At sporting events in Africa, the game is only have the package.
Senegal distraught with tie
I had the opportunity this weekend, to see Senegal (the quarter finalist in the last world cup) play in a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Togo. The game was a great experience despite Senegal blowing a first half lead to the underdog Togo.
The lines were big…
But it was worth it!
Surrender or Starve
I just got through Robert Kaplan’s book called Surrender or Starve which focused on the horn of Africa where millions have died over the years due to human wrought famine. Well extremely well written, there is only so much human misery you can deal with in multiple reading sessions. Nevertheless, I have to admit, I was completely ignorant of the Mengistu and the Dergue and I have a much stronger respect for Eritreans.
On the topic of politics and famine, here are two particular passages I found so poignant I thought I would share.
During the famine in the Ukraine, according to Robert Conquest in The Harvest of Sorrow, the Kremlin kept figures for livestock mortality but not for human mortality. p29
and
In reference to the 1985 “We are the World” Ethiopian Famine
The famine was good business for the Dergue. A port fee of $12.60 was charged for each ton of donated grain. The United States paid $5 million just to hae its first 400,000 tons pass customs inspection. It appeared far from coincidental that the costliest ever offensive against the Eritrean guerrillas was launched in July 1985, on the heels of the massive influx of relief supplies from the West.
Simply amazing, huh?
Nascar, coming soon to Dakar?
Living in Africa is wonderful in that nearly everyday provides an experience that just makes you really appreciate life. Take the other day, when I was coming home from a long day at Sandaga. My cab driver pulls into Shell hands the gas pumper (self-service and Senegal’s unemployment rates do not mix) a 1000 CFA note ($2) we fill up an off we go. After spending nearly a decade as a poor student, I can attest that I too at times have only had $2 to put in the tank. But never did I manage to do it with the car running, in a slow roll, in under 20 seconds!
One Campaign Update
You probably have heard the wonderful news, that the G8 has agreed in principle to eliminating te debt of 18 of the poorest countries in the world (many in Africa including Senegal). However, the One Campaign still needs your support to ensure that our voice is heard.
View of the Phare (lighthouse) near Les Almadies.
Getting into my work
I realize that it has been a while since my last posting. Things in Dakar have been busy but good. I have finally started to make some headway on my work here, nailing down the project I will be working on in with my remaining time here.
The last week at DFI has been interesting with the arrival of about 15 new Senegalese Volunteers, who I helped interview the week before (DFI relies heavily on volunteers both international and local on 3-4 month contracts). While having the constant turnover, provides some challenges in terms of overall program efficiency, it gives a lot of young talented Senegalese a chance to gain valuable experience which will hopefully improve their chances of later finding jobs. From the perspective of an international volunteer, one of the true pleasures is getting to work with them.
Sokhna and Facoumba fellow members of the Leuk FOSS/CyberLouma Team
Raffaele, a fellow GeekCorps from Italy, and I
Project Leuk
New leuk.buildafrica.org - Project Website
When I came to Dakar, I was assigned to work at DFI’s CyberLouma, a computer center downtown in Dakar’s Sandaga market. While the CyberLouma’s intended mission was is provide busines services to local merchants, it currently only succeeds in providing internet access along with basic computer training. After spending some time talking with merchants in Sandaga our team began to notice that many merchants, while running successful shops, involved very little accounting into their business practices. In particular, merchants had a difficult time keeping track of their inventory and would often have to close their shop for at least half a day a week to do a stock count. Additionally, by not keeping accounting records, merchants had very little idea of their costs and hence cannot gauge their profitability. Most merchants, for example, cannot tell you how much they earned in the last year, much less the last month. Their daily business operations are marked by a constant stream of transactions (purchasing & selling) with their financial health being measured by how much they have in their pocket.
Based on this, we came up with the idea of creating our own open source web based application which we’ll use to offer a basic accounting service from the CyberLouma to the merchants in Sandaga. Given the timeline, it’s admitedly a very ambitious project since we’ll have to not only develop the application but do the necessary market research then package it as a business service. However, I’m very excited by the fact that I think it is quite innovative in that its delivery will be paper based. Since most merchants do not have computers nor do they have time to visit the CyberLouma during the day, our software under the Leuk brand (Wolof for rabbit = wisdom) will create paper forms which the merchants will use to keep track of their daily transactions which will then be collected on a biweekly basis to be entered by the CyberLouma staff into the software. By using this, we can greatly extend the reach of our service. If this model proves to be effective, it could hold very exciting developmental implications for other software applications in developing countries.
