Djarama Diallow
Brandon and Bree have been working at the Djarama Association. The mission of Djarama is to “build, through culture and education, a youth that is aware of its values and respectful of the environment.”
Djarama Diallow is an agro-environmental intentional living community located in the village of Toubab Diallow. They strive for a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle. As part of our life here, we compost and sort trash for proper disposal. Metal and glass products are recycled, papers are burned, plastics are taken to the dump and food stuffs are composted. We try to reuse and repurpose so things don’t have to be thrown away. The kids that attend school here learn about the importance of caring for the environment. They even have their own garden that they work in everyday! This blog is going to run through our typical day in Djarama.
Mornings
We wake up at 7:00 and water all of the plants and baby trees in the compound. Breakfast is at 8:00 with the French volunteers and some of the employees of Djarama. Breakfast typically consists of coffee, mangoes and baguettes with various spreads, homemade jams, and butter.
At 9:00 we begin work. There has been a wide variety of things for us to work on! We dug holes around the perimeter of the compound and planted trees for a natural fence line. We cleaned out the water reservoir and painted the trash cans for easier trash sorting. For several days we dug plots in the garden for a new set of herbs and vegetables! Right now, we are painting a mural on the school. We sketched the design with the leaders and are incorporating the school kids into the painting.
At 11:30ish, the students have song/dance time in the central gathering place, under the tree. We like to join in!
Afternoon and Evening
At 1:00 we have lunch, made by the cook of the compound, Besse. When lunch is ready, we all eat together with large shared platters. There is a lot of variety in what she cooks! After lunch we have a rest until around 2 and then resume work until 4.
After 4 we are free to do whatever we want! Most times we go to the beach, which is about a 15 minute walk from Djarama. We have started cooking dinner for the compound every night. We start cooking around 5-6, depending on what we make. Toussa, our leader, gets all of the ingredients we don’t already have or can’t get from the garden. Toussa enjoys helping us cook, we crack jokes and sing songs together. We eat dinner with the French volunteers and a few of the employees of Djarama. After dinner we all clean up together. At night we spend time playing card games, talking with the French volunteers or going to the beachside restaurant “Kmeleon” for some live music.
