Long Time Since Posting

July 7th 2009
7:04pm

It might have been about a year since I've written on this thing. Alot
has changed. For instance, I've made the move from being a rural
volunteer into being an urban one. I moved into the city of Kolda to
do Urban Gardening Work. To make a long story short, I moved because
there were some great work opportunities in Kolda to make a big
impact. In the village, I really had the feeling that they didn't
really want another volunteer, they just wanted all the nice perks
that went along with having one. I still go back to visit my friends
every few weeks. It's hard though. There are just so many issues here.
So much poverty, sickness and pain. It's a country that doesn't have
many of the luxuries or conviences of the Western world. Much of the
time I feel guilty that I can't do more or I don't have the efficacy
to effect more change. As a RPCV I heard speak recently said, "As a
volunteer, you are often asked to do things outside of your
competency... like brain surgery with a butter knife."

In Kolda, I have a number of gardens which I work with. Here are just
a few of them. There is a nutritional garden for HIV/AIDS patients and
well as about half a dozen small individual gardens for those
patients. I visit the HIV/AIDS garden at the hospital nearly everyday
while for the individual gardens, I stop by them roughly once or twice
a week.

Also I advice a large scale market garden a few miles outside of town.
It is operated by a Spanish NGO named YARAMA. It is financed by a
group of Spanish doctors and administered by a group of local Pulaars
that have ties and family in Spain. The market garden operates about 7
kilometers outside of Kolda in the village of Sibere Koyo. It is run
like a cooperative garden association. There are about 28 individuals
that work plots. Last year in addition to typical local garden crops,
they grew carrots, potatoes and cabbage. I consider these to be more
sophisticated crops because of the pests here. The first year has been
very successful. I know the second year will be even better. They will
be less rushed and can concentrate on running the garden more
intensively.

My experience with the Spanish NGO and their garden project has given
me faith in 'grassroots' development where locals are running the
show. Sometimes I think volunteers control the project too much and
don't let their workpartners feel like they own the project.