A Broad Abroad

Hello My Faithful Readers,

I must once again break invisible narrator status in order to address you directly.

I thought I would take a moment to reflect on a few things that that have come up of the last couple of weeks, but I will start my ramble from the beginning of the story…

Last winter I read the book “Half the Sky” (highly recommend it) which is a book all about how to help elevate the status of women’s issues, some of their stories, and also what is actually being done in the various areas of development and women. One very poignant point I came across was the idea that people often feel small and insignificant compared to the size of the problem, disconnected from the development community, and overall feel powerless to help those in need. The simple response was “just get out there and do something”. Basically to stop worrying about how insignificant you feel versus the size of the problem, get out there and contribute any way you can. Picture the entire amount of international aid as a bucket of water, and yourself as a drop of water. If you, the drop of water, are not in the bucket, the bucket just isn’t as full as it could be. So that, coupled with my pending chunk of available time in the fall (and of course much discussion with Nathan!) led me to seek out volunteer opportunities abroad (SEEKING TO BE A BROAD ABROAD as my friend Sara would say).

My initial interest in coming to Senegal was to help people who would otherwise not be receiving any attention. I know that there is great need for people to teach English, or other languages even, that could help someone get a better job, or any job in the future. I thought the type of work I would be doing would fill a need and wouldn’t be done if a volunteer like myself wasn’t here to do it. I chose to go through an organization like Projects Abroad because I felt they would be better connected to the parts of the community that would need volunteers to come and help out.

Unfortunately that initial interest in coming here hasn’t quite been fulfilled. While my personal experience with Projects Abroad was less fulfilling than I had hoped for, I really do feel that the sacrifice I have made leaving my friends and family, and also the stress that has put on them has been worthwhile when measured against my personal development and my impact in the area I volunteered and lived.

After I recovered from initial culture shock, it was easy to see that Senegalese people in St Louis are easy going and approachable. Kids especially are excited to shake your hand, simply because you’re a foreigner. The overall esthetic of Senegal has been a dichotomy between vast, clean beachscape and natural vistas, and congested and dirty city. It has been a place where Wifi is easy to find but toilet paper is not. My trip has been comprised of a thousand different moments, some of them quite poignant lessons, some of them just something to ponder, and some of them something to forget. The sounds and smells and sights of St Louis will remain forever with me.

So, after having taken 31 Malaria pills so far, I have only 11 to go before I return to the Homeland. Yes that’s correct, I will be home in 11 short days, a bit earlier than planned, but only after having spent 6 and a half very interesting weeks here in Senegal.

Thanks again for reading, and I will make sure that my final days of blogging will be worthwhile to read.