Bonjour toute la monde, Where do I start? We have been here almost two weeks and are starting to make our way around and not getting lost (quite as much). We are routinely bargaining for taxis and delicious mangos, melons and green beans, learning Wolof and Arabic greetings and getting to know many new people. Life is good. Did I mention the temperature? 80’s during the day and high 60’s at night and not a cloud in sight, but unfortunately a bit of smog.

I think we are over the time change, but the barking dogs at night still make sleep a little sporadic. We have begun meeting families for student placement and next week start a road trip to meet service families and check out assignments. Our country rep, Alain, is very prepared and is doing a great job for GC.

Our living situation is good, and will get better when we actually move into the rooms planned for us on the second floor. We are waiting for the carpenter to finish the completely hand made solid wood doors and window sills. It will be nice to get out of suitcases.

After many trips to the phone/internet company, I think our connection is set to be put in this week. That will be nice!

Here are a few photos of our life. Once people are a bit more used to the toubabs (whites in Wolof) that live in their neighborhood I won’t feel quite so touristy with the camera.

Photos left to right:

Teresa with grand daughter, Amaelle

Laura and Amaelle, the sweetest two-year-olds you can imagine, grand daughters of our “host mom” Teresa,

Lime pie the neighbor made on a little BBQ grill.

Entry to courtyard

Dining room

Suella and Amaelle and Laura

Gwen eating the baguettes available every 50 yards and a staple of the Senegalese diet.

That’s if for now.

Please feel to write:

suellag@goshen.edu

gwenjm@goshen.edu

We’ve just returned from an afternoon at the beach with our family, our first visit to a beach in Dakar since arriving. The pounding surf, the endlessly blue sky, the warm sun, the sports (from soccer to wrestling to grueling pushups), and the vendors were a part of the beach scene.

It has been a full week for us. Wednesday morning we left for a two-day road trip to visit the homes and assignments where students will be for their service. The trip included a stop in Thies, where two students will live and work, and an overnight in St. Louis where another two students will be. We returned late Thursday and left even earlier on Friday morning for the Petite Cote. The four neighboring villages there will host the remaining 10 students. Some of the most moving moments for us were sitting in a living room and having the woman of the home tell us that they are praying for the students that are coming. Having Muslim communities praying for American Christians is something that needs to be known. We were assured over and over that the entire village would relate with the students as one of them, that they are welcome and will be cared for.

Returning home on Saturday afternoon we moved in our new rooms at home. And we do consider ourselves at home. Last Sunday we attended Easter Mass with our family then joined the family for a holiday fete. Mass was particularly memorable: the cross, commissioned by the late Pope John Paul, arrived in Dakar on Good Friday, and we were fortunate to have it in our parish on Easter Sunday. Senegal is the first African country to host the cross, which has been traveling around the world.

The next few days will be filled with finishing the syllabus, finalizing the schedule, making final contacts, and finally, going to the airport to greet the long-awaited students from Goshen. Senegal, known for its teranga (hospitality) is waiting!

Captions:

Alain Badaine our coordinator extraordinare

Scenes from along the route to visiting service assignments

Alain and Gwen eating cashew fruit, better than the nut in my opinion

The gorgeous beach at St. Louis

The students arrived safe and sound, with all of their bags and on schedule. After clearing customs, we traveled by bus to a small hotel, L’Epicea, where they were welcomed and fed before going to bed. The hotel was their home for the first two days, spending time recovering from their 30- hour trip and getting an orientation to Senegal, Dakar, SST, Wolof (the local language), beach soccer, meal schedules, construction sounds, new streets and the 5 a.m. Muslim call to prayer.

During the stay at L’Epicea, they were eager students of Wolof, with enthusiastic teachers at every turn! It is one thing to learn and speak French in Senegal, but learning Wolof is the real indication of one’s intention to learn about Senegal; efforts to speak Wolof are warmly rewarded. The orientation ended with the students making chep bu jen, the national dish, with their Wolof and French teachers (Moutarou in the white and Mama Bineta in the red). The dish is rice, fish, and vegetables with a variety of seasonings and is eaten around a bowl. Traditionally it is eaten with the hands, which we did as well…that is, everyone but Alain! The student and staff interactions were wonderful to watch. Ndaye, the woman responsible for taking care of us, said they would miss them and indicated how great they are. (Parents, you have fine children.) After singing the doxology to the staff, we said our good-byes and were on our way to meet host families, at last!

