Puppies and Basketball

The first Saturday after Thanksgiving, I helped Teresa with a girl’s basketball camp. In conjunction with her Girl’s Mentoring Center (GMC) she started a weekly basketball camp during which she will continue her girl’s empowerment lessons to the court by building confidence, increasing individuality and health awareness while allowing local girls to have a new experience. It was fantastic with many girls arriving dressed by local standards in extremely conservative clothing and many changing within minutes to shorts and tank-tops. In particular, we were extremely pleased to see one girl who arrived last week in a mulafa – traditional white moor dress that involves 6 meters of fabric which covers the women from head to toe – quickly change into a matching pant and shirt set. But the most rewarding part was watching the girls faces brighten as they chucked the ball towards the net, obviously having the time of their lives. One example of the affect sports can have on improving a societal group’s personal outlook on themselves and the world.
December 1 is World AIDS Day so on Sunday I helped Tiffany, another PC health volunteer, with a short presentation at the GMC about this important topic. I was pleased to see how well informed many of the girls (who likely ranged between the ages of 15-18) were regarding this often misunderstood disease that is often not talked about because of its close relation to the culturally taboo conversation topic of sex. I was also impressed by the girls willingness to speak openly about the disease and answers questions relating to its transmission and prevention. Overall, the entire presentation was fascinating to me since it was one of my first encounters with the topic of AIDS while serving in Africa. Tomorrow I have been invited with several other volunteers to attend a sensibilization in the marketplace presented by a local NGO in conjunction with the official day of recognition and discussion.
Within half an hour after returning to the regional house from the GMC I was talking to my parents on the phone when I suddenly heard “Tiffany, come here quick, some kids are trying to sell us a puppy,” so I quickly postponed the conversation and headed to the voice only to find two other volunteers, one of which was holding a puppy, surrounded by a handful of Mauritanian children ranging in age from 6 to 10. It turns out they had approached another volunteer as she were entering the house and offered to sell the puppy to her for 1000um (approximately 4-5 dollars). The regional house is already home to one bog, Bailey, who is approximately 2 years old and was currently barking like crazy behind the closed door in hopes of scaring the children (anytime they are near she barks incessantly)and likely because of the presence of another dog. In Mauritania, like many other countries and cultures, dogs and cats are considered dirty and dangerous and are thus treated horribly. In fact, many puppies and kittens are tortured and killed by local children as entertainment so we were amazed that the puppy was brought to us in the first place. After much discussion outside the door we had agreed that we should not keep the puppy due to its age (likely two months already) and the likely hood that it has already undergone abuse as well as the fact that it likely has a disease of some sort already, so sadly we gave the puppy back to a child and reentered the compound. Moments later when I was once again talking to my family on the phone, I was startled by something being tossed over the wall and followed by a yelp as the package hit the ground in our garden. I hurried to the spot to find the puppy shaken, but seemingly uninjured after being projected over an 8 foot wall. More discussion ensued and after much anguish at the thought of having to return the puppy to the wild streets of Boghe, a brusse volunteer eventually agreed to take the puppy to site this weekend. The puppy was bathed and fed bread soaked in milk and currently I am setting up my makeshift bed on the floor next to a faded red plastic laundry bucket which houses the newest member of the Peace Corps Mauritania family.