I LOVE GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER

Carl here, greetings from West Africa,

OK, so one of the things that we really take for granted in the states is having a pretty cheap and perhaps more importantly, a dependable power source. In Vermont, there are times when there is a significant storm and a tree or seasonal deadfall takes out a power wire and the lights go out. This pisses us off for a few minutes but the outage generally lasts for a short hour or 2 (with the most recent exceptions of Irene and the ice storm of '98). Dig out the flashlight (that never works), light a candle and try to enjoy the quiet dark. For some, you crank up a generator to power a few lights and refrigerator. Life goes on. Then magically, power is restored, lights come back on, the computer is functional and life goes on. For this service, we pay a good dollar to Green Mountain Power or CVPS. I can not believe I am saying this but I LOVE GMP! I have been unhappy with them over the years but generally it is over the cost of their service. The dependability of the product they deliver was never in question. I am a spoiled American, I get it.

Dakar is a major hub of economic activity and population center in West Africa. There is a major deep water port for moving goods in and out. The city has grown significantly and now includes several "burbs," if you will. All of this activity requires power. The elecrical grid was developed over time but has not kept up with the needs of an expanding population, let alone business. The city suffers from ever increasing "managed blackouts", which is another way of saying that there is just not enough power to go around. It is a significant political issue for the current President and is a major source of discontent when speaking with the Senegalese.

Since the world does, in fact, revolve around me, let me tell you how this affects the Hauslers of Dakar. We have a house that is enclosed by a large wall. Inside the wall (covered and out of the way) is a 75KW Caterpiller Diesel Generator that will not allow the Hauslers of Dakar to be without power for more than 5 seconds (that's a very important 5 seconds if you are on the computer). The moment the power from the street is interupted, we hear the trusty Cat fire up and then we listen to the low hum of the diesel keeping us in power, lights and AC. No complaints from me at all, this is great even by Embassy standards as some folks have generators that are not strong enough to power all the needs they have. Some have had to go without AC for a while (and it's hot, hot, hot). So the short story is that the Hauslers of Dakar are very well taken care of on the power side and we are grateful, believe me. The problem is that our generator might run 10-12 hours per day! Great to have the back up system but the back up more often seems like the primary source and the back up is coming from the street!!! Am I painitng a picture here that brings me back to the title of this Blog Segment?

"Old Sparky"

While all this sounds a little humerous and somewhat inconvienient, I always go back to how fortunate we are here in Dakar and you are back in the states. When the power goes out here, most Senegalese do not have the absolute luxury of dependable power and basically sit in the dark without AC or fans for hours and potentially days. They will lose the food in their fridges and just as importantly, they lose some of their livelihood if making aliving is attached to needing electricity. If you think about it, many of the modern conveniences are somewhat useless here until power is an affordable and reliable resource available to all. I dont have a solution but I really wish I did.

Happy Fall. Laurie told me that it is raining this week in Vermont (cause she still checks and reports on the weather for me). The best of days to you.

Italy

Carl here. I had a TDY assignment to Vicenza Italy at the end of August. Nice to travel there but yet another place where I do not understand the language.

I came accross this Fiat 500 in a parking lot. These little (the operative word) cars are still common in Italy. I thought that I pretty much looked like a giant standing next to it. I can't imagine driving it as everything on in the interior was tiny. I seriously beleive that Matt could easily drive this thing. Hmmmm.....

Goree Island

Greetings all,

Carl here! I had a pretty busy last week with a couple of Traveling Contact Teams (TCT) who were here working with the Senegalese Military. We had a group of Medical folks from Vermont who were doing some assessment work with the Senegal Medical system. I really had a great time with them and I am convinced that this TCT will pave the way for some great future work.



One of the things that I always try to plan for the teams is an opportunity to experience the culture of Senegal. Nothing mandatory or forced fun about it. Because this group had limited time, we stayed in Dakar.

