My name isn’t really peace only. That’s just one of the recent stupid things I’ve said in pulaar. (Peace only is one of the common responses to How are you?)
I spent the majority of my day in Dieuk having tech sessions on moringa and cereamine and other various whatnots and what-have-yous. I got up early and got to the center just in time to see the last piece of bread get taken, so I sat on the intertubes for an hour until we were all herded into a large truck. This was a pretty big field trip. All the people from SED, Agfo, EE, and Sante were there, making us maybe 30 or 40 total. The truck was a big flatbed with some bars that you could drape a tarp or netting or something over, and there were only seats enough for about 20 of us. I sat on top, and it was pretty much the most fun thing I did since site visit. So that was a pretty good way to start the day. Except I wasn’t paying attention and I got hit in the face pretty hard by a tree branch. I’d still do it again though. And I did, on the way home.
Anyway, Dieuk is impressive. The peace corps started there around 92 or 94 I think, and it was just the village and the dunes. I really wish I had some pictures to show how it is now. There are trees to keep the sand from moving in and there is a really nice garden and a very well organized cooperative there now. I mean, I’m not sure how much more the peace corps can do there, and that’s really satisfying to think that we’ve helped them make the changes that they’ve made. Sometimes it’s difficult to believe that we’re going to be able to do much lasting good, and it’s really encouraging to see a place like Dieuk. I mean, even if what they have doesn’t last, what has been accomplished there is far beyond what I dare hope for. They must have had a string of really good volunteers and a really committed and open community. I don’t know.
village children
When I first got here I was very starstruck by the volunteers doing the training. More and more though I see them as myself, just in a year, or two, and I can’t help but be impressed by their professionalism. It confused me, at first, because the better I got to know the pcvs leading the sessions, the less likely it seemed that they would act the way they do (responsibly, basically, when no one is holding you to it). The volunteers and trainees share a lot of the same personality traits (myself included, I think), and I couldn’t figure out what would cause me to have their manner were I to be in their place.
It’s difficult to explain what I’m talking about if you haven’t met these people or been a part of this. Part of it, I think, is authority; these are not the kind of people who want it, or want to use it, or like being confronted by it elsewhere. Plus you can never really be peers with people that you are leading. It’s got to be painful. Is it worth it? It’s possible they had nothing better to do, but that’s only somewhat likely. I think that they believe in what they are doing, and that they believe that they way that they are doing it is necessary.
Part of it is probably just classroom management. We’re adults but we also like to be kids, and that can be difficult to handle sometimes. Part of it is the importance of the information we’re being given. They are, after all, telling us what we need to know in order to successfully do our jobs. Mainly, though, I think it is about culture. PCV trainers need to take their jobs seriously so that we take their jobs seriously. We need to take their jobs seriously, because their jobs are our jobs, and we need to take our jobs seriously.
I got to thinking about that, and it occurred to me that a successful stage is probably 1 part formation, and two parts indoctrination. Culture is such a difficult thing to pin down, but approach, attitude and, demeanor are going to go so much further towards a successful tour that competence (language excluded) ever will. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it helps to know what you’re talking about, but you can always ask for help if you get stuck. The other stuff has to come from you, though. That culture has to be transmitted.
Proper staffing must really be difficult. I can see how a sudden exodus of experience could really set a program back, even at the region or site level. There has to be continuity to keep culture alive, and the transference takes time.
I don’t actually have any idea what I’m babbling about.