Now What Does that Mean

The summer vacation from school has brought visiting relatives, friends and high government officials back to their old stomping grounds. New life has been breathed into Lelouma and with that comes more 1st time sightings of the white woman in the village. 99.9% of all coversations follow the following script (M=Me and T=Them)

T-What is your name?
M-My name is Mariama Diallo. (to the Uof Kentucky Mary’s, how could I not take a form of our name)
T-Are you French (said with disgust and thoughts of colonization) or American?
M-American
T-(Sigh of relief!) What are you doing in Lelouma?
M-I am a PC Volunteer working with small and medium businesses
T-(muffled laughter) Small and medium businesses in Lelouma (untone with all of 12,000 people in Lelouma) What does that exactly mean?

Well, in the last few weeks it has meant:
-Planting “the miracle tree” Moringa for the leaves to be eaten in a sauce and the chilren, women and families to be norished with more viatmens than their bodies are used to in one week.
-Carrying 8 HEAVY trees in large plastic “bags” filled with soil in a bowl on my head for about a mile to reforest the land
-Shelling over 750 peanuts with the family across the street that I often eat with to make into peanut butter using their handheld grinder
-Playing soccer with the kids while waiting to carry the trees
-Having a meeting a day about projects actually related to my work only to learn that I might be able to commence them after Ramadan.