Au revoir Senegal!

Toubab Dialaw

 

I’m not sure if this will be the last posting on this page, but this is sadly the final student blog (no pressure for me or anything).  Yesterday was our first day at Sobo Bade. We were a little shocked when we arrived because there were so many westerners and everything was so clean and pretty. I spent most of the day at the beach playing with a baby monkey with an earring named Jackie, and I’m thinking about dressing one up as a baby and smuggling it into the U.S. (shhh).  Then we went baticking as a group. Baticking is the decoration of cloth in which you paint wax onto muslin and then dye it, leaving the waxed parts white.  Everyone had fun (despite some of our artistic ineptness)and we’ll see how they turn out later today. During the evening, we had dinner together, and after a group of us went down to a clump of chairs overlooking the water and just talked and enjoyed Senegal together for hours. Today, after another breakfast of bread and tea, we’re going back to the beach to explore and do some last minute shopping for our friends and family.  In the evening we are going to take dancing and drumming lessons.

I cannot in any way speak for the group when reflecting on our experience in Senegal because we took different things away from each experience we had. Personally, this trip taught me so much about respect, culture, compromise, and awareness. I learned to respect other people and their point of views, no matter how much I disagreed with them. When we went to the Mariama Ba school we discussed homosexuality and polygamy. Everyone had different opinions on each of these matters, and some of us had completely opposite views. But despite our heated discussion, we were all friendly during a tour of the school and later an evening of dancing. I learned about culture by becoming completely and suddenly immersed in a culture totally foreign to me. Customs deemed normal and expected, like passing someone in the hall without saying hello or asking a question without greeting someone first, were disapproved of and seen as disrespectful and dehumanizing. The culture of Senegal is, in my opinion, better in some ways because it focuses on the present instead of the American culture which concentrates on the future. People here take their time and enjoy life as their living it. Here, time is time and money is money, unlike in America where the mantra is “time is money.” Especially coming from a school like Holton, where having free time makes me a little uncomfortable and confused because I feel like I should be doing something; not being religiously punctual, for me is like driving on the wrong side of the road. Traveling is always a compromise because you have to try to fit in to avoid being singled out. But traveling here I’ve had to compromise in everything from the language I speak, the way I dress, what I eat, and even where and when I sleep. Doing all this at once is challenging to say the least, and not everyone can do it. Some people could not separate themselves from their parents and comfort zones while others (like me) could just barely get past the language barrier.  This is all a part of the experience though, and to quote many of our parents (I’m sure), “It builds character”. Sadly, they are right (for once). This has really helped shape my character and build up my ability to cooperate instead of being stubborn. Lastly, and probably most importantly, I have learned awareness. I can safely say I’ve become internationally aware, not only of Senegalese issues, but also of shared global issues. I’ve also noticed, and become most moved by, the fact that the “American way” is not necessarily the “right way.” Looking at the beautiful, untainted beaches in Saint Louis, I can see the economic potential of Africa and the ways the Senegalese economy can be stimulated. But I can also see the negatives of capitalism in such a naturally stunning place. More hotels and tourists = more money, but more hotels and tourists = more pollution. There is no right or wrong in this situation, but this trip has reinforced my belief that we cannot force what we accept as true onto others, because what works for us will not necessarily work for others. 

Traveling to Senegal has forever changed me in profound ways that I cannot even begin to describe. I will always remember what I’ve learned here, and the choices I make in the future will reflect these lessons. I recommend this trip to anyone who is able and willing to leave their comfort zone far behind and become an international ambassador for not only the Holton-Arms school but also an entire generation of Americans.

-Becca

Last Day in the Village

The last day in the village was more than I expected. I have learned many things here. For instance, my new name is Indate, I love kids, and I found my inner African. The day’s events started with teaching of the 5th graders in the elementary school. Being the oldest students, they were easier to keep under control but not easier to teach. These kids have already developed their accents and language, so it was harder to teach them English pronunciation. I named one of the boys in the village Anthony but his Senegalese name is Badara. In In Austin’s class, they asked the students to say “My name is..”. When Badara stood up he said, “My name is Anthony.” His response meant so much to me. After the class we went to some of the houses of the girls in the village. I stuck close to Danette because I needed her to translate for me. I speak absolutely no French. I noticed that the one thing everyone was able to talk about was dancing. The popular dance “Chaka-goun” was the dance everyone wanted to see the “Toubabs “, or “Westerners”, do. After visiting some of the homes in the village, we took lessons from a local high school girl. We learned four different dances and my favorites were the Louisa and the “Chaka-goun”. The dancing was in preparation for the big village party in the evening. Just before the party we played one final soccer game. The boys scored most of the goals and tried their best to avoid passing the ball to us. Finally, we all dressed up for the party and some of us got henna. The party was crowded and festive. The first thing I noticed was the preschool girls and boys dressed in traditional Senegalese wear. They put on a little play before the party started. I remember one boy pulling off his fake moustache. After the play, the DJ called each one of us up and handed us diplomas that recognized our community service efforts at the school. After the presentation of diplomas, we performed the dances we learned for the community. The best part of the entire night was when I danced with some of my Senegalese friends. I felt free and alive with every movement, letting my body flow to the music. This was our last opportunity to bond with the kids in the village and we all took advantage of it. Tomorrow it will be sad to leave our friends at N’Diawdoune, but we leave with the knowledge that a new group of juniors will continue to nurture and deepen our relationship with the community.

