October 23, 2005

Beaver FAQ

Never, ever hesitate to ask a question. I will answer, and do the research if I do not know the answer.
N’hesitez jamais a poser une question. Je repondrais, et ferais les recherches necessaires si je ne connais pas la reponse.

I decided to directly answer, to all's benefits, to some comments made by some regular and some not so regular readers :
Pour le benefice de tous, j’ai decide de repondre directement a certains commentaires de lecteurs plus ou moins reguliers :

Salt Water asked : Does your hair style matter in Guinea?
Salt Water a demande: Est-ce que la coiffure compte en Guinee?


I should say it does, because african women are usually very well groomed, unless they are home. African hair can be nappy or kinky (as in very curly) which allows for funky, extravagant, sophisticated looks, mostly involving intricate braiding. While Senegalese women invested a lot in their hair, Guinean women are more sober, so I don't have to step up to so high a standard.
Je dirais que oui, car les femmes africaines sont d’habitude tres soignees, a moins qu’elle ne soient chez elles. Le cheveuz Africain peut etre tres frise ou crepu, ce qui permet de faire des coiffures farfelues, extravagantes ou sophistiquees, en general a l’aide de tressage complique. Alors que les Senegalaises investissent beaucoup dans leur coiffure, les femmes Guineenes sont plus sobres, ce qui m’enleve une certaine pression.



I on the other hand, have straight hair that won't hold anything, so I just comb it and let bad hair happen. That's mostly why I cut it short.
En ce qui me concerne, j’ai les cheveux tres lisses et les coiffures complexes ne tiennent pas. Alors je me contente de brosser mes cheveux et de laisser la nature faire son travail. C’est la raison principale pour laquelle je porte mes cheveux courts.

I for some reason look much better when dirty. Does it do anything special for you?
Mes cheveux sont plus beaux quand ils sont sales. Est-ce que ca marche pour toi?


I need to shampoo everyday. Sweat and dust make it impossible to skip this step. For the same reason, wearing make-up is totally NOT an option (then again, I just never wear any.)
J’ai besoin de me laver les cheveux tous les jours a cause de la transpiration et la poussiere. C’est aussi pour cette raison qu’il est quasi inutile de se maquiller (ce qui ne me concerne guere, puisque je ne me maquille pas.)

Do you wear field clothes or business attire?
Portes-tu des vetements de brousse ou de style corporatif?

When I go into the office, I wear casual clothes, clean and simple. Khakis and a shirt are typical. The one thing I do allow myself to wear which is to make sure I keep a progessional look is the high heels, despite the fact that I am already a giant.
Quand je vais au bureau, je porte des vêtements decontractes, propres et simples (des pantalons de toile et une chemise, par exemple). La chose que je me permets de porter pour maintenir une allure de professionnelle est les chaussures a talons hauts, malgré le fait que je sois déjà une géante.

If you should happen to hear how the Leaf sauce is made or composed, we would like to try and copy it here.
Si d’aventure tu apprenais comment la sauce feuille est faite, ou ses ingredients, nous voudrions essayer de la reproduire chez nous.


I asked about leaf sauce. As I understand it, the leaves are potato leaves. They need to be boiled in water along with "cube Maggie" which is some beef stew concentrate powder. They also add fish, shrimps and other condiments. Then, at the end, palm oil is added. This is as much as I could find out, but I could not get a fix on the quantities or cooking time, because the woman I asked said she made it instinctively.
J'ai posé des questions sur la sauce feuille. Tel que je l’ai compris, les feuilles sont des feuilles de pomme de terre. Elles doivent être bouillies dans l'eau avec du '"cube Maggie" qui est une poudre de concentré de bouillon de boeuf. On ajoute également du poisson, des crevettes et d'autres condiments. Puis, à la fin, on ajoute de l'huile de palme. C'est tout ce que j’ai pu découvrir, mais je n’ai pas pu obtenir specifiquement les quantités ou le temps de cuisson. La femme aupres de qui je me suis renseignée cuisine instinctivement.


007 in Africa said : "I can't get over the fact that you are transcribing each and every one of your posts from one language to the other--that's so much work. You are crazy. But that's nothing new :)"
007 en Afrique a dit : "je n’en reviens pas que tu transcrives chacun de tes textes d'une langue à l'autre – c’est tellement de travail. Tu es folle. Mais c'est rien de nouveau:)"


You know, I must admit I've been using Alta Vista for those. But after I got some complaints from my mum that my french writing was getting bad, I started reviewing more attentively. OOps !
Vous savez, je dois admettre que j'ai utlise Alta Vista souvent. Mais après que j'aie obtenu quelques plaintes de ma maman selon lesquelles ma redaction en francais devenait mauvaise, j'ai commencé à mes reviser plus attentivement. OOps !

Liquidplastic said : "I would also like to know what happened to H".
Liquidplastic a dit : "je voudrais également savoir ce qui est arrivé à H".

