Day 8: A Visit to Gorée Island and Dakar- Forgive but Never Forget

Our final morning in Warang began with the opportunity of one final breakfast, thank you and farewell to the hospitable staff of Le Kenkeni and our host, Sophie. We packed our bags, loaded them on top of our bus and traveled toward the capital.

After reaching the ferry port in Dakar, we briskly boarded the ferry and were swept away by the waves of the Atlantic toward Gorée Island. The colors of the island quickly struck our senses as we had become used to the natural, earthy tones of the village. The island, originally settled by the Portuguese was the largest slave-trading center on the African coast from the 15th-19th centuries. Now, a UNESCO heritage site, many of the historic buildings and homes are maintained in their original color and style.

After a lovely fish lunch enjoyed sitting just at the water's edge, we began our tour of the island with Iba and a local island tour guide.

One of the recurring themes throughout the tour included the sentiment that though the African people can forgive, they will never forget the atrocious acts of inhumanity committed on this island. During the slave trade over 20 million Africans were taken to Gorée island to be traded, sold into slavery, held and then shipped to the Americas. Our tour included stops at The House of Slaves, a now memorial to those who were victims of the Atlantic Slave trade; The Mariama Ba boarding school for girls, it's namesake being the famous Senegalese writer who advocated for women's rights; and finally a walk through the narrow streets still filled with the contrasting structures of slaves' quarters and slave owners' homes.

We then returned to Dakar and made a quick stop at the African Renaissance Monument, built just in 2010 making it the tallest statue in Africa. The intention of the statue is meant symbolize the freedom of the African people.

We boarded the bus one final time for the airport, and then gave our final farewell to the beautiful country of Sénégal.

Au revoir, Mangi dem, goodbye! 

Day 7: "Au revoir, les amis"

"The Pink Lake" is actually not always pink warned our guide Iba on this beautiful morning as we were heading to visit the greatest attraction of Senegal. For the lake to look really pink the sun must be shining and the wind blowing. When we arrived there, the lake had some hues of pink. We first visited the salt collectors. The salt settles at the bottom of the lake and people collect it in baskets often standing in the water. As there is 350gr of salt per liter there were huge piles of salt on the shore. From there we headed to a beach and experienced floating on the salt water, quite unique and really fun.

After lunch at the Kenkeni we went to the school for a final goodbye. The recently established choir had their public debut when the chorists performed three songs for us. With the last song, they invited each of us to come and join in the dance. As we were hearing "Au revoir les amis" we could not help wiping some tears. With groups of kids surrounding us, it was really difficult to leave "Les Cajoutiers" but  we all said "ce n'est qu'un au revoir..." it is only a goodbye.

The evening was devoted to a full immersion in Senegalese culture. Professional drummers gave the rhythm for the dance class lead by Mamadou, a professional percussionist, and choreographer himself. By the end of the class, we were able to perform a small choreography to the beat of the djembes. While resting from the amazing workout, we enjoyed a performance by a local dance group. No doubt, the fire eater was impressive but the dancers' flexibility and show were also exceptional. All joined in a final dance before our last dinner at Le Kenkeni.  This was a very busy day, filled with memories and happy moments.

Day Six- Un Jour Inoubliable

We devoted our fifth day fully to the children of Senegal. We began with another visit to "Les Cajoutiers", and organized various hands-on activities for the children there, which were thoughtfully prepared beforehand. Going from class to class, we made sure to interact with all the students of the school and left no child unattended.

We divided ourselves into four groups, where one group worked with the deaf children, another group with the upper elementary students, the third with the lower elementary students, and the fourth with the kindergarten students. With the deaf children, Laura, Jenny, and Alba prepared loom bands to make colorful bracelets. They were surprised to find that the children were not only familiar with making the bracelets, but were actually much more skillful than our students. Nevertheless, it was a time spent well, and both groups of students learned from one another.

The second group of students, which consisted of Lili, Joe, and Dani, had a busy time decorating the bare walls of the kindergarten area, putting up a world peace poster made by the NHS on the upper elementary levels, and finally, providing the children with geometric coloring templates. The children were exuberant to see all these colorful supplements brought to them, and the group with the coloring cards was extremely proud of their final creations, eager to have a picture taken with them.

The third group, Sisi and Ms.Dermish, spent their time with the lower elementary students, gluing beads on drawing papers and folding origami. The first class, which played with the beads, went outside one group at a time to complete their activity. The students were polite and shared the supplies equally amongst themselves. At the end, they created a large collaborative piece of artwork depicting a tree, flowers, and butterflies. In the second class, Sisi, Jenny, Alba, and Madame Fabiny spontaneously came up with a boat folding activity, which turned out to be both a challenge but also a satisfaction once the boats were created.

