compound. For Americans who value their privacy, these living arrangements are often one of the more difficult, but important, accommodations needed in a new environment.

Most villages do not have potable tap water or electricity. Telephone service is now available in or near most villages, but is erratic and unreliable. Public buses and saloon passenger vehicles (vans) are the primary means of transportation to and from your site and to the Peace Corps office. For very short hauls from one village to another, you may travel by donkey or horse-drawn cart, or choose to bike or walk.

Workzones cover an area of 10-15 km in radius, and Volunteers are entitled to 24 days of annual leave per year in addition to local holidays.

The staple food item in the Gambian diet is rice. Cereal supplements include sorghum and “coos,” which is similar to millet. Corn (“maize”) can be found in village markets. Imported canned or packaged foods can be obtained from retail shops in larger town or Banjul. You can pay for a daily lunch bowl or fix your own meals.

Staple foods	Rice, millet, maize, findi, coos
Protein foods	Meat, fish, poultry, groundnuts (peanuts), eggs, milk, beans, cheese
Fruit and vegetables (vitamin and mineral rich)	Seasonal fruits and vegetables (mangoes, oranges, papaya, bananas, eggplant, tomatoes, pumpkins, bitter tomatoes, okra, cabbage, greens, potatoes, grapefruit, guava, baobab, cucumbers, ditah, sorrel/wonjo)
Energy foods (CHO supplements)	Oil, butter, sugar, honey, pasta, bread, yams, cassava (manioc)

Mail service is fairly reliable. A two to four week time range is projected to receive or send mail to and from the U.S. Mail is delivered monthly to volunteer sites.

Schedule

January 4, 2011

11:00 AM – Depart Cincinnati, OH

Arrive in Chicago IL

Registration and Meetings

January 5, 2011

Vaccinations

5:00 PM – Depart Chicago O’Hare Airport (8 hrs)

January 6, 2011

8:05 AM          Arrive in Brussels

11:20 AM        Depart Brussels (8 hrs)

6:20 PM          Arrive in Banjul, The Gambia

January 7, 2011 – March 2011

Pre-Service Training:

After a few days in the city, the trainee will be transported to the training village approximately 25 kilometers up country.  For seven weeks during PST they will be living, and training in close quarters, with three or four other trainees, with a Gambian host family, and a language and cultural facilitator (LCF). The trainee will receive formalized language, technical skill, cross-cultural, personal health, safety and security training. At the end of training the trainee will be assessed on his/her comprehension of the above subjects to determine whether or not they are fit to carry out their service as a PC Volunteer.

March 11, 2011

Swearing-in

John’s Journal, Coming Soon…

Clothes 4 Hunger’s President and CEO, John Rozmus will be serving the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental and Water Resources Engineer in The Gambia, West Africa for the next two years. Follow along as he blogs about his unique experiences and shares his story with us.