Julie Albrecht was nominated by the Senegal Farmer to Farmer team because of her dedication to knowledge sharing and ability to adapt to local conditions. During her training, she was able to put the participants at ease and engage them with hands-on training. In addition, Julie also demonstrates great creativity in using local equipment and ingredients to come up with products that the women’s group likes.

Country Director, Mama Ndeye, said: “Julie is spending retirement sharing her years of experience and accumulated knowledge with the needy ones in our country to open ways for better lives.” Julie has worked with 2 groups of women (COFLEC and AMIDEF), teaching them how to preserve fruit and vegetable. The COFLEC group sold their products at an annual agriculture fair in Dakar demonstrating Julie’s training has helped them build their capacity and opportunity for income-generating activities. 

We asked Julie to reflect on her volunteer experiences. Read on to see what she had to say! 

Why did you want to volunteer?

I enjoyed my first volunteer experience in Senegal and I thought the new assignment would be just as rewarding. To me, volunteering helps me use my expertise to help others make a difference in their lives.

What was the highlight of your most recent volunteer assignment abroad?

I was able to meet the organization COEFLEC – that I worked with in 2016 and provide them with additional training. The new group – AMIDEF was very receptive to the training also.  I enjoyed making a picture recipe book of the food processes that we did during the training.

What made your Winrock volunteer trip distinctive?

I enjoy working with the Winrock Staff in Senegal. They are very helpful and select organizations that use the training to help improve the standard of living of women in Senegal.

How does your experience affect your worldview?

I have been to many countries throughout the world. For Africa, Senegal has a stable government which helps organizations such as Winrock International be effective in providing educational programs that are put to use (practice) by the organizations who receive the training.

What advice would you give a new volunteer?

Ndeye Mama Toure, the country director, is great to work with. She provides volunteers with the information needed to deliver a successful program.

Why should people consider volunteering?

These volunteer assignments are examples of citizen diplomacy. For world peace to occur, people to people (not government officials) need to happen to gain an understanding of our similarities and differences (of which there are not many).

When your friends/family find out that your volunteer assignment aboard, what do they say or ask?

Sometimes they worry about my safety. I feel that Winrock International is great to work with and assures me of my safety.

What do you do when you’re not volunteering?

I am a professor emerita at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and these experiences help me use my expertise.  I am retired and enjoying it!

Does anyone in your life play a role in supporting your involvement? In providing inspiration?

I wanted to volunteer for the Peace Corps ages ago and these short-term experiences help me fulfill my “Peace Corps” one assignment at a time!

What keeps you going back to volunteer?

The positive experiences!

In May of 2018, I was very fortunate to be selected by Winrock International to lead a GIS and GPS workshop in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa.  Below are excerpts from my journal I kept during the two weeks I was in-country:

Flying into Conakry

I flew into hot and steamy Conakry, the capital of Guinea, located on the Atlantic coast, and about 1000km (660miles) north of the equator.  Almost 2 million people live in Conakry, which is located on a peninsula, and there are apparently only a couple main highways so the traffic is unbelievable.  I only saw a few traffic lights – cars, motorcycles, and scooters navigate by constantly changing lanes, zipping in and out, cutting off other drivers, nearly continuously honking their horns.  There seems to be no limit as to how many people a moving vehicle can carry.  Cars and vans are packed full, usually with people standing on the back bumper or riding on top, casually holding on while they speed along, even at high speeds.  I saw as many as 5 adults on a single motorcycle, and many times I saw two women and their children taking a single motorcycle taxi.

The first day I have orientation at the Winrock Headquarters.  Everyone is very cordial and smiles kindly at my awkward, slow French (the national language).  Winrock staff spend time with me so that I am comfortable with what to expect for accommodations and cultural norms.  We had something like yogurt mixed with ground corn for lunch.  Add sugar to taste – it was quite good – then we had out of this world fresh pineapple.

