Hello everyone!This post is to let you know about two U.S. organizations working with midwives in Senegal & Mali (the two countries that are directly south and east of Mauritania). These groups are working to educate and assist midwives and birth attendants working in these two countries. I'm providing links to their websites so you can look at photos and get more information if you would like.
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Q: How many modes of transport can you find in this picture?**On our last night in Mauritania - maybe for good, at the very least, for a long time - I can't help but notice a strange coincidence. We are spending our last night in NDB in the same place (the very same room in fact) as our first night. It's very odd to think of all the circumstances that had to occur to make that happen. I won't
Yep. I'm pretty sure this picture sums up what many PC RIM Volunteers are feeling and have been feeling for the past month. (Thanks Steve. These pictures made me laugh louder than anything these past 15 months)So, if you haven't heard, PC RIM has been shut down for security reasons. All volunteers have the option of waiting out the indefinite suspension of the program, re-enrolling in another
Everyday it seems, is something new. In the past month alone, it is as if some current event strikes suddenly (or protracted like the elections/campaign) on a daily basis, which is in sharp contrast to my increasingly sedentary work schedule. Let's start there. Work. One month ago to the day, I was enjoying the end of an exhausting 3-day English camp here in Nouadhibou. I decided to
An excerpt from my journal this morning:It is election day. I awoke early without any real hope of returning to sleep. My eyes were still tired but my thoughts alive with anticipation. It is dark and calm outside. The morning prayer call not yet having broken the stillness. I flip on a light and cring at the assualt to my senses. My action alerts a fly to my presence which buzzes angrily in my
Just a quick post to let everyone know about some current issues in Mauritania:1. Our computer is currently on the fritz and we need our Windows Vista reinstallation CD to fix the problem. Only issue there is that the CD is somewhere in the basement of Mike's parents' house in Kansas City...darn. How does this impact you? Probably not a lot except that we might not be able to respond to emails as
Okay, okay, okay. Not exactly a product. But ouguiya (oo-ghee-uh), the local currency, are the means to the PROMs. So as an ode to the old monetary system of bartering, trade, and commodity-backed currency (yes, Katie makes me listen to the same podcasts) - which is very much alive here in the RIM- I give you PROM 8: Ouguiya (UM for short, unit Mauritanian I think?) ~ 260UM = $1.00(insert
Well, like most Americans, I am currently very interested in learning more about economics and LOVE LOVE LOVE the "Planet Money" podcast by NPR. However, I also recently came across a great article (from Money Magazine) that profiles three American families of different religious faiths and the role their religion plays in financial decision-making. Particularly interesting to me, given my
"Obama...Egypt...Zayne!" said our taxi driver with a big toothy grin the day after Obama's speech on American-Muslim relations in Cairo, Egypt.("Zayne" is the Hassaniya word for "good")Yes, I agree. And yet, there is still a long way to go. Al Jazeera reports that a recent survey showed only 20% of Americans have a positive view of the Muslim world, with 46% holding a negative view.Many
Hello everyone! Sorry for my long absence from blogging. I guess that is a good sign that I have been keeping busy, right? Well, here is a little update on the work I've been doing. My main projects so far have been visits to the prenatal clinic, classes at the girls mentoring center, and health sensibilisations in the community on a variety of topics. In addition to this I have recently begun
...school is out, I think. Officially, the last tests weren't even supposed to start until the end of next week. But in true Mauritanian fashion, my administrators decided to bump up the exam dates and give an economical one day notice of the change. The last test was 2 days ago. Luckily, I have managed to finish the syllabus for most of my classes. Most. I will continue two of my Monday
I know this post is long over due, but we've had problems with electricity lately. Broken machines, cut wires, the donkeys got tired in their giant wheel generators, I'm not really sure. When asking any of several Mauritanian friends, the response is a very ambiguous: the machine is broken. I can never tell if these broad answers are to cover one's ignorance of a subject or to get his point
Mauritanians take a spring break from school at the end of their second trimester. This year the break fell on the week of March 29th. Interestingly, many Mauritanians call this break "les vacances de Pâques," which means "Easter vacation." This is probably a remenant of French colonialism since Mauritanians more or less adopted the French school system. However, our Mauritanian friends didn't
Taking advice from my sister, I'm introducing this PROM with a 'guess what it is' idea I'm sure she stole from World magazine. As a child, she got that cool subscription while I was stuck with Highlights. Yeah, thanks mom and dad. I'm only 1 year behind Gina; not a perpetual 4 year old! Those pictures where you had to find the missing objects, hmm...I'm pretty sure that guy's head is missing.
