PROM 8: Ouguiya

Okay, okay, okay. Not exactly a product. But ouguiya (oo-ghee-uh), the local currency, are the means to the PROMs. So as an ode to the old monetary system of bartering, trade, and commodity-backed currency (yes, Katie makes me listen to the same podcasts) - which is very much alive here in the RIM- I give you PROM 8: Ouguiya (UM for short, unit Mauritanian I think?) ~ 260UM = $1.00

(insert motivational arena rock music, i.e. "Eye of the Tiger")

-Leading off, the fierce "we never have change for" 2000UM note. The highest in its class. (Approximately $7.70)

-Next up, the dominant "donnez-moi mille ouguiya" 1000UM note. The most common for large transactions (Approximately uh, $3, no, minus the 7, divide 70...approximately half of $7.70)

-Third, the elusive "greenback" 500UM note.

-Batting clean-up, the plucky "2 taxi trips" 200UM note.

-Coming in 5th, the ever present, ever dirty "big baguette buyer" 100UM note.

-Representing coinage, we have the 20 "pas de pieces" UM, the 10 "old man" UM, the useless 5 "Why am I here?" UM, and the now phased-out 1 "Why did I ever exist?" UM.

There was also a 1/5 UM coin called a khoum. If ouguiya is like a dollar, a khoum is like a cent. But it was so small and now is never used.

As far as the Peace Corps goes, we get a monthly living allowance of ouguiya that is deposited in local banks on a quarterly basis. This is a trip in itself. I have heard that in smaller regional capitals, banking is fairly simple because people are always curious about and willing to help the 'toubabs'. However, here in Nouadhibou, I find the process quite awkward and cold. (It should be noted here that I do not expect any sympathy from my fellow volunteers. The combination of being married and in an urban environment gives us access to more amenities and a higher stipend, I am only communicating my routines and experiences with the ouguiya). I always greet people at the bank, try to put on a happy face, but usually it is just business as usual and you can spend the entire day waiting if you are not pro-active or even a little pushy.

For example, not long ago, I spent the better part of a morning waiting at the bank. Fortunately, this was not entirely due to my normally passive disposition. Apparently, the bank was out of money. Since being in the RIM, we've seen food shortages, gas shortages, rational thought shortages, but this was a first. So I proceeded to wait. For 2 hours. Lines, if you can believe it, steadily began to form. I was pretty close to the front but not in the line of men along the wall. Apparently, I was in the women's line...AGAIN! (See my blog on the gas) But this time it formed around me. So I grudgingly went to the back of the men's line.

Finally, just before my will for waiting was shattered, a man arrived with a huge cardboard box filled with ouguiya. And slowly, the line deteriorated. Men who came in after me were trying to get ahead of me, so I just began elbowing my way up front just like everyone else. During this melee, I witnessed a young white moor enter the bank in a Nike jogging outfit. He looked at the line, scoffed, and went behind the counter to yell at one of the tellers. The bank manager came out and ushered this man into a back room. Moments later the manager came to the one window distributing funds, grabbed what must have been half a million in UM and went into the same back room. Soon after this the "jogger" leaves the bank with a conspicuous ouguiya shaped bulge in his pocket. Oh, just a small insignificant example of corruption in the RIM. But at the time, all I could think was, "This is the greatest injustice ever to befall man!"

Throughout the entire process, other customers would routinely butt back into line once they were done to exchange bills that didn't pass their critical inspection. That's right, these men would go off in a corner and begin looking over all the bills. Now granted, sometimes bills can be in very bad shape. I've seen ripped, mangled, taped, stapled, nearly unidentifiable notes. And it's almost like a national game not to be the person who gets stuck with these lousy bills. But these men were returning bills with a pen mark on them or a slight tear.

People are always on the look-out for an unsuspecting person to whom they can pass one of these bills. Katie and I learned this early on and have managed to avoid them, but here's one we've been stuck with for some time. No one has taken it yet. It is actually three bills taped together. The pieces are actually in pretty good shape...not the worst I've seen...not by a long shot...I have grown to love him. His name is Oogy McPatcherson. Oh the adventures Oogy and I have had. He is one crazy UMOB.

-Oogy McP.

Well, eventually, I made my transaction and departed the bank (through the back alley because they locked their doors either because the work day was long past over at 12:30, or they ran out of money again, I couldn't tell).