Bailo, F2F Guinea’s driver

My assignment location is actually in the city of Mamou, about 250km inland from Conakry.  Winrock has provided a driver, Baillo, and a second escort, Souleymane.  Both are warm, wonderful people, who help me with my French and patiently answer my constant questions with smiles, and sometimes amusement.  I am very lucky to be accompanied by two fun, fabulous people.  (In retrospect, I cannot say enough about these two great guys.  Back in the States, I do miss them and their warm smiles and easy laughter).

Alpha Souleymane Balde, F2F Guinea’s Logistician

The only road to Mamou is a bit crowded with very slow moving, large trucks, and no real traffic rules or speed limits.  So we had an exciting ride and I took pictures of the landscape.  Parts of the drive showed me quite beautiful vistas, large trees (including huge mango trees), as we climbed in elevation.  Other areas were clear-cut of all trees and showed nothing but tree stumps and very little vegetation.  We also passed through villages and many dozens of people selling goods along the busy road.  Sheep, goats, cattle, and chickens roam freely along the roadside and in the towns.  Apparently, there are virtually no natural predators, and I think probably very little wildlife at all, in this part of Guinea.

The next day Baillo, Souley, and I head out to the forestry school, Ecole Nationale des Agents Techniques des Eaux et Forets (ENATEF).  I met my highly skilled and experienced interpreter, Damba -who helped me in so many ways besides simply translating my English into French.  Besides explaining Guinean culture and customs, Damba provided many useful suggestions throughout the workshop, as well as encouragement and always maintaining his sense of humor even after a long day in a hot classroom.  He was wonderful.

Teaching the class how to increase accuracy in GIS and GPS

ENATEF has a small campus surrounded by large trees, many of which were flowering or heavy with guava or mangos.  There are also many more birds than I had seen or heard anywhere else. One I think is a sunbird – a beautiful bright blue-green active individual drinking nectar from flowers, and another I later identified as a pied crow.  There are several buildings with classrooms and offices, a nursery with native plants, and houses (where I assume some staff lives with their families).

There were almost 20 workshop participants – students, instructors, and technicians.  The school wanted to train staff so that they, in turn, could train others and incorporate GIS and GPS into their classrooms.  (I have now learned that this Training of Trainers, or TOT, is a common, very efficient and successful strategy used by Winrock).

This first day of training passed in a blur.  Lots of time taken for introductions, speeches by the school and regional directors.  I could immediately tell that the participants are very, very serious about learning.  The participants set some ground rules, such as turning off cell phones – and people were teased good-naturedly the few times that a cell phone did go off.  Eventually, we launched into the actual workshop.  It was a bit chaotic because of the different languages, but we managed and had a few good laughs at the literal vs. figurative translations between English and French.

On the second day, the participants were given a GPS (lent by another organization) to use and they were like little kids with brand new toys – impatient and excited to get outside and start collecting GPS data.  Finally, they were allowed to go outside and collect data, then came back to download and process.

The other days passed quickly.  By the last day of the workshop, most of the students were no longer shy around me and there were lots of smiles and easy conversation.  The regional director of schools and the director of ENATEF both gave speeches and then we all handed out certificates of completion.  “Merci” was probably said 1000 times in just a few hours.  Each student wanted a picture with both directors and me (I was really quite honored).  The school wanted to give me a gift and requested that I choose something from a local vendor who would often sell his wares in the school parking lot.  I returned to my hotel with two beautiful clothes made in Guinea, completely overwhelmed and touched by the kindness and generosity of my gift from the school.

Then the next day it is back to Conakry, to complete a final report.  Also trying hard to find something uniquely “Guinean” for gifts, but at the markets, local products are almost entirely fruit (bananas, pineapple, mango, avocado), meat, or fresh-baked, delicious bread (my breakfast each day).  Most of the manufactured items in the markets are made in China.  Eventually, Souley triumphed and helped me locate a couple of gifts.  (My young nephews went crazy when I gave them football outfits that say “Guinean football”).  On Sunday I have to say goodbye to my new friends, Souley and Baillo, and then I fly back to the States.

