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Tag: Senegal

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By camilacarrera10

The countdown has officially started. Three weeks left. I am completely astounded at how fast time has passed. Senegal has become my home, but in many ways I still feel like a foreigner trying to find her way. A few questions have plagued me throughout this semester concerning topics varying from cultural appropriation to wondering if my role at my internship was helping anyone.

Taking a breath at Lampoul

 

My two fellow interns and I have had a wonderfully challenging and rewarding time at P.A.R.I without a doubt. We have perfected our interview skills, practiced our Wolof, learned about the refugee crisis in Senegal, and visited many homes of people desperate for our help. Still, we struggle with keeping our life compartmentalized. We wake up, go to our internships, listen to story after story of hardship (families who live off $1 a day), and then I return to my comparatively luxurious life as a tourist in Senegal. I struggle with guilt over the life I live even though I know that is neither productive nor necessary for me to feel. One of the lessons I have learned here is that using one’s opportunities to create impactful social change is the best way to combat any feeling of guilt.

...continue reading "A New Day"

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By bradynevins96

During the second half of my time here in Senegal, I have been working with an NGO called Jeunesses et Développement (Youth and Development) to help them design a website. The NGO was founded in 1988 with the intent of improving living conditions for individuals as well as the collective in areas such as environment, health, education, and community development.

Jeunesses et Développement is similar to a scout organization like Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, and it uses this aspect to help protect at-risk youth in Dakar. Jeunesses et Développement also works along side many other NGOs and organization, including UNICEF, to promote and instill values like gender equality, social justice, human rights, human dignity, and reproductive health. When kids have nowhere else to go, they can go to Jeunesses et Développement, which also - when necessary - takes responsibility for feeding and educating their participants.

Previously Jeunesses et Développement only had a Facebook page. I hope that the addition of a website will help them get their name out to more people and organizations so that even more kids can participate in their programs. I’m looking forward to getting to know more about this cool NGO as I work with them more during my last few weeks in Dakar.

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By camilacarrera10

With only six weeks left here in Senegal, I am awestruck by how fast time has passed. Still, there are points where time seems to completely stop which I attribute to the fact that doing things quickly is not the Senegalese way. This doesn’t mean that productivity does not exist. At my internship, my colleagues take a two-hour lunch break to eat, relax, and pray. At first, I thought that we were wasting time considering how many refugees came seeking help and were waiting on us. After sitting in on interviews I saw how thorough my colleagues were. They made the refugees feel safe and comfortable while discerning to what extent we were able to help. As I signed in the refugees to the center everyone would take the time to ask me how I was doing. Even more amazing? They genuinely want to know.

As my French is progressing I am able to communicate more with my coworkers, but also with the refugees. I have heard horrendous stories of torture and abuse, but I have also witnessed the lengths people go to survive in a society that turned its back on them. During home visits, we assess the living situation. Nine times out ten the refugees are living in cramped and unsafe conditions. The buildings are badly built and as many as three people may have to share one bed. Seeing these things every week has humbled me to no end because it has reminded me that people all over the world don’t have access to basic needs. When I find myself missing home or even the simplest luxury that I may not have in Dakar, I remind myself the unbelievable fortune I have just to have the opportunity to study abroad.

...continue reading "Keeping It Real In Dakar"

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By bradynevins96

ImagiNation Afrika recently received a grant from the Tran-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership to begin a new, year-long program, called Men Na Nekk, which I was able to help lay the groundwork for. The project is aimed at teaching multimedia skills to students in southern Senegal, an area below the Gambia called the Casamance Region. Because it is one of the poorest regions of Senegal, the area is prone to youth radicalization, which ImagiNation Afrika is trying to prevent with Men Na Nekk.

When it begins, the project will reach several hundred students in three regions of Senegal through a variety of 15-day intensive camps. One camp focuses on leadership training and the promotion of moderate and tolerant ideologies. Two other camps will teach basic photography and film production skills, and they will allow students to make short films talking about what Islam means to them. There will also be a film festival where student’s films will be showcased.

...continue reading "Men Na Nekk"

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By camilacarrera10

Greetings from Dakar,

I have quickly realized that my favorite experience here is and will continue to be my internship at P.A.R.I. For those of you who did not read my first blog, P.A.R.I is a non-profit organization that helps immigrants and refugees gain access to healthcare, housing, micro-loans, and more. Most refugees have fled the Gambia because they get killed for their sexual orientation.

Upon arriving on my first day I felt very nervous. Looking around I realized that P.A.R.I was a Catholic organization that worked closely with the Vatican. I felt they might judge me for not practicing despite being baptized catholic. When we began the day by sitting down to prayer I panicked. I did not even know the prayers in English, much less in French!

Was I supposed to pretend to pray? Close my eyes? Oh my God I do not even know how to do the sign of the Cross. Jesus, I just said the Lord’s name in vain. Help.

