Service Visits – Ndombo Mbodjienne

On Thursday, we traveled north to Ndombo Mbodjienne, a small village just south of Richard Toll on the Mauritanian border. Lydia and Maddie have been living there with Alionne Mbodj and his extended family. They have been doing some work at a small organization called AESCAW, which is an economic initiative run by local women that processes milk to produce a sweet yoghurt that they sell. This job comes with a lovely pink uniform and has taken up some small portion of their time. The first half of their service was defined by their host father’s participation in a local political race, which he eventually won. It turns out that politics involves a lot of parties and the two SSTers attended meals and dances and fetes on an almost daily basis for the first couple weeks of service. Parties often include dancing and Lydia and Maddie have both become fairly accomplished, or at least well-recognized, dancers in the community.