DRESS Senegal1 - RPCVs of Madison
we all dress
© 1994 Renee Moog (Global Village Photography)
Senegal
Holding a Milk Bowl
This carved wooden bowl is a remnant of longstanding traditions among the Pulaar ethnic group. In this herding culture, the young boys milk the cows, bringing home frothy, lukewarm milk in bowls like the one cradled here by 7-year old Asata Ly. These milking bowls, lahals, are made only by certain families, those born into the Laube caste of woodworkers. Besides fabricating lahals, they carve items such as stools and handles for agricultural implements. Oloudou is a small Pulaar village of just over 100 people in the northeast corner of Senegal. Here the Laubes’ craft and lineage intertwine to prolong the tradition of lahals despite the pervasive availability of imported Chinese plastic bowls and buckets. Asata’s grandfather, the Village Chief, has seen his oldest son (Asata’s father) leave to work in Paris, has welcomed a Peace Corps Volunteer to work in the village, and has witnessed the construction of a two story building in his previously all-hut compound. As the years pass, he will undoubtedly witness a change in the lahal’s cultural presence. --Renee Moog, Peace Corps/Senegal, 1987-89 Senegal (Republic of Senegal) Capital Dakar Population 13,711,597 (2009 est.) Life Expectancy 59 years Literacy 39.3% (age 15 and over can read and write) Languages French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka Religions Muslim 94%, Christian 5%, indigenous beliefs 1% Government republic Source: The World Factbook, 2009
This photo appears on the we all dress International Poster, produced by the RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009. For more information and to order a complete set of full-size posters, see http://www.rpcvmadison.org/
© 1994 Renee Moog (Global Village Photography)
Senegal
Holding a Milk Bowl
This carved wooden bowl is a remnant of longstanding traditions among the Pulaar ethnic group. In this herding culture, the young boys milk the cows, bringing home frothy, lukewarm milk in bowls like the one cradled here by 7-year old Asata Ly. These milking bowls, lahals, are made only by certain families, those born into the Laube caste of woodworkers. Besides fabricating lahals, they carve items such as stools and handles for agricultural implements. Oloudou is a small Pulaar village of just over 100 people in the northeast corner of Senegal. Here the Laubes’ craft and lineage intertwine to prolong the tradition of lahals despite the pervasive availability of imported Chinese plastic bowls and buckets. Asata’s grandfather, the Village Chief, has seen his oldest son (Asata’s father) leave to work in Paris, has welcomed a Peace Corps Volunteer to work in the village, and has witnessed the construction of a two story building in his previously all-hut compound. As the years pass, he will undoubtedly witness a change in the lahal’s cultural presence. --Renee Moog, Peace Corps/Senegal, 1987-89 Senegal (Republic of Senegal) Capital Dakar Population 13,711,597 (2009 est.) Life Expectancy 59 years Literacy 39.3% (age 15 and over can read and write) Languages French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka Religions Muslim 94%, Christian 5%, indigenous beliefs 1% Government republic Source: The World Factbook, 2009
This photo appears on the we all dress International Poster, produced by the RPCVs of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009. For more information and to order a complete set of full-size posters, see http://www.rpcvmadison.org/