This trip was a wonderful experience for me – besides learning a lot, it was so satisfying and fulfilling, and just a whole lot of fun.  I always smile when I think of Souley and Baillo and the people at ENATEF.  I hope I will have more opportunities like this, in the future.

Family Photo with the students of Ecole Nationale des Agents Techniques des Eaux et Forets (ENATEF)

At the request of Samaru College of Agriculture, Nigeria Jolene spent 17 days in Zaria Kaduna State assisting the college developing training and training materials for integrated pest management and pesticide safety. She also helped them develop a curriculum for a certification class that the host will offer its students. 

My second Winrock assignment to Zaria, Nigeria to work with the Samaru College of Agriculture in pesticide safety and integrated pest management was as eventful as my first with the bonus of working with the same wonderful staff as before. I felt like I made friends during my first visit and it was nice to catch up, update each other on the past few months, discuss families and home life, and of course how the projects were going. My second assignment built upon my first and I used it as a chance to evaluate the progress that was made and provide some valuable feedback. I am impressed by their willingness to learn from us, volunteers. While it can be challenging to adapt certain first-world practices to their environment, the participants are always seeking better solutions and are willing to adjust practices. Sadly, some of the efforts are stalled by lack of infrastructure, goods, and resources, and manpower. Nonetheless, the participants view new knowledge as an opportunity to set new standards and find solutions. Pest management and pesticide use, which are worldwide problems, is an ongoing discussion. I have found that while there can be some unique environments, they face the same challenges as other countries and they are just as concerned about human and livestock health, environmental impacts, and sustainable farming practices. I was impressed with the amount of information they retained from my last visit and we were able to continue some of the large conversations we had last time. I feel their increased knowledge is being put to good use and they will continue to grow. My time with them has also given me a new perspective on pesticide education in my own community as well an introspective evaluation of my own life. Having worked with farmers that have so little, I can better understand how to work with limited resources in my own community, how to find solutions in strained situations, and how to guide people to protect themselves with limited support. I feel an increase in energy, creativeness, ingenuity, and determination to solve challenging issues that benefit my family and community. For that, I am very thankful. 

Jolene in discussion with faculty of Samaru College of Agriculture

Recently,  I conducted a Farmer-to-Farmer assignment on Improved Goat Rearing for Youth Entrepreneurship Development with Satkhira Unnayan Sangstha (SUS) in the Tala upazila, Satkhira district of Bangladesh (22.76006 N, 89.25346 E). This assignment was my first trip to Bangladesh.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how well positioned the Bangladeshi goat industry is.  In my travels to other countries where goats are also a ubiquitous feature of the landscape, I was not optimistic about making any real genetic progress because goats freely roamed the countryside, scavenged what they could, and bred indiscriminately.  Often, goats are seen as a resource but one that does not deem any investment.  With little management and no breeding supervision, the prospects of genetic improvement were nil. However, Bangladesh is very, very different.

The goat farming women of SUS after a successful 3 day training

Current Situation

During my Farmer-to-Farmer assignment, I learned that none of the 20 women goat farmers in the one-day refresher course and none of the 30 women goat farmers on the three-day training owned a single buck and that any male kids were castrated young.  All of these women goat farmers (76% of the trainees) rely upon buck centers for insemination services.  The women monitor signs of estrus in their does and take them to the buck centers for mating.  This trip to the buck center can be as much as 8 kilometers roundtrip and cost the women up to a full day away from home.

The buck center that I visited had nine standing bucks; one Jamnapari buck, two Hariana bucks, one Nepalese buck, four Black Bengal bucks, and one buck that they did not know the breed/origin, so they called him the “Australian.”  The service fee ranged from 100 taka ($1 ≈ 80 taka) for the Black Bengal bucks to 400 taka for the Australian.

The owner of the buck center was a former rickshaw driver and with the assistance of a loan from SUS and with the help of his wife started the buck center in 2013.

