I had been a month in the community as a Volunteer learning the ways of the community. It was an exciting adventurous pursuit because I was learning about the rich culture and their way of life was taking shape since I was learning about them every day. One cool beautiful morning I was on my way to the community school where I interacted with students and teachers as well, when I was informed that the village people would be taking their millet stalks for removal because the machine had come from Senegal. I was excited because this was a once-a-year activity and I anticipated some beautiful pictures could be taken. I went on the horse cart with one of my host brothers to see the activity.

We carried a lot of millet bags along. I was warned that one could get itchy from taking part in this but I was not deterred and my excitement didn’t wane. I got there and the scene I met was about four different things happening at the same time. On one side women were beating millet stalks which they were collecting from the machine side. I could hear them shouting to be heard amongst themselves even as they talked and worked with intense concentration and speed at what they were doing. Also, some people were packing their sheaves of millet stalks waiting in line for the machine to come to them. They brought their sheaves by horse or donkey. Thirdly at the machine itself, I could see a driver along with others working around the machine moving stalks that had gone through the machine already. The surrounding of the tractor was dusty with the stalk particles in the air making everything look like a sand storm. They wore masks and did not seem affected.

Fourthly some community members were sewing sacks of millet that had been removed from the stalks by the machine. My excitement was such that even though I had no mask I went into this mini stalk storm. I was so excited to follow what was happening and take pictures that it was only after an hour I realized I had been scratching myself more than normal even as I was taking pictures. I looked at myself and realized I had sprouted little rashes-looking bumps on my body. I was worried that my skin was allergic to the particles of the stalk and chose to go home. I had already started planning to get to a hospital to be checked and all. As I got home, my host family saw me scratching myself. I was told the secret was to take a bath and the itching would stop, however, they didn’t know if that would sort the rashes that had suddenly sprouted on my skin. Listening and learning from my host family I went and took a bath. After bathing, I realized the itching had stopped and to my utmost relief the rashes started disappearing as well, and by evening they had all disappeared.

I learned that day that the community as a whole is used to it, which is why even the itching does not affect them anymore but more importantly, I learned the wisdom of simple solutions. A simple second bath that morning solved my problem. Many times, a simple intervention in our communities is more effective and impactful than coming up with complex solutions to solve their problems.