The families came to pick up students at St. Augustin, the center where language classes and lectures will be held. We sat around the room and one by one their families came. The students served juice and pastries to their families before going home with their new mother or sister or brother. The willingness of students and families to take on these new relationships is a huge expression of love and generosity.

After sending students home with families Friday afternoon, we saw some of them again Sunday afternoon when they stopped by chez Gwen et Suella to relax and chat for a few hours. They came filled with life, smiles on faces and stories to tell… from attending a wedding reception to non-stop television to street soccer. The next morning, Labor Day and a holiday, they all gathered for a trip to Sandaga, the largest market in downtown Dakar. Two local university students accompanied the group, acting as tour guides, introducing them to the lively transit system, downtown streets, and the hustle and bustle of the marketplace.

Tuesday morning we gathered for the first day of Wolof. Our group of 15 students and two leaders is divided into four classes for Wolof, giving us plenty of opportunity to practice in the classroom setting. After two hours, we had been introduced to over a dozen greetings. In Senegal, greetings are extremely important, and seldom—if ever—is one greeting sufficient. Another interesting characteristic of greetings is the number of ways and times that “peace” is used. And there is a similarity to Mennonites: the importance of last names! When last names are exchanged, they are repeated at least twice to each other before continuing with the conversation. (And again, like ethnic Mennonites, the pool of last names is relatively limited.)

After a Senegalese lunch break, students returned from home for a lecture on the history of Senegal. Professor Thioub, in a two-hour-no-break lecture, gave a dynamic history of the country, from pre- colonialism to the present.

Wednesday morning was our first gathering as a group chez Gwen et Suella. We began our morning together with worship, learning several new French songs, a time silence/reading/prayer, and then the hymn singing. Their singing reputation preceded them and we already have requests to hear them sing! Of course, no gathering is complete without hackey-sack, played anywhere, anytime!

AND the big news is! we finally, after another 2 trips to the internet company, 4 conversations and a headache have internet at our house. So now we will be able to post more regularily. Thanks for your patience. I think I have the meaning of that word down pat.

We are at the end of the students’ first two weeks in Dakar. And after two weeks we know how to greet others in Wolof, get a taxi, how buy cloth, when to expect the calls to prayer, what to expect for lunch, and the list goes on and on. We’ve learned about the history of Senegal; effects of colonialism in Senegal that remain today; about Islam in Senegal, distinct from Islam in other places around the world; and about Senegalese literature, including the poetry of Senghor, the first president. We’ve been to the beach, learned to navigate around the city, walking from home to St. Augustin (where language class and lectures are held) to friends’ homes, gone out with host siblings on the weekends, and learned to share our lives and our space with younger siblings. We’ve enjoyed our second “G and S” day (Gwen and Suella)—singing hymns, sharing joys and concerns, praying for each other, sharing communion (with French bread and bissap juice, using a Nalgene for our common cup).

During the next few weeks, we will share student writings of their experiences in Dakar.

First impressions from Nate •Where is the grass? •No weather forecast is necessary; it’s the same sun and ocean breeze each day. •Cold showers are preferred, let alone the only option. •French, although the official language, is second to Wolof. •It’s silly to ask, “How are you?” to a friend eating a mango. Of course they’re feeling pretty awesome at the moment! •Pants aren’t that much hotter than shorts. •Saturday morning "Scooby-Doo" is better when dubbed into French.