-Antoinette

Batiking

Village Life

Since we played a very intense game of soccer yesterday, I woke up at 6 am this morning to take a nice shower. Many of us had already showered last night, but I fell asleep right after dinner. At 8, we all went to breakfast where we had the usual bread (with choco mousse or butter) and a hot beverage. Kelsey and I then got ready to teach the kids of CE2, who are the second youngest kids at the school. After having had taught yesterday, we learned from our mistakes and thus improved our strategy significantly. We played many games and even gave out candy to encourage participation. They learned colors, numbers and various body parts. However, they did get rowdy after a little while. The majority of the class understood the concepts, but a few struggled to communicate and learn the proper wording. Kelsey and I were equally shocked by their willingness to learn English. After class, they came up to us and even used some of the greetings we had talked about: hello, how are you, my name is, I am fine, thank you. It was rewarding to know that we were making a difference and that they could actually take something away from our lessons. Afterwards, we came back to the house to change into our work clothes. For our service project of the day, we helped clean the school. By splitting into three different groups, we cut the hedges, sifted through the sand for trash, and cleaned the bathrooms (yes, they were squat toilets). The heat was unbearable for many of us and we were exhausted after about 45 minutes. We went back to our house for the siesta, where I lay down on the bed with the fan directly on me. At about 4, we left for the animal reserve (which was right outside of Saint Louis) to see the tortoises, oryx, addax, gazelles, and monkeys. We learned a lot about the origins of the species and how the reserve has protected them from the industrialization Senegal is currently going through. I was quite surprised that the baby turtles have to be kept in a separate area in order to protect them from predators that are attracted to their soft-shells. After taking many pictures, we left for the village. On the way, we stopped in Saint Louis for some pastries. I tried a hazelnut cake that was very sugary and delicious. Then, we stopped on the road so that we could walk to a mini mountain, which had a refreshing breeze as well as a splendid view of Mauritania and the River Senegal. As we walked back, we saw both the village mosque and the religious school (the Dara), which all boys must attend in order to memorize the Koran. It was then time for dinner where we ate a salad with fresh tomatoes and carrots. Then, we all went back to the house and got ready for bed.

-Sachi

Welcome to N'diawdoune!

This morning I woke up in the nice, air conditioned hotel room and didn’t really want to leave for the village. I was still excited to go because many of the girls who had gone on this trip before said it was their favorite part, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave the comfort of the hotel. We all packed up our bags and got settled on the bus for what we expected to be at least an hour long drive but after about 30 minutes we arrived at the village.

At first, only a couple kids came out to greet us but a few seconds later a massive swarm of children came out of nowhere and surrounded our bus. Children were climbing over the walls to get a look at us. It was very overwhelming! A couple of us were “claimed” by the kids as soon as we got off the bus, but each one of us would have a new best friend by dinnertime.

The house we are staying in is one of the largest in the village and it is very nice, so I think we are all happy with the accommodations. The children immediately took our bags out of our hands and dropped them off at the house for us. Everyone is incredibly welcoming and helpful and we received a greeting that I’ve honestly never experienced in the U.S. The head of the village school took us on a tour of the school, making sure to stop by each classroom to show off the toubobs to all the children. I found it really cool that whenever we entered a classroom, all the children would stand up to greet us.

After the tour, we went back to the house to relax until lunchtime. We were all sitting around talking about this and that when Mrs. Brown said she had a story to tell us. It wouldn’t do her story justice to write about it in this blog so let’s just say we saw a whole new side of her! One of the classrooms had been converted into a dining room for us to eat lunch and it was amusing to see the kids peeking through the windows to get another look at us.

Back at the house, we all broke up into small groups in order to come up with the lesson plans for the next 3 days. We decided to teach the alphabet, greetings, vowels, and sounds on the first day, numbers, colors, and objects in the classroom the second day, and body parts, physical conditions, and emotions on the third day. We then taught the lessons to the entire group so we could get feedback on what would work and what wouldn’t. It was somewhat difficult to come up with a variety of fun and effective methods to teach English because we wanted to cram as much into each lesson as possible but had to limit ourselves since we would only have an hour to teach each day.

We were watching Iron Man on the TV in the living room when a little girl beckoned for me to come outside. When I went out there, another little girl named Yassi (probably wrong spelling…) was waiting for me. The first little girl spoke very good English so she did all of the talking. She asked me my name and then told me that from then on I would be Yassi. This is how the whole claiming a toubob process goes. I now had a Senegalese name and a new best friend! It really made me feel good because I knew Yassi would be by my side throughout my stay in the village and we could teach each other a lot.

One of the older girls took us on a tour of the village and we were accompanied by a crowd of little kids. The kids were fighting each other over who got to hold our hands. Some of us had up to 6 kids hanging onto us as we walked! The kids were very protective of their toubob and a lot of slapping occurred among them. I was so amazed at how territorial Yassi, the sweet and quiet little girl, got when someone else tried to hold my hand!

The tour ended and we Holton girls needed to get some water after trekking through the sand, so we went back to the house. A few minutes later the courtyard was full of kids! I felt so bad for the owner of the house because his courtyard was packed with all these kids because of us. We spent a few hours with the kids painting nails, taking pictures, braiding hair, making bracelets, etc. So many little boys and girls asked me my name, and I had to reply “Yassi” because that meant that someone had already claimed me. Eventually, we all retreated to the roof of the house because we were extremely overwhelmed by all the attention we were receiving from the kids.

The owner of the house said we could sleep on the roof, which we were all excited about because it would get cool at night and we had it to ourselves. We set up our bug huts and we were even given mattresses to sleep on. We then had dinner and went around the table and shared our first impressions of our first day in the village. The majority of us loved it and said it was our favorite day of the entire trip.

Today was definitely my favorite day of the trip because the village was so welcoming and it was such a fun day hanging out with all the kids. It really surpassed my expectations and I am really looking forward to the rest of my stay here.

 

 -Mary