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Other entries in Mauritania

Peace Corps Mauritania

Hello All,

I'm sorry it took me so long to get this journal started, but there are not too many computers in Mauritania. Training has just finished up and I'll be moving out to my village, Maghama, tomorrow for the next two years. I'm not sure where to start telling you all what I've been up to because there is so much to tell. What I can tell you is that there are no toilets or toilet paper here and my name is now Moussa Gangue. I'll try to condense my experiences the best I can and give you an idea of what Mauritania is like.

Training

Training  just finished yesterday and overall was very enjoyable. We had a swearing in ceremony and I got to deliver the thank you speech to the audience in Pulaar. I lived in Rindiao during training with a large family. These people gave me the name of Moussa Gangue, which I think I'm going to keep for the rest of my time in country.

My days in Rindiao consisted mostly of studying Pulaar, running and exercising when I could, and hanging out with my family and the three other trainees who were there. Every other weekend during these 2 1/2 months all 52 trainees were brought to the high school in Kaedi for work/culture sessions.

My Work Here

I work in the sector of Small Enterprise Development. Our work description is very open ended and I have a lot of flexibility with projects I choose to work when I'm in Maghama. The first two months or so at site will consist of interviewing local businesses and cooperatives, and gathering information about the town and other aid organizations that work there. Once I am familiar with the town and am able to conduct a needs assessment I can decide which projects I would like to pursue. Some examples of projects that other volunteers have done are teaching women's cooperatives how to keep accounting records or helping raise money for constructing an antiliteracy center.

Peculiar things about Mauritania

Food- Food here is hilarious. I eat the same three meals pretty much every day. Breakfast is always bread and coffee. Lunch is rice, vegetables, and fish thrown into a bowl. 5 people eat out of a bowl and you eat with your right hand. It's not great hygeine practice, but it's fun to eat like a 3 year old again. Dinner is usually rice and goat  meat eaten the same way. My host brother of 9 months once vomited on my shoulder during lunch. Luckily by this point I was desensitized to village life and we all got a good laugh out of it.

Houses- Homes here are clay/mud structures for most people and concrete for the richer families. Most of the year it's too hot to sleep inside and people usually sleep out doors on platforms or on their roofs if they are walkable.

Language- The languages I will speak in Maghama (my permanent site) are Pulaar and French. At the end of training I tested out are Intermediate high in Pulaar and Advanced low in French. I hope to continue to make progress with languages because the better I can communicate the more effective I can be as a volunteer.  

Transportation- Going anywhere in Mauritania involves 3 people in the front and 4 in the back of some scrapped Mercedes from Europe. To get a ride you need to hitchhike and haggle with the drivers on prices. They always try to rip me off because I am American. My Pulaar bargaining/shit talking skills are improving but traveling anywhere is still a pain in the ass.

The Places

Rindiao-This is village (pop. 2,000) where I lived for 2 1/2 months with my host family to study Pulaar. Rindiao is 10 km west of Kaedi on the Sengal River on the southern border of the country.

Kaedi- Kaedi is the Regional capital of my region/state within Mauritania. There are about 50,000 people here, electricity, roads, internet, etc. There is a regional Peace Corps office here and I will be coming here about once a month to use the internet and correspond with me supervisors.

Maghama- This is the village I have been assigned for the next two years. It is located 120 km east of Kaedi on the Senegalese river. There is no road between the two towns and it involves a 4 hour SUV ride across the savanna to get there. About 12,000 people live there, electricity is available some hours of the day, and there is a cell tower in town.

The Gorgol- This is the region of the country where I live and all the above towns are located. The people are mostly all Pulaar (One of the three black African tribes in Mauritania.) The climate here is greener than the Northern part of the country which transitions into the Sahara.

Permanent Service

Tonight is my last night Kaedi as I am leaving for Maghama tomorrow. I'm excited to get to site and finally start doing the work I came here to do. I am hoping to update this journal about once a month or however often I can get to a computer. Mauritania rocks, no one worry about me. My cell will always be on 222-609-3910. Until next time......

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