2004-09-16 - 11:48 a.m.

Our presentation was slated to occur on Thursday. We announced it a week and a half ahead of time at a meeting with the village elders. We subsequently reminded them each day until its occurrence. We each prepared our portions in Hassanyan and because Molly was going to talk about the benefits of Moringa leaves in food we decided we needed to have a sample. My host mother makes these little donut hole things called Bagnettes. I asked her to make 60 of them the day of our presentation with moringa powder mixed in the dough.

The morning of the presentation was beautiful. We prepared our equipment and practiced what we would say, then returned home at noon with the intention of returning at 3:30, a half hour before the show. At 3:30 we looked to the north with apprehension. We could all see the line of menacing clouds moving towards us at break-neck speed. By 3:45 the entire town of M’Beidia was soaked. When 4:00 rolled around and even peace corps hadn’t shown up we concluded our presentation was a flop. It was time to eat the spoils, the 60 bagnettes sitting in the next room. The rain persisted until 4:20. Around 4:30 a knock came at the door. It was my host dad, Alyoun. With him was Mohammed ould Boubould, a nice man that has always been willing to help us and is Jeff’s uncle. They had both come in spite of the rain. We decided that because they had taken the time to show up we would still present. We were just about to start when we heard a land rover pull up. It was our Peace Corps facilitators. Soon after them followed Jeff’s dad and Molly’s mom. Molly began by talking about Moringa. Moringa is a tree that was imported to Mauritania a few years ago. It is non-invasive, yet can exist in the desert climate. The diet of most Mauritanians is not very diverse, so that although they may walk away from a meal with a full stomach they are still malnourished(esp. children). Moringa leaves, when crushed and placed in a normal meal can make up for almost 75% of the missing vitamins.

After Molly I showed the group how to start and maintain a tree nursery, and then how to transplant those trees to their permanent sites. Jeff finished by talking a little about natural fencing. We had a great discussion afterwards with the group. About 10 minutes after we had finished presenting 5 other people showed up from the women’s cooperative. It was then that something great happened. My dad went through and re-explained everything we had said. Not only had he understood our broken Hassanyan, but he had retain the information. This again lead to another discussion. Thankfully enough there were enough bagnette’s for everyone to try them. Molly’s host sister “crazy” Zeinaboo showed up with her baby, Haddou. I told her to give some of the bagnette’s to the baby. I kept telling her he would grow up big and strong like me, at which point I would flex my muscles. This sent everyone rolling. It is great to be at a level in Hassanyan where I can actually joke around with people.

So although our crowd was not as big as we’d hoped, I feel the presentation was a success. God willing those people that came will pass on the information to other people in town.

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