I feel like I’ve started off a few previous blogs with relatively the same phrase, but I must state it again at the beginning of this one: I am SO SORRY for not having been keeping up with keeping you all updated! It really has been far too long since I last posted.
Let me just begin by saying…. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I wish everyone all the best for 2011, and I do believe it shall be a grand grand year full of grand grand adventures. :)
These last few months have been quite the learning experience for me here in Senegal. I’m still situated in Dakar (which will be changing as of Monday, January 10 at which point I move to a small village just south of the small city Toubacouta called Ker Samba Gueye-pronounced “Kur som-ba gay”-…but more on that later ;)…) Before arriving here in Senegal, I was expecting to gain a fresh perspective and learn new things about culture, geography, international development, bla bla bla. But as it turns out, thus far, this learning experience has been much more on a personal level than I ever thought was possible. I've learned more about myself here than I have during my entire life: my own social tendencies, habits, perspectives, etc. Of course there is absolutely no denying that I've learned my fair share about culture, geography, and international development and will continue to do so until the second I board the plane back home...and thereafter.
I’ve learned that this experience is more about pushing my personal comfort zone (which is far more flexible than I previously thought). The experiences that have contributed to the expanding of this zone are far too many to write in just one blog or include in just one conversation. And to be completely honest, I’m kind of afraid that I won’t be able to describe it upon my return to the homeland. How do I even begin to illustrate my experience here? There are a million little things that I take in every day just by waking up and getting out of bed in the morning. (Hell, there are a million little things that I experience without even getting out of bed in the morning and they’re called cockroaches. Ew.)
I have learned that even though I stick out like a sore thumb in this society (being a white, blonde, female American whose primary language is English); I have more in common with people here than I thought I would before landing on Senegalese soil. I assumed that Senegalese people would be so much different from me on so many levels, (which is extremely true in many ways- language, values, education, etc.) but the bottom line is: we’re all just human beings. We all feel the same emotions (even though we may express them differently), we all like to laugh (even though we may laugh at different things), we can all be sarcastic (no matter what language we speak), and we are all afraid of something (mostly other people). The second I realized that we are all alike in the most basic way possible, I stopped being afraid. I stopped doubting myself. I remember when I first started learning French in Madame Lindquist’s class at good ol’ PRB high and I also remember how most of us in the class were kind of embarrassed or ashamed of even TRYING to speak with a true “French” accent. As a class, we were all semi-reluctant to repeat the alphabet with the flirtatious and beautiful French “errr” that sounds difficult to pronounce at first, but really, what were we so ashamed of? French is another language that an ENORMOUS amount of people understand. By learning a second language you can relate to SO MANY other people.
Language is like the key to a door that opens to a new world: once you understand it, you can open the door to this new cultural wonderland and start to make SO MANY new connections in addition to learning how to express yourself in a completely new way.
When I first started learning Wolof at the beginning of this adventure, I felt that same sense of apprehension when speaking. I heard what our professor was saying and I repeated it with my 9 other classmates, but at times we spoke quietly at almost inaudible levels (or maybe it was just me…) because we were afraid of screwing up. Well, excuse my French, but f*ck that! Why be so afraid of making mistakes? It’s how we learn! It wasn’t until about 2 months in, that I realized everyone here was giving me all this attention anyways for sticking out like a sore thumb, so I might as well try as hard as I can and simply chance sounding like an idiot. Native people always laugh at me in astonishment when they ask me what my name is and I respond with “Ndela.” They continue to speak in Wolof, and I continue to respond, and when I don’t know the word I want to say, I ask them, in French, how to say the word in Wolof, and then they tell me, and then I know. Sounds pretty simple huh? Well… that’s because it is. :)
Letting go of what other people think is hard, but it’s also pretty simple too. Once you can have a sense of humor about yourself, you can let go and just enjoy the situation for what it is. Things have become much easier for me since I came to that realization (and I know that it’s nothing that you all haven’t heard before, it’s just different when you actually believe in it yourself!).
I was walking down the street the other day in a semi-decent mood. The sun was shining, there weren’t too many taxis around (which means semi-silence and semi-clean air entering my respiratory system), and I was 100% healthy (yay!). I was headed to the tailor to check to see if my new dress was finished, and passed by an old woman sitting on the side of the road underneath a tree on a colorful prayer mat, by whom I always pass when I’m on my way to Lauren’s house (in Liberté 6, another section of the city of Dakar). She is handicapped and has a mouth full of gold teeth and an overwhelmingly positive energy that seems to radiate from the very center of her being. We have the exact same conversation (in Wolof) every time I pass by:
Me: Salaam Malekum (peace be with you)
Woman: Maleekum Salaam (peace be with you also)
Me: Nanga def? (how are you?)
