Only three days until we leave for Senegal! As our itinerary is finalized and packing has begun, I have been hit with the hard realization that there is no happy solution to packing for a trip like this. Remembering how often simple school supplies like pens and pencils were needed in Togo, I have been hoarding my class supplies bought from back-to-school sales until they fill a suitcase on their own. Which is fine, except that apparently there are stricter weight limits for our internal flight to Kolda than the international ones.
Our host teacher extraordinaire, Mme. Fanta Boiro, of course had a solution (as she does for every minor or major detail we bring up): send it on a bus to Kolda once we get to Dakar, and she will assist us with this once we're in-country. Remembering the taxi-brousse from my Peace Corps days, I am a little envious of the adventures this bag is going to have, precariously strapped to some public transportation which may or may not get there. The whole making arrangements for school supplies made me think of the whole debate in development on giving materials vs. supporting local efforts. Of course, long-term change is best accomplished when it is initiated and carried out by local communities, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that. However, I have sometimes heard the argument that bringing gifts leads to expectations of more, making sustainable development more challenging. Perhaps, but then again, I can think of dozens of times when individuals and communities in Togo shared all they had to give with me, even if it was just a glass of water. I think of the meals prepared, the many times my quartier stayed up to make sure I made it home safely, and the stories exchanged that made us all realize how much we had in common despite being from very different worlds. From that perspective, to come empty-handed under the ideals of development just seems wrong to me: we who have so much can share a little, even if getting them there turns out to be a greater challenge than just packing a bag. Granted, I have no good reason for the second bag being entirely too full as well, other than paranoia that I will need some medicine or other and my general bad habit of overpacking. Here's hoping no one hefts either bag on their head like my host mother did sixteen years ago on the first night of my training, in which I managed to lock myself in my room, tell my young host brother that I eat everybody (and he kept his distance for a few days until he realized it was my poor French and not cannibalism), and many, many other crises that just seem funny now. I know this trip will just be a snapshot of Kolda, my host school and teacher, and Senegal, but I hope that in two weeks, I will come home with one suitcase less, and my heart a little lighter from worries and my head a little fuller of collaborative ideas.
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So, this week I discovered that I am headed to Kolda, in the southern part of Senegal below the Gambia. Our host will be Mme Fanta Fofana, English teacher at the Lycee Alpha Molo Balde, who has already impressed me with her organization and creativity.
I am looking forward to the entire experience, but especially visiting the schools. Being the French system, it is interesting to me that so many aspects sound like Togo, but yet I expect to find many differences as well. Like the fact that my phone says it will be 108 next week. And the hotel where we'll be staying offers boar hunts. (Which, by the way, was a French verb I actually recognized from high school- chasser. I certainly didn't have need of that verb in Togo or anytime since, but apparently I retained that knowledge nonetheless). The hospitality, the greetings (saluer), and community emphasis all remind me of Togo, which are some of my favorite memories. Now that we know where we are going, the time to prepare and plan seems rather short- everything from small gifts to bug spray to revising my research question, which I think will stem around ESD. Having observed very structured instruction for sustainable development in Japan, and having made a greater effort to actively teach ESD in my own classes, I am curious what I will find in Kolda- and Dakar. One of the great things about sustainability education is that it is almost impossible to be a cynic about our future as a global community, when dealing with such passionate, sincere teenagers who are determined to change the world...and probably will. |
Kirstin Bullington
I teach science, engineering, and computer science at W.J. Keenan High School in Columbia, SC Archives
March 2016
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