Hard Day's Night
I thought of comparing a bit the different work environments I have been exposed to lately: the European Commission in Brussels, and the project Jappoo/Woomal by the Senegalese scouts where I am working at the moment in Mboro, Senegal. This post is thus dedicated to all my fellow colleagues at the Commission :)
The climate conditions and surroundings are certainly different when compared to the grey skies of Brussels. There won't be a drop of rain in Mboro before June, for sure, and the daytime temperatures hover around 30 degrees – in the morning only 21-22 degrees with a bit of wind and clouds. During the 30-minute walk to work on the straight road to the center of Mboro from my house, I encounter approximately three cars, four horse or donkey carts, a few other people walking and one bicycle. Not much traffic here.
This morning, for example, I passed by a woman who carried a huge pile of firewood on her head, had around a 3-year-old child on her back, and a teddy bear in her left hand. When the child remarked me passing by with a hasty cry of "toubab!", we exchanged a few smiles and greetings before I continued my way.
When I arrive at the work place, I say ”bonjour” to everybody who happens to be present – not completely unlike in Brussels, as there people normally greet the guards, others in the elevator and at least colleagues of the same office or while meeting them in the corridor. However, in Senegal also a round of handshakes with everyone is the norm, whether I know them or not. The handshake is accompanied by asking in different ways ”ca va” / how are you / how is the morning going / how is the family doing etc. This is also repeated in steady intervals when new people arrive: friends, visitors or volunteers who come and go, chat, watch TV or pray. At the Commission it was possible to pass almost a whole day without talking to anybody if I was alone in the office.
Of course, in Brussels I actually had an office. In Mboro, the open space where people tend to work with their computers or papers, have meetings or discuss with colleagues and strangers – it is actually a restaurant started by the project Jappoo (health and education project supported by the Luxemburgish and Belgian scouts). Yet, I quite prefer this to sitting in a dark and dusty office like the ones I have seen in Senegal so far, and enjoy having plenty of light and wind.
Inconveniences worth mentioning include having only two electric sockets which are quickly blocked by one computer and TV, and the drilling noises coming from the neighbouring craftsmen ateliers (wood work, leather...) which tend to disrupt concentration. I remember fondly the nurturing e-mails sent by the Commission services warning about frequent demonstrations on the Rue de la Loi which might cause disturbances in the working environment.
The Commission provided us with a table phone and a computer, whereas here it is pretty much expected that I have my own computer and a mobile phone with me - and after trying to work for a while with an extremely slow table computer with French keyboard in Dakar, I rather stick with my own laptop. As a positive note, the wireless internet is working extremely well in Mboro (even better than in Rufisque), something unknown in the EU, apparently for security reasons.
Obviously the most important moment of the work day is lunch hour. As our work place is also a restaurant, we eat here (anyway, there are very few other places in general where to eat out in Mboro). And yes, there is a ”plat du jour”, only one option, but unlike at the Commission, it is usually very tasty, and even better, free for workers and volunteers of the project! At least four, often 6-7 persons share a huge plate of food which usually consists of rice with sauce: either peanut sauce or the most frequent dish in Senegal, tiepboudjen (rice with fish and vegetables).
The Senegalese coffee, ”cafe touba” (spiced and sugared black coffee) is usually only drunk in the morning with breakfast, while afternoons and evenings are dedicated to ”ataaya”, Senegalese tea (or actually Chinese green tea prepared in a Senegalese-Arabic fashion). Now, making the tea can last anything from one to two-and-half hours, depending on the person making it. There are three rounds of it, and the first round of boiling is the longest, from 20 minutes to one hour. The two following rounds are shorter, with more sugar and mint involved in the process. While the tea is boiling, people play Scrabble, watch TV, talk about football, the projects or whatever is happening. This week we also had a barbering session.
Barber shop at work place.
At this point I should probably mention that most people hanging out at the ”work place” are not hired, nor really working, but involved in the project as volunteers and remunerated with very small allowances. If there is an evening activity that they are organizing, they may receive a sum of less than one euro for buying dinner, for example. Only the main responsables of the projects receive a small salary which is nothing compared to what people earn in international organizations in Senegal.
