This Senegalese Life

Shea butter ( kare  in Pulaar and karité in French) is an extremely popular product here in Senegal. people use it as a lip balm and a b...

I spent  Korité , the feast day celebrating the end of Ramadan, in Salémata with my host family. I woke up, puttered around, got my complet...

Bowls, like buckets, are a big things around here. We eat all our meals out of bowls, food is kept warm in lidded bowls, gifts and purchase...

Mango season is long over now, but there's been plenty of  laare  around for the past few weeks. Laare  ("la-ray") is the Pu...

Awhile back Troll (one of my dear friends from Camp Unalayee ) sent me a package filled with band-aids, antibiotic ointment, and other supe...

Most evenings one of my host sisters or host moms will make gosi , a kind of rice porridge, to feed all the little kids (and me, sometimes...

My American name is LaRocha ("la-rock-a"), but my Senegalese name is Adama. I have a number of tokorabe  (people with my same na...

At the end of every month there is a Growth Monitoring (AKA Baby-Weighing) and Vaccination Day at the Salémata Health Center, and it is pre...