Site Visit

Diakhaba ngo lu si konton!
The people of Diakhaba greet you!

Diakhaba (pron. "Ja-ha-ba") is where I'll be spending the next two
years. It's a village of 2000 right on the main road exactly between
Kedougou and Saraya (you should be able to find these two towns on the
map - Saraya is the last outpost before you get to Mali). On one side
of Diakhaba live the Jaxanke people, and on the other side live the
Malinke. I'm actually living on the Malinke side (the poor side of
town). The difference between Malinke and Jaxanke is like American vs.
British English. I will be living with the chief whose name is Sinna
Danfakha. This makes me a Danfakha. You may remember from my first
email that Danfakha means "buffalo killer." (This is my language
teacher's last name.) The men killed all the buffalo and gave them to
the women to cook, but the women ate it all. So the men in the family
are called Danfakha - buffalo killer - and the women are called Damba
- buffalo eater. So my new name is Fatumata Damba (much easier than
Niakhalin!).


My compound spans the generations - the chief and his wives, many
kids, a brother and his family, and a blind grandmother who sits in
the corner and yells proverbs. One of the wives is my toxoma, or
namesake. I was named after her and she has a special responsibility
to ensure my well-being. My family began constructing me a new hut in
the compound but Peace Corps came by and said it was too close to the
outer fence, so they are giving me a hut that's already built. It's
yellow and round with a straw roof. I have my own backyard and
latrine.

The health post where I'll be working is a 10 minute walk down the
street. The head guy there - Diata, whose name means king - is one of
my counterparts, or people I'll be working closely with. He has a
triangular beard, two adorable little kids and one wife (in his words,
two wives equals two problems). He is also among an elite and very
small group of people in my village that speaks French. The closest
volunteers to me are 30km away in the town of Saraya. This is a big
town (i.e. they just built a new hospital, there is a radio station,
and a really great bean sandwich lady) and is easily bike-able from
where I live.

I spent the duration of my volunteer visit ("demystification")
visiting as many families in Diakhaba as possible. It can't be
stressed enough how important greetings are. Let me give you an
example:

Peace is with you?
Peace only!
What's your last name?
Damba.
Damba! Damba!
And yours?
Diakhaby.
Diakhaby! Diakhaby!
How are you?
I'm here only. How's your family?
They are there only.
What's sweet?
Nothing but God. Did you sleep well?
Yes I slept well. You and the day?
Peace only. How are the people where you are from?
Peace only. The people where I'm from greet you.
Peace.
Everybody greets you.
Peace. My family greets you.
Peace.
Okay. Diakhaby. Diakhaby.
Damba. Damba.

And this is the short version!

There were two moments when I wanted to cry during my volunteer visit.
The first was when the Peace Corps Land Cruiser dropped me off at my
village and pulled away with all my friends in it and I thought to
myself "Don't leave me!" as I turned to see all the children lined up
to meet their new toubab.

The second time I wanted to cry was a few days later when it was time
for me to bike to Saraya (not to return until mid-May, when I move
there permanently). My new family strapped my belongings to my bike
and everybody walked me down to the main road, clapping and waving the
whole way.

All in all, it was a great visit. Not everybody's visit went so well.
On of the Peace Corps Trainees woke up in his hut from a nap to see a
python crawling around in the roof. He yelled for his host brother who
came in with a machete and chopped its head off. Python blood sprayed
everywhere - the walls, family photos, everywhere!

One other bit of excitement happened during a potty break on the long
10 hour ride back to Thies. There's a national park in Kedougou. We
stopped at the guard hut and were immediately surrounded by dozens of
monkeys and a warthog! I had given our very patient driver (imagine 10
hours of toubabs singing show tunes in your backseat) Idrissa a bag of
kola nuts as a gift and one of the monkeys came into the car and stole
the whole bag! But don't worry, Idrissa chased the monkey down and got
his kola nuts back. In this same park are also baboons, lions, and
hippos!