Sensibiliser in French means "to sensitize." Sensibilisation is therefore the word Peace Corps Mauritania uses to describe the frequent educational activities performed by many of its volunteers in the health sector.So as many of you know (and tease me about endlessly), I like to research. I just get this weird urge to find out as much information as humanly possible when I'm first starting a
English Education volunteers in the RIM (and elsewhere, I'm sure) are expected to produce secondary projects in addition to their hours of teaching at a public school. One such activity that has been popular and successful in the past is an English Club. Basically, an English Club is an extra-curricular class for the more advanced/motivated students. So, after administering the first exam of
Mike and I spent the past week visiting Dakar, Senegal for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament (WAIST). Neither Mike or I actually played softball this year, but we had a great time cheering on our teams from Peace Corps Mauritania and relaxing in this beautiful city.Peace Corps Mauritania took three teams to the tournament this year. There are apparently two divisions: competitive
PROM #5: Tuga-duga, gerti maffe, PEANUT BUTTER!
(small sack ~6oz. = 100um, 40 cents)
Okay, apologies first. I know I missed January. But my mom had the great idea of making Katie's post on the new mail box the missing PROM. So PROM #4 - RIM P.O. Box (6,000 um for the year/key). There...I know it's a cop-out, but tuff.
Second, thanks Carl! Our friend from Chinguetti gave us the following recipe
We have a new mailing address in Nouadhibou!
Katie & Mike Yunghans
B.P. 1771
Nouadhibou, Mauritania
West Africa
Par Avion
Note: In Mauritania, the numbers one and seven, when handwritten, are often confused with each other. To avoid this problem, draw a dash through the vertical line of the seven (see the picture for an example).
Don't worry if you've sent anything to the old address recently
Whew, just under the wire with this one: PROM #3 - gas, le gaz, l'essence, the fossil fuel of choice for kitchens throughout Mauritania. (refill one large tank: 2000 UM/$8-9)
Let me preface this story with a little geneology. We Yunghans' sometimes tend to exaggerate. It's a funny little hereditary quirk of the family line. My whole family knows it, my friends know it. My second secret wife
Peace Corps Volunteers often find themselves torn between two worlds. Recently, Mike and I have experienced this on a number of different fronts. Economically, we are stuck somewhere between the first world and the third. We are not as rich as many Mauritanians think we are nor as poor as many Americans think we are. Culturally, we are living in a place where almost 100% of the population follows
...So, I should really be planning my English lessons for this week but I am on the computer instead. Everything's good here in Nouadhibou. Thanksgiving was great. We had 2 big meals: one on Thursday afternoon with a couple friends from Mauritania and one on Friday evening with the other local PC vols. Lots of chicken, bread, stuffing, potatos, veggies and Katie's apple pie was incredible.
Today Mike and I did laundry, and I think we'd waited a bit too long because we'll probably have to do more again on Tuesday since we didn't completely finish. We usually try to do laundry about twice a week. However, this past week I've been feeling a bit under the weather due to a head cold, and so we procrastinated until today.
Doing laundry in Mauritania is a bit different than in the
So, when my sister and I were very young (probably around 15 or 16) we would scream 'bug' at the top of our lungs anytime we saw so much as a piece of lint resembling a bug. This was particularly embarrassing (and funny in hindsight) for my parents at, oh, I don't know...church. This memory is the impetus behind my choice for PROM #2: Pif-Paf Powder, the alliterative giant of Arabic pest
As the title states, this slideshow will demonstrate how to make the traditional Pulaar dish of Hakko, which is a meal of couscous and bean sauce served frequently in the villages of southern Mauritania.
Okay, my puns need work. The Cryptkeeper would fire me. But Katie and I did host the PC RIM NDB Halloween party on Thursday night. We dressed up (sort of) but did not trick or treat. If we did, I'm pretty sure the locals would have...
a) stared blankly at us not knowing what to do
b) laughed uncontrollably
c) lynched us
d) been indifferent
Choose your own adventure. We cooked good,
After two months in Nouadhibou, Mike and I are finally settling into a routine (kind of...)
Mike has finally begun teaching classes, and although attendance is still sporadic due to continued problems getting everyone enrolled, there seem to be more students every day. He is teaching 14 hours per week, which is actually quite a lot. He has seven 2-hour block classes a week. All his students
That's right! You've guessed it! This is the first of what will hopefully be many insightful glances, snapshots if you will, into the world of commerce in Mauritania. I thought this would be a quantifiable method of explaining some of the similarities and differences between our two little worlds. Also notice my acronym. I'm stealing this word back from the awkward grope-fests that somehow
Oh, what would the guys from home say if they could see me now. Here I am, a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, and I had my first African drum lesson yesterday. I'm learning to play the djembe. That's right. Dave, Anthony, Ben, PJ, Adam, Andy and anyone else can commence with the jokes. But I am not a hippie.
That's just one of the classes that will soon be filling my schedule. Today was
How did you spend your last Saturday evening?