So far I have only attended two meetings, and there are some similarities between Brussels and Senegal: they last long, at least two hours, and they are often very formal. Whereas in the Commission many meetings discussed coordination, strategies and action plans, the meetings in Senegal concentrate on the actual issues on the micro-level. The amounts discussed are also very different, more like one-figure numbers instead of 6, 7 or 8 number figures (in euros) as in the Commission! A very common form of awareness raising, a group discussion session (”causerie”) is organized here with around 12-30 euros depending on the distance of the locality, since most of the costs are related to the transport.
Ongoing animation: Babacar Siby posing questions to the villagers on diarrhea.
After participating in two evening events in ”nearby” villages (30 kilometres, taking one hour on a bumpy road) this week, I have to admire the dedication and animation skills of the project workers and volunteers. These two events, big group discussions dealt with diarrhea, one of the biggest health problems in Senegal besides malaria and respitory disesases. The events included music – these being more traditional villages, religious chants instead of latest pop hits – discussion on diarrhea with the villagers in a participatory manner, asking them questions and celebrating the correct answers with dancing.
Everything was conducted in Wolof, which forced me as an observer to rely on the translations of others. In any case it was an incredible cultural experience for me, when the women of the village came to greet me, shake my hand and kiss me on my neck (!) while dancing. Certainly, part of the excitement was due to the possibility of receiving money or other gifts from the white woman, representing the rich Europe. But I would like to believe that it is at least partly genuine hospitality that the Senegalese people are proud of.
Some dancing along religious music after a correct answer in the discussion on diarrhea, its causes, consequences and solutions.
Evenings after work are very different from the Commission, where we tended to go out to chat in bars or listen to jazz concerts with stagiaires at least 3 times a week – this would often include tasting a Belgian beer or two. In Mboro, if there are no evening activities planned, the work day ends around 6 or 7 pm. I might stay for a while to watch TV or stay connected to the internet, or to wait for the dinner food to be prepared in the Jappoo restaurant and buy some to take with me, as near my home the only place to get food is the neighbouring family.
During the first weeks I have been quite tired in the evenings, and have been perfectly happy to watch TV or chat in the neighbours' houses: either news or Senegalese wrestling, always on TV, or switch to satellite channels offering Arabic music videos or quality documentaries made all over the world. Last week I followed reportages from South Africa and Peru, and discussed on general topics such as gender relations or religion. This has made me feel not like being on the margins of the world, but right in the center of it all. Maybe even more than Brussels, the centre of Europe, imagines itself to be.
The climate conditions and surroundings are certainly different when compared to the grey skies of Brussels. There won't be a drop of rain in Mboro before June, for sure, and the daytime temperatures hover around 30 degrees – in the morning only 21-22 degrees with a bit of wind and clouds. During the 30-minute walk to work on the straight road to the center of Mboro from my house, I encounter approximately three cars, four horse or donkey carts, a few other people walking and one bicycle. Not much traffic here.
This morning, for example, I passed by a woman who carried a huge pile of firewood on her head, had around a 3-year-old child on her back, and a teddy bear in her left hand. When the child remarked me passing by with a hasty cry of "toubab!", we exchanged a few smiles and greetings before I continued my way.
When I arrive at the work place, I say ”bonjour” to everybody who happens to be present – not completely unlike in Brussels, as there people normally greet the guards, others in the elevator and at least colleagues of the same office or while meeting them in the corridor. However, in Senegal also a round of handshakes with everyone is the norm, whether I know them or not. The handshake is accompanied by asking in different ways ”ca va” / how are you / how is the morning going / how is the family doing etc. This is also repeated in steady intervals when new people arrive: friends, visitors or volunteers who come and go, chat, watch TV or pray. At the Commission it was possible to pass almost a whole day without talking to anybody if I was alone in the office.
Of course, in Brussels I actually had an office. In Mboro, the open space where people tend to work with their computers or papers, have meetings or discuss with colleagues and strangers – it is actually a restaurant started by the project Jappoo (health and education project supported by the Luxemburgish and Belgian scouts). Yet, I quite prefer this to sitting in a dark and dusty office like the ones I have seen in Senegal so far, and enjoy having plenty of light and wind.
Inconveniences worth mentioning include having only two electric sockets which are quickly blocked by one computer and TV, and the drilling noises coming from the neighbouring craftsmen ateliers (wood work, leather...) which tend to disrupt concentration. I remember fondly the nurturing e-mails sent by the Commission services warning about frequent demonstrations on the Rue de la Loi which might cause disturbances in the working environment.
