2019 DCI Senegal Service Adventure

We took a break from our service project and ventured out of the village! We took local transportation to a a small bridge 30 minutes southwest of Ndianda where we then crossed over onto an island completely made out of shells! It was beautiful and a wonderful way to spend our day!

Fadiouth, is made up of two islands. On both, the streets are covered (layer after layer) of clam shells. Both islands are built on these millions of shells that have accumulated over generations.

On the first island, shells are a part of everything in the town. Shells are incorporated seamlessly into the architecture and also used in local crafts as well. While the streets paved in bivalves draw quite a crowd, the second shell island, connected to Fadiouth via stilted wooden bridge, is the true gem of the area.

This village has no motorized transport, so the students, group organizers, Fina and I went on by foot! This island is known only for its cemetery (aside from it being completely made out of shells). Although its simple and barren landscape could easily be ignored, the island is very unique. 90% of people in Senegal adhere to Islam, yet this entire island attached to Fadiouth is dedicated to a cemetery of simple graves, marked by white Christian crosses. Also buried in shells, the cemetery is a monument to the Catholic minority of the nation, and has adapted to the island’s shell landscape to form a beautiful graveyard.

Due to the fact that we have terrible (and I mean absolutely terrible) WiFi connection we have been unable to upload any of our personal pictures to the picture gallery linked to our blog. Once our community service project finishes and we are back in city limits, I will be adding more pictures to the ones above. With that being said, I wanted to attach a link of National Geographic’s coverage on the Island that we visited so all the parents and loved ones following along can have a better (visual) idea of what our day looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ApK3yZ1hU.

Good morning from our homestay in Ndianda, Senegal! Ndianda is a small, rural village that was established 138 years ago. It is situated 120 kilometers south of Dakar. It is best known for the non-profit organization called “Association Internationale pour le Développement de Ndianda”. The village’s mission is to to aid the general population of Ndianda by helping them improve their health conditions, academics and more. To fulfill this mission, the NPO bases its activities around three main axes: Health, Education and Economic Development. It really seems like a nice community project!

After we spent our first night in our homestay, everyone gathered in a central house large enough to host everyone for our first breakfast the following morning. We were then shown to the local school where our service project would begin.

Our first day, we were split into three groups in order to help rebuild a damaged wall.

Group 1: moved old bricks away from the destroyed wall

Group 2: made new bricks for the new wall

Group 3: was in charge of the clean-up

The students and I really enjoyed ourselves! We turned on music while working and were then joined by local children who came to help us. They danced and really showed the students a good time. A group of students also had an absolute blast trying to catch a baby goat that was nearby; and Amirah finally caught it!

Afterwards, Ms. Thomas held a group discussion so all the students could start a dialogue about how they felt in regards to the project. The kids had a lot to say. Some of them love trying to communicate with the local children in French!

There’s a senegalese proverb that states, “If you speak, speak to him who understands you.” I think it relates to this group specifically. The need and want for communication between DC International’s students and the local children is clear. I really appreciate the student’s efforts in communication, regardless of the language barrier. Communication is everything. The students are learning through experience to be effective communicators (no matter where they are in the world or what they’re doing)!

We also learned how to make “ataya”, which is how you say tea in Wolof. Senegalese tea is a ritual and is a process to make. Chinese gunpowder green tea leaves are put into a teapot with water and mint leaves and boiled over a charcoal stove. Sugar is added to the teapot and the tea is poured into small glasses of a certain height and then poured back and forth from the glass to the teapot several times so that foam appears in the glass. The foam is called “la moche”. The thicker the foam, the better the tea! For all the students that try to make this tea at home, remember that the first glass of tea tends to be quite bitter, the second is sweeter and the third is very sweet with a weak tea taste because the same tea and mint leaves are steeped to prepare all three glasses!

As our service project has evolved, we have started to also painting the inside and outside wall of a classroom. Everyones spirits are high as we continue to gain new skills and improve old ones!

Greetings from the land of teranga (“hospitality” in Wolof)! Today marked our last full morning and afternoon in Dakar before we find ourselves with our homestay families!

Today, Fina took us to The Peace Corps Senegal community! We learned how the volunteers in Senegal work with their communities on projects in agriculture, community economic development, and health. It seems that Senegal is an ideal country for Peace Corps service: democratic and politically stable with a long history of religious and ethnic tolerance, as well as freedom of movement and action. Volunteers quickly integrate into their communities, thanks to our world-class language and culture training program. During their service in Senegal, volunteers learn to speak local languages, including Bambara, Fulakunda, Jaxanke, Mandinka, Pulaar du Nord, Pulafuta, Seereer, and Wolof! Pretty cool!

Walking Tree takes pride in inspiring students to become curious and compassionate global citizens by taking an active interest in the world around them. From a Walking Tree employee perspective, I really appreciated the students being able to visit this community. Walking Tree aims to guide the next generation to become global leaders. With a dedication to learning, along with an enduring passion for exploring the world, we always hope to provide transformative and meaningful travel experiences which uncover the authentic culture of the destination, and this visit certainly inspired some of our students in this way.

Being there today reminded me of a Senegalese proverb I once heard- “There can be no peace without understanding.”.

We also had the opportunity to do a little souvenir shopping while we were still in Dakar! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves while doing so! Everything that Sengal has to offer is so vibrant in color! I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to carve out some time to do a bit more shopping!

Now we are in route to our homestay. Everyone is excited to start this leg of the program! Wifi connectivity will be more limited, meaning it may be longer before you see some more photos or blog updates, but rest assured we are making the most of our time here and will be in touch with more updates as soon as possible!

This morning after we left the hotel, we set out for our first activity as a group! We drove to the southeast coast of Dakar to catch a ferry to a tiny, car-free island, with great historic importance. Our ferry departed from Port Autonome de Dakar where in a short 25 minutes we arrived at Gorée Island! We went straight to the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Afterwards, we met our local guide Kime. He informed us that the island is and was best known for its role in the 15th-19th century Atlantic slave trade. It was one of the most heavily utilized slave trading ports in West Africa. He said that it has been estimated that millions of enslaved people passed through the chambers of Gorée before they met their fate across the Atlantic ocean in the Americas and the African diasporas. Today, Gorée’s slave quarters are preserved and maintained in their original form by UNESCO.

We visited the “House of Slaves” (“Maison des Esclaves”). This ‘house’ was a last station for slaves, where they were held captive under extremely harsh conditions before being brought over the Atlantic sea. The famous “Door of No Return” is here along with the horrendous cells where slaves were kept.

Kime did a wonderful job and was very informative. If I had to name a feeling that we all shared today it would most definitely be ‘solemn’. That was the vibe that I felt with everyone as we walked about the island. I will say that I think the students did a good job at setting aside any Western ideas or expectations that they had; and this allowed for a positive experience.

Today, the island has a population of 2000 people who live in Gorée. There are many creative people who actually work from various places including old war bunkers, and these artists have turned Gorée into a cultural and artistic hotspot. As you walk down one streets you can see paintings propped up along the street side while other work hangs in trees. Some artists use recycled materials or pieces of fabric and others sand to create pictures and art bottles. Women also sell jewelry pieces and natural raffia hand fans. Though colors schemes, sizes and prices vary greatly, there is a common theme among all these pieces of art and crafts: they celebrate African history, culture and creativity. We actually walked through Chiekh Mbacke Sow’s (a local man) shop who had all his ‘sand paintings’ displayed for us to see!

Once back on the mainland, we returned to our hotel. All the students were very excited to cool off from the hot day. Everyone played football and swam in the pool!

Tomorrow we are off to our homestay where we will start our service project!