P.S. - thanks for all the birthday messages. It's always good to hear from someone back home.

P.P.S. - I'm on the look-out for a 1UM coin for my coin collection back home. If anyone has one that they would be willing to part with, please let me know.

Mike out

Money Matters

Well, like most Americans, I am currently very interested in learning more about economics and LOVE LOVE LOVE the "Planet Money" podcast by NPR. However, I also recently came across a great article (from Money Magazine) that profiles three American families of different religious faiths and the role their religion plays in financial decision-making.

Particularly interesting to me, given my current living situation, is the article about the Saroya family, a Muslim family living in Minnesota. It explains some of the rules related to money that exist within Islam and highlights some of the difficulties that may result when trying to apply those rules to a typical American economic situation.

I hope you have a chance to read the article, and let me know if there's anything that strikes you as particularly interesting.

More updates:
- New volunteers coming to RIM were postponed due to difficulties in obtaining their visas. They are hoping to secure visas for the new group by August, after the political situation in Mauritania has stabilized a bit. Inshallah!
- Mike's 29th birthday is coming up next week and he is very busy preparing for a city-wide English camp that he is organizing. Maybe we can teach all the kids to sing "Happy Birthday" to him in English?

A New Beginning

"Obama...Egypt...Zayne!" said our taxi driver with a big toothy grin the day after Obama's speech on American-Muslim relations in Cairo, Egypt.

("Zayne" is the Hassaniya word for "good")

Yes, I agree. And yet, there is still a long way to go. Al Jazeera reports that a recent survey showed only 20% of Americans have a positive view of the Muslim world, with 46% holding a negative view.


Many Mauritanians I know do not understand this, because in their eyes, violent extremist Muslims are very different from who they are. They do not understand why Americans lump them all together into one group.


However, for many Americans who don't have daily contact with Muslims, it's difficult to see beyond the news coverage and atrocities carried out by extremist groups. So...that's why I'm here to offer another perspective.

My current coworkers, teachers, students and friends here in Mauritania are all Muslim. They help me. They protect me. They laugh with me. They teach me. They learn from me. They share with me. They are gentle, kind, peaceful, funny, serious, reverent, and just like you and me in many, many ways.

Stop SIDA Tabac

Hello everyone! Sorry for my long absence from blogging. I guess that is a good sign that I have been keeping busy, right? Well, here is a little update on the work I've been doing. My main projects so far have been visits to the prenatal clinic, classes at the girls mentoring center, and health sensibilisations in the community on a variety of topics. In addition to this I have recently begun work with a non-governmental organization (NGO) called "Stop SIDA Tabac" (SST). SIDA is the French acronym for AIDS and tabac, as you could probably guess, is French for tabacco.

SST is a great organization run by Mauritanians. They do presentations for school children and the community about the harmful effects of smoking. They advocate for national laws related to smoking, such as making it illegal for a 4-year-old child to buy cigarettes, limiting smoking in public locations, and putting warnings on tobacco packaging in languages other than French with pictures for those who are unable to read. They also hold 5-day smoking cessation clinics each month where they assist smokers in quitting by providing them with information and social support.

The month of May is the international month for smoking cessation, therefore SST had many activities throughout the month, including a poster contest, a poetry contest, and a football tournament. These activities were in addition to the sensibilisations and cessation program that they do every month.

My involvement with the NGO so far has been observation of their activities, taking pictures for them to put on their website and in their informational leaflets, and assisting them as needed. I am also on the lookout for other opportunities to help them gain more exposure and recruit more participants for their cessation programs, as well as help them to develop more activities for AIDS awareness and education.

There are many pictures posted of SST and their activities in our online photo album if you are interested in seeing more.

Other news in Mauritania:
- Elections, originally scheduled for June 6, have been delayed until July 18.
- New RIM PC trainees will be arriving later this month! Inshallah!
- June 21st will be the one year mark for our time in Mauritania.
- My counterpart's sister Hawa had a baby on May 8! I made her a baby blanket...my first ever crochet project (thanks for the yarn and crochet hooks Dad & Lisa!).

Hope you are all doing well! We always appreciate hearing how things are going for you all by email, letter, phone call, etc, so don't be shy. Also, big thanks to everyone who continues to send us care packages! You are so incredibly thoughtful, and we really appreciate it! We miss you!