Spring Break

Well, my spring break is just now winding down and it has been an interesting voyage.

To pick up from where I left off, I made it to Kaolack with Sean. We took a sept-place (7-seat bus taxi). It was basically a station wagon with an extra seat in the back. Took us about 4 hours to get to Kaolack which wasn't too terrible. Once in Kaolack, we met up with our hosts and got settled. We were staying with a cousin of Rama, the assistant to our program director. His name is Serigne Modou Gueye and he is a local religious leader or Imam. It was very interesting to talk to him, he spoke very good French, and we discussed everything from religious topics to current events (like health care passing!)

Saturday Sean and I wandered around Kaolack, population of about 180,000 people, so similar to Boise's size but not quite as spread out. In case I didn't explain why we went to Kaolack, it was part of our Continuity and Change class. We were supposed to stay in a small village and research rural organizations like women's groups and ecotourism. Sean and I chose Tostan, which is an international NGO focused on sustainable development. So, while we did spend one day in a village seeing Tostan in action, we were focused in Kaolack (not technically a village) to do research at one of the organization's regional offices.

Both Saturday and Sunday were very relaxed, lazy days because the Tostan office wasn't open on the weekend. We checked out the local market and an artisan market in Kaolack and we watched a lot of European futbol (soccer) and French news TV. We also got to eat a lot of shrimp, something we don't get much of in Dakar.

Monday we began our research by interviewing Tostan's regional coordinator, Abdoul Aziz Sy. It was an interesting afternoon and we met some of the other administrative staff as well.

Tuesday was our day in the village. We spent some time with two regional facilitators who oversee several village projects each and then we went to a Tostan village in the evening. The Tostan model is focused around non-formal education with classes of around 40 people. They use local staff and local languages with creative teaching methods like using music, dance, theater and lots of visual aids. Most rural people have never had formal schooling, so this model has proven very effective in promoting rural development. Tostan teaches a comprehensive curriculum of human rights, democracy, and community health. In particular Tostan has been noticed for having a very non-confrontational approach. Tostan does not come into a village and tell them to change their practices, they simply educate the population so that a true dialogue can begin. It has been remarkably successful in eradicating the practice of femal genital cutting (FGC) in rural Senegal and the model has recently been applied elsewhere in Africa. Sean and I attended an adult class (there are also adolescent classes) and then visited the town's newly created community garden. It was a great experience.

Wednesday we interviewed an American volunteer working at the Tostan office. It was very interesting to see the structure of the organization and learn that 95% of its staff is African. Since all the teaching is done in local languages, there is not much of a role for westerns except as support staff and volunteers. Anyway, we decided to take a bus back to Dakar and it was almost as fast as taking the bus taxi plus we got to experience a new form of transportation.

Thursday was my day to rest finally! This week is our spring break but we lost about half of it to the village research project. I caught up with the other students who all went to different villages (in pairs of two) and learned about a lot of cool stuff. I started my big history of Islam essay but wasn't too motivated yet. It was nice to have a little breather.

Friday I got productive again. I went to the Ghanan Embassy to work on getting my visa for this summer. Turns out it only takes about 5 days to process the request so I didn't need to worry about getting it 2 months in advance. Sometimes things here are a lot simpler than I expect. More homework on Friday and a calm night out with friends.

Saturday I did some major essay writing. I got my whole essay written and it is 10 pages long, in French. It was a little big exhausting and I did need to take a two-hour nap afterward, but it isn't due until Thursday, so I have time to edit. I wrote about the use of protective amulets (called gris-gris) here in Senegal. This is a very interesting practice that shows how Islam has fused with some of the local animist beliefs.

Today is Sunday and next week classes come roaring back 110% so I am getting my blog out today. I sent my essay off to my academic director to edit it and I am studying my wolof today. We have our final Wolof classes and evaluation next week. Tonight, I am going to a Senegalese wedding reception and I am very excited to wear my new bou-bou! Another student (Leia) has a host sister who is getting married today and she invited all the toubabs.
Hope everyone has a great week.

P.S. Christine, thanks so much for that link. That collage is sooo cool. Way awesome to see the words in picture form, and it really captures the sense of my adventure. Thanks again!