I'm a BAD BLOGGER!
Hey folks,
The past month has been quite hectic and whenever I have free time the electricity conveniently goes out. In other words, please accept my apology for neglecting the blog. I’m alive and everything is going pretty well, I promise! Besides, it’s officially summer vacation! Woohoo! For all of you in the States who will actually be getting the opportunity to do fun stuff, I’m excited for you. Here in Senegal, kids work for their parents when they aren’t in school and I work whether school is in session or not. After my long absence I guess an update is in order.
Where to start, where to start… Lately, I’ve been very busy. I just returned from an almost week long trip to Dakar for the quarter-annual Volunteer Advisory Committee meeting; an opportunity for myself and the other regional representatives to voice the comments and/or concerns of the volunteers in our regions while getting a little face-time with our Country Director. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to see my old host family in Thies and go to a Youssou N’dour (basically the biggest music star in Senegal) concert with them which was really exciting. N’dour was great and, being close to the stage, I saw and enjoyed all the different Senegalese dancers. Randomly, I also got to meet and take a picture with Laura Bush when she visited Senegal on her mini-Africa tour, which was kind of cool. Overall, my time in and around Dakar was a really nice and interesting break from work in Tamba.
With the exception of that little trip, all of my time has been spent working in Tamba. Now that the school year is over, my somewhat painful Wolof marketing class at the Centre des Handicapees has come to a close. Happily, I can say that by the end of the year it wasn’t that bad, I loosened up a lot, and it was good practice for next year’s classes. I also attended some great end of the year celebrations/award ceremonies at the different middle schools in town, I watched their talented dance troops, and made some new and useful contacts. I’m proud to report that my English student was announced the top student in her grade—an accomplishment especially laudable when taking into account the major difficulties and responsibilities for girls trying to attend school here.
In addition, I was fortunate to watch “Binta and the Great Idea,” a short film about a little girl living in the Cassamance region of Senegal. It was funded by UNICEF, nominated for an academy award, and is highly recommend if you want an idea of where I’m living and what I’m doing. I attended a huge UNICEF/Tostan event in my region and some of the kids performed skits like the one in the film. They were really moving and I hope you all get the same experience, even if it is just through the film. A friend told me you can watch it for free online. I’m not sure if this is true but I’d advise checking it out.
All in all, I’m having a great time and feel really grateful to have this opportunity. Now that we are all caught up, I’ll be going to Spain for vacation in a couple of weeks but look forward to some new entries in the near future! Again, I’m sorry for my negligence! Happy Early 4th of July!! Stay safe and have fun!
Ciao Ciao
PS- I got a new camera so look forward to some new pics also! Thanks Mom and Dad!
The past month has been quite hectic and whenever I have free time the electricity conveniently goes out. In other words, please accept my apology for neglecting the blog. I’m alive and everything is going pretty well, I promise! Besides, it’s officially summer vacation! Woohoo! For all of you in the States who will actually be getting the opportunity to do fun stuff, I’m excited for you. Here in Senegal, kids work for their parents when they aren’t in school and I work whether school is in session or not. After my long absence I guess an update is in order.
Where to start, where to start… Lately, I’ve been very busy. I just returned from an almost week long trip to Dakar for the quarter-annual Volunteer Advisory Committee meeting; an opportunity for myself and the other regional representatives to voice the comments and/or concerns of the volunteers in our regions while getting a little face-time with our Country Director. Over the weekend I had the opportunity to see my old host family in Thies and go to a Youssou N’dour (basically the biggest music star in Senegal) concert with them which was really exciting. N’dour was great and, being close to the stage, I saw and enjoyed all the different Senegalese dancers. Randomly, I also got to meet and take a picture with Laura Bush when she visited Senegal on her mini-Africa tour, which was kind of cool. Overall, my time in and around Dakar was a really nice and interesting break from work in Tamba.
With the exception of that little trip, all of my time has been spent working in Tamba. Now that the school year is over, my somewhat painful Wolof marketing class at the Centre des Handicapees has come to a close. Happily, I can say that by the end of the year it wasn’t that bad, I loosened up a lot, and it was good practice for next year’s classes. I also attended some great end of the year celebrations/award ceremonies at the different middle schools in town, I watched their talented dance troops, and made some new and useful contacts. I’m proud to report that my English student was announced the top student in her grade—an accomplishment especially laudable when taking into account the major difficulties and responsibilities for girls trying to attend school here.
In addition, I was fortunate to watch “Binta and the Great Idea,” a short film about a little girl living in the Cassamance region of Senegal. It was funded by UNICEF, nominated for an academy award, and is highly recommend if you want an idea of where I’m living and what I’m doing. I attended a huge UNICEF/Tostan event in my region and some of the kids performed skits like the one in the film. They were really moving and I hope you all get the same experience, even if it is just through the film. A friend told me you can watch it for free online. I’m not sure if this is true but I’d advise checking it out.
All in all, I’m having a great time and feel really grateful to have this opportunity. Now that we are all caught up, I’ll be going to Spain for vacation in a couple of weeks but look forward to some new entries in the near future! Again, I’m sorry for my negligence! Happy Early 4th of July!! Stay safe and have fun!
Ciao Ciao
PS- I got a new camera so look forward to some new pics also! Thanks Mom and Dad!
posted by Ashleigh | 6:25 AM
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