2012-04-02
I hear the sharp sound of the drum starting to lay down the beat of the song at the weekly dance called a “tur” that is held in my town for girls my age. Ran-tan-tan, ran-tan, ran-tan. Soon more drums join in and the beat is almost lost to my untrained ear in the cacophony...
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2011-11-02
For the past two months that I have been in Senegal I have been trying to learn and see as much as I can: from studying Wolof and French every day, to cramming in visits to all the markets and beaches of Dakar. As many of my friends and family at home can attest to,...
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2011-11-02
During my week spent in my village I was asked too many times to count, “Are you married?” And when I responded “deedeet”, or no in Wolof, that first question was immediately followed up with “Why not?” I find that I am still working on an adequate response. At first I responded with “Je suis tres...
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2011-10-03
In the US talk of Islam and Muslims in general often comes alongside talk of war and violence. At home the news talks about Muslims as terrorists and makes it seem as if the majority of them are extreme jihadists. Here in Senegal I have discovered a new, very peaceful version of Islam that vastly...
Read More2011-07-05
I believe I first became interested in international development in the third grade when I accompanied my mother on a trip to volunteer in a school in Nicaragua. Although I did not yet understand or have the words for the concept of international development at that young age, I realized that I had a passion...
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