March 2013 has officially made it to IST! This is a second training that focuses more on strategies to connect with our communities as well as more health technical information. It's only day 3 and I already feel like I've learned so much and am so excited to go to village and start some projects.
The best news I have for everyone is that Ramadan is over! Thank God. Ramadan is the Muslim holiday in which people fast from sunlight to sundown while still going about their daily lives. This is very, very difficult, especially when your job is working in the field all day. Everyone was completely exhausted for an entire month, as well as cranky and irritable. I tried fasting one day to the utter joy of my community, only to realize I am very weak. I made it all morning- I woke up at 4 am to eat breakfast, then didn't eat or drink until I broke around 4. After lying in my room on my floor for hours staring at some mangoes and knowing I had granola bars in my trunk, I army crawled to my backyard and came to in a pile of mango peels and granola bar wrappers feeling extremely guilty. That didn't stop me from drinking some water though. I never told anyone about my moment of weakness, and everyone in my village was so happy I "fasted." I told them I couldn't and it was hard, though, and that I couldn't do it again the next day. When pressed I said I thought I was going to die and that I really loved life. My aunt Oumou kept pressing the subject, and I told her she only wanted me to fast so that I would die and she could have my hut. Everyone thought this was absolutely hilarious and the story is still told to this day.
So Ramadan was tough. After my failure I refused to try again, but they appreciated that I even tried. Children aren't supposed to fast, and neither are pregnant or breastfeeding women. Most pregnant women that I saw didn't fast, but a lot of the breastfeeding women did, including my mother. Pulaars tend to be a lot more religious and don't necessarily fully understand the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles. Some of the ideas behind fasting are so sensitive it's hard to combat. For example, a woman in a neighboring village decided to fast because two of her older children had died, which she believed was because she didn't fast when she was pregnant with them. You're also supposed to make up the days later, which is harder since you do it all by yourself. I know my mom did fast when she was pregnant last year because she was making up some days in June and July.
After a month of this, there is Korite. Korite is wonderful. It's a huge party that everyone gets really excited for. Everyone gets a new outfit and shoes and jewelry, and the women get their hair done. They spend a lot of money not only on clothes but food as well. the whole village chipped in to buy a cow! They cooked with oil and there were carrots and potatoes and peppers in the bowl. It was wonderful. Everyone had diarrhea for days.
Aside from eating patron food and drinking boissons (soda), it's also a great day to greet everyone. I put on my beautiful complet, tikka and all, and went compound to compound greeting the families and congratulating everyone on finishing yet another Ramadan. This was great because everyone was happy again and it was actually fun to talk to them.
So that was Ramadan!
-Kim
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