waxhale ak man (barter with me)

How I get to my internship:

Me - Assalamalekum.
Taxi Man - Malekumsalam.
Me - Ca va? Nga def?
Taxi Man - Mangiy fi.
Me - Mangiy dem le Route de Wahkam. acote de l'estation Elton.
Taxi Man - Chi Mermoze.
Me - Waw. Mermoze
Taxi Man - Chi Mermoze, estation Elton chi kanem
Me - Waw. Nata?
Taxi Man - Mil trois cent
Me - Baxul, dafa cher. Sept cent bax na
Taxi Man - Baxul. essence dafa cher. 1mil franc bax na.
Me - 8 cent bax na.
Taxi Man - (reflection) Waw. Monter.
Me - Merci, ca va?
Taxi Man - Ca va. Naka mo?
Me - Sante yalla.

Anyways... I have a cubicle.

I never thought I would find myself working in a cubicle of blurred windows. Needless to say, the office life is not exactly what I am searching for. However, for the moment I am quite satisfied with my blank, white, one desk cubicle with a cool stand up calendar sharing "12 magical places you need to know about before they disappear!"
 

I have started an internship with the Senegal Regional Office FHI 360 - The Science of Improving Lives, an international American NGO of over 60 offices worldwide. Essentially the NGO works with local governments and local civil societies in health, environmental, and structural support, meaning that they create teams within FHI 360 and with other organizations to build self-sufficiency among local communities as well as provide clinical/physical resources. They have research programs, too.

ME, I am at the bottom of the totem pole... which is just fine considering I stumbled upon this job through difficult networking/ tricky communication access AND I only have a bachelor's degree which does not necessarily help one to work in an NGO when positions in most offices require at least a master's degree. So, at the moment I am an intern with the Health Program of FHI 360 Senegal here in Dakar. My task is to create the website for the three FHI 360 sectors in Senegal. I am constructing the structure of our website (our including the three sectors of FHI 360 Senegal) and then after I create that base for the three I will write and create all of the material for the Health sector. This means that I am making the entire FHI 360 Senegal website and then all that the two sectors aside from the health have to do is write their material to put in the template.

My supervisor wasn't in the office the last two times I was there and then last week I took the day for grading for Mariste so the direction of my project has been lacking. However, this Wednesday I had a great meeting with my supervisor which included me printing and presenting what I have created so far and him tearing it to pieces for edits. It was a great meeting though because it finally gave me a concrete direction, he validated my solid work, and essentially realized that I can do no more until he connects me with the information I need. It is incredible the amount of knowledge I am going to have to consume... well.... not necessarily knowledge but almost every detail of FHI 360 Senegal from 1990 when it started to now.

In the end, I am hoping this leads into or at least links me to a job within FHI 360 or another organization. You know networking... it is the golden ticket.
 

Here is the current link to the Senegal homepage of FHI 360 to show what the current website looks like. If you have time it could be interesting to fish around a bit to see what is there and how the structure of the sites work and then once I am finished with the websites I will give you the links so then we will be able to what I created/ changed/ replaced.

 http://www.fhi360.org/en/CountryProfiles/Senegal/index.htm

Cheers,
Lacey

8 months

I have been in Senegal for 8 months. Time passes incredibly quickly. For me, when I feel I need a recap of what I have been doing with my life for the past few months I look through my photos. Not only do I enjoy seeing the beautiful colors and faces of life around me, but each moment we snap in the pictures holds feelings that transfer through your body each time you look at them. Here is a glance at a piece of my life in Senegal.

Family

 Cousin Fily

Cousin Bebe - amazing cook.

Brother Papi and Sister Souho

Cousin Ousmane, Brother Cheikh, Me, and Friend/Cousin Serigne Thiam

Suma Yaye - Host mom Ndeye Coumba

Sister Ndeye and Niece Mousu Diarra
 

Senegalese News Reporter and cousin Mamadou Awa


Senior Year English Class Field Trip

One of the most difficult classes I have in terms of behavior and discipline - but there is a lot of diversity and attitude among them which can be refreshing outside of class.

Trip to Touba for the Magal Touba Holiday

One of the biggest mosques is Senegal. It was PACKED during the holiday.

Me, Mamadou, and Mamy just before we visit the mosque.

Moussa and I after the mosque experience.

A bunch of little boys who wanted to take pictures with us gathered around a friend of ours outside of the house we stayed at in Touba.

While driving in the roads full of hundreds of people we randomly spotted a house maid of Tanty Fataye that dreamed of leaving to join the army so she left Dakar one day to try to follow her passion. It had been months since they had heard from her and they had always wondered what happened to her so when they saw her the car exploded with joy. We all jumped out quickly to snap hugs and photos - it was very emotional and a beautiful moment. Everyone was smiles.

Cousin Ma Bintu Visiting From France

Cousin Ma Bintoou

She's a hoot!

We went to the beach for late night calamari and clam sandwiches!

Trip to Toubab Diallo

Lovely weather - not too hot, but warm and sunny with a breeze and lovely sunsets.

Lots of card games...

 ... and rock climbing...

... and eating!

Happy Easter! 

Cousin/brother Mamadouuuuuuuuu! (sama vrai xarite!/my true friend)..... and neighbor Alassane popping in for a hello.

Brother Cheikh - great humor. Fun and philosophical all in one!

Usual praying on the terrace.

Pretty cousin Yaye, cousin Mamadou and cousin Ousmae - we were all visiting before dinner watching Senegalese traditional wrestling on the TV.

Brothers eating Ngalla (delicious peanut-buttery dessert) thanks to the Christians who are known for the best Ngalla in Senegal and who happened to give a few generous buckets.

Late night of cards and tea... our standard for a good night.

Mariane's Birthday Party

From right to left - me, sister Mariane and then little cousins Fatima, Papi, Khadijatou

They all (about 12 children) danced for a long time!

 VERY excited for some cake!

Her own birthday cake with her name on it too!

... and of course there are the many hours spent on Skype

An uncle gave us a gourd lamp. Love it.

I now have a bike. Alhumdoulilah.

Biking tales in Dakar are to come in the near future...