Fellow Stories

Dans la Salle Informatique….

Gaya Morris

2009-11-23

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon here in Sebikotane and the inside of the ‘salle informatique’ (computer lab) at l’école Sebiroute is like an oven. There is a slight breeze through the door that opens into the large sandy space around which the separate classroom buildings are situated. I’m glad for this chance to write...

A Silent Death

Hilary Brown

2009-11-23

This summer while house sitting for a good friend the fish died. Before the family returned my French exchange student and I spent a good fifteen minutes at the fist store determined to find a perfect replica so the children would not know the fish had died. We ended up not being very successful, however...

and so it begins!

Victoria Tran-Trinh

2009-11-23

My apprenticeship is with the PDEF – an organization (funded by the international NGO ChildFund) that runs many things in the community, including a preschool which I am supposed to “help,” or really just study. After a week of sitting in the secretary’s office with my friendly mentor – she is the secretary – typing...

La journée mondiale du diabète

Gaya Morris

2009-11-17

My host family’s house here in Sebikotane is made up of three separate buildings enclosing an open concrete-floored space shaded by a single fruit tree (never seen this particular fruit before) and hanging laundry; it is usually empty except for me, my notebook, my nalgene, lots of little kids and a few buckets full of...

Inshallah

Hilary Brown

2009-11-17

“We watch you on TV.” This was the first thing my eight year old host sister said to me. At first I thought I had not understood her broken French. Then I discovered I was the first white person she had met. Next, the mother pointed to the fan in the room I sleep in...

Coming to Terms

Ananda Day

2009-11-17

By all means today should not have been an encouraging day. I got to work and did an hour and fifty minutes worth of raking turtle feces, feed, and pathways. I then walked home and commenced to do three hours worth of hand washing laundry. It was incredibly hot and it didn’t help that every...

Cooking Fish and Watching Football in Senegal

Ananda Day

2009-11-16

Unemployment

Alec Yeh

2009-11-12

Imagine being the Minister of Health in a country like the United States. Your jobs pretty important right? You spent a long time acquiring the degrees and credentials to be the Minister of Health. Now imagine being paid a salary of 26,000 dollars a year. If a minister’s salary is that much, imagine what the...

Kids Will Be Kids

Alec Yeh

2009-11-12

Kids will seriously put anything in their mouths. Anything. If it looks like it’ll fit, they’ll try it. And if doesn’t look like it’ll fit, they sure as hell going to make it fit. I woke up one morning, tied up my mosquito net, brushed my teeth and got dressed. I go to put on...

My House

Alec Yeh

2009-11-12

My house is much smaller than my house in Dakar, but I like it much more. It’s quite small, but more conducive for socializing. There are three buildings. The largest is the one with all the rooms. There are three bedrooms, including mine, and a living room. There is another small building that simply a...

Yankhoba, The Mentor

Alec Yeh

2009-11-12

Yankhoba is quite the guy. He took me to his house to meet his family. He introduced most of the men as his brothers and most of the women as his sisters. I thought he had 20 siblings. He later told me most of them weren’t actually his brothers or sisters. He just considers them...

Sangalkam!

Alec Yeh

2009-11-12

Pulling up into Sangalkam, I got extremely nervous. The thought that loomed in the back of my mind was “What if you’re stuck with a family you don’t like for six months?” I was just getting closer to my Dakar family, after buying them a cake as a “thank you.” Cakes really make everything better....