We took a morning to visit Goree Island located about 4 km from Port of Dakar. This island is best known as a former West African hub of slave exportation begining with the Portuguese in the mid 1400s. It is currently a UNESCO World Heritage site as an historically significant location.



I secured the services of Ali who is a history major and fluent English speaker and all around good guy. He is of the Mandinka tribe of southern Senegal and Gambia regions. His English was perfect with a strong Woolof twang. He articulated some complex social and political history issues with great elegance. I really appreciated the fact that he looked at the history for what it was and did not pass judgement or inject his personal bias.

We left early in the morning to beat the daytime heat and to make the most of the day. The boatride was pleasent as was the company. What struck me most was how much transition there was from European influences with the Portugese, the Dutch, the French, the English, then back to the French. All had a part in West African development and in the slave trade.



The tour finished at the Slave House which was the actual point where people were stored waiting transport via ships to North and South America. "Stored" is the accurate term for what transpired as it was the last stopping point for these people before shipment to their destination. If males didn't weigh the required 60 kilos for shipment, they were force fed until they did. Slaves were housed in small rooms that were packed full without adequate ventilation or restroom facilities. 20 million slaves were reported to be exported from Africa to the west, but only 14 million survived the trip. I was actually quite depressed thinking about the enormity of the human suffering. I had the same thoughts when I toured the German prison camp at Dakau outside of Munich. I am always amazed at how badly man can treat his fellow man. All cultures have these problems with their past. Hopefully we learn from history.




Laurie and Matt are great. I had no idea how hard this transition would be for them. We are hoping that the next few months will allow us to settle in nicely. My best to you!

Carl

At Matt's request

Matthew has requested that I post pictures that might be of interest to his friends. Easy enough.

On Sunday, we got a chance to tour the USS Swift which arrived in Dakar over the weekend. The Swift was built by the same company that built the Cat that services Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia. Way cool.

When we visit our favorite beach side spots, there are always animals - chickens, rabbits, ducks, goats, and sometimes horses. Matt likes these turtles. They hang out with the chickens.

I think I'll hand Matt the camera next time and see what he comes up with. After all, we are trying to make this a well-rounded blog.

Greetings

All,

Just so that you know, this is Laurie's blog and she is totally responsible for its content. She has graciously allowed me to post from time to time on things that I see from my perspective and that are important to me. I will try not to overstep my bounds.

I have said it before but Dakar is an amazing place. In spite of our difficult start, I remain convinced that this will be a great tour with many adventures along the way. We continue to keep an open mind and a willingness to learn about this culture in any way that it is presented to us.

For starters, we got to our home which is a 4 bedroom, 7 or 8 baths (haven't counted them all), single floor home. We ventured out to notice that the Atlantic is about 200 yards from the house. We found the above establishment which is called "Le Cabene de Surfer". You would never know that this place exists as it is situated on the rocks that fall into the ocean. Abdou is the bartender/chef and pours cold "La Gazzele" beer and serves some pretty decent food. Laurie's sunset photo is untouched and is an example of a typical Friday evening. Friends seem to need only a phone call and a small group forms. Pretty good. We do enjoy getting out and seeing what Dakar has to offer.

It's been a while . . .

It's been a short while since I posted last. I have felt somewhat at a loss to post from Africa as I watched our beloved Vermont take the brunt of Irene. We are glad to hear our friends are doing well even as their communities have suffered great losses.

Carl spent a week in Italy (poor thing), so Matt and I held down the fort here. Needless to say, it was a quiet week for us.

One of our goals while we're here is to explore our surrounding community as well as the larger country. It would be easy for us to remain close to our house and not experience all there is and so we go, drive around, sit and listen, experience. And if a gorgeous sunset is thrown in, we won't complain.

I already have a favorite coffee spot (is anyone surprised?). Sweet Coffee. The name sais it all. Strong, very strong, Cafe Au Lait and a croissant. I have yet to visit one of the beach shacks that serve cafe in the morning, but I can only imagine a wonderful coffee at the ocean. It's on my list.