Hi! I know I promised pics but I just realized how late it is and I'm getting picked up at 6am tomorrow morning. I am traveling into central Senegal with a team from ANCS (Alliance Nationale Contre le SIDA). We are going to help support field teams in 6 different towns/villages. I will be back in exactly a week with lots of stories and pictures. I will put up all pics as soon as I return!
hugs,
c
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
a weekend away...
I spent my first weekend in senegal in a little village about 2 hours away from dakar...the village happened to be right on the beach. It was unbelievably beautiful. After an intense week of jet lag, climate adjustment and work it felt like paradise (and yes, mama, I wore spf 70 the whole time).
One of the women I was with is a consultant for UNAIDS and had written up a small hospital in the village in her book on best practices for the organization. She took me to visit this small hospital that treats HIV+/AIDS patients. Compared to some of the hospitals I saw in India I was so moved to see such a high level of rural healthcare. I also visited a branch of a large NGO in Senegal called "Enda-Santé". I had read a lot about the NGO and seeing it's teaching center in Mbour was very exciting. I was incredibly impressed with both the organizations.
One of the coworkers I was with had a friend in the village who was getting married. We were invited to tag along to the wedding. Of course, as luck would have it, my camera battery died when we got there - but it was an absolutely beautiful event. Although trying to learn Senegalese dance moves was pretty rough.
It was an amazing weekend - I've posted photos that describe it better than I ever could!
hugs to all,
c
One of the women I was with is a consultant for UNAIDS and had written up a small hospital in the village in her book on best practices for the organization. She took me to visit this small hospital that treats HIV+/AIDS patients. Compared to some of the hospitals I saw in India I was so moved to see such a high level of rural healthcare. I also visited a branch of a large NGO in Senegal called "Enda-Santé". I had read a lot about the NGO and seeing it's teaching center in Mbour was very exciting. I was incredibly impressed with both the organizations.
One of the coworkers I was with had a friend in the village who was getting married. We were invited to tag along to the wedding. Of course, as luck would have it, my camera battery died when we got there - but it was an absolutely beautiful event. Although trying to learn Senegalese dance moves was pretty rough.
It was an amazing weekend - I've posted photos that describe it better than I ever could!
hugs to all,
c
more of mbour
girls I made friends with at the beach
Caroline - a woman from the village. She is a very very good friend of one of the women I came to Mbour with
the beach, and fishing...
An NGO I visited in Mbour - it is actually a branch of a big NGO in Senegal called Enda Santé - the NGO does incredible work on an impressive breadth of issues.
the beach...
On a walk down the beach we bumped into a bunch of guys from the village pulling in fishing nets - they invited me to help...It was a lot harder than it looked!
Weekend in Mbour ...
fishing boat in Mbour...I think we can rest assured we have a globally popular president when his name shows up on fishing boats in remote villages in Senegal...
A small hospital in Mbour that treats HIV+ and AIDS patients
Thursday, June 11, 2009
a few pictures from the neighborhood...
the school for little kids on my block
the mosque in my neighborhood
okay sooo this is not a great pic - but the traditional dress amazing. The woman in orange (and gold but you can't really see it in the pic) is wearing one of the fancy traditional dresses. They are really incredible. I will get a better pic soon!
guard house at the Iraqi embassy...did not realize until today that it was just two houses down from mine...Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The president's son's compound -- view from my window...
This is the NGO where the people living with AIDS make gorgeous artwork and sell it
One of the masterpieces from the NGO - the computers stacked below are broken and donated - the people at the NGO take them apart to recycle many of the computer parts as parts of their sculptures and other artwork
A mural at the NGO (thinking of you andrea....)
Je suis déjà tombé amoureux de Dakar
Hello!! Apologies for not writing sooner...especially to my mother.
I arrived in Dakar and the trip was incredibly incredibly smooth. I will post a few limited pics that I have right now. I will take more tomorrow and post them asap.
