Story time it is again i guess. So I'm back in the Gou after a couple eventful days out in Kafori about 35k away from Kédougou. I originally went out there on the 7th to check out kevins site and help him haul some of his stuff out there as he had a lot. It was a nice bike ride out there as it wasnt balls to the wall fast and we had a bunch of stuff attached to our bikes. I got a couple good pics along the way of our loaded own bikes though and it was a nice way to spend a morning. We get out to Kafori in about 2 1/2 hours or so so it wasn't that bad of a time. The first lady we run into as were coming up out of the creek bed crossing that leads you into kafori is one of kevins neighbors who is a really old lady who is just thrilled to bits to see him and starts dancing and is just genuinely soo very happy to see him. so with my first impressions of kofori that we walk up the hill to where kevin is living at the moment as his hut hasnt even been started yet. He does have some really nice digs though as hes living with the president of the community rural for Kafori. My Aunt from my host family in Kédougou lives in the same compound as well as she is a teacher there in Kafori. So we get to unpack our stuff and relax a bit when we get there after we get through the ritual of greeting everyone and their mother in the compound. It was nice to relax a bit as the bike ride is kinda a tax, especially with a fully loaded port-a-bagage. After we relax a bit we head out to a couple of garden plots that kevin is working on throughout the village. A few of them weren't doing as well as he would have liked as the people that were supposed to be looking after them really weren't or hadn't done what they were supposed to do. But it was nice to see what someone else was up to during their first three months out in the village.
Another reason that i came out to Kafori was to get an idea about the school gardening project that kevin was working on as well. His main plan was to get about 6 plots going for the school to look after and then have the garden become a sort of communal garden once established. We got to scope out the site of the garden and have a good talk about the way the garden project was going to work. Basically the idea was to teach a class about the importance of a garden and then follow that up with a class on the actual making of the garden. It was a good plan and going over it kinda sealed the deal for me as far as my participation. So we crash and the next morning i take off back to Kédougou.
So basically i end up hanging out in Kédougou for the next two days and heading back out to Kafori again on the 11th to help prepare the plots for the garden class. I make good time going out there. Make it in in about and hour forty min. Great time riding out, basically get to go my own speed and my load this time is a little less then before but I've still got a decent sized load as I've got all my books for the class, sleeping bag and clothes for the next 2 days. Im so glad i brought my sleeping bag to country because it is rather cold here at nights during the cold dry season. mind you its still ridiculously hot during the day but the cool nights are nice. Like i said i made good time on the way out and with the ride out being the harder part of the journey, i felt pretty good with my self. Basically you end up climbing a lot more during the ride out and you descend a lot more on the way in, or at least the change is a lot more noticeable on the way out. Its basically rolling the whole way, and that makes for a nice ride either way. So when i get out there i chill for a little catching my breath. We head out to the Director of the schools house to get started on the plots. His hut is right next to the school and the forage so there is water readably available.
So we start making the plots with the help of several of the teachers helping out which was nice. We measure out 6 2x1 plots in two rows of three. The total plot size is 9x9 but we dont use it all. Measuring it out is a bit of a chore as we need to clear the ground first a bit and then have it dead on. We get that done and start clearing all the weeds and plants that are there which is harder then it sounds as its quite dry and the ground is rather hard. with the plots marked out and the ground cleared that takes us up till about midday and lunch time. All the while that we are working kevin brings out his CD player and portable speakers and we have a little music to listen to. A girl that is in our stage and in our region made the CD for kevin and it was a interesting mix of music. So whenever i now think of this project and making the plots, Britney spears newest song pops into my head with it starting out with her saying 'its Britney bitch'. That wasnt the only song on it but it had me on the floor laughing when it first came on.
So after our three lunches, as we get to eat with the teachers, kevins host family, and the family that he is living with at the moment, we get back to the plot to begin the process of finishing up the three plots we were making completely ready. So this involved double digging and mixing in manure so that it would be just right for the garden. On the way back to the site we stop and pick up a bunch of manure thats all over the place as cows kinda just roam about the village. This eats up the rest of the afternoon as we are working during the hottest part of the day. And that means its really fucken hot for those of you playing the home game, i think i clocked it at being in the mid 30's C the other day and this is the cool dry season. Who's looking forward to the hot dry season, this guy ain't. Like i said this eats up the rest of the day and we retire with a couple gorgeous looking plots ready to be seeded after a week of watering.
