Welcome to my blog! This is my first post but I have been living in Senegal for six weeks. Posts will not be chronological because I want to both describe events that are recent and I want to re-hash older experiences that seem relevant.

I am finishing my Volunteer Visit in a place that magically provides Wi-Fi but we just spent the preceding days in more rugged circumstances. Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights Anne and I visited our home for the next two years in Senegal’s under-developed southeast. It is a town with between 3,000 and 6,000 residents. Cette ville is large by the standards of Kedougou and is expanding rapidly as gold miners and allied industries rush to the area. From it we can reach Dakar in a long day riding in a sept-place (long-range taxi) and, if not for their recent military coup, we could easily visit Bamako, capitol of Mali.

The discovery of gold in this area has ushered in pavement, lories, HIV and methyl-mercury pollution. Along with the few small government agency posts in town, there is a carpentry/metal shop, a couple boutiques (corner stores), a hardware store, some meat sellers, a restaurant or two (restaurant here means a hot 10’x10’ room stocked with Fanta, beans, eggs and village bread (a little like ciabatta), and two robinets (public faucets).  The town also has a few public wells, but these are sketchy deep pits filled sticks and trash. Lately, the town has had water shortages and as the hot season heats up I imagine life could become pretty dry. However, our ancien, Leah--who is just now finishing her service—has reassured us that water shortages do not last long. When the robinets dried-up a few weeks ago, the entire town protested, marching down the road drumming their empty benoirs.

During this trip we also met our counterparts, residents chosen by the community to facilitate our integration and support our projects. Anne has two counterparts, Monsieur Sy (a social worker) and Sira (a community health worker who is involved in the women’s group, speaks French and has worked with Tostan). Moussa, my counterpart, runs the community radio station, runs a restaurant and is everywhere in the town.
As for projects, I am interested in several local issues: methyl-mercury exposure among artisanal miners, the establishment of a community incinerator for burning plastic (residents burn tons of plastic bags and bottles in open fires…ugh!), and starting a Roots & Shoots program in the area. Roots & Shoots is a program created by the Jane Goodall Institute to foster awareness of and advocacy for conservation among young people. On the ground, other issues and projects may tie up my time but I am so excited to finish Peace Corps training (in five weeks) and give 'em a shot. On the other hand, leaving our family in Mbour will be tough. They have been great! But Mbour is a beach town and we will definitely visit over the next two years; so the parting should not be too sad.