Our third excursion was a day long trip in the open air truck out into the more rural areas south along the coast of Senegal. We were usually on long dirt roads that stretched out over dry riverbeds or marshes, and sometimes we had to steer around herds of goats and cows.
The purpose of the day was twofold. We were going to see some towns that housed tribes of people who were once nomads, and were now living in floodplains. They moved out once per year, during the rainy season. This trip included a visit to a school, and traveling through several remote villages. We saw some community gardens, overseen by the chief of the community and worked by the local men. The gardens are built near huge ant hills, that indicate the ants have dug an enormous tunnel into the water table below. The gardeners then open the tunnel and have easier access to water for the garden.
Our first stop was at the local store, where we pooled our money and bought about $60 worth of soap, chalk and pencils, grain, seeds, and some other daily household items. We gave these out in small packages as we drove through the tiny villages. We also bought items from the villagers. I bought some baskets and Pat bought a carved item. The villages were primitive but as always, the people were really nice, most spoke at least some english, and their clothing was either beautifully vibrant african batik colors, or were terribly worn t-shirts and shorts or pants.
The second purpose was to see the marsh lands and brackish waters where there were mangrove forests, and lots of birds. We went out on a pirogue to see where the river met the ocean.
We met a lot of people along the way that gave us their address and asked us to send them our cast off items. One young girl, Marie Louise (last photo in collage, she is on the left) in particular, spoke magnificent english, and looked to be very talented and bright. She asked that we write to her, and we are going to put together some photos and a package for her. Let me know if you want her address. She speaks both english and french, as do most of the africans we met.
We are also making up a packet for the school, and you might want to do the same. We are going to send a bunch of copies of the photos from the school that we took that day, but we are also going to send school supplies.
Mr. Pierre Faye
Directeur de l'Ecole de MBISSELL/FATICK
Senegal AFRICA
The ages in one classroom can range from 4-5 to 9-10, and we saw older children playing outside the classrooms, too, so they were probably still in school.
Pat adored the kids. He was so funny sitting in their little desk and showing them how to spell his name, while they showed him how to spell theirs. I sat with an older girl (probably 10) who was very shy, but had a great smile. The kids sang a couple of songs for us and about 10 little boys did a great little kid dance. Then our tour group sang a Christmas song (in french) to the class. I was a little slow to think about singing for them (Rudolf or Jingle Bells) in english, so I didn't offer. I think my blondish hair and blue eyes were enough of a novelty for them!