So This is the first day that I'm out there and when we get back to the presidents house, we are greeted with a nice little snack of some rice and meat. Now this might not seem to weird to you all back home, but considering peanut sauce or leaf sauce are the staples here minus holidays, this was a little odd for us. So we kinda enquire as to what the reason was for this. So after talking to the son of the president, as he was in Kédougou at the time, we find out something called mbookie had attacked and killed three cows the previous night. Kevin then chimes in that he remembers hearing it and that it was crazy sounding. Kinda bad for the owner of the cow, but we ate like kings for the night, totally unexpected. So upon trying to figure out what this mbookie animal is, we kinda end up on the conclusion that it was Baboons as i know in french monkey is sainge or something and when i asked the kid if that was what it was he said yea it was mbookie's. So kevin and i are kinda like WTF they attacked and killed three cows not far from where we were sleeping. Were sitting there thinking wow crazy killer monkeys running around right next to the house. So after our badass dinner, we head to bed and the night is fairly uneventful. The next day when the two other volunteers show up for the class one of them speaks really good pullar enquires as to what did all this we find out that it was hyenas' that had attacked the cows and that only one of them had died. Makes a lot more sense and i kinda chill out a bit after that as hyena's cant climb through windows like crazy killer monkeys!
But the 12th is the day of the actual formal class for the kids at the school. There were 6 classes, and they were broken into three groups of two classes. Each group would get one volunteer minus the group that got kevin and I as were newbies. Were slotted for a noon start time and kick off at fairly promptly. Luckily for me the teacher in our class spoke fairly decent english as the french i was using was pretty bad. Kevins Pullar was really good though, when he asked if the kids understood him at the end of each of his sections they all got it where as some of the kids didnt really get mine and the teacher had to jump in and explain what i was trying to say. That might have been a factor of some of the subject matter as well my language skill but it was still really difficult. My hat goes off to all my teacher friends out there, you've got a hard job even if you can do it in english. So it didnt go all that badly as i was able to get the point across.
After were done with the class, it happened that it was the same day as the local market, the luma. So we all kinda traipse over there to have a poke around to get a few things. Its weird for me because kédougou has a market everyday purely because it is a big town. But it was neat to have a walk around and see what it was like there. I bought some bread as the lunch we had this day wasnt as good or filling as the one we had the day before, and we head back to the presidents house. Steve and Roxy, the other two volunteers take off for their villages and kevin and i kinda just chill at his place.
While i was coming out to Kafori i stopped to take a picture and was using my new kickstand. it stood there for a bit and then bent pretty much in half as my bike fell over. Great times as i had to take it off on the side of the road. I had pretty much written it off as i couldnt bend it back with my hands and wasnt able to pop down to the tool shed to use the handy dandy vice until the kid who had told us about the mbookies came in and said he could probably fix it. He gave it a try with his hands then said yea it was busted. This all happened when i first got there, but while we were hanging out in Kevins room he comes back in and says that there will be someone who can fix it at the luma. Not wanting to get my hopes up i say sure take it see what you can do if not just keep it. He comes back about 20min later with a much straighter kickstand and the loaves of bread we asked him to get. the kickstand is better then when i bought it, thats how good they fixed it. Blown away, i wish i would have seen them do it cause im really curious to see how they did it! My kickstand is as good as new now and im very happy about that.
So we relax for a while just kinda chilling, and get the news that theres no dinner tonight. Kinda bummed we decide to bust into kevins stash of american food hes had sent out to him. Tuna sandwiches will suffice for the evening and will be pretty damn nice. So we give them to kevins brother to make in his room as kevin doesnt want his room to get crumbs and food all over it. So he takes it across the compound to his room and comes back with the news that we are going to have dinner. So we go and eat with the fam, but the brothers hut is right next to the eating area and his mom knows something is going on. Its not that we werent trying to share as kevins 2 brother and i were going to eat, there just wasnt that much to go around. So after dinner was over it becomes really apparent as kevins sister is standing outside her brothers door trying to get in to see what is going on and totally blows our cover. In the end kevin gives a packet of tuna to his host mother to kinda appease her. We get to eat tuna sandwiches and everyones happy.
