Ndorna: Juice

Senegalese make a juice out of the fruit from the baobab tree called 'bouye'. They pack them in clear plastic bags and sell them around. It's even better when frozen. This little kid is enjoying his 'bouye' as his buddy looks on. Baobab fruit is called 'pain de singe' or monkey's bread. It's chalky and a little sour but you get used to the taste.

Ndorna: Watching the grown-ups

Kids are always curious to get into what the grown-ups are up to.

According to one of the field agents, in his village, children have started to copy the grown-ups, starting their own microfinance groups, saving and lending out bottlecaps as currency to one another!

Photos by Maimona Balde

I finally decided on a Senegalese name for me with the help of a friend and the guard at our office. Welcome, Maimona Balde who was born yesterday and turns 26 today! Here's a self-portrait:

To celebrate, I'm updating my blog and uploading tons of photos taken two days ago.
Here are some of my photos on the field at Ndorna (Kolda, Senegal). I'm so happy there are a lot that of shots that I like. The people here are beautiful and fortunately for me, they enjoy having their pictures taken and seeing the result afterwards! It's striking how despite me being different and not knowing the language (Pulaar), my camera does the talking and I think we are somehow able to communicate.

This was during the Study Exchange visit with villagers from Mampatim visiting Ndorna.

I hope you enjoy them.

I'm having a hard time organizing the photos and I realized it might be easier if I posted just one photo per blog entry... hoping it works!