2004-10-28 - 12:59 p.m.

It's hard to find people equipped with a spirit of volunteerism here in Mauritania... maybe in the whole of Africa. As Paul Theroux asks himself in Dark Star Safari: "Where are the Africans in all of this?" when writing about foreign development efforts in Africa.

Local people have been thrown at free money, free food, free clothes, free teachers, free doctors for so long that they find it hard to believe that I am not here to give them financial/material aid of some sort in addition to finding it hard to believe that I am here as a "volunteer" and not being paid bundles of money to be in hot, dusty, harsh Mauritania away from my family.

It's been a daily effort of mine to explain my role and the Peace Corps development philosophy whereby, as the famous maxim says(approximate quote): "It is better to teach a man how to fish than to give a man a fish every day!"

I've been finding many varying responses on this subject from the women I interact with and have come to the point where I out rightly say that "if this sounds good to you: great, we can work together! If not, that's fine too, I can work with other women! It's not a problem!" I figured I needed a break from Maghta Lahjar when I found myself saying this line more than twice in one day... so here I am in Aleg!

There really is a need for me to weave through these women groups as I am doing right now... some of them are really hard-working, eager to learn new skills, equipped with ideas and self-initiative... others just... others just don't get it and demand to be paid to attend state-funded alphabetisation classes: why in the world would they waste their time learning how to read, write and count if they are not receiving any monetary reward for it???

Apparently the same goes for other social/health development seminars that have been organized in the past by the government and/or other NGOs about family planning, nutrition, AIDS/HIV, etc. in which case each attending woman was instantly paid a "per-diem"...

If I were to put on my "Mauritanian glasses" to look at this situation I could come up with various reasons why all of this is "maquul" (obvious)to them... culture does change things around and perspectives really are different from culture to culture... and who am I to say that my viewpoint is the better one?

I live in a town where an imminent famine is feared to take place by the local authorities, who have been pleading the government and NGOs for any possible help against the locusts which have been devouring relentlessly each and every piece of "attempted" vegetable crop in the area, as well as pleading for help to retain/collect water... which is becoming scarcer and scarcer due to this year's dry "rainy season".

I live in a town where women crouching all day by their vegetable stands at the market don't have the means to include vegetables in their own meals because too expensive... because those vegetables are seen as their only source of income...

I live in a town where girls are married off as young as 12/15 years of age and abandon their schooling as soon as they find themselves pregnant, with no other future ahead of them than that of a mother and wife hoping not to be left by the husband...

I live in a town, and for that matter a country, where everything is in the hands of God and things bad/good will happen only if God is willing (Inshallah), so if God is ultimately going to be the one taking care of things... why bother planning for the future? For an emergency? For a hefty goal? For a career? For an ambition?

I live in a town where I really do feel guilty explaining that, to me, money is really not that important and that the experience I am enjoying right now as a Peace Corps volunteer is as important, if not more important to me, than a high-paying job in the US or Europe would be at this point in my life... how presumptuous of me to say to these people that money is not important to me, when in fact I am being taken care of financially by the American Government and by my family... when in fact I do not have the responsibility of feeding ten/fifteen people in my family in a town where one tiny tomato is four times more expensive than a donkey ride...

If I were a local woman being asked to forego a day at the market selling my vegetables, I too probably would demand a "perdiem" to attend a seminar organized by the "rich" toubabs (white folks)... focusing on "today" rather than the long-term value of my day spent learning a new skill or vital health education...

But how do we end this vicious circle??

Just some food for thought...

Love you all,

Jordy

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