Journal entry 4/27/06 from Alana (For their first week of journal entries, students were asked to record new sensory experiences.) Dakar is chaos—-but what a beautiful one! Everything is concrete, sand, trash, cars zooming everywhere they can, Senegalese people milling everywhere, loud music, beautiful clothing, smiles, hot sun, and so much more! I just went outside the door of our hotel room onto our small patio on the second floor to hear the Muslim call to prayer. It’s so beautiful—-the sing-song prayer, the view—-even though images of the music video we saw earlier keep flashing through my head and my mind is a helpless jumble of English, French, and Wolof—-all of that doesn’t matter at night when the sky is so black that people melt right in, crickets are chirping, the goats next door are shuffling around sleepily, and the chaos has cooled with the temperature. In the mornings—-it’s loud, lots of construction, so much to remember; when school lets out—-it’s a river of children and people going everywhere; at suppertime—-there’s loud music and lots of conversation; and at night—-it’s peaceful. A noisy plane punctuates the stillness every now and then—-its roar so loud that it can cut off the most insistent, passionate Senegalese trying to explain the differences between English, French, and Wolof.

Time is flying. It is hard to believe the students are into their third week here. This past week Thursday and again on Saturday we had djembe and African traditional dance lessons in a small courtyard in the home of the drum teacher, Makoumba. He took the laundry off the wash line and then took down the washline so we wouldn’t hang ourselves as we danced or moved about. Chairs were procured from the whole neighbourhood and the little kids enjoyed the activity until the gate was closed.

On Saturday morning we were given a tour of the mosque, owned by the government because it allows visitors. Unfortunately the large sanctuary was closed for renovation, but we were allowed to look into the small chapel where people gather to pray five times a day. Only practising Muslims are allowed into the chapel. Some of the practices were explained including why one is required to wash ones self three times for purification before each prayer as well as how many prayers are to be recited at various times of the day.

Sunday afternoon we took everyone to the beach north of Dakar at Yoff. Business was slow so the guys that were taking care of the beach rounded up boards for everyone who wanted one. Tree ripened mangos were available at a stand down the street and fun was had by ALL. Today we took the ferry to Goree Island, which was one of the main harbours where ships docked to be filled with slaves. It is a solemn place, especially the slave house that would house 200 people in a space smaller than most of our homes. The Door of No Return, where slaves were ushered onto the plank to walk to the waiting ships is especially sobering.

The only form of economy on the island is tourism so one’s visit is tainted with all the women vying for attention to get you to visit their shops and buy the trinkets. There is however a thriving artists colony that has squatters rights in the bunker below the enormous cannon at the top of the hill.

We had a great lunch of grilled fish or chicken, most of the students chose chicken as fish has been on the table almost everyday, vegetables and rice. Lunch was so reasonably priced we splurged and bought European ice cream bars for dessert, the smiles were well worth the price.

Tomorrow is the day many of us have been waiting for. We are going to a day-long batik workshop. Alain Badiane, our Senegal coordinator, has been whetting our enthusiasm as he frequently wears batik shirts made by Mr. Ma, the instructor.

The group is having great conversations as well as a lot of fun together and things are going to be way too quiet in three weeks when they leave for their service assignments.

Some intense thought goes into learning the djembe next 8 pictures

3 pics of the beach at Yoff, where signs of pleasure were heard as people began to relax.

2 pics of shopping for tissue at the Tilne Market.

2 pics of the tour of the Grand Mosque. Then there is the group pic infront of the Mosque a few pictures later. I thought I could move them after they were posted, but it turns our that I cannot.

The remaining pics are from the boat ride to Goree and the time on the Island.

I discovered that the more pictures you put up, the longer it takes to upload the ones at the end. So here are some additional Goree Island pictures.

Can you pick out the GC students on the Goree beach? :)

Sarah is at the "Door of No Return."

Nate and Suella are walking on the look out deck of the prison which was closed in the '70's since there was only one prisoner from the island. Senegal is a country of very low crime.

The last photo is of the students against the wall during the mini lecture at the slave house.

These batiks are amazing. I think there area few students who should switch to art majors!

Also if you look close (the bleachers were a ways off and night was falling) you will see Charles Bontrager playing rugby in the African Cup!

We just finished a really busy week.

Monday we had French and then watched a movie by a Senegalese film maker, Ousmene Sembene and had a discussion afterwards with two literature professors, Tuesday we went to Goree, Wedensday we did Batik all day, Thursday, French, group lunch together, worship time and then a lecture on HIV in Africa, Friday, French and a lecture on political conflicts in Africa and thoughts on ways of mediation and resolution. The lecturer was a law professor at the University of Dakar, who helped revise the Senegal constitution. We were VERY fortunate to find him available to speak to us.

