MANGROVES!!!

Every once in a while projects just work... This probably doesn't sound like a radical idea but trust me in Peace Corps it really is.  This past week we had the second annual Mangrove Reforestation Day just outside of Toubacouta.  We got together with 28 PCV's, 30 Senegalese volunteers and 30,000 seedlings and went to town.  Before we get to the details here's a little back story.  Toubacouta is situated in the delta region of Senegal and is surrounded by thousands of acres of mangroves.  In fact at first glance there doesn't really seem to be a shortage of them...  There are however large areas that have been deforested for fuel, building materials, and because of oyster harvesting.  Mangroves are crucial for the ecology of the delta.  They clean the water, prevent erosion and provide a habitat for countless species of birds, fish, and apparently, but very rarely, manatees.  They're just awesome trust me.

Now that you're thoroughly convinced of the value of the program here are the details.  As I said this is the second annual Mangrove day.  The first was put on by my former site-mate Cail Hegeman in conjunction with the NGO Oceanium.  Now Cail had told me how easy this project was with Oceanium's help, but I didn't quite believe him.  I was flabbergasted.  Essentially Jamie Whitehead, Robert Rivera, and I organized the volunteers and told Oceanium the date we wanted to do the program and they took care of the rest.  They brought the seedlings, they brought the womens' groups, they brought the boats, they chose the site, I brought the boisson (that was a surprise reward at the end).  This is not normal.  In all my other interactions with NGO's they are not this reliable.   Go Oceanium!  Anyways we got to Toubacouta the 16th, checked into our hotels and had some very important discussions and work meetings and... no not really, we went to the fancy hotels and drank beer and swam in the pool as thunderstorms approached.  Don't worry mom I got out when the thunder and lightning  were less than 5 seconds apart... most did not...

The next day we all got up early and headed out to the Mangrove site.  Here's where Oceanium could have been a little more... upfront...  In all of our discussions I was led to believe that we were doing the reforestation just three kilometers outside of Toubacouta.  We did indeed travel three kilometers outside of Toubacouta... and then piled into a boat and traveled another hour into the delta.  This was not part of the plan.   Apart from some extra sun exposure though it was fine.  When we got the the site we all met up and discussed the general importance of Mangroves and then got to work.  Some people started sorting mangrove seedlings (we had to throw away a lot of broken ones) while others started planting.  The site for the reforestation was huge, over 10 hectares (almost 25 acres).  I imagined we were only going to finish a tiny part of the beach, but once we started going and the kids got their hands on seedlings we were flying.  As a side-note all of the kids and women were Sereres!  Sooooo nice to be able to speak my own language outside of my village.  Also that's probably why we got so much work done; Sereres are awesome.  Anyways we worked our way down the beach planting lines of seedlings every two meters until suddenly we were at the end... Well almost.  It was an insanely hot day and the tide started coming up really fast so we stopped a few hundred meters short of the end of the beach.  Also when the tide comes up over sand that's been baking in the sun for the past 4 hours the water just about boils.  It was kind of unbearable to walk through.

All told we probably reforested a total of 5-8 hectares (we didn't plant on the upper beach).  I need to talk to the Oceanium representative to get a better estimate.  As we walked back to the boats I quizzed the kids on the importance of mangroves and they enthusiastically gave me all the right answers.  It was at this point that I revealed my secret surprise of ice cold boisson (strawberry cool-aid basically).  They loved it!  We parted ways with smiles and then quickly got lost in the mangroves and had to turn around.  We found our way eventually and made it back without losing a
single volunteer.  Success!

It really is odd to just have things work.  I've been here a year and this is the first project that was unequivocally a success.   It just isn't usually so clear cut.  I guess this isn't in the overall sense of development either, but its pretty good.  There are a lot of NGOs that work with Mangroves, but few bring together so many people as equal work partners for a day like this.  That's the Peace Corps way.  We don't always get the biggest projects done but the ones we do are quality.  Thanks to everyone who helped!  It was a great day.  Enjoy some extra picture :-)  Cheers!

Serere children with mangrove seedlings.

My new site-mate Rob with some of our helpers.

Hard at work.  Look at the pretty lines of seedlings :-)

Large deforested area.

Me planting a seedling. 

David getting some help cooling off :-)

Rob showing off his dance moves.

Me with some new friends.

The long walk back after planting.  We were all very tired.

Boisson!!!

Boat full of very tired Toubabs :-)