I get asked quite a bit, "Why exactly are you going to Senegal?" and I have a tendency to answer rather vaguely ("Oh, touring schools, immersing ourselves in the culture, stuff like that") so, now that our host community agendas have been finalized, I thought it might be nice to publish a blog post that shares with its readers what, exactly, we will be doing as well as paraphrasing some of the TGC fellowship's overarching goals, which I hope I can use as talking points in future conversations instead of just freezing and saying, "Um... stuff," while keeping the meat of the experience in my brain.
While our itinerary for Dakar has yet to be sent to us, my travel partner Matt and I have been collaborating with Dominique, an English teacher at Lycee Charles de Gualle in Saint Louis, on how exactly our time there will be spent. Keeping in mind that Matt and I are both high school English teachers (he in the upper peninsula of Michigan and I in the middle of South Carolina) and that are guiding questions have similar foci (his on storytelling and the art of discussing global issues and mine on media, student journalism, and writing instruction), Dominique crafted the following agenda. Keep in mind, we keep getting told about "Senegal time," and that it's just part of the culture to go with the flow and be flexible, so it will be interesting to see how rigidly we stick to this agenda, and how many impromptu experiences arise while we there.
All of this said, here is our Host Community Schedule, mixed in with a few of my own visions & musings:
Saturday, April 22
Leave Dakar at 9:00 by methods unknown (car, train, plane? we don't know yet!)
Meet Dominique (our host teacher) at the hotel where we are staying, followed by lunch at the hotel's restaurant
Tour the island of Saint Louis in horse-drawn carriage (what!? I swear this is a work trip!)
Dinner w/ local artists, musicians, & (hopefully) journalists at a waterfront hotspot
Sunday, April 23
Visit Oiseaux de Djoudj National Park, a revered bird refuge and notable flamingo nesting site; hoping to spot a warthog, manatee, or gazelle while here too
Traditional homestyle meal at Dominique's
Boat tour, presumably in a pirogue?
Dinner downtown
Monday, April 24
Meeting w/ school principal & "deputy" of the English cell, which I'm thinking is like the department head; interview re: guiding question & general curiosities; present w/ gifts from AHS; try to build positive relationship with AHS & LCG
Observe an English teacher & discuss teaching strategies
Observe science teacher, with whom I believe a TGC fellow from last year (who happens also to be from Columbia, SC!) is collaborating on a project; brainstorm ideas on potential AHS-LCG partnerships
Lunch downtown
Visit the Diama Dam, the only road bridge across the river b/t Senegal & Mauritania
Dinner at place called Aissatou
Tuesday, April 25
Observe Dominique at the private school where he works part-time
Give presentation on American culture, politics, and diversity
Planning to...
Prepare slideshow on culture (esp. geography, food, college sports, and comedy in SC)
Open the floor for questions on American politics, which I assume will center around the 2016 election
Show student diversity via video clips of AHS's student media
Co-teach a 12th grade class at LCG w/ Matt
Planning to...
Show photos of South Carolina's geography
Teach students how to make grits, pimiento cheese, and/or fried green tomatoes (depending on availability of ingredients)
Tell funny homophone jokes & see if their English skills are good enough to recognize the puns
Share AHS's student newspaper and news show
Exchange paper & digital postcards
Dinner at restaurant called La Louisiane
Wednesday, April 26
Visit Gaston Berger University; explore college system
Lunch at restaurant near university
Meeting with ATES (not sure what this is)
Dinner somewhere downtown
Thursday, April 27
Visit Peytavin Technical High School
Visit CRETEF, a professional training school for girls only; will be interesting to explore how the school system functions to construct gender in Senegal vs. US
Visit the ZEBRABAR Park & embouchure
Friday, April 28
Observe teacher at the girls' high school called Ameth Fall
Observe an English teacher in AMD junior high
Shop at the big market
Farewell dinner at Chez Dada
So, there you have it.
As for the overall goals of the program, in alignment with those of TGC, as a result of my experiences in both Dakar and Saint Louis, I hope...
to globalize South Carolina, and specifically the area in which I work.
to become a resource for teachers at my school and in my community who want to globalize their own classrooms.
to encourage students and teachers to seek out travel, exchange, international, and cross-cultural opportunities for themselves and their students.
to serve as a citizen diplomat, spreading a positive image of Americans and America.
to promote a country who models how a predominately Muslim country should be.
to learn about a foreign culture and society and embrace differences while
to build relationships between AHS and the schools in Africa as a possibly springboard for future global communications and lessons.
to provide opportunities for my students to communicate with peers in other parts of the world in a safe, supervised medium.
to advocate for peace, empathy, and respect among all citizens of the world.
to replace SC students' fears & fallacies with curiosity & compassion towards people from around the world.
to illustrate the point that my students will compete with others from around the world for jobs, even here in SC.
to parlay the knowledge & skills in global education gleaned through the fellowship into a research focus for my PhD program, which I hope will become a springboard for a future career as a student exchange program advocate in my area.
Ok, here's to hoping it all happens! :-)