The final group, Mariana and Ruby, worked with the kindergarten students to make pipe cleaner figures and later played a memory game, which was very engaging. It was a special interaction, since the children did not speak any French, and thus there was little verbal interaction between the students and us; it was purely based on body language and smiles.

Additionally, we also met our sponsored children again and gave them useful little presents, such as a notebook and colored pencils. They were happy to see us again and enjoyed their gifts with warm smiles.

In the afternoon, we went by horse cart to the nearby village of Gandiol, where they watched a wonderful dance performance by the locals. Despite having meager infrastructure (including no electricity) there, the villagers were cheerful and welcomed us very warmly. 

Day Five- The Mural, Connecting People

Tuesday October 18, 2016

Today, we spent the morning at the Les Cajoutiers school again where each group was involved in different activities.

The painting group, which included Dani, Mariana, Jenny, and I, finally finished the mural painting. We collaboratively worked together to finalize the painting in two days. In addition, one class of deaf children was also involved with the painting process as children hand painted parts of the flowers in the painting. Jenny, who took the leadership role in this activity, guided the members and organized the activity effectively so that we could finish the mural within two days. The challenge of the this activity was that we had to work outside the whole time in the overwhelming heat.

Ruby was involved in creating a story with children. Although she said that it was a little difficult to be in a class by herself and lead the creative activity, the children’s love and motivation to work made her job successful. The stories they created included essential aspects of a story, such as setting, characters, etc.

Alba was given the opportunity to work with deaf children where she made use of her sign language skills. Also, she constantly helped the painting group to precipitate the painting process and make us finish more quickly.

Sisi, Laura, and Lili also led classes with various activities. They introduced students of AISB grade 5 French class through letters and the children were asked to write back. The group also asked the children what peace means and got to know their opinions. Communicating effectively in French was a challenge that the group faced and overcame.

In the afternoon, we came back to Le Kenkeni and had the entire afternoon for ourselves as the plan of visiting a village in the bush was postponed to tomorrow. Many people had the chance to do their homework and work on school assignments. I, personally, finished my TOK essay. At around 6’o clock, we all came together and played card games of UNO and Spoon. And, most importantly, Madame Fabiny fixed the water problem again!

Day Four: L’Union fait la Force

The first day in “Les Cajoutiers” was spent connecting with people. We started our day with a hearty breakfast. Then we boarded the traditional Senegalese horse carts to school. It was a bumpy ride…When we arrived we met with Sophie and planned our morning activities. We split into several groups doing many different activities. Some students read the letters from AISB 6/7 grade French penpals and then helped with answering them. Another student read *Yaya and His Star* and challenged the students to answer critical questions about the story. Another student used her sign language skills to work with hearing impaired students. The last group of students started to paint a picture on one of the walls, which will symbolize the connection between AISB and “Les Cajoutiers”. After spending our morning working at school we went to the nearby beach to refresh and relax. Later on we had a traditional Senegalese fish dish served for us at our lovely Hotel Le Kenkeni. After lunch we had our usual down time where we could get some work done and also relax. Late afternoon we took a short bus ride to a local fishermen village called Point Sarene where we experienced how the local fishermen work and sell their product. Moreover we also saw some beautiful “pirogues” which are used for fishing. We were also lucky enough to take a picture sitting in one of the pirogues. After visiting the village we headed back to Le Kenkeni for our dinner. Before dinner we again had some free time during which we could relax or get some work done. For dinner we were served a lovely and tasty chicken dish and beautiful juicy local mangoes. After dinner we had our short briefing and planning for tomorrow.

Dani

Day Three: Les Chants du Sénégal

Our third full day in Senegal truly encapsulated the essence of African culture and the beauty it offers us. Loaded up on energy with the delicious breakfast the Le Kenkeni personnel prepared for us, we began the day by visiting the fishermen harbor in Mbour. As we walked on the sand covered with a surprising amount of accumulated trash, we couldn't help but notice the noise coming from inside the fish market where all of the negotiations and bargaining were being made. However, the best moment was when we walked to the shore, as we saw a huge quantity of colorful and vibrant pirogues on the sea. We then passed through the markets to get to the largest Catholic church in the region where mass was just beginning.

As Senegal is mostly a Muslim country, this visit was very interesting as it was quite unexpected for most of us. Personally, the ceremony was quite familiar to me; all of the ones that attended the mass were dressed in their best clothes -- and in Senegal, the men and women tend to be fully dressed in colorful and traditional boubous. As the priest walked in and proceeded with the service, the choir started singing a very beautiful song, which to me sounded quite similar to salsa.

As it was a very hot day, we cooled off at the beach and the pool and we were all set to a surprise when we walked back to Le Kenkeni. When we saw three different rugs and multiple spoons on the floor, we knew this lunch would be different. The personnel prepared a typical Senegalese dish called "thieboudienne", which personally was my favorite on this trip. It was a dish (that I think is very similar to the Spanish paella) that consisted of delicious rice and seafood, and was served in a huge silver plate which we all shared. The African music also set the mood and made us enjoy our meal even more.

