(This weblog is in chronological order)
Flying to Dakar
As I woke up I stared out the window of the plane for any landmarks I’d recognize. Being an insanely curious person I desperately wanted to know where in the world I was. I knew I was somewhere between Paris – where the plane took off – and Dakar – my destination. Within a few minutes my years of staring at maps paid off. I got giddy for my first time as I realized I was entering African air. I watched as the earth slowly passed under me; I recognized the coastline of the southern Spain. I recognized the location where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. And there, on the other side I saw African soil for my first time.
First Week
My first week in Yoff was a whirlwind. We began learning Appreciative Inquiry, and continued to define the term EcoVillage. But the reality was that until we entered the field, it would all be very theoretical.
Travel Plans
Our large group of somewhere near forty U.S. and Senegalese students split into two sections; students that would visit villages in northern Senegal, and ones that would travel to southern villages. I was in the southern group.
With a national transportation strike heading our way, the northern group took off the night before their scheduled departure.
The southern group had the same idea…but as I have learned in Senegal, plans often change.
Inchallah.
Travel Plans Revisited
So, two days later…we finally left.
En Route
A real journey: Friendships were able to form as we began to build experiences together; and personalities began to open up. Our many hours en route established our strength and cohesion as a micro-community.
Crossing the river to L’île de la Carabane brought out joy and excitement; invoking an inspirational song thanking God by a Congolese participant in the program, Jean Paul.
We were all stunned by the beauty and amazed at the privilege to enter this village. And of course, we were extremely thankful that our boat – which was balanced by evenly distributing the passengers – got us across the vast river.
As all twenty-five of us embarked on this small island, it became apparent that our arrival was not fully expected. In fact, the island has no electricity or telephone lines, and the cell phone network operates only from one tiny patch of land and only sometimes. For this reason, efforts of the Senegal Ecovillage Network to pre-plan the visit had been relatively unsuccessful. I feared we would have to work far harder than I think any of us had thought to really have the village open up to us strangers – half of which are toubabs-foreigners. Our first session of Appreciative Inquiry would commence in the morning.
First Meeting
As we regrouped in the morning the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter more aggressively. I began to really question my role in a Senegalese village, and most importantly, how the villagers would interpret this role.
Continued in
Appreciative Inquiry
After the previous day of trail, and thank God not too much error, us students sat around and witnessed the magic of Appreciative Inquiry. We watched as villagers came out of the woodwork to see their successes on paper for everyone to read. We backed off and made ourselves scarce, as the village became empowered by itself.
We parted on this positive note.
Having witnessed this brought our spirits even further up. It all started to make sense, to fall into place. We started to see our power in providing an opportunity for the villages to recognize their own strengths. Entering Oussouye – the next village – with this feeling was magnificent.
I was beginning to see different ways I could connect on a personal level with villagers; ways to make them feel more comfortable with me, to offer opportunities for them to see that my purpose has nothing to do with trying to change who they are, their identity; that I respect their culture and community. I remembered the power of children. Before I even sat down in Oussouye I befriended the first child I saw. Shortly after I was surrounded by more and more children; and not to long after I made my first connection with one of the children’s mother’s.
Later we were met with a fabulous meal, followed by a colorful night of drumming, singing and dancing.
Oussouye
We have left the island of Carabane in Southern Senegal and the time has come to make our way to our second destination, Oussouye. It is now late afternoon and our bus (and believe me, I use that term loosely) will be the last to head inland for the day, so we will be sharing transport with many other locals. Through all travels in Senegal, I have found that it is necessary to drift into a meditative state of sorts where I can become unconcerned with the disregard for my personal space and the thumping of my internal organs against one another.
The trip has left us all, Senegalese and Americans alike, a little unsettled but luckily, a warm showing of Teranga (a Wolof term for Senegalese hospitality) awaited us in Oussouye. Gathered in backyard of the ecovillage’s president, there is a round of introductions between our Living Routes team and members of the village. This is followed by a performance from a local drum group, and a rousing medley of songs from all of our respective corners of the earth. It must be said that the Senegalese put us to shame with their dance moves.
Oussouye
On our day of introducing Appreciative Inquiry in Oussouye, my group was able to meet with one man who has had a great impact on the village, and a group of women that have a small business making jam. Once again we were able to leave a village that was empowered by itself
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