Training

The training was simple and focused on housing, nutrition, health, reproduction, record keeping, and general management.  Probably the most practical aspects of the sessions were evaluating eye mucous membranes for anemia, conducting body condition score (BCS), and estimating body weight.  Anemia was evaluated using the color under the farmer’s pressed thumbnail. The mucous membranes of the goat’s eye should be the color of the pressed thumbnail. The women farmers practiced BCS using the goat’s lower back and ribs and were taught to make management decisions based upon BCS. Body weight can be easily calculated using a tailor’s tape and the formula, kg = cm/2 – 14. Goats require feeding and medications based on body weight.

Demonstrating how to evaluate anemia using the eye mucous membrane color

Women conducting a body condition scoring exercise

The Dream

Women goat farmers invest much time, effort, and money into the current breeding system and when I realized the importance of the buck centers in the community, I immediately knew that I would love to help these buck centers with the delivery of their product to the women farmers.  The technology of artificial insemination using fresh semen is simple and developing a delivery system of fresh semen to the women goat farmers is even simpler. My dream is that bucks at the buck centers would be collected on twice- or thrice-weekly schedule, fresh semen extended with a skim milk diluent, and chilled to 4°C.  Women goat farmers would call the buck center and arrange an appointment for insemination by cell phone, which all the women farmers have. The buck center would employ a trained inseminator on a bicycle with a cool box to travel to the woman’s farmer for vaginal insemination of the goat. This system would greatly benefit the woman farmer by relieving her of the task and expense of commuting to the buck center and would benefit the buck center by expanding its reach in the community. Women goat farmers in the communities surrounding the buck centers could be given a refresher course in estrus detection, although none is probably needed. The women are already well versed in the signs of estrus. This simplified artificial insemination system delivered to the women farmers would greatly improve the efficiency of the current system and relieve the stress at breeding. An additional side note would be that training on the understanding of inbreeding and its negative consequences is also needed. Genetic improvement can easily be accomplished through the buck centers, but the buck centers and the women farmers should keep breeding records to avoid inbreeding.

A cold box with fresh, cooled semen and a simplified inseminating tool is the dream for any breeder

I was very impressed with the business-like attitude of the women goat farmers in Bangladesh, and I would gladly return to help them and the buck centers become more efficient.  I wish them both the best in their goat rearing endeavors.

Happy Fourth of July!

This day, more than any other day, reminds me how Winrock’s volunteer programs embody many of the things that make the United States such a great country. Volunteers from all 50 states – representing diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and academic and work experiences – contribute ingenuity, persistence, generosity, and hard work to make the world a better place. Our volunteers emulate and share American values on each overseas assignment… and I can’t think of a more positive way to demonstrate American patriotism.

As John F. Kennedy stated, “The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor, and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” Each of our volunteers has experimented, invented, and built something valuable – whether it be a creative solution to a problem, a path to transformative information, a new technology to lessen the burden of laborious work, or newfound understanding between two cultures. Over the last 27 years, these efforts have improved the lives of millions of individuals in developing countries and strengthened connections between the US and our neighbors around the world.

Winrock’s volunteer programs team is immensely proud and grateful to be a part of these collective efforts.

The smiles in these photos say it all…

Volunteer, Onesimus Otieno, with the faculty of the Center for Entrepreneurship Development and Vocational Studies, Federal Polytechnic of Ado Ekiti, Nigeria

Volunteer, Neelam Canto-lugo, having fun and dancing with a student in Bangladesh

The women of The African Women Entrepreneurship Program, Abuja, Nigeria

Farmer-to-Farmer/Myanmar’s Project Management and Communication Specialist, Thet Khaing (left) at a F2F field event with avocado farmers

Volunteer, Kris Fricke, pauses to take a selfie during his training on beekeeping as a business

Volunteer Aaron Cohen teaching a lesson on grant proposal writing at Enugu State College of Agriculture, Nigeria

Volunteer, Dr. Carlos, receiving locally produced coffee from a coffee grower in Nepal

Volunteer, William Zimmerman, and the Farm Director of Agriculture and Forestry celebrating National Rice Day in Nepal