Sénégal dafa am sama xol ak mon, dina jamais faté neup. Neup ci Sénégal moy sama mbok. Dina layy namm!
So I'm back! And what can I really say a part from a big thank you to everyone that helped me before, during and after my year in Senegal. It was the most challenging yet most incredible year and I still can't believe it's over. I taught some of the most determined English students in the world, became truly a part of the community in Kaolack, became one of the Kane family (they really do mean the world to me) and met some incredible people. I will miss every single one of you (if you are reading this!) and you have no idea how much you helped me to grow and develop myself as a person.
Sénégal dafa am sama xol ak mon, dina jamais faté neup. Neup ci Sénégal moy sama mbok. Dina layy namm!
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It's less than 2 weeks till I go back to England and I can't really express how I feel at the moment. Senegal has been incredible, and I'm torn between being excited to see everyone back in the UK, and being heart-broken at leaving the home I've made in Senegal. The photos of the eagles in Kaolack represent me moving on again in my life and I chose the music video below as I am truly happy right now and the world is my oyster: who knows where my next adventure lies. Make sure to read the poem at the end as well, this year has given me so much strength to face everything and anything and I am definitely a stronger person for taking this year away! So the World Cup drew to a close and I can happily say I've never been more informed about the World Cup than this year. Senegal is football crazy and when the World Cup is on, the streets definitely seem to be a lot quieter and from every house you can hear the current match playing on the TV. I've enjoyed teaching on the subject and am very proud of my poster to show the stages of the World Cup (picture above)! So the other week at the local lycée, there was a competition between the English Clubs at different schools in Kaolack. In total, 5 English Clubs took part in the competition where there was to be two rounds: a spelling bee and then a drama/debate on a subject from a selected list. Through someone I know, I got invited to attend the event and I was so glad that I managed to go! I arrived at the school to see all the different groups chatting excitedly to each other, making last minute preparations and music blaring out from a loud-speaker which really boosted the atmosphere. I sat behind the jury who started the event with some very inspiring speaches on why everyone should learn English (everyone was really pumped after that!) and there was a special guest as well: one of the authors of the 'Stay Tuned' English textbooks which are widely used in Senegal. The competition started with the spelling bee which was mostly tense free apart from the sad times when a student would spell a word correctly, but it was the wrong word! Tip for anyone doing spelling bees: always ask for the definition of the word unless you are completely sure! The next round was the debates, which I have to say, were very very very impressive! They tackled many topics including modern African fashion vs traditional clothes, and even female genital mutilation. Some of the students astounded me with their confidence and their level of English, including three of Diapalantes members who took part (was very proud!). Some of the debates took on a more drama element (e.g. one group staged it as if it was a TV program with a presenter) and the comedy that they added to the debates was on top form! The English Club that won the competition (two of Diapalantes members were in this group= one very proud Diapalante teacher) went to Dakar the next weekend to enter a national competition. Unfortunately they didn't win this but the two Diapalante students came back from Dakar feeling so excited and hyped for learning English, saying it was amazing to be surrounded by other 'English Lovers' (what we call ourselves here in Diapalante!). So overall, it was a very inspiring event for me, for the students and for the English teachers at the schools. It definitely showed me the importance of English Clubs in schools around Senegal and how strong they can be. English Lovers for Life! If you want to read more about the importance of English Clubs in Senegal, here is an a very interesting essay I found online... http://www.academia.edu/1997184/_Grassroots_English_Clubs_as_Sites_of_Learning_and_Democratic_Debate_in_Urban_Senegal_by_Marika_Z._Tsolakis And also, another popular Senegalese song to keep you all up-to-date with the Senegalese charts... At the centre, we get around 10-20 children in the morning and afternoon, and they come and go according to when they have lessons at school (they don't go to school from 9am to 3pm like most British schools). In the morning, we give them IT lessons in the computer room and in the afternoon we give them English, French or Maths lessons. I've always thought of being a Primary School Teacher so teaching the children has been really helpful for me. We get children of all ages and abilities (from toddlers up) and it's been challenging, yet so fun, coming up with lessons to combine everyone. It's a really good group of children and they make the centre lively. I've had some fun extra-curricular afternoons with them as well, teaching skipping, playing board games or doing colouring, so have definitely enjoyed this part of the Diapalante centre: they never fail to put a smile on my face! Youssou Ndour is THE most popular Senegalese singer in Senegal (I'm pretty sure everyone I've asked has listed Youssou Ndour on their list of favourite singers) and below are two songs he's done about children (xale in Wolof). Hope you enjoy!
