Day 60: AI in Nder

Today we completed the Discovery and Dream phases of Appreciative Inquiry. (For more info on AI, refer to previous entries from the first village visit.) In our agriculture group, we learned of previous successes that the villagers had accomplished, in terms of community gardens, organic practices, etc.

We met in Ronald’s room (another program assistant) with three villagers. There were four of us Living Routes students (Eric, Ali, Kristin, me) meeting with the chief’s son (Maodo), a brother in my home-stay family (Ndery) and another villager named Guedal. Because it was the morning, it was still cool, and we were able to stay comfortable (at least for a little while.) The villagers explained to us about the projects they had done when the previous Living Routes students had visited them back in the spring. They talked about their desires to use fewer pesticides, but at the same time, keep up their crop yields. They grow mostly sweet potatoes, but they also grow okra, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, and peanuts.

After finishing the meeting, it was about 1130, about the time when it starts to get really hot. As long as you stay out of the sun though, it’s bearable. Eric and I then returned to our compound to hang out, sleep, play chess, and eat lunch (Ceebu Jen, yup, 4 for 4.)

We did the Dream phase in the afternoon at around 4. We asked the three villagers to close their eyes, and imagine what this village would look like in 3 years. They came up with some good ideas, and we combined them with the dreams that we, the students came up with. It’s nice to have something to look forward to, like an actual project that we can accomplish when return here for our 2.5 week stay. After talking for a while, we, the agriculture group took a walk to (what had been) the community garden where there wasn’t much growing.

The landscape here is basically identical to that of a desert, with no trees taller than about 15 feet. There are lots of succulent plants, or rather, desert plants (however, no cacti.) The sun burns off any cloud cover by about 11am, and scorches most things that try to grow. There are so many types of insects here, including mosquitoes, dung beetles, scarabs, praying mantis(es) and plenty of others that you just don’t want to mess with.

Anyway, we finished our tour of the community garden, and returned to our compound by about 7pm. Dinner was Maffe (white rice with peanut sauce, not Ceebu Jen…YES.) Night activities included hanging out with some of the other students, and falling asleep early.