The following is a project description of Leuk from the SourceForge page for our project:
Registration Description: PHP/MySQL Application to provide basic accounting (inventory) services for African merchants in informal markets. The system will create PDF printable paper forms (available in local languages) allowing those with out computers access.
The purpose of this program is to create a replicable, financially sustainable business service which can be offered by cyber centers in developing nations. The goal of this service is to provide the merchants a framework for learning basic accounting principles which in turn will lead to increased profitability and business efficiency.
In a Music Heaven
For those that know me well, you’ll probably know that I am a huge African music fan/freak. Since leaving Africa, I found African music as a powerful way both to reconnect with and gain a better understanding of the Africa I grew up in. My time in Zimbabwe, when I had the priviledge of seeing Oliver Mtukudzi perform on a frequent basic, really ignited this passion and inspired me to create the BuildAfrica.org Music website which has become a pretty popular source for African music online.
Anyways, one of the reasons, I was eager to come back to Dakar was the fact that is considered by many a mecca for world music. When it comes to access to live musical performances, Dakar borders on the ridicilous. On a weekly basis, some some of Africa’s top performers like Youssou N’Dour, Orchestra Baobob, Baaba Maal, Cheikh Lo, Papa & Cheikh and Omar Penne perform. Take for example the legend Youssou N’Dour (famous in America for singing backup to Peter Gabriel on the song In Your Eyes) who routinely pack large concert halls all across Europe and America, still performs in his club whenever he is in Dakar at least two nights a week.
I got my first experience into the local music scene this Saturday. I started the night by going to a restaurant (no cover) to see Cheikh Lo a popular local singer and member of the Mouride Sect of the By Fall (Muslim Rasta’s) . While I have long been a big fan of his music, I was quite suprised that Cheikh Lo was actually the lead drummer of the group (quite odd for a lead singer). At 1AM we went to the Sahel to see Orchestra Baobob one of my all time favorite bands. They played from 1-4am in a small club with an audience of only about 30 people. Orchestra Baobob, one of the top Afro-cuban bands in the world (they were recently featured on VH1 with Dave Matthews and Tre from Phish) to my enormous pleasure play three times a week at the Sahel. They will definetly be a mainstay when I’m here. Orchestra Baobob has a wonderful story which I definetly recommend you read if you get the time.
Things I’ve Learned So Far
Congratulations To
World News
If you haven’t noticed, I am a huge fan of the Economist after becoming hooked on it at Thunderbird. I recently splurged and treated myself to a subscription. In my opinion, its barnone the best news publication in existence and does a wonderful job in focusing on and providing context to many of the issues facing Africa.
The following is a very interesting and sad article entitled Africa’s Unmended Heart relating to the current state of the tenous peace in the Congo. Few indeed have suffered more then the Congolese, who despite living in an enormous country, immensly blessed in mineral and natural resources, have had to endure a horrendous civil/regional war (largest conflict since WWII) and a series of parasitic despots of epic proportions (King Leopold, Mbotu Sese Soku and Kabila).
The One Campaign
Thank you for those who have signed the One Campaign. For those, who haven’t please take the time and do so before the upcoming G8 meetings.
The ONE campaign organized by Bono has done a tremendous amount to help address the issue of eradicating global poverty.
Right now they need your urgent help. The ONE campaign has set a goal to get ONE million letter signatures for a letter to President George Bush by the upcoming G8 summit on July 6th.
So please take a minute to send a message to our leadership that we are serious about improving the lives of the 1 billion plus fellow humans who survive on less then one dollar a day.
My personal goal is to get at least a hundred of my friends and family to sign the ONE campaign before July 6th.
So please, sign the
ONE Declaration to President Bush.
If you do sign, could you please indicate so in the comments below.
A sincerce thanks,
Matt
P.S.
If you doubt your voice is not important please read the current headline article from the Economist:
Baobob Forest
Destination Linguere
This weekend, Wyva, an old friend of our’s, offered to take me back to Linguere a small town in central Senegal where a couple from my old mission lives. Linguere is also near the village of Thiel where I spent one month as a child. As you can tell from some of the pictures, Linguere is in the Sahel the last strip of plant-life which manages to survive before hitting the Sahara.
