Dakar, Senegal

November 22, 2012 – December 04, 2012

We arrived in Dakar on the 22^nd, and on the 23^rd we had a port program followed by shore leave for all the watches who passed their line test (yay watch 5!). For the port program we took a short ferry ride to nearby Goree Island. It’s the westernmost point of Africa and is where slaves were taken before crossing the Atlantic during the slave trade. We visited the slave house on a tour of the island, and saw the “door of no return” where slaves were sent onto boats, never to see Africa again. It was horrible, but the rest of the island was much less gloomy; we visited a well-known all-girls school, which is one of the best in Senegal. The island itself had colourfully painted houses, palm trees, and a small beach; it looked like a picture perfect island and if you didn’t know better you would have trouble imagining its dark past.

There was lots of colourful art for sale that was on display all over the island. We walked to a sand art shop where they spread glue in the desired picture onto a board, sprinkled sand that was different colours from different regions, then shook of the excess sand, revealing the picture; it was so cool!

We had shore leave on Goree Island to walk around and explore. We saw baobab trees, just like in Le Petit Prince that we read in school! Their branches look like roots, so the myth is that they were put in the ground upside-down. The trees are found all over Senegal.

Goree Island

Art on the Island

Sand art

On November 24^th we met the SYTO (Senegalese Youth Travel Organization) students, most of which are in University and some have been meeting up with Class Afloat since they started doing the West Africa Initiative in Senegal years ago. To get to know the SYTO students a bit some we played icebreaker games and some of the SYTO students played drums and we all sang along; it was fun! We then had group discussions to compare Senegalese and Canadian lifestyle, education/jobs, and government/politics. It was really interesting to hear about the differences, and more importantly the similarities between two countries that we often perceive as being so far apart.

After a group lunch we got into groups of two Class Afloat students and we were paired with a SYTO student named Mariama whose home we would be going to for a homestay that night. Mariama had a father who worked for the police force, so their family lived on a police camp. We took a taxi to the dusty camp and pulled up in front of one of many small buildings. Mariama led us into their home, the open doorway revealing a big, concrete-floored room. A narrow hallway led to a kitchen where Mariama’s aunt kneeled in front of a pot simmering on a portable gas stove, preparing chicken couscous for supper. That night was the Muslim New Year, so couscous was the traditional meal for the celebration. We offered to help make supper, the everything was ready and their family and friends that had come in through the open door gathered around to eat. The food was brought out in an enormous bowl and we all sat around and ate. The meal was so good, and there was so much couscous that Mariama’s family kept offering us more and more, though we insisted we were too full to eat another bite! They were so generous and welcoming!

After supper, kids started to come by celebrating the New Year; it was sort of like Halloween and the girls dressed up as boys, and the boys as girls, and went door to door dancing to get treats like food and small coins. Mariama’s little sister went out; she was so cute! The two of us Class Afloat students stayed at the home, and Mariama’s Aunt, who was a hairdresser, offered to braid our hair.

The next morning we woke up feeling well rested for once! After a quick breakfast we headed out with Mariama to the local market; it was a busy street with dark, smelly, narrow side streets that formed the bustling market where you could buy anything from food to fabrics. I felt so out of place, and everyone seemed to stare at us as Mariama led us through the maze of small shops. It was so cool to see the market and really get a feel for her everyday life, something that we never would have gotten to experience on our own.

We bought food for the day and back at their home we began to prepare lunch; chicken yassa, one of Senegal’s national dishes. We helped as much as we could to get the yassa ready, and while we were doing so Mariama’s sister and aunt were frying up little dough rounds that we got to try, hot, crispy and delicious for snacking! When lunch was ready we all sat around and ate as we had the night before, and again it was delicious!

Not long after lunch it was time to say goodbye to Mariama’s family and we thanked them many, many times for the incredible kindness they showed us, welcoming us into their lives. We returned to their ship, our home, after an amazing experience.

Cute kids living at the camp

Local market

Homestay - braided hair!

Two days later, after a full day of classes (we had to have one school day since we are in Dakar for so long) followed by the first coffee house of the year, we had another port program for the morning. We got to choose between visiting an orphanage and a street kids centre, and I went to the street kids centre. They knew we were coming, but when we got there I felt as though things were quite disorganized. We had fun nonetheless; it was an all-boys centre and we brought soccer balls with us to play games with the kids.

Another program was planned for the 29^th, another part of our West Africa Initiative. We took buses, this time with some of the SYTO students, and embarked on a 3-4 hour drive to the Diourbel region. There we met some locals who led a discussion about Senegalese women’s rights, as well as a few Peace Corps (an American volunteer program that sends volunteers to a country for a minimum of two years to integrate into the community and help out more effectively) volunteers. They showed us how they make briquettes, bricks of recycled paper, cardboard and peanut shells, which are used as an alternative fuel source for families to cook. The cardboard had to be collected, ripped up, and mixed with water and peanut shells (since there are so many peanuts in Senegal, one of the country’s biggest exports) to form a paste. We got to use a mold to form the paste into bricks and then they were set out to dry. It was neat, but the process was very time consuming.

Making briquettes!

December 1^st featured yet another port program – so many port programs in Senegal! We drove to Lycée Thiaroye, a high school where they had built a garden. We learnt a bit about urban gardening techniques, and about the different plants they had, some with medicinal purposes and some that were grown for food. There was lots of fresh basil, varieties of fresh mint, yummy papaya that we got to taste, as well as fresh radish that we tried straight from the ground! We then got to help out in the garden, transplanting cabbage and lettuce, placing each tiny plant next to a hole in the water hoses that ran the length of the garden; they had a drip irrigation system that conserves water while still providing the right amount of water for the plants! It was all really neat, and afterwards we got to sit and talk with some students from the high school; I’m so glad I speak French since I was able to use it a lot in Senegal!

Gardening at Lycée Thiaroye

The next day we had a reception on the ship to get a chance to show the SYTO students our home after we got the chance to experience theirs. Then, we had a Saint Nicholas day celebration (a Dutch holiday that is like Christmas) where we each person drew a name and had to write a poem for that person; it was a fun night!

Reception on the ship

December 3^rd was our last day in Dakar. We had shore leave for the afternoon and my group (we had to have groups of 6 with at least 2 boys, which is pretty hard to organize!) went for lunch and really tasty local fruit juice! We then walked around a market, and despite being quite touristy, it was fun to see all the busy shops and the beautiful fabrics and vibrant colours of the fabric stores.

Finally came departure day. Dakar was a really long port, and though it was an amazing experience, we were all feeling tired out by the end of it and ready for our first Atlantic crossing!