more thies and mbour

i had some time to upload so i thought i would post some more fun pictures.
this little girl below is aida, she lives with nafi in the house that i stayed at in thies. the first few days she was NOT a happy camper that i was there. if she wasn't throwing a fit (and we're talking arms and legs going nuts and screaming) she was sitting like this as far away from me as she could. i loved this little thinker pose, even though she was completely miserable.

but don't worry, after a few days we became friends and now she likes me. we played a lot towards the end of my time there so i dont feel bad for making her freak out anymore.
these kids below are in the oldest class at the deaf school in thies. they were really nice kids.

and the video below is a prime example of why i have avoided dancing like the plague here. until i figure out how its possible to throw your arms and legs around like a spasm but make it somehow coordinated to a drum beat, i think i'll stay on the sidelines.

i took this picture on the beach in mbour yesterday. i've found that the beaches here are really prime training areas for sports teams and athletes. there's a style of fighting here in senegal that is hugely popular and this is a group of men training for that. i dont know how to describe it other than a cross between boxing and sumo wrestling. it's on TV a lot, and its huge here.


that's all i got for now! enjoy

so apparently it's the hot season...

hi everyone! there's actually electricity right now (i'm learning the hard way that that's not so common this time of year) and i wanted to quick update. the utterly oppressive heat, usually over 100°F, apparently comes before the rainy season which doesn't start til june, so i'm in for some sweating! i'm in mbour and i arrived yesterday. i found the handicap center here and actually sat in with their preschool yesterday and today. there are 3 classrooms, 1 for 3 year olds, 1 for 4 year olds and 1 for 5 years olds with a student to teacher ratio that is almost unbelievable. the 5 year old classroom has 1 teacher and 52 students. i wish i could say i was exaggerating but i was there this morning and counted. the other two classrooms have fewer students but it's no picnic either. a bunch of the students have to wait their turn to learn and there's almost always someone crying somewhere. i have been wowed to silence in the lack of supervision, i can't understand how more kids don't get injured day to day climbing around during their recess and jumping off stuff. after my little time here though, i'm not sure mbour is for me for longer term. it's big and toursity in some ways and i think i just want something more manageable where it's easier to become a part of a new community. i'm going to a village a bit further down the coast tomorrow just to check it out but i'll keep posted of my travels!

more from thies

i had a chance to upload some pictures from thies! i am actually in mbour now, i came here this morning and am going to meet with a handicap center and kindergarten this afternoon. i'm hoping something will work out here so i can actually settle down and im right on the coast! we'll see though, i've learned to expect nothing to happen before it actually happens.
the picture below is of one of the kids from the deaf class in thies and he has blue eyes!! i couldnt believe it and i have no idea how its possible, but i had to take a picture and share it. i have more pictures of kids from the school but internet is not on my side to upload right now.

and here's a picture of some of the women working on dying fabric to sell at the disability center. the one in the middle is nafi, and i stayed at her house for the last week. she had polio when she was a kid. she's great though and her family welcomed me so much, so i'm sure i'll be back to visit thies.

thats all for now but i'll try to get more pictures up soon!

Thies (sounds like 'chess')

hi everyone! i am aware that i have done a very bad job this past week keeping people updated, BUT in the interim i have been learning wolof for about 6 hours a day with a peace corps tutor and i'm done and am finally conversing in wolof now and barely use french at all! in just the few days this has been possible, it's been an amazing milestone for me and has changed my interactions with people here immensely and has opened up doors for me that wouldn't be possible in french. i have made friends with people at the disability center here in thies, (i left dakar last week) and am starting to get more of a handle of the way things work here. i even sat in on a class for deaf children yesterday! it was really cool. and however ironic this is, the teacher who can hear but also signs, learned sign language from an american, so the kids in the class were using a variety of american sign language. i studied a little sign here and there, so i actually was able to talk a little with the kids. not much more than spelling my name and i studied signing, but it was still fun. the disability center is cool too, i'm really enjoying getting to know the people there, and i'm collecting some information to share with ame back in dakar so he can put it on his website about disability initiatives in senegal. i think i'll be on the move again soon though, to check out another town (on the beach!) where i've heard there's more stuff going on with disabilities. i really want to get involved with kids here too. i think i may try to find some more steady work in a school or something. but honestly, i have no idea! but things are moving in a good direction and i'm really happy to be using wolof. tomorrow i'm heading to a town called rufisque to watch wheelchair basketball so i'm excited. i'll try to update with pictures soon!

