We woke up at a ridiculously early hour this morning to get to the airport for our flight to Kolda, due to several uncertainties in our travel. Like if it mattered that I had the wrong return date on my handwritten ticket. Or if we could in fact take our excess luggage for a fee (we could- they were very gracious and reduced the fee with some successful navigating from our assistant since it was school supplies for students). The plane held 21 passengers, and despite assigned seating it was first come, first served, which was fine. Once we landed in Kolda, the plane drove right up to the airport (a three-room building) and we disembarked and waited for our luggage to be taken from the plane by ladder. So getting there was half the fun today. Our gracious hosts, Mme Fanta Boiro and her husband met us at the airport, took us to the hotel, and then we began the series of meetings of important persons in Kolda. We first met with the adjunct Inspector General of the schools, as the chief inspector was out of town. As he was a former biology teacher, we had a good conversation about what is taught in biology classes, what we hope to learn from our experience, and our first impressions of Kolda and Senegal. Our next stop was the Forestry Service, in which we learned a great deal about the roles and responsibilities of the forest service in Kolda. They have three: to maintain the protected forest areas and animals within, to promote responsible and sustainable economic development of forestry products (charcoal, mahogany, and fruits as some examples), and to regulate hunting. This was a very long but meaningful conversation about challenges particular to the Casamance region in forestry. Senegal and the Gambia share a considerably lengthy border, and their forestry practices and regulations are not the same. For instance, Senegal has restrictions on how much wood for charcoal and mahogany can be harvested, in order to promote responsible use of the forest and help people earn a living, but in a way that maintains the forest ecosystems. I agree with the director, who emphasized that protecting the forests had to be economically beneficial for the people who live in and around it, which of course requires education. We visited the tree nursery and the forestry service’s store, where women sell sustainable food products that were harvested from the local area. We then went to our host’s house, where we met their charming children, and were served a wonderful lunch that was made by the oldest daughter. After resting for an hour or so, we went back out to meet the Colonel of the army who is stationed in Kolda, who was very welcoming and shared with us some of the citizenship activities that he has implemented in the schools. Finally we visited the Zoological Research Center, which is devoted to the preservation and research of local flora and fauna, including cattle, which are an essential component of life here. We learned that the rice grown in the Casamance region is distinct from the rice grown along the coast; the rice here is dependent on the rainy season, whereas the rice on the coast is irrigated. Both types are threatened by climate change in some way- the coastal rice by salinization with the rising sea levels, and the Casamance rice if the rainy season is altered too much. We also learned about their breeding and research program to promote cattle that are resistant to the trypanosome parasite that causes African sleeping sickness- any guesses what makes the cows in the picture resistant?
1 Comment
Amy Schofield
4/9/2016 02:59:53 am
I am resisting the urge to goggle why the cows are resistant and take a guess: do they have a higher than normal body temperature?
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Kirstin Bullington
I teach science, engineering, and computer science at W.J. Keenan High School in Columbia, SC Archives
March 2016
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