Woman: Mangi fii rekk (I am here only.)
Me: Naka wa ker ga? (how are the people of your household?)
Woman: Nunga fa. (they are there.) ça va? (how’s it going?)
Me: ça va bien, merci! (It’s going well, thanks !) Ba bennin yoon ! (Until the next time!)
Woman: Inch'allah! (If Allah "God" wills it!)
About two seconds after this conversation, another old woman sitting on a prayer mat started laughing hysterically at my ability to speak Wolof. She asked me where I lived and what my name was and how the people of my house were…and of course I responded to all of it in Wolof. She continued to laugh hysterically, so naturally I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically with her. As I continued on my way, I started to realize how funny I must actually look…some white blonde girl who can speak *some* Wolof. To an older Senegalese woman who has probably experienced some seriously intense things in her life, I would seem hilarious.
Anyhoo, enough about language… More about moving to Ker Samba Gueye! At the end of last semester, I was kind of having an internal struggle about what I wanted to do this semester for my internship and where I wanted to live. I did know, however, what I wasn’t interested in doing…and that would be sitting in an office writing worthless reports on other reports that were written by people who were already extremely in tune with the issues regarding human rights... (*cough* last semester when working for ONDH *cough*). I want to do something active! Be involved! Talking to new people every day! About things that MATTER! (ok…I think you can pick up on my enthusiasm by this point…)
SO. I decided that I want to live in a small village and teach about children’s rights in Senegal to children here in Senegal! (For those of you who have the thought: “why would she want to put herself living without running water or electricity for 4 months?!”… the answer is simple: millions of people across the world live in these kinds of conditions every day, why WOULDN’T I want to have that kind of experience?!) I will be living with a new family in the village and I will be teaching children ages 11-13 about the Declaration of Human Rights as well as what the laws are in the Senegalese constitution regarding children and their rights. I may also be teaching an environmental class and an English class… but we’ll see… It’ll kind of depend on the size of the school and what the principal wants to include in the curriculum. All I know is that I’m crazy excited for this new adventure and I really feel passionate about it! What better way to improve human rights than to teach about them? If this new generation in this village grows up learning about their rights as people, they will not only be able to instill this knowledge in their everyday lives, but also be able to pass this knowledge on to future generations. I realize that I am only one person, and I will only be working in one village for 4 months, but then I got to thinking even more…
Maybe I’ll create my own privately funded organization for the promotion and education of human rights in schools in the “developing world.” Maybe someday I’ll be able to raise enough money to start my OWN organization that doesn’t answer to the government or any other NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)! Seeing as that’s probably a ways off in the future, I’ve decided to begin my own research project on the Reinforcement of Children’s Rights here in Senegal and the population’s perceptions of what the rights of children actually are (according to the constitution of Senegal and the Declaration of Human Rights). I will be conducting various interviews with all kinds of people of all ages, both male and female, to gain a true perspective on how Senegalese citizens actually view their own rights and the rights of their children. This will of course be very difficult (given I only have 4 more months here and traveling is complicated seeing as it takes LOTS of time due to the state of the roads, not to mention I’ll have this new internship).
Of course, I have to funnel all my ideas down and spit them out on paper into a clear, concise plan, but at the end of this experience I’ll have a hardcore 60-80 page badass research project to show for myself! (And for all y’all who think I’m crazy for putting myself through this much work, it’s not exactly because I just decided to create a research project in my spare time… it IS part of the curriculum for this academic program…) :)
I’m just feeling so content with all of my decisions right now and that I ABSOLUTELY made the right decision by deciding to be abroad here for the year instead of the semester. I feel like I have finally gotten comfortable here and can actually initiate being an ACTIVE PARTICPANT in this culture instead of standing on the sidelines and simply OBSERVING everything that’s going on here.
I continue to feel blessed in so many ways. The human race is an amazing thing and I can’t help but feel eager to partake in all possibilities and opportunities that are sitting right in front of me. We all have the opportunity to be part of something larger than ourselves, and, in my opinion, it’s our duty to be.
Go explore! Go learn! Go travel! Go create! Go DO SOMETHING.
Ok, I’ll stop sounding like some cheesy “life coach” now. I think that’s about all I can spit out for today.
I PROMISE I'll post another blog later this week about some of the major Senegalese events experienced in the last month. :)
Until then,
Peace,
Ndela
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