In 2000, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the village of Koular in Senegal, West Africa. My husband had spent three Peace Corps years there, and we went back to visit this place he grew to love. In some respects, life is hard there. Labor in the fields is backbreaking without modern machinery. Education is limited, particularly for girls. Health care is minimal. There is no phone, electricity, or air-conditioned reprieve from the hot, humid days and nights. A deep hole in the ground is the toilet, and water is hauled regularly from a well in plastic buckets.
Despite the challenges of living there, all someone has to do is tap on the end of one of those buckets and a whole group of people are dancing and laughing, full of fun and silliness. It was completely refreshing. No bills, no deadlines, no car inspections, no car!
Americans often snub their noses at less technologically developed communities, but comparing the quality of life between them and us is like apples to oranges. I often wonder if the homeless man on the bus in Iowa City would have had a better life in Koular. I look forward to the day my family and I can return to Koular for a nice, long visit.
