The Guardian

My dog has now relaxed into the guardian lifestyle. He sleeps all day and most of the night. When he does decide to prowl around at night he is an excellent guard dog. He barks at everything that moves. I highly doubt that anyone that knows I have a dog would enter the premises at night. My neighbors have even commented that they hear him about night. So for now, as long as he's awake, prowlers beware!!!

The Kitchen

Slowly but surely

Facts and Figures

People
Population 12,521,851 (2007 estimate)

Urban/rural distribution
Share urban 51 percent (2005 estimate)
Share rural 49 percent (2005 estimate)

Largest cities, with population
Dakar 2,079,000 (2000 estimate)
Thiès 228,017 (1996 estimate)
Kaolack 199,023 (1996 estimate)
Ziguinchor 180,555 (1996 estimate)
Saint-Louis 132,425 (1996 estimate)

Ethnic groups
Wolof 44 percent
Fulani, Tukulor 24 percent
Serer 15 percent
Diola 5 percent
Mandinka 4 percent
Other 8 percent

Languages
French (official), Wolof, Serer, Diola, Mandinka, other indigenous languages

Religious affiliations
Muslim 87 percent
Indigenous beliefs 6 percent
Christian (mostly Roman Catholic) 5 percent
Other 2 percent

Life expectancy
Total 56.7 years (2007 estimate)
Female 58.1 years (2007 estimate)
Male 55.3 years (2007 estimate)
Infant mortality rate 60 deaths per 1,000 live births (2007 estimate)

Literacy rate
Total 42.1 percent (2005 estimate)
Female 32.6 percent (2005 estimate)
Male 51.7 percent (2005 estimate)


Number of radios per 1,000 people 141 (1997)
Number of telephones per 1,000 people 23 (2005)
Number of televisions per 1,000 people 37 (2000 estimate)
Number of Internet hosts per 10,000 people 0.65 (2003)
Daily newspaper circulation per 1,000 people 5 (1996)
Number of motor vehicles per 1,000 people 14 (1999)
Paved road as a share of total roads 29 percent (2003)

Rice

My friend Mary took me out to her family plots in the rice field to see how its done. Unfortunately there has not been enough rain this year so the rice is actually quite dry. It was interesting to see the plots that were not cultivated. When I asked about it Mary explained that when someone dies the family does not plant rice in their plots for one year. The following year the family will use the plots of the deceased.

Prayer Walks

The villages I have been praying in are a part of the Oussouye District: Senghalene, Kahinde, Calobone, Djevant, and Edioungou. Here are some pictures from the prayer walks.

Marie Claire and Immanuela

These are photos of Gerard's wife and his baby Immanuela. She was born two months early and is now three months old. She is sooooo tiny. It is a miracle that she survived being born so tiny.

At the Market

Salutations

Self Portrait

Rice

I was born in a farming village, surrounded by grape vineyards, fruits of all kinds, farmers and their families, I understand a bit about the seasons of a farmer. The Cassamance region is a farming region. Everyone plants their rice. Rice is for the family, some is for food, some is for sale and some is just to save and display your wealth. If you can save rice for 40 years, like my friend Leopold in Mlumpe, you are wealthy. Rice is the substance of the region. Men, women and children plant and harvest the rice. Students go home to their relatives, to uncles and cousins to plant the family's rice. Families come from as far as Dakar to plant in the rice fields the family owns. Rice is the Cassamance region, and this is her season.

Baptisms

For several months this spring Jerome (the assistant pastor here) seriously fasted and prayed about which young men to take under his wing and disciple. Assine was one of those young men. On Sunday morning he was baptised.

Completion

The training center is coming to completion. In August I hired a carpenter to make the bunkbeds and other furniture for the training center. Things take time in the Cassamance region, he said two months for completion. And just about two months later the furniture was finished. Getting it home was, as always, and adventure. I arrived in Ziguinchor this morning to get money for the balance of the furniture, pick everything up, and then hire a truck to take it all home. I asked God for serious help today. He totally came through. My friend Moustapha helped me hire the truck, I had to pay extra for the police because every check point the drivers need to slip the police some money. But they brought everything home and unloaded it. Then the carpenter sent his apprentice to put all the beds together. The training center is ALMOST finished.