Ker Simbara

On Tuesday, another volunteer and I finally had an opportunity to go out to do interviews in a village. It was a nice change after a couple of weeks of reviewing research papers in the Dakar office. Ker Simbara is located just outside of Thies and was one of the first villages who benefited from Tostan's education program. I interviewed two prominent villagers about their role in the program and how the information spread. My research is on social networking and how it ties into social changes, including villages' decisions to declare female genital cutting abandonment. The other volunteer I was with took a tour of their successful health hut to see how it was set up and how the setup could be applied to other villages.

Recording the translator's version of the imam's response to my interview questions. My vague squint here is from, first, my brain translating French to English, and second, wishing it wasn't rude to put on my sunglasses when talking with people. Strong sun, even in the shade. :)

Some of the kids. There were at least 8 clustered around one of the interviewees, who was having her hair braided as I spoke with her:

The imam and some of the village girls:

***I didn't have my camera with me, so these are another volunteer's pictures; please don't use without asking and all that good stuff.