So we kinda retire after this and head to bed. Now this is where the mbookies come back into the picture. I guess the previous night kevin had heard the hyenas out and about. So we end up talking about how messed up it would be if they came back and how we would eat really well again if they did. So that precedes our slumber and around 12/1am kevin wakes me up the cackling of hyenas. You can hear them all around the compound and evne hear them running right next to the wall kevins room bumps up against. ohhh ahhh what fun not really too worried i kinda sit up for the next hour or two listening to them. There is one of the cows that was attacked in the compound with us and a flock of sheep/goats for their own protection. so around 3 the sheep/goats start running round the compound. The interior of the compound is a circle type area with river stones covering it for better drainage. Also amplifies hooves. So you can really hear these guys running around the compound. Thinking theyre just freaked out by the hyenas i didn't think too much of it until the dog inside the compound starts growling and barking at something either inside the compound or right at the gate. I kinda hear a scuffle of dogs and a yelp. Then the dog is running after something and barking after it. Its kinda nuts but kevin and i are thinking that hyena was in the compound or really damn close to being inside it judging by the animals reactions. That was about it for the nights excitement really, but very interesting none the less.
So the next morning when we get up and come out the seat that is kinda in the middle of the compound was knocked over, it was a bench style seat made of pieces of bamboo. When i came out of kevins room my host aunt who lives there as well was cleaning it up and i asked her if she heard the mbookies and she said yea and that was about it really. The weird thing was that no one else really seemed bothered by it if they had heard it all. Most the people i asked said they were asleep and didnt hear anything! i guess im just a newbie and after so many times that gets old! But we get ready to go teach our class over at the school on the technical side of the making of the garden. Steve started off first, Roxy second and kevin and I last at 2. Steve is great, he got their attention by doing a little dance as they came filing into the field which broke the ice really well. I mean what can beat a crazy toubob dancing african style? His pullar is badass and he did a great job. He ended up teaching the class that kevin and I had the day before. They were probably middle schoolers at the front end of middle school or before. Roxy had the second group which was more like the end of middle school and they were probably the most capable of the three groups purely because of age. They were all very enthused by the whole event. Kevin and I ended up with the youngest of the three at the end, they must have been 2nd graders or so and basically the director ended up explaining most of it which was nice as he got it done tout suit! I got some great pics of everything if youre so inclined to check facebook out.
After the last class, I'm heading back to Kédougou and Roxy is heading back to Dimboli so we head out together. I was meeting up with steve at his villages turn off as all the volunteers are along the same road. So i kinda take off once we get going as im not sure when the last ferry crossing is at the entry way into kédougou to make sure i ride in with steve. I make it down to Togué in pretty decent time and steve and I take off. We end up flying into kédougou. It took and hour and twenty mineutes to get to the ferry crossing where as it took me roughly an hour and fifty min to get there the last time i tried to do it. I really think it was the company as when im riding with people the motivation factor is just there to keep up and not get dropped. I noticed that a bit during a couple races and group rides ive been on. If im with people i can generally keep pace but if i was just on my own it just wouldnt feel the need to go that fast or keep up a pace for a certain amount of time. So it was a great ride back into the gou with steve. We chatted about different projects hes working on, things im thinking about trying to set up in terms of projects, cycling and this and that. It was a good ride. Were thinking of planing a trip out past kafori and then up to another volunteer, aaron's village near saraya after my IST(In Service Training).
We made it back in damn good time and i was pretty racked out by the time we got back and i just kinda kick it with the host fam who are happy to see me for the evening. About 20min or so after i get back i look at my bike which is next to my hut and the front is flat ! I guess i either picked up the flat as i go t my compound or was really lucky that it was only a small thorn and was leaking only slightly so that i was able to get home without really being flat. But i bring my chair out front of my hut to repair it and end up getting a call form Ethan with Trees for the Future. He was just checking in to se what i was thinking of doing with my counterpart, who he worked with while he was in PC a few years back and who is working with TFF now. I shot him my ideas and he seemed totally onboard and just wanted to be kept in touch with what all was going on. It kinda weird whenever i get back from these rides im usually kinda up on a high and a really good mood. Just genuinely in a good place, i think i'm addicted to this kicking my ass thing and i have no desire to kick the habit!
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