I did not see H since that night, nor did I see N, the lady I went for pizza with originally. I did go back to the Pizza place, though. The owner there had seen N the day before, and apparently, H had reported to work. More to come on the matter.
Je n'ai pas vu H depuis ce soir-la, ni N, la dame avec qui je suis allée manger une pizza. Je suis retournée à la pizzeria, par contre. Le propriétaire avait vu N la veille, et apparemment, H avait repris le travail. A suivre...



Anonymous said : "any advice for others of us looking for jobs that require international travel?Have teaching and business experience and have travelled extensively throughout the world already but am not an attorney."
Anonyme a dit: "quelque conseil pour ceux d’entre nous en recherche d’emplois exigeant des deplacements internationaux? J’ai de l'expérience en affaires et en enseignement et j’ai voyagé intensivement dans le monde entier mais je ne suis pas avocat(e)."

Internal audit does not require to be an attorney. In fact, CAs and CPAs have better chances than lawyers in that field.
Il n’est pas necessaire d’etre avocat pour etre verificateur interne. En fait, les comptables agrees ont de meilleures chances d’etre selectionnes que des avocats dans ce domaine.

In the States, USAID, Africare, Care, CRS (Catholic Relief Services), the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and other NGOs have internal auditors. In Canada, it's more uncommon.

Aux Etats-Unis, l’USAID, Africare, Care, CRS (Catholic Relief Services), le CDC (Center for Disease Control) et d’autres ONG ont des auditeurs internes. Au Canada, c’est plus rare.



It’s also possible to work overseas in Program Management. There isn't a search engine dedicated to such positions, but DevNetJobs has a good news letter to get ideas on where to apply. Care Canada has a wonderful site for job hunter (http://www.care.ca/) where they cumulate postings for various canadian NGOs. For Canadians, there's also a site called Canadem (http://www.canadem.ca/) which recruits for the UN. Otherwise, you need to apply directly to the Organization. Most of them have websites and will post positions externally in the carreer section.


Il est aussi possible de travailler a l’etranger en gestion de programmes. Il n'y a pas de moteur de recherche consacré à de tels postes, mais DevNetJobs a un bon bulletin qui donne des idees d’endroits où appliquer. Care Canada a un site merveilleux pour le chercheur d’emploi (
www.care.ca) qui cumule des affichages de postes pour de différentes O.N.G.s canadiennes. Pour des citoyens canadiens, il y a également un emplacement appelé Canadem (http://www.canadem.ca/) qui recrute pour l'ONU. Finalement, vous devez aussi appliquer directement. La plupart des organisations ont un site Web et affichent des postes a l’externe dans la section carrieres.

The important thing is not to abandon and to follow-up on applications. If you're new to the arena, get someone with experience in NGO work to review your resume and cover letter - terminology is different. Also, if you're currently idle, take the time to do volunteer work on a weekly basis. It pays off in the end.
L’ important est de ne pas abandonner et de faire un suivi de ses applications. Si vous êtes nouveau dans le domaine, demandez a quelqu'un qui a de l'expérience de travail dans les O.N.G.s de passer en revue votre cv et votre lettre d'accompagnement car la terminologie est différente. En outre, si vous êtes actuellement en disponibilite, prenez le temps de faire du benevolat sur une base hebdomadaire. Ca paye à la fin.


Good luck, don't hesitate to ask away if you're curious of anything !
Bonne chance, n'hésitez pas à poser d’autres questions si votre curiosite est piquee !


The Beaver


Merci, Sam a TMR, d'avoir mis ton grain de sel sur ma carte !

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

4 comments:

Salt Water said...

There seems to be no end to the ways you amaze us. I was just asking myself this morning, "What should I do about the volunteer potatoes that are comming up in my Horta (food garden). I have tilled it for winter and mulched it with manure. Now you give me the answer of all answers "Turn the leaves to sause and leave the spuds for spring". You are so great. I'll let you know how it turns out. Maybe I'll photo post it before I eat it. Yes, a genuine African adventure in good Del Norte County. Fantastic!!!!!!!!

cityangelz said...

hey there!!

Glad you sound like you're having fun!!

cheers,
Siti

Victoria said...

Hey Beaver :-) I just wanted to let you know that --yes-- I still read your blog regularly! It's really interesting/well researched... I honestly have no idea how you manage to put so much effort in your posts!

Linda Jones Malonson said...

This was good Beaver! You never ceases to amaze me.

I learn so much from blogging there should be a 'Blogging Degree' of some sort.

Yeah, us Africian women love to play with our hair. I am going to post my picture next year with my dreadlocks! They are kicking ...

Just finished my first manuscript! Wouldn't you know it .. my counselor is a english major too and she agreed to edit it without touching my dialogue. I am just batting a hunderd with this woman, she's wonderful.

Hope you are making sure to put aside some Beaver time ... because having so much fun on your job, well, you got to take a minute and be depressed (LOL) ...

Much love and be well!