Here are a few pics of Charles and the victory celebration!

During orientation four weeks ago, we were given the top three pieces of advice from students in study-abroad programs here in Senegal. The advice: 1) Be flexible. 2) Be flexible. 3) Be flexible. We’ve certainly had the opportunity to use this advice over the last week, rescheduling lectures and re-arranging schedules to accommodate ever- changing schedules.

On Sunday we traveled by bus to Keur Moussa, a Benedictine monastery outside of Dakar. For some, it was a first Catholic mass; for others it was the third Sunday in a row to attend mass. The worship, the liturgy, and the serenity of the space provided a welcome reprieve from the demanding life in the city.

For the soccer fans among us, we had planned to attend the match between Senegal and South Korea on Tuesday. When we discovered a number of weeks ago that the match was in South Korea, we changed plans to watching it on television. But the game started during French class, so that plan altered as well! But given that we are now masters in flexibility, we settled for dinner, with students treating themselves to scoops of ice cream to top off the evening.

Today, the typical G/S (Gwen and Suella) day took place on Ngor Island. A pirogue ride took us to the island in about five minutes, where we spent the day sharing, worshiping, eating, playing, and reading.

One of the pleasures of being with this group is that they completely enjoy being with each other. Time together is always filled with laughter, fun, and play. The group members respect each other, feel safe and cared for by each other, and are generous with each other. The values of teranga (hospitality) are evident within the group.

Captions:

Chapel and interior at Keur Moussa, (2 pics)

Students standing around after mass

Students having a fun time rediscovering ice-cream

Picture captions:

Getting on the pirogue to N'gor

In the boat

Group time around the table before the noon meal

Brad chatting with Alain

Snorkling after lunch settled (3 pics)

After five weeks of living in Dakar, life is falling into a routine, days and weeks have patterns: the walks to and from French class, daily mangos from the fruit stand, family gatherings and fetes over the weekend, trips to the market for a souvenir, another book read and passed on, chep bu chen around a common bowl for lunch, cold showers, calls to prayer. Family relationship have strengthened over time and language fluency increases, life is more and more comfortable. And the list goes on.

Alana had a particularly exciting day this week, when after three trips to the Centre Verbo Tonal she finally found the school for the deaf, right in our neighborhood! Her face lit up as she communicated with the students using ASL. It was heartwarming to watch the exchange, the pleasure of the communication between strangers.

Weekly G/S group time is another routine that has become important in the group. With last minute schedule changes, we met early in the week for fruit salad and ice cream, as well as singing, sharing, and group discussion.

The first weekend of June we traveled to St.Louis, the former capital of Senegal in the north of the country. The island that is part of the historic city is now a Unesco World Heritage site, with buildings being preserved and restored to their original French architecture.

After an early start for the trip we stopped in Thies, a city about one hour east of Dakar. In Thies we were welcomed by Annelise Goldschmidt, a French missionary, who is GC’s local contact. After pastries and coffee and juice, we listened to a lecture on the history and development of Christianity in Senegal, particularly Protestant Christianity.

Upon our late-afternoon arrival in St. Louis, we took a tour through the island, noting in particular the architecture, driving through the Lebu village (local fisherman), and other sites of interest. After dinner we found our way to the annual Jazz Festival before heading to bed, ending a long day.

Saturday morning began with another tour, this time driving out of the city, visiting the University of St. Louis and the dam that separates the Senegal River from the ocean. The river divides Senegal and Mauritania, so we left the country for a few minutes to enjoy the ocean air and the open space. After a free afternoon—of shopping and relaxing—we dined at the Coup de Torchon before heading back to the Jazz Festival.

On the return trip we stopped at Turtle Village, a park that is home to over 100 turtles, from ones that are several months old to one that is 125 years-old. The park prepares the turtles to live in the wild; next month they will release 50 turtles.

