2017-09-07
Dallen ak jamm!! AKA, welcome to Senegal!! This phrase was printed on a huge banner in our main classroom at the Tostan Training Center where I’m currently staying during my first week in Thiès, Senegal. That phrase is written in Wolof, the second national language, behind french, in Senegal meaning it’s spoken by nearly 50...
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1. Go pee. 2. While peeing, think about how you won’t be using toilet paper for the next eight months. 3. Try to calm the rising panic in your stomach as you imagine your life without toilet paper. 4. Go for a walk around the terminal. 5. Charge your phone. 6. Second-guess every decision you have...
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Have you ever held hands with a stranger. Have you danced on pink sand and shouted into a crowd of red and white and brown. Have you felt the beat of a hundred drums vibrate through your bones. Been consumed in culture. Have you walked across a street full of people and cars and bikes...
Read More2017-09-05
I am learning to balance connection and disconnection. In the last week here at Stanford, I have heard hundreds of names and become familiar with dozens of faces. I have been met with people who are passionate, enthusiastic and inspired by the same things that I am. Simultaneous to all of this new connection, I’ve...
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Well friends, it's been a hectic few days. Our connecting flight to Houston was cancelled due to the flooding and complications caused by the hurricane, and there isn't another until Wednesday, so we'll be departing then. Luckily the staff was able to find us a place to stay until then. We're currently residing at the...
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9-4-17 Theis, Senegal. Let’s go back…… I arrived at Stanford University for the orientation last Sunday. Between now and then a lot has happened. The orientation week (or Global Launch) was very busy, there are about 140 “fellows” in total, but only 23 of us are in the Senegal Cohort (we are the elite cohort...
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