Here's what we did:
Yep, I gave Mike a haircut…and I have to say I'm getting pretty darn good at it. Now he's all ready for his first day of school!
So here’s a question that many Americans don’t ever pause to consider…what would you do if there were no trash cans in your house? Okay, now what if there wasn’t a trash truck that came to your house every week or a functioning sanitary landfill? Well, those questions are a daily dilemma for many Mauritanians, Peace Corps volunteers included.
Some of the first things you notice when you arrive
(How are things going with Ramadan? Really great!) Actually it is kind of tough, but I only know how to say basic phrases in Hassaniya (the local Arabic dialect). I'm not fasting or anything, but you always have to be careful that you aren't eating or drinking in public. That doesn't sound like a lot but you have to plan your whole day around this fact. Plus, it is hard for Muslims to put
Just a quick post to let everyone know that we've arrived safely at our site and are currently in the process of looking for an apartment. We've been lucky to have lots of help from the volunteers that have already been living in Nouadhibou, so hopefully it won't take us too long to find a good place to live.
Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is an Islamic holiday that lasts for
Since Katie has filled everyone in on what is going on, I thought I might take a different approach with this post. So, without further ado, a day in the life of a Peace Corps Trainee*:
Usually, you wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 whether you want to or not. Alarm clocks: donkeys, birds, the call to worship or the family stirring throughout the house (which is comprised of cinder-block
After what seems like forever (and in reality has only been a little over two weeks), we are finally back at the training center. We are getting ready for the fourth and final phase of pre-service training after which we will be sworn in as offical Peace Corps Volunteers...Inshallah!
Despite continued political upheaval in RIM, Peace Corps is operating pretty much as usual from what we've been
So...we haven't posted in a while because we've been pretty busy. Last weekend we went to Nouakchott for the married couples retreat and had a wonderful time. We got to stay at our country director's mansion, cook our own food (pizza, Mexican & artichoke dip), and sleep in air conditioned rooms with beds. It was AMAZING!
Now we are back in Rosso and back to our language classes/technical
So...first and foremost, my title totally blows Katie's out of the water. I guess I can just convey so much more in my typing. For instance, now everyone knows how the last syllable of our permanent site is pronounced. YES! No-awd-ee-boo is great. They have good food, a cool climate, few mosquitos, internet access, BEACHES! I can't believe it. We will still have our challenges though. My
So...we found our our site placements on July 21 and have been visiting our site since then. We are very excited that our site is Nouadhibou!! It is the second largest city in Mauritania, is on a bay of the Atlantic, and has a very mild climate (so much so that I might need you all to send me warmer clothing and blankets...yeah!). I don't want to brag too much, but Nouadhibou is also know for
It feels like forever since I was last at the training center, but in reality it has only been about 12 days. I have tech sessions again today and tomorrow for health, which means Mike and I get to spend the night at the training center this evening. We are really lucky to have a great host family, but at the same time it will be nice to get away for a bit.
Mauritanian culture is all about
Hey everyone! I just finished checking my email and the inbox was jam-packed so please excuse me for not replying to everyone (or sending really short replies).
Mike and I are doing well. We moved in with our host family on Friday and they were really great. However, some personal issues within the family caused us to have to move in with a different family yesterday. No worries!
Bonjour! C'est Mike. Yeah, my French is still horrible. But I did carry on a few cool conversations with some Host Country Nationals and I even bought some items from a local boutique in Rosso. Although it was kind of confusing for all involved. But at least I'm trying a local tongue. Katie and I will receive our placement tomorrow for the next 2-3 months of training; and as Katie said, we
Hi everyone! We made it to Africa safely without any problems, although it did require a good deal of patience. Our training group is large (77 to be exact) and anytime you're trying to move a group of people that large across country borders, you can expect there will be a lot of delays.
We are a few days into our Pre-Service Training and things are already getting much more intense. We
Hey everyone. Mike here. We just finished staging. A lot of meetings, introductions, anti-malarial meds, and a yellow fever shot. They gave us our flight info for tomorrow and we should be landing in Dakar, Senegal at 4:30 am on Saturday morning. From there, we will drive into Rosso, Mauritania and begin our Pre-Service Training (PST). Thanks to everyone once again for coming to the party
Just a quick post just to let everyone know we made it to Atlanta safely without any problems. Staging is going well so far...it's a bit different than I was expecting. A lot more participatory than I thought, which is good. Tomorrow we have to go get all our shots and start taking the anti-malarial medication.
We've met a lot of great people and I believe we're fitting in pretty well,
Mike again. Less than 2 days. Everything's wrapping up. Parties are over, cd is recorded (completed lost 80 cd, coming to a stereo near you in late 2054!), preparations are made. Wait...I forgot to pack. I had to say goodbye to my other sister today. The last month or so has brought all the negative aspects of leaving to my attention. I knew it would be tough, but part of me can't wait to
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