After a final, brief stop at Lac Rose, we headed back to Dakar, where students are now at home, where they were welcomed back by their families, where their community is familiar.

Home rolls and local juices, Bissap (made from Hibiscus flowers), Gingembre (Ginger juice) and Bouye (made from the Baobab fruit) were waiting for us at the MIS (MIssion in Senegal) headquarters where Annelise (pictured with Brad, who met her last year in Strasbourg) works and Pastor Adama Diouf gave his lecture.

Going to Turtle Village had an extra layer of meaning for the group. Since the first week here when Suella mistook a slow moving black plastic bag for a turtle, we use the word turtle as a term for things that we think are happening that really are not. Which really happens quite a lot when you are in a foreign country that speaks either a language you are minimally familiar with (French) or a language you have never heard a word of (Wolof).

The turtle in photo 3 has such large humps in its shell because it is so overweight. Apparently when turtles do not have a proper diet their shells collect fat deposits. When the turtle was brought to the village its shell was so heavy it could not walk. Now it can move, but is extra slow.

We just got back from taking all the students to their service assignments. On Thursday, six of us piled into a 7 person taxi and headed north. Nariel and Eric were dropped off in Thies. Eric will work in an NGO sponsored by Bosch where they teach young people how to repair appliances. (Last picture is with his family, 12 year old niece on the left, father Damien, Eric, mother and baby sister Stephanie Nariel will be helping to teach English to local pastors several nights a week and fill out the rest of her time at a new hospital being built by Mission in Senegal or a small Christian school. .

Then we headed to St. Louis where Nate and Brad will be working at a horticultural and animal husbandry school. Friday we got in a bus and headed south with the 10 students that will be working in the Saloum Island villages.

Emily and Alana are working in Samba Dia at a clinic that is run by Dr Gakou. Dr Gakou is the contact for us in the area and found women in various villages for hosting the students. He also promised to check in on all of them in a week to make sure they were healthy.

The next stop was at Djiofior, where Kate, Alex, Sarah and Elizabeth are working with a women's cooperative. We are not sure what all they will be doing, but the women assure us they will be busy. I am anxious to visit to find out how it is going. Another interesting part of their service is that the people in these villages are Serer, which is a matriarchial society. I am curious what observations they will return with.

Then it was down a sandy, windy, road to Fimela, where Eric B. and Kayla will be working at a pharmacy, health clinic and with women's groups.

And last, but of course not least, we dropped off Charles and Trevor in Djilor (not the one you see on a map.This one is just 2 k from Fimela). They have 6 brothers! one named Charles. They will be helping out at a fishing compound, working in the fields and probably teaching hacky sack to all the brothers.

The warmth with which each student was received was overwhelming and Suella, Alain and I were more than a little jealous that we had to return to the hustle and bustle of Dakar.

Our first trip to visit students on service assignments was to head north to St. Louis. It is so interesting on the way to see the green creeping north: from the little inch blades of grass near Dakar to the still barren terrain up near St. Louis. The exception in St Louis was the experimental gardens where Nate Herr and Brad Graber are working. We found them in good health and good spirits. Both have two brothers in the last years of high school. They have settled into routines of working at the Horticultural School experimental garden, eating late “noon” meals of fish and rice, playing soccer, watching World Cup and spending time with families. See photos and left and captions below.

On the way back to Dakar we stopped in Thies to visit Eric. His assignment gets him in the classroom and a metal workshop, where he helps his father teach young people how to repair small equipment. On the right are pictures of the workshop and finally a picture of Eric with his family.

Photos are gleaned from Nate, Brad and Eric:

Tiny little 1 inch blades of grass give a green haze to the landscape.

Brad with brothers infront of bedroom door that is used for a blackboard.

View from Brad's window

"Football" field where many late afternoons are spent conditioning for the fall soccer season.

Garden

Brad and two students trying to sell the cauliflower in the market. It is not a common vegetable here so it can be a bit difficult to sell. The restarants are happy for it though.

Base of banana tree that is waiting to be trimmed, weeded and mulched.

Nate working for the camera.

Young banana trees.

Nate and father.

More lush gardens, I think okra is the big one in the foreground.