...continue reading "United Through Our Differences"

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By bradynevins96

I feel like I'm settling in well at ImagiNation Afrika. A great group of people work there and I've really enjoyed starting to get to know them! The organization just ended their summer session summer camps, and for the past several weeks, they’ve been closed in order to transition to the fall trimester. Each trimester has a theme; this one is all about transportation.

I’ve been helping where I can during the transition, painting big posters of cars and trucks and trying to think of ideas for new play area designs for the kids. I’ve been working mostly on creating a “message house” for the organization, which is basically a clear way of stating three key messages to go along with a blanket statement, which are then supported by evidence. The blanket statement in this case is “play is the best way for children to learn”. I’ve been doing a lot of research into how play affects brain development and learning, and the three key points I come up with will then be incorporated into brochures and pamphlets for donors to learn more about the organization.

...continue reading "Settling In"

Published on

By bradynevins96

Asalaamaalekum from Dakar, Senegal!

I'm just finishing up my first week at the CIEE Development Studies program. I was attracted to this study abroad program for several reasons. First, it gives me a really unique opportunity to immerse myself in the culture of a country I might not otherwise get to visit, and since I'm living with a host family, I feel like I get a very authentic immersion experience. I also get to study development in a country that has been the subject of many types of development projects throughout the years, giving me an awesome and rare up-close learning opportunity. (I'm looking forward to the weekly field trips we get to take around the city for class!) Senegal also lets me work on my French-speaking skills (which definitely need work!), and I get to eat delicious baguettes for breakfast every morning!

...continue reading "Asalaamaalekum from Dakar!"

Published on

By camilacarrera10

It has been a week, folks. My strength, my will, my beliefs, and not to mention my stomach have been tested over and over. While I consider myself pretty adaptable, I believe I have found my match in Senegal. At my lowest point, when the electricity went out and my beloved fan bit the dust, I even questioned my choice in coming here. Why Senegal? Why CIEE? Why pick a country whose neighbor is the actual Sahara Desert? I reminded myself I chose this program and this country for very specific reasons.

Photo of Camila with group.
It was our first day in Senegal and we are lost, cold, wet, and happy.

Firstly, I have the travel bug and I have it bad. Thanks to Mom and Dad I have a passion for immersing myself in cultures and languages unfamiliar to me. In Cesar Chavez’s wise words: “preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.” My personal opinion on the tragedies of today’s world is that they stem from people’s inability to accept that our differences are not wrong, but fascinating. Our differences allow us to do the very thing we do best: innovate, progress, and survive.

...continue reading "Nous Sommes Afrique – We Are Africa"

Published on

By rosessupposes

This semester has been... eventful. So many new experiences, with travel, food, people, customs... And now, I'm home again, back in my tiny Massachusetts hometown- it's a far cry from Dakar, the bustling capital of Senegal. But I've only been home about 5 days, and it's still hard to truly process how this experience may have changed me (besides the henna that's still on my hands).

I believe it will take a lot more time and probably re-entry into the GW school & social environment to really conceptualize what about my outlook on the world has changed. So, to finish off this blog, I'll talk about what I can understand at this point.

What I'm Glad to Leave Behind:

  • Bathrooms with only sometimes-working water and no toilet paper
  • Eating red meat almost every single day
  • More frequent street harassment and marriage proposals
  • Not being able to understand the Wolof or Pulaar conversations around me
  • Lack of washing machines, dryers, or dishwashers
  • Weekly power outages
  • The neighborhood chorus of obnoxious sheep and goats
  • Street cats and dogs

What I'm Going to Miss (or am missing already)

  • My little host brother Mohammed and his toy cars
  • Cafe Touba in the street for 10 US cents
  • Haggling with taxis and in markets
  • Tailored clothes from the fabrics you chose yourself
  • Speaking French and hearing myself improve
  • Ataaya with the Ouakam kids
  • The balmy temperatures of winter in Dakar

What I Am Bringing Home

  • Two bags of Cafe Touba that I'm learning to brew myself
  • 'Wax' fabric for my mum and bracelets for my friends
  • Huge Senegalese flag for my dorm room
  • Much more functional French vocabulary and ability
  • Better appreciation of my privileges here (especially technological)
  • Improved awareness of strong and weak sectors of development in Senegal and similar countries
  • Experiences of living in a part of the world that most of America knows little-to-nothing about

Published on

By rosessupposes

One of the largest adjustments that I’ve had to make here in Senegal has been in the manner of interaction with others in a variety of contexts. Different food and styles of houses and dress are easy to adjust to with time – having to constantly second-guess how you relate to others even as continue to fumble with a second language. Some interactions have become much easier. I know to find and greet all my family members when I re-enter the house, I know how to politely tell the talibes that I can’t give money or food today, and I know how to behave around the bowl at meal times.

And yet, there is a one genre of interactions that continues to be confusing and very frustrating, and that is the myriad of interactions between genders. ...continue reading "Impressions of Americans vs the Patriarchy"

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