Dakar is a fascinating city. There are incredibly huge mosques and people in the streets at prayer time on straw mats worshipping. Everyone speaks very French very very fast. There are boulangeries selling baguettes next to mango carts. It is insanely hot for most of the day but then in the evening there is a wonderful wind that comes off the ocean that makes me feel like I am living at the beach. In fact..the ocean is only 10 minutes away by taxi - and there are miles and miles of gorgeous coastline. There is, of course, pollution and poverty - but it is not overwhelming (at least after living in Delhi for a couple months...). It has been hard to adjust to the insane wealth disparities. It's something I am still trying to wrap my mind around (there is a very nice Porsche in the President's son's garage..and a couple families living in makeshift tents nearby)
The kindness and welcome I receive here is by far the most incredible thing yet. Both ex-pats and Senegalese alike have been more welcoming and kind than I could have every expected. I have not for a moment felt alone, in danger, or even seriously nervous. I've realized that the quickest way to make friends is to mention anything to do with 'Obama'. I spent 10 minutes today trying to convince the guy I was buying fruit from that I had taken a picture with the president before he was elected. I don’t think he was convinced, but he gave me a much cheaper mango price than I had gotten before.
I am interning for the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for West and Central Africa. It has already been an amazing experience. The people at the office are incredibly kind, and extremely patient with my French. I am living with two UNAIDS staff and they are both very kind. Our little house is great and it is only a ten-minute walk from the office. I am living across from the President's son, which is interesting. Word on the street is that he spends most of his time in Paris with his family. The three armed guards outside his compound are very nice - they too are very patient with my French.
Evyline, one of the people I am living with, has been unbelievably kind in helping me navigate the basics of surviving here. She has lived in Africa for many many years and I am always amazed by her stories. She took me to see a fantastic NGO near the Centreville where people living with AIDS create beautiful art mostly out of recycled materials. Their profits help sustain the compound where they live. I think it was there that I was most touched by how kind and welcoming people are here. It is really stunning.
Anyway, I will post more pictures asap (hopefully tomorrow). These last few days have flown by. More soon!!
smiles,
c
I arrived in Dakar and the trip was incredibly incredibly smooth. I will post a few limited pics that I have right now. I will take more tomorrow and post them asap.
Dakar is a fascinating city. There are incredibly huge mosques and people in the streets at prayer time on straw mats worshipping. Everyone speaks very French very very fast. There are boulangeries selling baguettes next to mango carts. It is insanely hot for most of the day but then in the evening there is a wonderful wind that comes off the ocean that makes me feel like I am living at the beach. In fact..the ocean is only 10 minutes away by taxi - and there are miles and miles of gorgeous coastline. There is, of course, pollution and poverty - but it is not overwhelming (at least after living in Delhi for a couple months...). It has been hard to adjust to the insane wealth disparities. It's something I am still trying to wrap my mind around (there is a very nice Porsche in the President's son's garage..and a couple families living in makeshift tents nearby)
The kindness and welcome I receive here is by far the most incredible thing yet. Both ex-pats and Senegalese alike have been more welcoming and kind than I could have every expected. I have not for a moment felt alone, in danger, or even seriously nervous. I've realized that the quickest way to make friends is to mention anything to do with 'Obama'. I spent 10 minutes today trying to convince the guy I was buying fruit from that I had taken a picture with the president before he was elected. I don’t think he was convinced, but he gave me a much cheaper mango price than I had gotten before.
I am interning for the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for West and Central Africa. It has already been an amazing experience. The people at the office are incredibly kind, and extremely patient with my French. I am living with two UNAIDS staff and they are both very kind. Our little house is great and it is only a ten-minute walk from the office. I am living across from the President's son, which is interesting. Word on the street is that he spends most of his time in Paris with his family. The three armed guards outside his compound are very nice - they too are very patient with my French.
Evyline, one of the people I am living with, has been unbelievably kind in helping me navigate the basics of surviving here. She has lived in Africa for many many years and I am always amazed by her stories. She took me to see a fantastic NGO near the Centreville where people living with AIDS create beautiful art mostly out of recycled materials. Their profits help sustain the compound where they live. I think it was there that I was most touched by how kind and welcoming people are here. It is really stunning.
Anyway, I will post more pictures asap (hopefully tomorrow). These last few days have flown by. More soon!!
smiles,
c
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Dear Mama, Daddy, Kathleen and Co.
Hello!! As per my mother's request I've made another blog that I will write on regularly! I leave for Dakar, Senegal today and I will return in August.
Looking forward to posting from Dakar! :)
hugs to everybody,
c
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