Mary Kay Comes to Senegal

Me and my two host moms showing off our new Mary Kay products. Don't they look pretty with their lipstick!

Mom's visit has been going so well so far, it's almost hard to believe! That last blog post was by her, of course, in case you thought I'd started talking about myself in third person. We started our trip in St. Louis, which was absolutely beautiful. Lots of old colonial buildings, fat horses pulling urban charettes, and three days of delicious food. We ate our money all right! And it tasted so good! Then, a trip to Kaolack (which was cleaner than usual, thank goodness. The sewage has begun to dry out not after the rainy season) to shop and hang out with the Volunteers, and then the highlight of the trip so far: Keur Ali Gueye. It has been such a full, happy week in the village! Everyone was beyond delighted to meet my mother, so welcoming and excited. She bought tea and sugar, which we distributed to every compound, so the whole village could partake in the fun, but also brought vermicelli and five fat chickens for a neighborhood feast of pasta with chicken-and-onion sauce. We ate well there too! The family really showed their culinary skills for the special guest. We've had chicken twice, a wonderful tomato mafe with fish balls, and vegetable-rich ceeb u jen all week. Plus, there has been work to do! I distributed about thirty books yesterday to kids who all crowded into my hut. I'd filled a trunk from the Bookmobile stash, to start a loaning library in the village, so people can get used to the idea. It was even more of a hit than I expected! Especially with the older kids, who were in competition for the few French books, which went especially quickly. But even the English ones with pretty pictures (and really, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?) went like hotcakes. I explained to everyone that the book is theirs to enjoy AND PROTECT for two weeks, and then they must return it and may choose another one. The test will be when I return, to see how many I get back. But they're out of my hut and into people's hands, which is the whole idea anyway. I've also been working with the girls' and women's groups, setting up a soap selling business. They want to make their own, so I found a trainer and set a date for after Tabaski, which hopefully she will keep. They know the materials they have to provide - cooking supplies, regular peanut soap, ash, neem, sticks for stirring, etc. - and I already bought the lye, which is sold in the Kaolack market. Mom and I also got gris-gris for safe travel there, which so far have served us well! No problems on the road to report, exept for dust.
Also, of course, the gifts from the USA. Each of the kids got something. One of the biggest hits was a little whirlagig flower on a stick, the kind that spins when you blow it. My host dad got a fancy Leatherman, which he will no doubt put to good use with all the repairs he does, and each of the host moms got a pretty beaded ring, and a Mary Kay lipstick. Everyone loved their gifts, and it gave me special pleasure to hand out the makeup, which my good friend in Seattle sells. Really, nothing brigthens a woman's face more than a little lipstick. Which is ironic since I haven't worn any for nearly a year! Maybe on Tabaski....
Wish us continued good luck and good travels, we're off to the beach before Mom heads home!

And a very important postscript: I see that more than a thousand dollars has already been donated to the latrine project! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone who has contributed!