Happy 2016! Before this year is over, you could be on your way to The Gambia in West Africa to fill one of our Volunteer positions in Agriculture or Health. If you go, maybe you’ll ring in 2017 with a dish of chicken yassa. Try this recipe for a little inspiration:
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, wash and cut into medium pieces
7 onions, sliced
4 lemons or lime juice
2 tablespoon of mustard, preferably mustard of Djion
150ml of oil
1 head of garlic
2 bouillons cubes ( or Maggi Jumbo)
Black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
Salt, to taste
Directions:
Step 1: Marinating the chicken: (you can let it marinate it for 2 hours or overnight)
Marinate the chicken with the mustard, half of the garlic, 2 lemons and black pepper.
Then keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 h.
Step 2: The onions:
Slice and marinade the onions with mustard, lemons and black pepper ( like you did with the chicken).
Step 3: Grill the chicken in the oven or fry it on the stove with 3 tablespoon of oil on high heat. When the chicken is brown, remove and set aside.
Step 3: Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a cooking pot and stir-fry the onions for few minutes. Then add in the remaining garlic.
Return the grilled chicken in the pot with 1 cup of water. Add the bouillon cubes, chili pepper and salt to your taste. Lit it simmer for 30 or until the chicken is done and the liquid in the sauce is totally absorbed
It may be late but I finally got them uploaded. Here are some photos of my host family in training village. And yes this photo is fairly indicative of the attitudes of most Gambians - they are constantly smiling and laughing.
Why are Pulars so cool? These gentlemen belong to an ethnic group that stretches over many countries in West Africa. They are the herders of Senegal! 🐂 I’m not a Fula but…respect! ✊🏾
A mosque is typically located at the center of most villages. As the location of the 5 daily congregational prayers, men frequent the mosque often. #peacecorps #westafrica #gambia
“PCVs Justin Wellins, Peter Seebart and Peter Tyliszczak, of the HIV/AIDS Speak the Truth Football Tournament held a sensitization of HIV/AIDS on June 20, 2013, in The Gambia, West Africa. During the training basic HIV/AIDS information is shared with 7 football teams participating in the tournament. At the end of the day of the day, the football team tied a single ribbon around their wrist. They were all connected – they are a team. And it will take this team and many others, being connected, to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. But, after the tournament, they went their different ways. Because we did not want them to forget, we asked each of them to wear this red string around their wrist as a reminder. When people ask them about the red string, they can share with them what they learned, what they know and what they believe. When they look at the string they can remember they have the power to protect themselves and others from HIV.”
“My first day in the rice fields in the Upper River Region of The Gambia, where I worked from sunrise until sunset with my family to transplant the food that would nourish us for the year to come. We worked until exhaustion, the young and the old, children on break from school and elders on break from prayers. Never have I ever experienced backbreaking work like this for such little reward- a small yield of rice for a family. Such is life in West Africa, and this was the day I became a part of it.”
“In The Gambia a cow grazes on dried grass as a farmer burns his field to begin preparation for planting and the rainy season. All farm animals are allowed to roam wildly in search of their own food, never fenced in or brought food by their owners, and are usually found at the end of the day and brought to their stakes by the smallest boys in the family to protect them from the hennas that prey on them at night.”
Photo Essay: The anatomy of a Senegalese drum circle
“The Senegalese start dancing young; after experiencing several drum circles now, and getting thrown into the middle of all of them, I’m convinced it’s genetic.”
This photo was taken in January of 2013 at Savelugu School for the Deaf in Ghana, West Africa. The students are incredibly talented artists, and this photo was taken on the day we finished the project.
A West Michigan man says the empowerment of women in Senegal helps not only them, but benefits the environment as well.
Andrew Oberstadt became an ally to women in that West African nation when he helped organize Race for Education, a run that will raise money for girls’ education in Senegal’s Tambacounda region.
He and Geoff Burmiester, both of Holland, organized the event with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers.
Oberstadt didn’t intend to take up the cause when he first moved to Senegal via the Peace Corps in 2010. He was more focused on issues such as environmental protection.
What Oberstadt didn’t realize was how keeping women in school could positively affect the environment, he said.
If women earn degrees, they begin careers. When they begin careers, many postpone marriage and pregnancy. When they can plan and space their pregnancies, they have fewer children. Overpopulation — a major issue for the African continent — wreaks havoc on the environment, as the demand for resources increases.
“I am now convinced that women’s empowerment and family planning are some of the best causes we can support to make a positive change in the world,” Oberstadt said in an email.