The Commission provided us with a table phone and a computer, whereas here it is pretty much expected that I have my own computer and a mobile phone with me - and after trying to work for a while with an extremely slow table computer with French keyboard in Dakar, I rather stick with my own laptop. As a positive note, the wireless internet is working extremely well in Mboro (even better than in Rufisque), something unknown in the EU, apparently for security reasons.
Obviously the most important moment of the work day is lunch hour. As our work place is also a restaurant, we eat here (anyway, there are very few other places in general where to eat out in Mboro). And yes, there is a ”plat du jour”, only one option, but unlike at the Commission, it is usually very tasty, and even better, free for workers and volunteers of the project! At least four, often 6-7 persons share a huge plate of food which usually consists of rice with sauce: either peanut sauce or the most frequent dish in Senegal, tiepboudjen (rice with fish and vegetables).
The Senegalese coffee, ”cafe touba” (spiced and sugared black coffee) is usually only drunk in the morning with breakfast, while afternoons and evenings are dedicated to ”ataaya”, Senegalese tea (or actually Chinese green tea prepared in a Senegalese-Arabic fashion). Now, making the tea can last anything from one to two-and-half hours, depending on the person making it. There are three rounds of it, and the first round of boiling is the longest, from 20 minutes to one hour. The two following rounds are shorter, with more sugar and mint involved in the process. While the tea is boiling, people play Scrabble, watch TV, talk about football, the projects or whatever is happening. This week we also had a barbering session.
Barber shop at work place.
At this point I should probably mention that most people hanging out at the ”work place” are not hired, nor really working, but involved in the project as volunteers and remunerated with very small allowances. If there is an evening activity that they are organizing, they may receive a sum of less than one euro for buying dinner, for example. Only the main responsables of the projects receive a small salary which is nothing compared to what people earn in international organizations in Senegal.
So far I have only attended two meetings, and there are some similarities between Brussels and Senegal: they last long, at least two hours, and they are often very formal. Whereas in the Commission many meetings discussed coordination, strategies and action plans, the meetings in Senegal concentrate on the actual issues on the micro-level. The amounts discussed are also very different, more like one-figure numbers instead of 6, 7 or 8 number figures (in euros) as in the Commission! A very common form of awareness raising, a group discussion session (”causerie”) is organized here with around 12-30 euros depending on the distance of the locality, since most of the costs are related to the transport.
Ongoing animation: Babacar Siby posing questions to the villagers on diarrhea.
After participating in two evening events in ”nearby” villages (30 kilometres, taking one hour on a bumpy road) this week, I have to admire the dedication and animation skills of the project workers and volunteers. These two events, big group discussions dealt with diarrhea, one of the biggest health problems in Senegal besides malaria and respitory disesases. The events included music – these being more traditional villages, religious chants instead of latest pop hits – discussion on diarrhea with the villagers in a participatory manner, asking them questions and celebrating the correct answers with dancing.
Everything was conducted in Wolof, which forced me as an observer to rely on the translations of others. In any case it was an incredible cultural experience for me, when the women of the village came to greet me, shake my hand and kiss me on my neck (!) while dancing. Certainly, part of the excitement was due to the possibility of receiving money or other gifts from the white woman, representing the rich Europe. But I would like to believe that it is at least partly genuine hospitality that the Senegalese people are proud of.
Some dancing along religious music after a correct answer in the discussion on diarrhea, its causes, consequences and solutions.
Evenings after work are very different from the Commission, where we tended to go out to chat in bars or listen to jazz concerts with stagiaires at least 3 times a week – this would often include tasting a Belgian beer or two. In Mboro, if there are no evening activities planned, the work day ends around 6 or 7 pm. I might stay for a while to watch TV or stay connected to the internet, or to wait for the dinner food to be prepared in the Jappoo restaurant and buy some to take with me, as near my home the only place to get food is the neighbouring family.
During the first weeks I have been quite tired in the evenings, and have been perfectly happy to watch TV or chat in the neighbours' houses: either news or Senegalese wrestling, always on TV, or switch to satellite channels offering Arabic music videos or quality documentaries made all over the world. Last week I followed reportages from South Africa and Peru, and discussed on general topics such as gender relations or religion. This has made me feel not like being on the margins of the world, but right in the center of it all. Maybe even more than Brussels, the centre of Europe, imagines itself to be.
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