By the Instructors
Team Senegal has had a busy week here in our homestay in Diakhanor, on Senegal’s beautiful Petit Cote south of Dakar. Earlier this week we celebrated Maddox’s 20th birthday, with a boat trip to the beautiful nearby island of Mar Lodj and a cake that looked much better than it tasted!
We also had the opportunity to hear from two engaging guest speakers this week. One shared the history of Diakhanor, including the details about the village’s shift from its previous location near the ocean to its current location after a massive flood in 1989. We appreciate the tenacity of this place and its people!
The second speaker shared his personal story about his two attempts to migrate to Europe on the route via the sea. His story was a powerful recounting of his very dangerous transits, and offered insight into Senegalese family structures and the lengths that people will go to support their families and improve their quality of life.
Yesterday the students and homestay families gathered in the evening for a party, complete with drumming and lots of dancing, including our students moving into the middle of the circle to share their dance moves with their host family members. We have loved seeing the students forge sweet relationships with their family members across language barriers and culture. While they’ve each had their own experience, we have loved hearing their stories of making atayya together, sharing meals, or seeing them hand-in-hand with a host sibling walking down the sandy streets of Diakhanor.
Today is our final full day here. This morning the group went to the mangrove forest behind the village to plant more mangroves. Though we nearly lost a few shoes to the sinking sand as the tide started rising, we had a great time getting our hands dirty and making our own tiny effort to sustain the community of Diakhanor for generations to come. This evening we’ll head to a local hyena preserve on horse carts to see if we can spot any hyenas when they come out around dusk.
Tomorrow we’ll be saying farewell to Diakhanor in the morning and piling into our minibus to head north to Thies, where we’ll stay two nights to run errands and make any necessary purchases before we travel to Senegal’s far southeast. On Monday we’ll head to Kedougou, where we’ll get to experience another place with a new language, culture, and environment. We’ll be sharing more student reflections and and travel updates here, so stay tuned!