However, I think the best activity so far was the visit to the Bandia Reserve in Warang. The safari was absolutely fascinating and breathtaking. We saw and were able to take amazing pictures of zebras, antelopes, giraffes, rhinos, monkeys and much more. This day was truly the best in my opinion, and we had endless things to talk about over dinner!

Ruby

Day Two: Foot avec les garçons

2016 October, 15 Today, we had the opportunity to visit the weekly traditional market in Sandiara, where we had the chance to meet with local sellers and buyers, and witness the real experience of bargaining. First we explored the animal market and got to see how farmers gather the animals, and sell their cattle, sheep, goat, and horses. With people coming from Mali, Mauritania and many different ethnicities from the neighboring villages the market was truly multi-cultural. Next, we walked around the food market, which was colorful and purchased some delicious fresh coconuts. Also, we bought some cultural Senegalese fabrics. Overall the market was a very interesting experience because we got to get a taste of the real routines of people. It was also interesting to see how different our way of life is from here and how people get their resources. After the market, we gathered our swimsuits and walked down to the beach to cool down. It was a beautiful sunny day, 33 degrees and the ocean was the perfect temperature for a great swim. For lunch, we enjoyed fresh grilled fish with rice and curry, which is a traditional Senegalese dish. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at Le Kenkeni before going for a guided walk around the village. There we got to see a very special cemetery where Muslims and Christians are buried together. This was a unique moment as it shows how no matter where you come from or what you believe everyone is treated equally. We also met the Chief of the village, Warang and we got to ask him a few questions about his life. Furthermore we went to a hospital founded by Germans who wanted to help the Senegalese community. Then, Lili and Laura dared to join the soccer game that was happening in the village square while the entire street was watching. Even though it was a short game it really made us feel like we are part of the community and we broke the stereotype of girls not playing football in Senegal. Also this experience really made us feel welcomed and we were amazed to see how excited the guys were to play soccer with us two girls. To end our walk, we stopped at the new boarding house for the deaf kids who are attending “Les Cajoutiers”, and gave out our presents. The kids were really happy and thankful for this small but meaningful gift. We also got to show off our sign language skills that we learned the night before. Finally we headed back to the hotel where a wonderful dinner awaited us and we discussed the great memories we made today.

Day One: Soyez les Bienvenus

We started off our first full day in Senegal with a wonderful breakfast prepared by Le Kenkeni staff, it was very refreshing especially after our long day of travels the day before. After finishing our lovely breakfast and taking our malaria pills, which is very important we do, we had Sophie, the creator of Les Cajoutiers, come and tell us about herself and the school. She told us how and why she started Les Cajoutiers. She told us about the school and the children and answered any questions we had. After that came what we were all waiting for, our first visit to the school. We gathered our belongings and took a cart pulled by a horse to the school. It was definitely a new experience for everyone, not many people get to say that they've ridden somewhere on a cart pulled by a horse in Africa.

When we got to the school, we were welcomed by all the adorable kids waiting for us singing and clapping. It was an overwhelming feeling as we sat down and watched all the kids chant and sing. After Sophie introduced us to the children and the principal gave his speech, the children began getting up and dancing. They looked so cute and seemed beyond happy. It's quite an incredible feeling seeing all the kids so happy and enjoying life. After the initial gathering, all the kids dispersed and went to their classes. This is when we were introduced to Alpha, who is the head of administration at the school, who would show us around to all the classrooms. We started with the deaf children where we learned how to say bonjour and merci in sign language, I also, as I know some sign, taught everyone how to sign their names. After that, we visited the small children aged 3 to 6. They all greeted us with smiles, and one of the classes even sang for us. We then went on to visiting the older kids but because it was 12 o'clock, they started eating lunch which was very interesting to see how the kids have lunch at school. They all seemed very content with their meals and were clearly happy. Sadly, it was time to go, so we got on the carts and headed back to Le Kenkeni.

After getting back from the school, we all changed into our bathing suits and headed straight to the beach. The ocean was surprisingly warm and we were all just enjoying ourselves and splashing around. We also took a lovely swim in the pool at the hotel, which was nice and refreshing. We returned to Le Kenkeni, where we enjoyed a lovely lunch with some good conversation. We then had one of the mothers of the children from school come and show us some of the Senegalese clothing, jewelry, and baskets that she sells, for us to take back home for ourselves and to sell at winter wonderland to raise money for the school. Buying these items from a parent of a child in the school is more beneficial for helping out the whole school community than if we bought it from a random person at the market. Once we decided on everything, we had some downtime for us to chill and do any homework that we had. We are excited for a brand new day tomorrow where we will be visiting a market and visiting the village of Warang.


Alba Ramos