My Off-Road Adventure

Greetings from muddy Mauritania! The rainy season has officially begun and throughout our week in the South Brakna region I witnessed multiple intense, thunderstorms which brought lots of rain and thus lots of mud. In a country where sand is prevalent and greenery often sparse many new green shoots have emerged in addition to new lakes (due to the lack of good drainage) and also so have the mosquitoes and a number of other bug species that depend on standing water for survival!
After my last entry, I travelled with 7 other PCTs to Boghé, a large city in the southwest area of Mauritania where we stayed in the “unofficial regional house” with other current volunteers for a night before departing to my permanent site of Olo ologo. The trip to Boghé was interesting for all involved as two different routes were driven, one taking 4 hours of off-roading through the brusse and the other taking 8 hours of driving in taxis along the main road that runs beside Nouakchott. Luckily for me I was chosen to ride in the PC vehicle which travelled the shorter, more direct route due East from Rosso to Boghé along a road that is in the process of being built. And when I say in the process I mean nothing short of we drove for hours along uneven, “I feel like the car is going to tip over” road that was nothing short of amazing. We stopped several times for the roaming camels, goat and cow herds to cross the “road” and witnessed a larger variety of trees and greenery than I even knew existed in this mostly barren land.
Once in Boghé, we were able to access the luxuries of refrigeration, electricity and running water that are available at the regional house as well as all the other things these somewhat basic luxuries afford – movies, Velveeta cheese, fans, ice, etc.! In honor of our arrival, the current volunteers fixed an amazing dinner of pancakes, hash brown potatoes, and scrambled eggs with onion and green pepper which was greatly enjoyed by all. We briefly visited the local market which is nice sized and that I am excited to explore during the first few months at my permanent site because the possibilities it provides in creating a “normal” American style meal seem promising.
The next 18 hours in Boghé were spent doing “protocol” or formally meeting all local government officials and host country national (HCN) counterparts who will be instrumental in the success and/or failure of our future projects. Like everything else in Mauritania, protocol and formality are extremely important and without the signature of many unmotivated governmental officials no Peace Corps project is truly plausible. Therefore, throughout my service, I am expected to stop in and greet the local government officials because they will be unwilling to sign off or aid in a project if they do not know who I am. Luckily, both the Hakam and Mayor who I met seemed nice and welcoming as well as well informed of the activities of the Peace Corps and other volunteers – which are extremely beneficial for me. I also had the opportunity to briefly meet the Medecin Chef (head doctor) – my boss and the only doctor within the south Brakna region which serves more than 17000 people! Although I was unable to speak with him long, due to hospital being flooded from one of the many rains, I look forward to speaking more with him in the future about the major health concerns and need for health education when I return to the region in early September.
After meeting all the local government officials, I was introduced to my HCN counterpart at an idea and cultural exchange workshop. Although much was said during this 6 hour workshop, the most significant thing I ascertained was that as Americans we are raised and taught to expect great things and that every PCT in traveling to this region has hopes of doing beneficial work but in reality the Mauritanians have extremely low expectations and ask nothing more than an effort at integration and at assistance in whichever area we are considered “experts”. After hearing a lot throughout the last month about the frustration felt by volunteers when they leave the country feeling like they were unable to complete anything meaningful in comparison to the feelings of success and the kind words spoken by locals in regards to past volunteers truly allows one a glimpse at reality in a world that often seems surreal. I walked away from the workshop feeling much more emotionally prepared for two years of simple projects which may not seem to be making a difference but are worth every ounce of my time and energy to the Mauritanians involved.
The actual trip to my permanent site took me on another long trip throughout the brusse. Located directly adjacent to the Senegal River and within sight of Senegal, and approximately 20+km off the main road, Olo Ologo is a cute mud-house village (plus 2 smaller, separate villages) of approximately 1800 people. With a constant and relatively cool breeze; beautiful and plentiful vegetable, rice and mint gardens; wood fence lined pathways – think colonial Willamsburg fencing; several small boutiques and a small market; and most importantly extremely welcoming and friendly people, my permanent site was paradise in comparison to anything I have seen so far in Mauritania. I spent much of the next three days walking the village with my counterpart and language facilitator, meeting a variety of people, including the sage femme (midwife) and other employees of the local health post (who I will be working closely with), village chief, head of the World Vision Preschool, Librarian (yes, an approximately 100 book library), etc. and generally observing life in my new site. The opportunities to me offered by Olo Ologo are great which makes me optimistic and excited about the next phase – now I just need to focus on language acquisition, including technical vocabulary.
Due to a heavy rainstorm while in Olo Ologo I got the privilege of riding a horse drawn cart the 20+ km to the main road where we were scheduled to meet the PC car, this included fording a small river which reminded me of Oregon Trail – everyone’s favorite elementary school computer game.
Actually, many of my daily activities and experiences make me feel that I have stepped into another time period, from the colonial style fencing to thatched roofs and basic clay pots to the wood burning stoves. I was recently talking to another volunteer and we agreed that the African landscape while en bruise resembles the landscape on the old television show “Land of the Lost” – any minute we expect to come to the top of a ridge and stumble upon a Tyrannosaurus Rex or another prehistoric creature. But more often than not, instead of stumbling upon a dinosaur, the ridge reveals a large, modern piece of construction equipment which ironically appears more out of place in the desolate landscape than a prehistoric creature. Because, in a country where the majority of people rely on donkey drawn plows and human hands to complete large agricultural projects the sudden appearance of a massive tractor or steamroller tends for me to once again feel a surreal time shift.
After fording the river and traveling by horse drawn cart for hours, we finally reached the meeting destination and travelled by air conditioned car back to Boghé for two amazing American meals and evening cocktail(s). Lunch included: homemade spinach and artichoke dip with fresh baked bread, French fried potatoes, hummus and raw carrots with ranch dressing while dinner consisted of the following: Velveeta cheese dipping sauce with bread, fresh mango salsa and black bean. Overall, I think I am safe in saying that I ate more food in one day than I eat in an entire week while relying on the hospitality (and food choice) of the locals. Needless to say, I am extremely thankful to the current PCVs for their “southern” hospitality and I am excited about the possibilities that my permanent site holds.