Saturday, June 6, 2009

Leaving for the Field

After an action-packed week of orientation and logistics in Dakar, the team left for the field bright and early today. For my part, I had smooth and uneventful trip to Mbour, a mere two hours from Dakar, the majority of the voyage spent leaving Dakar. It was both exciting and bittersweet to leave everyone this morning for two weeks alone with my binome, Oulèye.

Below are a few pictures of our departure:

Maguette!



Louise:



Mala and Andrea:



Alia and Maguette:



Mariam:



I'm lacking photos of Meghan and Veena, so please add them if you are able!

During my Senegal IFP, I will be analyzing reproductive health education programs targeted at out-of-school youth in Mbour, Tambacounda and Kolda. Reproductive health education programs for out-of-school youth have been largely unsuccessful in Senegal, as well as other regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along with my research partner, Oulèye, a student from the Institut de Formation et de Rechèrche en Population, Développement, et Santé de la Reproduction, I will be analyzing the existing documentation on these programs, analyzing the problems associated with their strategies, and making recommendations for new and innovative strategies to successfully influence out-of-school youth's knowledge, attitudes, and behavior with regard to reproductive health.

Here is a picture of me with my binome, Oulèye:



I am eager to see what the upcoming weeks will bring, both in terms of my study, and with regard to life in Mbour. I took off this morning from the Résidence de l'Université in the UNFPA Land Cruiser--all in all, a sweet ride, as Meghan so aptly put it. The UNFPA expert, Senghor, and the driver (whose name I have shamefully forgotten!) made for good company as we made our way to pick up Oulèye near the Technopole on the way out of the city. After we picked up Oulèye, we overtook the other two UNFPA vehicles as they stopped in Refisque to pick up Louise's binome. The next half hour or so was peppered with bumper-to-bumper and slow-moving traffic as we left the outskirts of Dakar. Soon enough we were passing Popenguine (I thought of JoJo!) and then Saly, and before I knew it we were in Mbour.

Mbour has one and only paved road, off of which numerous dirt roads sprawl to the outlying community. We arrived at the Ministry of Youth (la Ministère de la Jeunesse; hereafter, simply the MJ) without issue and stepped out of the Land Cruiser. Upon entering the building, it looked like we had arrived at an abandoned headquarters; there was no sign that it had been recently occupied, at least in the decidedly empty main room off the entryway. Laty had given me the number of the gestioner of the MJ, so we called him and he spoke to Senghor who subsequently confirmed the gestioner would be there soon to meet Oulèye and me. Senghor and the driver then left for Kolda, as they had a long drive ahead of them. Oulèye and I waited on the porch for a few minutes before the CCA coordinator, Mbacke, arrived. He gave us a brief tour of the center, showing us the salles d'activités, the sage femme's (midwife) examination room, the offices (including one available for interns!), and the backyard of the property. Mbacke has been with the MJ since 1998 and working on reproductive health issues in particular since 2006 (if I remember correctly). In the back of the building, there are some three dozen young trees, planted two years ago by Mbacke. Two rows of small saplings form a tidy walkway up to the back door. I can imagine in a few years they will provide ample and welcome respite from the heat, and will hopefully also serve as an inviting place for young people to gather.

Mbacke made us Nescafe and offered us Biscrème (cookies with chocolate in the middle) and we talked about the CCA programs. He shared with us a stack of previous evaluations conducted by some Belgian undergraduate social work interns, one who left as recently as April 24th of this year; we have a lot of documentation to review this week! It is a relief to see this big stack of studies because I have been eager to read about the most recent evaluations conducted on the programs.

Mbacke said he will drive us to the office each morning between 8:00 and 8:30; at 1:00 pm we will all go to his home for lunch. Then at 3:00 pm we return to the office, and return chez nous around 6:00 pm. It seems that for transit to the office, we are dependent on Mbacke for a ride, which seems fine for the first week since we'll be keeping the same hours as him. I'm not sure how we'll get out and about for surveys, though, if we want to reach out-of-school youth who don't frequent the CCA. I will also have to ask for the number of a taxi or car service in the (likely) event I want to go into town for groceries, other necessities, or to take a trip to the beach!

After coffee and an introduction to the office, Mbacke drove us to the house where we will live for the next two weeks. It is approximately a 7 minute drive from the office and located in a purely residential area of town; I must say I feel rather isolated out here, but I'm at ease with the location since it's only a couple blocks from Mbacke's house and a guard is stationed on the premises at night. The property is surrounded by a 10-foot or so high wall, and a locked gate, the key to which is available to Oulèye, me, Mbacke, and the "guardien." Our door is metal and sturdy, with a sizable bolt, and a lock as well. Each of our rooms also has a door with lock and key.

Our house is spacious and clean, if a little dusty. The surrounding area is peppered with other houses, and dirt roads all around. The windows are not glass, but covered metal grates open to the elements, with large gauzy red curtains to shield us from the sun. We have a modern kitchen with a stove and an oven fueled by a propane tank, a brand new refrigerator, and all the essential cookware and dishes, etc. The bathroom has a western-style shower and a toilet, those being in separate rooms, with a sink in the adjacent hallway. We have a large dining table and a single bed in the hallway, which I like to think of as our little sitting room. Oulèye took the larger room with a king size bed since her mosquito net is large enough to accommodate that bed; I am in the other room with a single bed (which is actually a hospital bed, complete with wheels and brakes!) so I could fit my mosquito net around it. The ceilings are too high for us to screw in our hooks for our mosquito nets, so we called Mbacke to have someone assist us in that endeavor, but they have yet to arrive...I should end this entry soon to follow up on that, since the sun will set in a couple hours!

Here are some photos of our house...

Our front gate & exterior surrounding wall; a view from inside our house:



Our front door, from inside our front hallway:



Our bolt on the front door (it also has a conventional lock):



Dining table and hallway:



Our windows and curtains:



Kitchen counter and sink:



Stove/oven and propane tank:



View from inside my room:



All in all, I am happily installed. I must say, it is very, very quiet here after all the hustle and bustle in Dakar last week. I wonder if I'll get used to it? In any case, I have a stack of reading to tend to, a bunch of emails to write, and some dusty floors to sweep. :)

Hoping everyone is having a safe and pleasant journey to Tamba and Matam today. Signing off for now.

-Amy

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