more beach stuff!

i found a faster internet cafe and here's some more stuff to share! this is the beach at toubab diallo:

and 2 of the women from the group i met praying towards mecca on the beach:

and here's a clip of the men fishing on the shore that we walked by on our way to catch oysters:

and a big lizard- these guys are all over the place!

enjoy!!

a dedication and the president

on monday i attended a dedication for a new center in dakar that will employ disabled people to work with computers and also to recycle old computers. the president even came! funny how in the two african nations ive been to in the last three months, i have seen both presidents in person by accident! the banner below says "Wade (the president) thanks to you, a handicap is no longer a fatality in senegal"

the whole ceremony was a big deal and televised, it was good to see the government actually support something like this. the people who work here will be official government employees. they brought in kids to dance and clap from the local school. the woman below walking down the red carpet is the minister of women's affairs.

and this is the best shot i got of the good old president abdoulaye wade-- he's a good 82 years old. but he talked for 20 minutes.

beach adventures

while i've been waiting for the necessary meetings and people to start my tour of senegal and disability work, i decided to take this weekend to explore somewhere new and have an adventure and what better place to do that then the beach! i found a spot close to dakar on the coast and found some transport to a village called toubab diallo. the beach was beautiful, even though it was a pretty big touristy place and i was able to find a cheap room for the night. it was so nice to be on the coast, but i got a bit annoyed by the pestering of locals "come visit this gallery" or "come listen to our music" translation: come buy our stuff. so i stayed for the night, but then i decided it was time to move on and i started to walk south along the beach where i knew there would be more villages and hopefully some off the tourist map. i started walking on the beach, and it wasn't long before i came upon another hotel, but pretty isolated. i passed the hotel, and it wasn't long before i heard a group of women calling to me in wolof to come over to the shade and rest because it was too hot (which it was). i went over to the women, and they told me to "nopuluku" (rest) for a bit. they were very nice and i agreed. the women made beaded jewelry and sold it on the beach to the people in the hotel next door. we talked for a while and i had lunch with them (first time i officially ate with my hands!!) and i was so relieved because they didnt ask me to buy anything. (trust me that's rare) so i felt much more comfortable with them. here's a picture of a few of them walking down the beach to sell some of their work.

not only did i spend the day with them but they invited me to come stay in their village, which i was pretty happy about because i was hoping to find a way to avoid the hotel scene. after that i became another part of their group and spent 2 days out on the beach with them. the second day, we went out on some of the big rocks in the ocean to pull oysters off for dinner. that was pretty fun, even though the water was freezing. when i ate the oysters later though, it was just a little extra crunchy with the sand-- can't get more fresh than that! overall though i had a really nice time with them and they were very laid back and easy to get along with. my time there really made me want to find a way to live on the coast, i could get used to beach life! the picture below is of a group of kids out on a pirogue who i guess were helping with the fishing (there were men on the shore pulling in nets) i had more pictures but the internet has been disappointing and it won't let me upload more right now.

now im back in dakar, trying to get things rolling with disabilities, but it's more of a challenge than i anticipated. i'll have more to update soon though!

on hold

i had every intention of coming to this internet cafe and updating on my weekend, but i just realized that i cant upload pictures here so i think ill have to save it for a little later- itll be worth it! im doing well though, but things are moving slowly in the disabilities department so im starting to get creative...more to come!