The North/South Divide

*I wrote this a couple of weeks ago but am only just now getting around to putting it up, for anyone who might be confused about where I am at the moment. I am back at site, and am trying to figure out what on earth I'm going to do with myself now that I'm actually expected to be working. On to my outdated entry...

I'm back in Thies for three weeks to do some more technical training, and I have to say I'm going through some culture shock being back in the big city, not to mention the structure of being at training for ten hours every day. It's remarkable how different my perception of Thies is after being in my village for three months; now I find myself impressed at the level of development here. So many more schools, health facilities, and much more commerce. I find myself amazed at the amenities available, from the existence of things like shoe stores to the presence of a robinet (water tap) in almost every compound and the difference in quality and variety of foods available.

The best thing about being back here is getting to see all the people I met during the initial training period that ended up being assigned to sites in different regions of the country. I am able to meet with my friends up in the north pretty regularly, but those that live down in the southern region of the country have been much harder to stay in contact with. It's been wonderful to catch up with everyone I haven't seen in awhile, but I can't help noticing how different our experiences have been, even within the same country.

Similar to the economic disparity between the urban and rural areas, there is another subdivision in the level of poverty between the north and the south. Herding and agriculture are the main sources of income for most people in the north, which both suffer from lack of water. Overgrazing is a huge problem, and is contributing to the desertification of the entire Sahel region. On the surface, the prospects look pretty bleak for the entire region, yet my town has a fairly significant level of development-three schools, a health post, well-nourished looking children, electricity, robinets, and several other functioning community organizations.

The south is much richer in natural resources, as they get much more rain and are able to grow things in their fields for a greater portion of the year, but my friends down south describe a level of poverty much greater than anything I've seen in the north. They tell me they consistently have meals that consist of rice only. Electricity is a rarity, education nearly non-existent, and many villages don't even have latrines.

I was puzzled as to how it came to be that the people of the north, with not a lot to sell but sand, came to have more money than the people of the south, who live in the most beautiful, resource-rich part of the country, but then someone pointed out to me that the people in the north get their money from outside the country. If they can get an education, they might have a chance to emigrate and find work in Europe or America, and then send remittances home to their families. Also, what little food they manage to grow, they keep for their families to eat or sell in local markets. In the south, on the other hand, people have work in the fields to keep them there, but they sell their crops to foreign buyers for little or no profit, leaving their own families with next to nothing.

I'm noticing a lot of disillusionment among my fellow volunteers after facing the realities of living in such impoverished conditions and finding the task of development an entirely daunting notion. But we're having some good discussions and hopefully we'll be able to put our heads together to come up with something. Besides, we're all walking around wearing t-shirts that say 'World peace or two years service, whichever comes first,' so we'd better put our money where our mouths are, or we'll have to stop wearing them. I for one don't have that many t-shirts with me, so I'd be pretty reluctant to give one up.