A visit to Faidherbe
Last Wednesday our development professor took us to visit a rural exodus neighborhood in Faidherbe. He's convinced that we are all spoiled overconsumers who subscribe to the capitalist culture ideology and he wanted us to reach out and touch poverty. There was some debate as to whether we were going to learn or to gawk at poor people and no one really knew what to expect or how to act.
When we first got there we had to visit the "chief," an imam, who told us we were welcome to visit the people and to ask any questions we wanted. Then he prayed for us. No one had prepared any questions though. "So, what's it like being poor?" was about all that came to mind. Given the limits of my Wolof abilities there aren't many questions I actually can ask. The one question I can actually formulate, Naata doom nga am? How many children do you have? is taboo in Wolof culture. It's bad luck or just impolite to ask that question.
After we received the imam's blessing we wandered around in a big herd and stopped to talk to some washer women. Our professor explained to them who we were and why we were there and then translated some of our questions for them. When do you get up in the morning? A: 6am. How much money do you make in a day? A: less than a dollar. Then we asked if they had any questions for us. They only had one: Can you help us find better work than washing clothes?
Then the prof released us to go talk to people on our own. I was at a loss for what to do but a woman with a baby in her arms immediatly called me over saying "suma xarit," my friend, and pulled me into her house. She lived in a room about 6 by 4 feet with a bed, a gas burner, and a table with a radio. She put the baby on the bed and since I didn't know what to do I said the baby was "suma xarit" and asked his name, "Noo tudd?" He showed me he knew how to stand and we danced to the radio for a minute then I gave him back to his mother.
Somehow three other students plus two other women and about 12 children had managed to squeeze into the room. We told them our Wolof names which amused them. They told us to sit on the bed, "toogleen fii," and then tried to explain which children were theirs. I know enough Wolof to understand "This is my child," "Kii suma doom," but to make sure we understood they pointed to a child and then grabbed the breast of it's mother to say "She nursed this child."
I was trying to remember how to ask the kids if they go to school but I didn't get a chance. The women started clapping and the kids danced to the radio one at a time in the middle of the room. People dance for fun here all the time but since they didn't ask us to dance I wondered if they were doing it to entertain us. It was really hot in the room and Emily turned to me and asked how we might try to leave. I realized that they were completely blocking the exit. "How do you say we're leaving in Wolof?" i asked. "Nu ngiy dem?" The women heard me and showed us the way out. We thanked them and said we'd meet again, "inch allah." I was completely taken aback by how friendly they were. I really would like to see them again sometime.
The rest of the visit was uneventful. I met a little girl selling oranges and said "Yaa ngiy jaay orange," you are selling oranges, which seemed to amuse her. Aside from feeling awkward and aside from my inability to speak Wolof, it was a pretty interesting trip.
When we first got there we had to visit the "chief," an imam, who told us we were welcome to visit the people and to ask any questions we wanted. Then he prayed for us. No one had prepared any questions though. "So, what's it like being poor?" was about all that came to mind. Given the limits of my Wolof abilities there aren't many questions I actually can ask. The one question I can actually formulate, Naata doom nga am? How many children do you have? is taboo in Wolof culture. It's bad luck or just impolite to ask that question.
After we received the imam's blessing we wandered around in a big herd and stopped to talk to some washer women. Our professor explained to them who we were and why we were there and then translated some of our questions for them. When do you get up in the morning? A: 6am. How much money do you make in a day? A: less than a dollar. Then we asked if they had any questions for us. They only had one: Can you help us find better work than washing clothes?
Then the prof released us to go talk to people on our own. I was at a loss for what to do but a woman with a baby in her arms immediatly called me over saying "suma xarit," my friend, and pulled me into her house. She lived in a room about 6 by 4 feet with a bed, a gas burner, and a table with a radio. She put the baby on the bed and since I didn't know what to do I said the baby was "suma xarit" and asked his name, "Noo tudd?" He showed me he knew how to stand and we danced to the radio for a minute then I gave him back to his mother.
Somehow three other students plus two other women and about 12 children had managed to squeeze into the room. We told them our Wolof names which amused them. They told us to sit on the bed, "toogleen fii," and then tried to explain which children were theirs. I know enough Wolof to understand "This is my child," "Kii suma doom," but to make sure we understood they pointed to a child and then grabbed the breast of it's mother to say "She nursed this child."
I was trying to remember how to ask the kids if they go to school but I didn't get a chance. The women started clapping and the kids danced to the radio one at a time in the middle of the room. People dance for fun here all the time but since they didn't ask us to dance I wondered if they were doing it to entertain us. It was really hot in the room and Emily turned to me and asked how we might try to leave. I realized that they were completely blocking the exit. "How do you say we're leaving in Wolof?" i asked. "Nu ngiy dem?" The women heard me and showed us the way out. We thanked them and said we'd meet again, "inch allah." I was completely taken aback by how friendly they were. I really would like to see them again sometime.
The rest of the visit was uneventful. I met a little girl selling oranges and said "Yaa ngiy jaay orange," you are selling oranges, which seemed to amuse her. Aside from feeling awkward and aside from my inability to speak Wolof, it was a pretty interesting trip.