Hello all,
It has been an eventful week since we last blogged! The people of Mbissel have been wonderful – the local kids, who are full of energy and enthusiasm, love to play with our students. Everyone in town is excited about the group’s presence, and our students’ integration in the community has been a high point of the first week. One activity that everyone particularly enjoyed was an evening when our students paired with local kids their age who showed them around the village. We have also celebrated three birthdays in the group with a cake and a wonderful tam-tam dance party!
Work on our principal construction project – building a wall around the local church – has gone very well. Last week we made bricks and now we are working on the actual construction of the wall. Another project, teaching English lessons, is very popular with both villagers and our students alike.
Our weekend excursion this past weekend didn’t end up being the relaxing break from the village that we hoped it would be. The bus company (the same one used successfully by our group last summer) was late on the journey out which resulted in our late night arrival at the private island where the eco-lodge is located. The eco-lodge was comfortable and the tour of the partially submerged mangroves there was excellent. Later, during an evening trip to the nearby town for internet access and dinner, we encountered a long power failure and the trip home was delayed by a brief breakdown in the boat from the island, and several breakdowns in the bus back! We were all frustrated that the weekend didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped, but we talked through the experience and in the end it brought the group closer together. After all, it was an “authentic Africa” experience – not what we anticipated, but a realistic slice of life in Senegal.
This week we will continue to work on the wall and English lessons before heading north to St. Louis, the original capital of Senegal next weekend. Aside from an occasional upset stomach, everyone is doing superbly. The amount of growth we have seen already is amazing – parents should be very proud. We hope all is well in the States!Lots of love from Senegal,
Chris and Amelia
