Niakhar - Take 2

February 15, 2008

I fell in love with Niakhar so much that I wanted to go back and visit. I decided it would be a good idea to bring my three friends as well, since they haven't been to a village yet. From Kaolack, we took a sept-place to Fatik. My friends then didn't want to spend the $4 to take a taxi that would've left immediately, but instead opted to pay about 65 cents each to ride a little bus packed with people to the village. I would never get in one of these buses on the main highway, but since I knew the road we were about to get on, and know that there are rarely other vehicles on it, I said I'd ride the bus too. But then, we had to wait 2 hours for the bus to fill up. After about an hour, I started putting the idea in the girls' heads that it would be worth it to pay the $4 extra to take a taxi. But by that time, my huge heavy luggage with many of my belongings had already been lugged onto the top of the bus. When we got off the bus, we caused quite a commotion. The guys running the transport station kept telling us to get back on the bus , and we said we didn't have time to wait cause we had a meeting to go to (this is basically unheard of in Senegal; the Senegalese ALWAYS have time to wait); they refused to believe us and refused to get my luggage off the top. So, my friend Bethany started climbing up the ladder to get the luggage (which she honestly could not have carried down because it was quite heavy). The men started freaking out and telling her to get down (it's unheard of for women to climb up on top of the bus), but the women around us supported Bethany's efforts and started yelling at the men. We had already made friends with the women, as they earlier had given us children to hold and watch over while they worked. It was quite the commotion. We ended up getting back on the bus since it was about to leave, but then ended up waiting another 20 minutes until it was completely packed. The overall 2 hours of waiting was not worth the $4 that we saved, but it was definitely an experience.

We arrived in the village about 20 minutes after our transport finally left. I called my friend who lives there when we arrived and he said he'd arrive in a few minutes to pick us up (**side note: never in my life did I think that if I ever visited an African village I would have a cell phone and be texting or calling people from it**). In the meantime, a 12 year old boy ran up to us and said my friend's name about 3 times, and told us to come over to a boutique and wait for my friend to arrive. So, we sat down and the woman running the store ran and got plastic chairs for all of us to sit down (the hospitality in this country continues to amaze me), and sure enough 4 minutes later my friend Paul Samba Diouf arrived to pick us up. Paul had arranged a room at his family's house for us to stay in so that we would be with a family instead of simply at the YWAM base. His family is incredibly nice and welcoming. The room for us was set up with a bed, some mattresses on the floor, mosquito nets, and a fan… perfect. After we settled in, we went to the YWAM base. We visited with the director for a bit, and then Paul gave the other girls a tour of the base. I wandered around the area playing with Dorcas, a darling little girl whose parents both work at the base.

Afterwards, we walked around the fringe of the village among the baobab trees. We ran into a friend of Paul's who was going for a run. The friend stopped and told us lots of old Senegalese stories. He used to work as a tour guide, so he loves that sort of thing. Afterward he joined us to visit the village of Paul's uncle.

My friend Bethany always asks for bouye juice whenever we are anywhere the serves juice. Sometimes she will want it when simply walking down the street, and then will stop in every boutique in the vicinity to see if they have some. Bouye is the fruit of the baobab tree. The juice made out of the fruit is white and is absolutely delicious. As we were walking among the baobab trees, Bethany tried to find some fruit that she could bring back with her, but none of them were good. Paul's uncle's family gave us six fruit to go home with, and upon return to Paul's family's house, his mother made us juice out of the fruit.

Before dinner, we walked to the "downtown" part of the village. Bethany has a love for animals, and ended up riding one of Paul's family's donkeys part of the way to the main store in the village, and then all the way back to the house. It was quite the site. The villagers got a kick out of it as well.

After dinner, the girls were tired so they immediately went to bed. Paul and I walked to the other side of the village to visit my friend Anna who was staying at the pastor's house where I had gone to church last Sunday morning. I talked to Anna for a bit and then we visited with everyone else. Anna's aunt had sent her a box of dominos, so we taught the pastor and one of his children how to play the game. We sat around and talked with the family for about an hour until I got tired and returned back to where I was staying.

This morning, I woke up at about 7:30am. I woke up other girls up (yes, I am the early riser of the group, who would've thought?!) and we had breakfast when Paul arrived (bread, butter, coffee). Paul and I left to go meet Anna and the pastor. There's a girl in a nearby village who is very sick. She has sores on her upper thigh, and they've been there for over 2 years and continue to get worse (**the following is not for those with weak stomachs**). She has at least 3 open wounds, and there is puss that oozes out of them. We were told that yesterday they were not open and instead the entire thigh was very swollen, but then when they washed it they cleaned out the wounds. The wounds never truly close. She has been out of school for 2 years because of it. Her condition causes her great pain and makes it impossible for her to walk great distances, and she lives at least 3 kilometers from the nearest good-sized village. They want to put her in a hospital so that they can truly clean the wounds and treat the condition, but they do not have the money to do so. The nearest hospital that they say is equipped enough to deal with her condition is a few hours away. The four of us went to go visit the girl and her family. We prayed for the girl who is just 17 years old. Her eyes are full of life, but it's frustrating to realize that she can't go to school. They said she will probably die at a young age if she doesn't get the treatment to deal with her condition, and her family doesn’t have the money to take her to the hospital and pay medical bills.

After visiting the girl, Paul took me to visit a school set up by a Serer mission. The young kids were in the school yard in what is basically their gym class, running around playing football (soccer) with bandanas of the color of their team wrapped around their heads, and a young woman who was their teacher blowing a whistle and coaching them. We walked into one of the classrooms where there were only two students and a teacher. The two students were girls and were about 17 years old. They are the only students in their class, taking up just a little space in the huge classroom.

We arrived back at the house to see Bethany and her two friends in the middle of singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" with a group of children in the front yard. It was so cute. Bethany wants to be a teacher and it is very apparent. The children don't speak English, or French, yet they were singing right along in English. They also had taught them words including "dance" and "shh" (ok, I know that one isn't technically a word), and after the song finished they started playing a type of follow-the-leader game.

I packed my bags and then played football (soccer) with the kids while waiting for the time to leave to roll around. Adults here don't in general play with children. Children are usually left to entertain themselves, take care of themselves, and watch over one another, so they love when people my age (let alone TOUBABS my age) take interest in them.

We've rented a car (a sept-place) to go back to Dakar. We are each paying $2 extra to go directly from the village of Niakhar to Dakar without stopping in the city, and without having to take 2 other passengers. It's wonderful! We have room to stretch out and can actually look around and see the scenery (which is difficult when it's usually you and 7 other people crammed into a station wagon, a "sept-place"). So here I am, in the backseat next to Anna, stretched out, looking at the scenery and people of this beautiful country and typing on my laptop. A number of times we've had to slow down and wait for animals (donkeys, cows, and sheep) to cross the road. One particular donkey just stood still in the middle and waited for us to drive around it. It has been a great trip! We are sure to get stuck in traffic in about a half-hour when we get near the peninsula where Dakar is, but until then it's smooth travels.