Back in Kedougou

We got the approval to return to Kedougou on Thursday... needless to say I was sleeping in my own bed Thursday night- thankful to have left the mosquitoes and heat behind (my legs are covered in bites [damn Tamba!]). It's nice to be back- Kedougou feels like home already and it sucked having to leave like that, needless to say Michele is in much better spirits now. The day after I got back I made chocolate chip cookies that turned out really well (thanks to mom for the essential ingredients). I shared them with my host family and they all really enjoyed them and then last night we finally had our big Christmas dinner. It was really tasty and I ate A LOT so it was kinnda like Christmas in America. We had couscous with raisins and green beans with yassa (onion sauce) and duck!!! I love duck: it's funny though, I've never eaten duck in America only abroad, it's so tasty. I like to take some credit for the meal, I planned it out and bought the ingredients but all I did to prepare was cut the onions, so props to my host sisters Mami and Sali (allah k'aw son!).

I finally got the assess the damage here in Kedougou after the riots. The government building attacked were burnt out but still in fine shape to me (they're cement buildings), windows were broken and in some cases the exterior walls were torn down and government cars were burnt. The thing that really bothers me is the way the government is handling the situation after, there were a lot of violations of human rights, unwarranted arrests, beatings, all of this taking place at peoples homes when the gendarme stormed houses in the middle of the night. They took people who had no involvement whatsoever in the riots and I have personally heard about people who were camping on the other side of the river waiting it out. We'll see apparently Amnesty International released statement against actions used by the government against the citizens of Kedougou, but I really doubt anything will happen and really its just another things that makes me more pessimistic about development in this area. There were so many reports coming out half of which had no proof. Anyway here's a good article about the events.

I also heard an interesting finding that there is a new virus that may be able to help stop malaria and other disease transmitted by mosquitoes. The virus could be used to kill mosquitoes or make them unable to transmit diseases. Check it out.