I have been working on this in my spare time and I am now officially TEFL qualified! needless to say, I am very happy! Below the photo of my certificate is a Senegalese song which is very well known by an artist called Pape Diouf. I realise I haven't shown you all at home enough of the music in Senegal and will start today with this song, as the title 'Bégué' means basically 'good times', which I think fits this blog. I hope you enjoy! It's official, rainy season is coming!!!
Yesterday was the first rain we've had for 7 months and it was a great feeling! It was the start of afternoon lessons and apart from the group of 4 adults I was teaching, there was only 1 adult and 2 children in the computer room. The sky started to darken and, as a joke, I turned and said to the pupils that it's going to rain (it's been that long I'd become sceptical that it would ever rain again!). Then a massive sandstorm and a powercut plunged Kaolack into complete darkness and, running outside, I saw people running in all directions trying to get home. I went back into Diapalante and continued my lesson (changing the subject however to the current weather developments! :P) Then the rain hit. Thunder, lightening, lots and lots of rain and me and my small group of students were now stuck in Diapalante. So I continued the lesson through the storm, and I have to say, it was one of the most exciting lessons I have ever done! :P So I was very happy that the rain had come but I do need to start bracing myself for the things to come: mosquitos, frogs, insects and the inconvenience of having to walk the long way to places in order to avoid the massive puddles that block the roads now! Wish me good luck! ;) "We need the tonic of wildness... We can never have enough of nature." - Henry David Thoreau4/6/2014 There are two main benefits to being part of a Muslim family here in Kaolack: firstly, I am getting to know more about Islam and secondly, I get to celebrate Islamic festivals! The latest one was a mixture of a religious festival and a family get-together where my family, and all the family relations (Senegalese families are pretty big!), drove off to a village just outside of Kaolack for a couple of days of prayer, singing, staying up all night and good food! It was a great festival and I loved getting away from the town and being in the countryside; it was very peaceful and I realised how much I missed nature!
Me and my partner took a walk outside of the village and just sat and watched the sun set. Heres a poem to reflect how much I appreciated being in the middle of no-where... We need the tonic of wildness: To wade sometimes in the meadows where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; To smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time we are earnest to explore and learn, we require that all things be mysterious unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature, We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features: The sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and decaying trees, the thunder cloud, the rain that lasts three weeks and produces freshets. We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander. Henry David Thoreau At the centre, we marked World Malaria Day by doing various things like true or false quizzes, a 'chat' session with the children about Malaria, the children also did a role-play and just generally raising awareness and knowledge of Malaria and how you can prevent it. It was very successful and below are just a couple of videos and a photo about malaria which I found very interesting whilst doing my preparation for World Malaria Day... In the centre, we teach English and IT, separately and together. Some members come for both, others for just one or the other. We teach IT to the children in the morning and one-on-one lessons to students and adults throughout the day. The children have really improved, from only being able to do things when you are right there next to them instructing them, to making proper powerpoints with animation completely on their own on their topic of choice. Theres been various people wanting one-on-one lessons. One lady needed a set of lessons (she came in every morning for 2 weeks) in order to get a job which involved working with computers. Another man had an intense couple of days as he works abroad in Germany, and was tired of having to ask people in his office to help him print something out or change a document. Another member, who has been coming for a couple of months now (he's called Djim), has been through near to everything, from Microsoft Word, to an Excel course on the computer, to creating some very good PowerPoints and he never ceases to want to learn more! He's a great student and a pleasure to teach. He wants to improve his job prospects, and I really believe that he has achieved that. (photos of Djim and Liz Chandler, the boss of Diapalante, below) So we're trying to make full use of the computers we have, and they're really making a difference here. I love teaching ICT here, as I get to help people with personal aims, as well as giving people a chance to use a computer. The children that come to the centre and receive these ICT lessons will have such an advantage when looking for work in the future and I love to see how they're making the most of this opportunity. And just as food for thought, heres a video for those that are interested on how technology is transforming education: enjoy! |