I arrived at the home I would be staying in around 10pm. I was greeted with hugs by the internship coordinator, Ms. Fall and her mother. I would be staying with her family that consisted of her mother, father, uncle, and brother who is there occasionally. We also have two people we refer to as “the help.” They do the cooking, cleaning, and they set the table and serve us during each meal. I was greeted with words in French that I did not know. I guess they assumed I knew French. Nope! So, the family quickly learned that I knew very little to no French, but I told them I was willing to learn.I was taken to the room I would staying in with a nice queen-sized bed, a futon, and my own personal bathroom. There were a lot of other things in the room since originally it was someone else’s, but I didn’t mind. The room was clean enough for me to live in; that’s all I cared about.Even though the family had already eaten dinner, they had a meal prepared for me to eat. It was this fish and rice dish (which is like every dish here in Senegal) and it was good.The following morning, we had a staff meeting with the internship coordinator and the three other volunteers who would be teaching during the six weeks. Two of the volunteers are from Senegal. One is helping me teach English, and the other is teaching a leadership class. The last volunteer is from Mali, but she lives and studies in Canada; she is teaching the art classes. They were all really nice. During this meeting we went over the teaching schedule. My teaching partner and I would be teaching English for two hours with a ten-minute break in between from 9am-11am. We were told we would be teaching Mon-Thurs. Fridays are days off because the people of Senegal partake in religious activities every Friday which people dress up and go to the mosque . We will be teaching in three-week sessions. The first three-week English classes are in Dakar and the second is in Lac Rose. Below is a picture of all of us volunteers :)
The volunteers at the meeting were originally speaking French, but they soon realized that I didn’t speak French. So, we decided to have the meeting in English. However, I do hope to pick up the French and their native tongue Wolof while I’m here so that I can be more conversational in the languages they are more comfortable in.We finished the meeting and Ms. Fall recommended that I go with my teaching partner Mouhamadou to explore Dakar a bit since he knows the city like the back of his hand. Before we left, we ate lunch. We had soupe kandia, which is like gumbo; it has a lot of seafood and you eat it with rice. It was so good!After lunch we went on an adventure. Mouhamadou asked me about the things I wanted to do in Senegal, and one thing I’ve always wanted to do is drink out of a coconut (it’s silly, but true). So, we found a coconut stand by the ocean, and I was able to drink out of a coconut with a view of the Atlantic. The coconut was so refreshing. It tasted like it was supposed to, like an actual coconut with no extra sugar added; it was so pure. We also got ice cream and did some more walking around Dakar and visited one of the college campuses.
As for teaching, I created a lesson plan before coming to Senegal, and it was a part of my application for the internship. So, I was using that to guide me. I was nervous, but excited about my first day of teaching. I knew coming in my class would be made up of about 30 students, ages 15-17 years old, and majority female. I only have 3 boys in my class. I can be a little shy at times, so I think it definitely showed on my first day, but I pushed through it! I was happy to have someone assisting me to teach so that I felt more comfortable. The first day of class was like any first day with basic introductory things and learning all of the students’ names. It was hard to pronounce all of their names, which made it hard for me to remember them, but I refuse to give any of them nicknames. Pronunciation is not an excuse to give someone a nickname, especially if that person comes from a different cultural background than you. But, that’s just my opinion.
Also, my first day of teaching outfit was a fit if I do say so myself.
I finished teaching for the week on Thursday, the 4th of July. I taught a lesson about Independence Day in the U.S. followed by a lesson on Juneteenth and an explanation behind why I don’t celebrate the Fourth of July. The U.S. has families in detention camps right now. What am I celebrating? Not freedom. We’re not free until all of us are free...let me say it again for the people in the back: WE'RE NOT FREE UNTIL ALL OF US ARE FREE.Anyways, we had a really good discussion and they had a lot of questions for me that I was happy to answer. It was interesting to learn about Senegal’s independence which they don’t really celebrate either. Many of the students feel because Senegal has a history of colonization and are economically still controlled by France, that their country is not free. Ultimately, I enjoyed learning from the students and recognizing the similarities between the U.S. and Senegal. I enjoyed listening to the students share about what freedom meant to them individually and for their country and seeing how bright and intelligent they were. So, first week of teaching down, five more weeks to go. I only hope that my teaching experience continues to get better from here.
This is a part of the Teaching in Senegal Series.