The trip was a wonderful experience. It was particularly nice to get away from the traffic and hub-bub of Dakar. Anne and Willie the mission couple we visited are both doing tremendous work. Anne runs a small health clinic/pharmacy where she works with issues related to child birth and also provides support for people infected with HIV/AIDS. Willie has started a really exciting dairy project where he is experimenting with adapting modern milk production techniques to the local environment.
Forage providing water to local villages / Pipe leading to the new stables
Milk in the Desert
The Pulaar people in this region are one of the many cultures on earth who’s survival for thousands of years has hinged on the milk they receive from their cattle. As a result, cows are an integral part of the culture for this semi-nomadic people and the means to measure wealth. However, for the Pulaar in northern Senegal milk production (particularly in the dry season) has become increasingly difficult with the slow advance of the Sahara.
Three modern stables near completion
Willie, with the support of the Lutheran and Christian Reform Church, has started a program to begin implimenting modern milk production techniques of the west in hopes of increasing the output of local cows. To achieve this the project has two major components. First, they are in the final stages of completing a compound of stables where the cattle will be able to go to get food and water reducing the need to wander large distances in search of water. Secondly, the project has purchased two large Holstein bulls (Cows used for milk in America) which they have started to cross-breed with the local cows. Since local cows produce an average of 1-4 liters of milk a day (Dry - Rainy season) and Holsteins are capable of producing in access of 40 liters per day, the hope is that their offspring would produce in the 10-15 litre range while remaining suited for desert-like conditions. If you consider the fact that cattle from the project are only producing a combined 20 liters a day you begin to understand the potential impact.
How many people and cattle get their water
The full impact of the project will not be felt until 2008 when the first generation of cross-breeds have their own calves (2/3 Holstein) and start producing milk. The project has some exciting development implications and should be useful in providing a lot of knowledge about the effects of stabling and how suitable cross-breeds are for the environment and ultimately, given their much larger need for water and food ,whether or not they are more efficient milk producers. The ultimate goal is of course replication, but for the time being there are some very excited Pulaar shephards in Linguere that stand to have the quality of their family’s lifes drastically improved.
Senegalese Leboo Cow +
US Holstein =
The future?
More Pictures __(’Read the rest of this entry »’)
When you emerge yourself into a different culture, even when you think you begin to understand things, sometimes things happen that make you realize you really don’t.
Take cold water for example. Today, to my complete disbelief, I discovered that the guard at my work place and our neighboring guards believed that drinking cold water gave you a belly. So as a result, they’ve swarn off drinking cold water to help get rid of the small guts they’ve developed over the years.
To me this is just a poignant example of how much our cultures (and not necessarily lack of education) affect our belief systems. While I still think the notion of water being the source of my, ahem, belly is completely crazy, it shows just far off the page we could potentially be even on the “givens” when trying to understand each other. It makes me wonder how many of my beliefs I am “crazy” for thinking.
I’m sure you’ll all be glad to know that there is a Bed Bath & Beyond in Dakar (see below). So if you ever decide to get married in Senegal you now have one more option for your wedding registry.
Bed Bath & Beyond - The Dakar Store
Geek Corps Senegal Guide Wiki Added
In other news, I just started a wiki Geek Corps Senegal Volunteer Guide for future volunteers.
IRB World Cup Qualifier between Zambia and Senegal Tommorow
Tommorow I hope to go see Zambia (#66 world ranking) vs. Senegal (#71) in a world cup qualifier in the stadium down the street from my place. The game is free to the public so the crowd may get pretty crazy. I wonder if there are any good rugby songs in Wolof?
Today was a very surreal day. I got to hang out with my old Karate teacher, Maitre Thiam, former African Karate champion, martial art instructors for the police, and teacher for rich embassy kids. Anyways, it was incredible to see him doing well. I actually got to go to his house, met his children and we watched a Kung Fu movie!
I also got to go back to my old school, the International School of Dakar. I still hope someday to give my children the chance to experience such a truly multicultural setting. Seeing the student body reminded how incredibly diverse my education was. After ISD, It would have been really difficult had I not gone to internationally diverse schools like Knox or Thunderbird. Anyways, I’m gonna go catch a bite to eat with Mwavi a close childhood friend who I found out is teaching at ISD. Crazy.
Maitre Thiam
ISD my old school
The American Club
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