Taiba Niassene

It's amazing how quickly I've become accustomed to Dakar. After spending a week in Taiba, a village 60km south of Kaolak, I was looking forward to some of the amenities I have here. For example, the weather is much more enjoyable, I have my own room, a flushing toilet, a family that speaks french. Ironically the electricity was more reliable in the village but no internet to be found. I learned a new meaning of the word hot -- it's normal to take 3 showers or more per day on account of the heat. Most people don't do anything after lunch during the hottest part of the day -- naps are common or lounging in front of the tv -- sweating profusely is unavoidable with both options.

I arrived in Kaolak on Saturday in time for lunch with four other students. After lunch and a round of ataaya (tea) we were given a short presentation of APROFES, an association that promotes Senegalese women. Some of the services include helping victims of domestic abuse and rape, HIV/AIDS screenings, and causeries - interactive sessions that discuss health problems, pregnancy, domestic abuse, microfinace, agriculture with local women.

Sunday we went out to a HIV/AIDS screening in a poor suburb in Kaolak. It was the first screening organized by two groups of high school students. Local health workers were testing community members for HIV/AIDS. There was a large tent set up with plastic chairs and giant speakers blaring mbalax - traditional Senegalese music. These two student led groups were started by high school students that were unsatisfied with the state of their neighborhood. They take turns patrolling the neighborhood at night to keep it safe, encourage kids to stay in school, promote solidarity and health. It was amazing to talk to them and see how much they were doing of their own initiative. Each member pays 100F a week to support their events but they are searching for partners so they can receive more money. While they emphasized their need for money, they were doing a lot and improving their neighborhood -- all self motivated. It was great to talk to them about what they're doing and see how dedicated they were to improving their neighborhood.

Sunday afternoon I made it to Taiba where I stayed with Faty Niass and her four daughters, her mother and another couple Moustafa and Fatou and their 2 children. I quickly adopted Niass as my last name for the week -- when people ask for your name they always want to know your last name as well. Faty works at the poste de santé - health post. She works in the small pharmacy, there were 2 aids that help bandage wounds, give shots and IVs, and one nurse. The nurse was the only one getting paid, the others work as volunteers and may make some money at the end of each month depending on whether or not the clinic made money or not. Everyone working there are Senegalese and live in the village. There's also a small maternity center down the road with a delivery room and examining room.

During my week, I spent a day and a half at the clinic - in the pharmacy, with the aids and with the nurse. I helped cooked dinner - varieties of rice and fish. I also visited the small factory where they make peanut oil and peanut butter. I spent one morning at the preschool as well. It was stressful at times because very little french was spoken. Unlike Dakar, I had no one to talk to in English to discuss what was going on and reactions but as the week went on I became more accustomed and accepting of my limits with wolof. Now that I'm home I'm making more of an effort to speak wolof more often, I'm going to come back with a Senegalese french accent and a basic knowledge of wolof. It was really helpful to spend the week in Taiba and helped me understand the health system and how important it is to have national health workers in the clinics. I could visit a village and research the prevalence of HIV or forced marriages but I couldn't do awareness campaigns and be effective.