How do you help Sebikotane, Senegal?

This post by Gaya Morris has been cross-posted from the Current TV News Blog.

When I first entered the backstreets of Sebikotane, a large town just east of Dakar in Senegal, Africa, I saw only a peaceful, culturally vibrant, almost idyllic community – people and houses packed together in a spidery web of sandy streets and family ties. I was struck most by this tight social web; by the way people drifted in and out of each others houses, doing each other’s laundry, eating out of each other’s bowls, watching each other’s televisions; by the way nearly every person I was introduced to in the street turned out to be related to my host family in some way, and so by consequence was introduced as my new uncle or cousin, my second father or mother. The town seemed to be basically one big family and everyone welcomed me in with open arms, lots of laughter, and bowl after bowl of steaming, oily ceebujeen.

And so during the first few weeks I saw only prosperity. People around me always ate well, dressed well, and were always celebrating – baptisms, weddings, holidays. Everyone seemed relaxed and content – no one stressed on in a hurry. Life was centered around the home and the family. Any lack of material amenities I took for simplicity. Who really needs food processors and dish washers and sinks and whole sets of cutlery? Vacuum and showers? These people live in complete dignity with just a few buckets, a spigot and a toilet bowl – and for cooking, some bowls and pots, spoons, knives, a single gas stove and a wooden mortar and pestle. Garden fences made of sticks and rags I saw as signs of resourcefulness, not poverty. The women who are obliged to spend their days selling vegetables and fish in the streets seemed cheerful and proud, calling out respectful greetings to friends as they passed – not at all poor or desperate. The copious piles of trash bordering the paths along the outskirts of the town kept the pigs fat and happy.

These were my first impressions as a newcomer in this maze of sandy streets and people. Now, nearly two months later, I can say without a doubt that a lack of resources, a lack of money, is a reality for the majority of Sebikotane residents. I’m not just talking about the kids who watch me unpack my backpack of interesting possessions and gadgets with envy; the people who dream of moving to America and France to live the luxurious lives they see ‘tubabs’ (white people) live on TV; people who might not be able to purchase things on a whim, but who live comfortably. These are the people that I, in my GCY homestay, spend most of my time amongst. I’m talking about the greater mass of families who lack the material means to live comfortable, healthy lives, and the education or opportunities with which to improve these lives. Poverty is here, but, as we GCY fellows all agreed discussing our first impressions during our first monthly meeting in Dakar, it is less striking in Senegal than it could be because of the way people take care of each other – the deep traditions of generosity and charity. I actually think it is almost impossible for a child to go hungry in Sebikotane because he will always be welcomed around the bowl in whichever house he might wander into. › Continue reading

Tags: Current TV, Fellows

Senegalese just want to work – Alec Yeh

This post by Fellow, Alec Yeh has been Cross-posted from the Current TV News blog.

Q: What are your first impressions?
Things here are incredibly different, even from Dakar [the capital]. Being in the village is just a lot more downtime. Things seem to move at a slower pace, and it isn’t a bad thing at all. People here genuinely seem so happy. But the weird thing is, they yearn to immigrate to a western country, where they can hope for a better life. It’s interesting that outwardly, they can be so happy, yet also want a better life. Everybody in the village is so incredibly nice. Nothing like Dakar. Dakar has that city feel to it, and you don’t get to know as many people, such as your neighbors. Here in the village, people know everybody, and upon my arrival, I already feel incorporated into the community. I stick out like a sore thumb, but nonetheless, they’ve been nothing but accommodating.

Q: How does your new home compare to where you live in the US?
Well, obviously it’s different. You don’t have the amenities that you had in the US. But it’s not necessarily worse. Somethings may be, but some things are better. For example, bugs fall from my ceiling. That’s something that doesn’t happen. I have a toilet at home, and a hole here. I have a shower at home, and a bucket here. But nonetheless, here, there’s camaraderie. Here, there’s this solidarity, this idea of “we’re in it all together.” That’s something I’ve never, and probably will ever, experience in the US.

Q: What are some of the local issues facing the community you’re in?
That’s easy. Unemployment. Everybody here wants a job. Yet there are so many young, able bodied men here, that simply can’t get a job. People just lounge here. They sit around and make tea and talk. And it’s not their fault at all. They’re so incredibly bored, and they yearn to do something. But with no jobs, they actually don’t have anything to do. I don’t think I will ever forget what my host brother said. I asked him “how many times a day to you make and drink attaya [tea]?” He answered, “sometimes three, sometimes ten. Who knows? You know, we come together to make attaya to talk and forget about our problems. We don’t have jobs here. There are no jobs. You know, I have my college degree, most of us do.”

