2006-04-01 - 9:07 a.m.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
-- Harold Whitman

Dearest friends and family,

it's been a while since I last posted an entry and even longer since I last updated my online photo gallery... but I have good news: I just received Aaron's hefty care package and with it a replacement camera for the one that had gotten stolen during the holidays, so it won't be too long before I have enough photos to upload again!!!

I am in Nouakchott, heading out to a town in the south called Keur Macene for our Close of Service Conference... I made it this far: I can't believe it!!!! I accepted the Small Enterprise Development Coordinator position for this upcoming Pre-Service Training (PST) to be held in Kaedi... which means I only have two months left in Magta Lahjar: time is flying by and I am excited about moving on, although, at the same time, a little overwhelmed with all the projects I am still involved with at site, while preparing for PST,and packing in quality time with Limnaye and her family, the girls at the Mentoring Center, the kids in the neighborhood, etc.

Since I last wrote, I worked on and completed a few projects. The Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs team of seven students was here to do a research/consultancy study for the US Peace Corps, focused primarily on girls education and the policies and programs implemented by the Mauritanian government, Unicef and Peace Corps. I was the Volunteer Assistant in charge of Cultural Analysis although I ended up helping a lot with the Legislative Analysis as well. It was an interesting experience. First of all I got to meet some interesting people, both from Columbia University and here in Mauritania (people working for the government as well as civil society organizations). I helped the team translating, facilitating interviews and focus groups in Nouakchott, note-taking,setting up and facilitating focus groups in Magta Lahjar,administering surveys to locals,... a very stimulating experience and a preview of what grad school might be like!

Members and mentors of the Tidjikja Mentoring Center came to Magta Lahjar for the first part of an exchange project that Alicia (a fellow volunteer) and I put together. Some of the cooperatives that were trained last year, volunteered to teach tie-dyeing to the GMC girls from both centers. It was an intense weekend! A few GMC members and mentors from Magta Lahjar will be going up to Tidjikja next weekend for the second part of the exchange to learn how to sew purses with the tie-dyed fabric they created in Magta Lahjar... I will be travelling there with them, before heading back to Nouakchott once again... to pick up my mom and sister!!!!

These girls have been involved in a letter exchange program since the beginning of the year, so it has been fun for them to finally meet the girls face to face... and the mentors have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas. Limnaye put together a little presentation for the weekend, assigning each Magta Lahjar girl a "piece" to talk about relating to what they do at the center - she invited the mayor and took advantage of the occasion to give out completion certificates to three girls who reached a high level of basic computer skills proficiency. It was a hit!

A day after the Tidjikja group left, Mustafa Ould Hama arrived... and yet another training started! This time about the miracle plant Moringa! We trained 35 people over the span of two days on the history, nutritional value, medicinal and culinary uses, planting, harvesting, powder production and commercialization, and more! Three spoons of moringa powder contain the same amount of calcium present in a liter of milk, the same amount of potassium present in 9 bananas, the same amount of Vitamin A present in 4 carrots, and the same amount of iron present in half a kilo of spinach... it also contains magnesium, protein, and plenty of other nutrients! Everyone was very interested and actively participating... Limnaye and I will be busy "following up" by doing more moringa sessions with the Girls Mentoring Center, as well as the two villages where we had feeding centers last year... and we'll be busy preparing moringa tree sacs for International Arbor Day (August 1st). All this with the purpose of educating as many people as possible about the nutritional properties of the plant and encouraging its commercialization as a daily dietary supplement - a project with both health and small enterprise development benefits! INSHALLAH!

Summer has officially started it's been getting as hot as 41 degrees centigrades in the shade, the sandy wind has started to pick up (the blow-dryer kind of wind!)... and the water supply has been cut already (it seems to have happened earlier than last year!): I managed to miss my window to get water the other day and was left without water for two days in a row... only enough water to drink, but none to bathe or wash dishes and clothes with!

I must run now... but will be back in a few weeks to tell you all about our Close of Service Conference as well as the next projects coming up (sewing trainig and screen/wax printing workshop)... and of course my mom and sister's visit to Mauritania!!!!!!

Much love,

Jordy

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