Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
Singing to the Heavens
Elias Estabrook
2012-05-02
Rhythms run through the blood of the Senegalese. As much they depend on their daily dose of thiebudiene, rice and fish, or atayaa, sweet tea, seldom can you find them without music. Radios broadcasting ensembles of drums, some full and steady, others quick and pattering — the nation’s most popular genre, mbalakh — accompany my...
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How We Care for Each Other
Elias Estabrook
2012-05-02
In mid-October, the second week in my village, I caught the flu. Fatigued and dehydrated, I arrived at the local clinic, accompanied by my host father. After laying down, I proceeded to doze off. Still, I remember precisely how every few minutes, the blurriness cleared to reveal the distinct faces of members of the village...
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Des Choses Gratuites
Megan White
2012-05-02
On my first day in Senegal, I somehow lost 40,000 francs CFA. Welcome to Africa, kid. Since then, I’ve received plenty. Free love! And also, completely for free: -A leather/snakeskin pouch from a guy in the touristy artisanal market who tried to rip me off, but then softened when I told him I had no...
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Tur
Paulina Personius
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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The Uniform is All
Lucy Blumberg
2012-04-02
Senegal has taught me many things. The most important I would say is “just go with it.” “It” may be reading children’s books in Wolof to a group of toddlers, putting on beautiful clothes and pounds of make up only to have to take it off minutes later, or spontaneously becoming a member of the...
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Places and Faces (Video)
Russell Bollag-Miller
2012-03-29
Here is a video I made of the places and faces I see every day in Senegal. Enjoy!
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Bare feet and labels
Kaya Hartley
2012-03-28
During my stay in Senegal I have been asked countless times who I am. To my Dakar host family, I am Haby Ndiaye. To the stranger on the street, I am toubab. The vendors call out ‘my sister!’ or ‘my friend!’ To my Potou host family I am Fatou Seye, to my host mother- my...
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A Saturday Night in the Sahel
Charlotte Benishek
2012-03-28
To be clear, the following occurred and was partially written in early February, but for various reasons I only finished the post recently: Megan, Kaya and I set out from my backyard, among the trash and goat poop, just as the dry heat of the Sahel Desert began to diminish, making the five mile walk...
Read MoreStairs to Nowhere
Emily Hanna
2012-03-23
They’re a common sight along the road to my village, the stairs to nowhere. They dot the shoulder, sturdy cement constructions that lead only to thin air. Once upon a time, someone thought it would be a good idea to build pedestrian overpasses at the locations these stairs now occupy – but the money ran...
Read More Community
Lukas Brenard
2012-03-17
While being in country my view of the importance of community has been greatly strengthened. In the daily connections with members of my village the inherent connections between strong community and happiness become clear to me. We live practically on top of each other in comparison to life in America and this brings out the...
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And In the End, the Love You Take is Equal to the Love You Make.
Natalie Davidson
2012-03-14
My (American) mom is rather sentimental. One might even say she is the definition of sentimentality. Just two days before my departure my parents presented me with a going away gift – a beautiful book titled “Love Letters to Senegal.” My mom had compiled 33 letters from my loved ones – family members, “honorary” family...
Read MoreBucket Hands
Kaya Hartley
2012-03-14
If you’re not familiar with the game ‘would you rather’ here’s an explanation. A group of people basically go back and forth asking each other which scenario the other would prefer to be in. ‘ Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?’ ‘ Would you rather eat the same thing or something...
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