Q: How are those issues indicative of bigger global challenges or trends?
I think it’s indicative in two ways. One, the fact that with globalization, with media, and with kids like me, people in third world countries sees how the other half lives. This gives them to desire, the want, the yearn to try and improve their position. Though they might never do that, it’s still there. That idea of wanting better is stronger than ever, which is why there’s so much immigration. The second way is that it challenges governments to be creative, and to create jobs and opportunities where you think there could be none. That’s what’s needed.

Q: How does what happens in this community affect the folks back home in the US? And the other way around – How do lives and decisions in the US affect the community you’re in now?
Well the first one for me, is just the fact that they’re making such an impact on foreigners. I’m going home, a changed person. And I can’t express my gratitude to them. It’s something thats invaluable. It’s irreplaceable. And I’m hopefully going to go back and do something about it. I think my answer to the second half is in answer number 4. They see how the other half lives. It gives them a new picture of what’s out there, and what could be achieved. It may be a bad thing, or it may be great. I don’t know. Only time can tell.

Tags: Current TV, Fellows

Challenges facing my new home in Guatemala

(Cross-posted from the Current TV News Blog) Read on Current HERE

My first impression of Guatemala was that the place I was living in was not “rural” as I had expected because everything in the little town in which I live is concrete and cinder block. There’s an internet café, and buses thundering past all the time. Also one thing that struck me the very first night was that they’re much more tolerant of noise here– there was music blaring until at least 2 am that Saturday. But now I don’t even notice it, so I guess it’s just what they’re used to.

My house here is not really like my home in the US in many ways. Here, there’s no central air, so having a window or door that isn’t perfectly sealed doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. We have no washing machine, so we wash our clothes by hand and line dry them. The weirdest thing to me though, was that they have a TV (with cable, so lucky) and a TV watching area, but no comfy couch to lounge on while watching. They just have plastic chairs. By now though I don’t even notice these physical differences, I consider my house here to be very comfortable.

So that’s my “house”, but my “home” here, my family and the daily activities of the household, is very much like my home in the US, if not more functional. My host-mom is a housewife, and she makes three meals a day for me and the rest of the family, we always have dinner together at 7. She is so thoughtful and has said things to me that my own mother would have. My host-father drives a water truck to fill people’s water tanks and also has land where he grows leeks (which we’ve had in meals and are very good. They get trucked to the US for sale apparently.) I have three brothers who are all in college including one for a business degree, and one who wants to become a heart surgeon. The youngest is 16, the oldest 23, and none of them are married because they want to get good jobs first. I see that as a kind of rare thing here, but I really think its good. They go to church all the time and are always visiting their family who live close by. › Continue reading

Tags: Current TV, Fellows, media

GCY Fellows on the Current TV News Blog

Andrew Fitzgerald, of Current TV, recently launched a blog series highlighting reflections from GCY Fellows on their experiences living and working in Guatemala and Senegal.

An except from Andrew’s first post:

What did you do between high school and college? Work at the mall for the summer? Try to read all of your college books ahead of time? Play your videogames in the air conditioning? Or instead did you go to a developing country and lend your hands and your mind in an unparalleled experience in service and leadership? Yeah I didn’t do that either. But eleven Class of 2009 grads have, embarking on the pilot of Global Citizen Year.

Global Citizen Year is a fellowship program that invites high school seniors to take a “bridge year” before starting college and to serve overseas. From their site: “By providing intensive training and support, we ensure that our Fellows develop an ethic of service, the ability to communicate across languages and cultures, and a deep commitment to becoming agents for social change.” I think this is a really powerful idea. So few Americans travel, and even fewer ever develop a second language, and a program like this can provide a really incredible perspective.

Global Citizen Year (GCY) is just starting up this year and its first round of fellows have recently embarked for Guatemala and Senegal. I had the good fortune to speak with them before they left about documenting their experiences abroad. I invited them to share some of their experiences with us here to the Current News Blog and we’ve got some of their responses back already. I’ll be highlighting them this week: starting with Alec Yeh, Ian Zimmerman and Laura Keaton.

Here is a link to the original invitation to the Fellows from Andrew.

Tags: Current TV, Fellows, media

Fellows Broadcast: The Reason to Take a Bridge Year

We asked the Fellows to film their responses to a few questions to see what they thought about their experience so far.  Here is what they had to say, two months into their apprenticeships in Senegal and Guatemala.

Tags: Fellows, videos