Last night as I was tucked nicely into my mosquito net, drifting off to
sleep, I thought of some of the criticism that I have heard about the Peace
Corps. This includes from people I know and also just criticism in general. “Why
don’t you help people of your own country” is probably one of the top questions
I heard after, “Wow, so you’re going to be living in a mud hut and stuff,
right?” On the latter point, I actually live in a cement room in a house so I
have it slightly nicer than the hut volunteers but I assure you, they do exist.
As far as the first question, it’s definitely a valid point. I know that there
are plenty of people in America that are impoverished and need help. I have
volunteered at various organizations and plan on continuing that trend when I
get back to the States. For the most part though, Americans tend to like other
Americans. This is not always the case with people from other countries.
The media alone reflects very poorly on Americans. People from other
countries unfortunately catch a lot of our trash TV (aka reality TV) and assume
that all Americans have…we’ll just say “loose morals.” An issue on top of the
trash TV is that the media tends to highlight fanatical maniacs. One of these
people highlighted was a pastor (who shall remain nameless, he has received
enough publicity) who was organizing International Burn a Qur’an Day. The Qur’an
is the holy book of Islam so this was an incredibly offensive movement. I don’t
care if you’re religious or not, that’s just something you don’t do. It has
shocked me to my core how many Senegalese people (who are 90% Muslim) thought
that this man was an accurate representation of Americans. I had to explain that
there were far more Americans that were outraged at this man than who supported
him but that’s not what the media likes to portray. To avoid this post becoming
too political or heavy I’ll end the rant by simply saying; some of us Americans
have to do something to change our worldview. After all, the second goal of
Peace Corps is to promote better understanding of the American people on the
part of the people served. In a world that is becoming increasingly more
global, this notion of world peace becomes even more essential. It doesn’t hurt
that I am hopefully teaching the people I’m working with sustainable skills to
help pull them out of poverty.
Phew, on to other news! You may be wondering what it is I’m doing over
here to make us Americans look good. I have now officially been a volunteer for
about a month now. As far as what I’m doing to shed a positive light on
Americans, I hope that I’m doing at least something. Each day is spent with me
trying my hardest to learn a language I’ve never heard. I’m eating, traveling, dressing,
bathing and simply living how the Senegalese are. I am also sneaking in
mini-America lessons wherever I can. I show videos and pictures of my family
and friends back home in order to make Americans more relatable. I show maps of
the US and talk about different states and how many times Senegal could fit
inside America. I have conversations with Senegalese people about strong
American women and the impressive roles women can achieve. I get reactions
constantly about how peculiar I am that I don’t really enjoy household duties
and that I desire education and a career. They might think I’m strange but at least
it has them thinking. Amidst all of this, there are days where I experience
what I like to call the high highs and the low lows.
Some of the high highs are when I finally nail every greeting a particular
villager happens to throw at me. They are when I spend the long afternoons learning
how to prepare Senegalese meals (which is especially entertaining as I
mentioned previously, I’m no chef). I enjoy the time at the beach I have with
my family. One day a local artisan profusely thanked me for coming to Senegal
to help his people. I love the days I am able to fit a run in (this makes it
sound like I’m so busy; by fit in I mainly mean work around the rain and /or my
own laziness). It’s nice to have conversations with people about the work I may
be doing here. Then there are the afternoons when my adorable 3-year old host
sister is teaching me Serer (my local language).
But there are also some low lows. Some days I nail the greetings but
most of the time I feel unable to properly communicate what I want to say. There
are creepy, crawly creatures everywhere. Certain days I feel unbearably lonely
and isolated. Other times people often assume I’m a tourist and simply hound me
to buy things or make me feel like an ATM. Through it all though, I am
ultimately happy. As a lover of culture, I feel incredibly privileged to be
completely immersed in such a colorful one. Yes, the low lows aren’t great but
the high highs make it all worthwhile.
I know I’ve jumped around a lot but I hope it somewhat made sense where
I’m coming from here.
Until next time,
xx
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