Nate and little brother.

Nate's dad watching world cup. No one gets back to work ontime after lunch this month since the games are from 3-5 p.m. Lunch is "supposed" to end ometime around 3:30 but football take priority.

Nate's mother working in the courtyard.

Nate helping the mason prepare the cement for retiling the bathroom.

Front of Nate's house.

Eric with family.

Bosch workshop where Eric spends his days.

Inside of workshop.

Eric's host father, Damien, at work.

Sarah is living in Diofior during her service weeks. The first two pictures are of activity in the courtyard, washing dishes and children playing.

During the first three weeks as a daughter in her family, she was invited to be an attendant for her neighbor's wedding.

The courtyard is the center for most activity. Under the mango tree, Sarah is getting her hair done. And looking up into the tree is fellow SSTer, Kate Harnish.

Sarah, Kate, Alex, and Elizabeth all live in the same village. Their sisters planned an outing; they spent the day relaxing and enjoying each others' company.

Finally, Sarah is getting her hands painted. Using henna, designs are painted onto hands, fingers, feet. Over time it will wear off, but until then, look at those lovely hands!

Kate, Elizabeth, Alex, and Sarah are preparing stir-fry, their contribution to their families. That's Elizabeth's sister in the third picture.

Merrrr! Alex, who coined the term, showing a "merrr!" face while prepping vegetables.

Two of Alex's sisters pose for her camera.

Assorted family members spend time shelling les arachides (peanuts) in the shade, while Alex works at her laundy.

The last three pictures are from the day spent in Djilor when Gwen, Suella, Alain, and Leena went to visit the villages. Kayla, Alex, Trevor, Charles, Eric, and Emily are shown relaxing.

Whom ever can pronounce all those village names correctly gets first prize.

Pictures 1-3: The students came together from the different villages to spend the day with Gwen and Suella, accompanied by Alain, Leena, and Claude, our chauffer. After a lunch of chicken and frites we relaxed around the table.

Picture 4 is in Charles and Trevor's home. From left to right: father, Claude, their mother, and Alain.

Picture 5-6: Eric and Alana are chatting and catching up while Emily reads her mail from home.

Picture 7: Sarah, Kate, Leena, and Elizabeth are packed into the car, ready to head back to Diofior for the night.

Picture 8: Sarah, Elizabeth, Charles, and Trevor are reading their mail, sharing their news with each other.

Picture 9: Alain and Suella picking up Eric and Kayla in front of Kayla's house.

Picture 10: Leena relaxing in the hammock.

One part of the retreat was for students to present their independent projects. This seemed like a good opportunity to get photos of each one so you can see for yourself how healthy and happy they all are.

Eric created a manual, complete with detailed illustrations, for small engine repair.

Nariel created a book about the baobab tree, including recipes for using flowers and leaves, as well as folklore and legends.

Alana, an ALS major, spent time at the deaf school in Dakar, talking with students and teachers, and observing and learning sign language in French.

Kayla worked with the NGO, World Vision, which provides nutritional education and tracking of children in the villages.

Kate, to better prepare future students for SST in Senegal, wrote an interactive short story, providing multiple choices for next chapters and endings.

Trevor made a language guide for Senegal visitors, collecting words and phrases in French, Wolof, and Serer. (Trevor won the award for learning the most Serer while on service.)

Sarah created an illustrated guide for dying fabric, creating patterns, as they learned the process in Djiffior.

Alex wrote poetry, capturing the images and relationships from Djiffior. (Keep your eyes open for her poetry in print.)

Emily, working alongside her family making meals, collected and wrote recipes. How will chep bu dien taste made in Goshen?)

Elizabeth watched the birds of Senegal during these three months. She created an illustrated guide of birds, and also a number of Djiffior sky charts with constellations identified.

Nate spent time in a clinic in St. Louis, observing and learning about some medical services that are offered.

Eric, to be prepared for playing soccer, observed, collected, and used a variety of body building exercises, all exercises that use the body itself for resistance weight.

Charles wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide for dating.

Brad worked at the artisan village, with an artist, making a wooden chair to take home.