THIÈS, SENEGAL The hoe hits the dry ground. Victoria Cassidy dig a hole, and put coal, green waste and manure in the back.
This is suitable for planting corn.
Each seedling goes into its own hole, forget about straight rows, advises the trainer.
Victoria Cassidy, 27, has come to Senegal from the United States. Cassidy, who has a master’s degree in forestry, is the newest entrant to the US government’s volunteer program known as the Peace Corps.
Loosely translated into Finnish, it is about “peace forces”. The program was established in the 1960s when the United States competed with the Soviet Union for the popularity of people in newly independent colonies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The Cold War ended, but Peace Corps volunteers have continued their work in different parts of the world.
Now the relationship between the West and Russia has tightened so much that there is talk of a new cold war. There is fierce competition for support from African countries.
The United States also wants to strengthen its relationship with African countries. That requires soft power.
For that purpose, the Peace Corps was once established.
Right now the Peace Corps is restarting its operations in Africa after a long break.
After the corona pandemic hit, the program withdrew its people from the world. More than 300 American volunteers went home from Senegal.
25 have returned to the country, and more are coming soon.
For Victoria Cassidy, moving from the state of Georgia to West Africa has been a jump in the deep end. Cassidy had previously traveled abroad only in Central America, and during the pandemic the whole world seemed to be closed.
Cassidy was then sent to rural Senegal in a village of a thousand people in a small house with no running water or electricity.
During the next two years, Cassidy’s task is to figure out how to help the village community improve food security through sustainable agriculture. That is why he is now practicing planting seedlings at the training center.
Cassidy is the only American in his village. It means that he clearly stands out from the crowd. He is also aware that he may represent the United States to many.
– I’ll say frankly that sometimes I feel a little lonely. But when you get out of your comfort zone and participate in different activities, you feel welcome and become part of the community, says Cassidy.
He regrets that he may have to look up an English word for a while. In everyday life, he only speaks Serer, one of Senegal’s many languages.
Volunteers take a language course after arriving in the country. The official language of Senegal is French, but it is not taught to Americans here.
The mission of the Peace Corps is still the same in the 2020s as it was 60 years ago: nothing more and nothing less than friendship and world peace.
How can mostly Americans in their twenties promote it in practice?
By creating connections between people, answers Peace Corps’ country director for Senegal.
– The operation is based on respect and understanding. We show an interest in learning how a community works and how they see the world, country manager Jo Anne Yeager Sallah says.
The idea is that when Americans interact with local people, they get something out of it. They may be looking for new things at work or studies. Perhaps ideas will germinate that will lead to a new type of leadership in the community.
When thousands of volunteers work for years in dozens of countries, the effect is multiplied.
– This is the version of world peace that the Peace Corps is suitable for building, says Yeager Sallah.
The US wants now strengthen your relationships (you move to another service) Africa, where it has not invested heavily in a long time. In Africa, many people remember the president well Donald Trump’s alleged substyle talks (you switch to another service) from the countries of the continent.
At the same time, China has gained power in Africa with loans and billion investments. It has built and financed giant projects such as roads and ports.
On the other hand, Russia, which is waging a war of aggression in Ukraine, gains sympathy and political influence in many African countries. Russia manages to present its actions as respecting the interests of Africans, while many African countries demand the final dismantling of the remnants of Western colonial rule.
Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries also want their share of the growing market and the support of African countries in international arenas.
The United States does not want to be left behind in this race. President Joe Biden administration published last year In the Africa strategy (you switch to another service) equal partnership and trade with African countries is envisioned.
When the president John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, the professional skills of American youth were to accelerate the development of various countries. At the same time, the young people had to win people’s “hearts and minds” to the side of the United States, i.e. instead of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet camp claimed the volunteers as a tool of US intelligence.
The Peace Corps Country Director for Senegal says that the Peace Corps is an independent government agency, separate from both the State Department and other government agencies.
There is a certain advantage of volunteers to the United States.
– People appreciate that volunteers live in the community, show a desire to adapt and learn local languages. This in itself reflects positively on Americans in general, says Yeager Sallah.
– But we are not a foreign policy tool, and this is how we instruct volunteers as well.
One of the Peace Corps officials one of the goals is that the volunteers share US values and culture in their target country.
Byron Rowe, 30, lives in Senegal in a city the size of Lahti, where a large proportion of people are online and familiar with American popular culture. It means that Rowe doesn’t have to explain much of his background, except for a few isolated things.
So far, for example, Rowe has opened up about his way of practicing religion (“I pray, but in a different way than you”) and dispelled at least one misconception. You must be from Los Angeles, Do you know gangsters, someone asked.
– I said that I don’t know anything about that life and I haven’t even been to California, Rowe says.
In his opinion, volunteers are definitely cultural ambassadors. But they do not represent one and the same experience of American culture, but each their own.
– Different stories help to create an even more accurate understanding of the United States. That’s exactly what needs to be spread to the world.
Florida native Rowe is An IT professional, but in Senegal he was placed in a position in the agricultural sector. Originally, Rowe was supposed to go to a completely different wash, but the pandemic shuffled the deck.
What new can American volunteers teach Senegalese farmers – especially if they are not all professionals themselves?
The Peace Corps’ response shows that the spirit of the times has been listened to. The volunteer of the 2020s does not go to the local community to boss around and explain how something is done in the US.
– We are not saying that our way of doing things is right and yours is wrong, country manager Yeager Sallah says.
At the Thiès training center, volunteers are taught about plants and techniques that are not yet widely used in Senegal.
They are also trained to listen and interpret situations. The purpose is that they should know how to offer their expertise in a way that is useful.
Volunteers are placed in communities that specifically request it. According to the Peace Corps, people are told that the American does not bring money or a separate development cooperation project.
For the volunteer, it often means that he has to figure out what he could do on the spot with his own knowledge and skills.
Victoria Cassidy and Byron Rowe have been in Senegal for a few months. They are still trying to figure out what their tasks in their own place of residence could be.
– I could perhaps work to improve fertility or develop composting. Or maybe I could bring some new methods or plants that haven’t been tested in my village yet, Cassidy thinks.
– But at this point, I’m the one who learns and asks. They are excellent at what they do.
For Cassidy, who lives in the countryside without electricity, time in Senegal also means a partial media fast.
– In a larger town, I can access wifi. But I’ve never been very dependent on, for example, social media, so this is not difficult, but actually quite liberating, says Cassidy.