Making Changes

I know its been a week and I apologize, with work picking up mixed with bad timing for electricity cut-outs it's been difficult. I also know it's been awhile since I just wrote about what's going on with my life, I've been sticking to digesting the culture and politics. But it's time for a change because my life is about to do another 180. Although life in a developing country has taken some major adjusting and I've had plenty of moments where I second guess why the hell I chose to come here instead of somewhere a little more glamourous, after exactly one month of being here in Dakar the fact is I've found my groove. I have made friends (Paulette and Bira), I take dance classes with two awesome girls (Awa and Faly), my host mom (Hawa) and I have a connection (even though our conversation is limited due to some major language barrier, there is a sense of understanding, friendship, and protection we share for each other), I've finally mastered the bus system (well, almost) so I don't have to rely on taxis, and I can finally hold decent conversations in French (as long as the person I'm conversing with is patient). Along with the day-to-day life, Dakar also has it's share of tourist options which are nice escapes on the weekends and also allow me to see fellow toubabs.  I've visited Ile de Ngor a few times which is my favorite!  It's a great place to pass the day relaxing on the beach where surprisingly you can get a plate to Thieboudienne for just $2! Last weekend I visited La Maison des Esclaves which is where the West Africans were kept before they were shipped to the United States, sometimes staying in the cramped quarters waiting for up to 3 months. It was separated by designated rooms, one for each men, women, children, young girls, and even smaller one for those who would not comply (can you blame them?).  I also spent sometime one day in the centre-ville which is downtown Dakar. SO AWESOME! I love the hustle and bustle of a big city and for the first time I really saw diversity. Most places where I see other toubabs are tourist hot spots but centre-ville is mixed with many foreigners who work and live there. I've always felt that diversity is key- a combination of races, nationalities, religions, clothing styles, and food- in most Senegal, diversity is very very rare. And I'm about to be exposed to an town where the only non-Senegalese are other interns/peace corps workers like myself.
  When I had planned my trip/intership, I was supposed to be in Dakar for only two weeks to take a language intensive class and then leave for Matam where my internship takes place. However, due to the difficulty of traveling from town to town here, I have had to wait in Dakar for an extra two weeks- allowing me to visit awesome sites, improve my French, grow close with my host family here, and make friends. Now on Sunday I will be parting ways with Dakar and moving my suitcases to Matam but the thing is I didn't think it would be this hard to say goodbye to Dakar after only being here for a month. I've grown attached to the beaches, the buses, my fruit stand vendor, and most of all the few people I've had the pleasure of  spending my time with.
  I have to keep in mind the purpose of my trip- to improve the lives of those living in the rural Fouta region (where Matam is located). My boss man person arrived in Dakar yesterday so that we could travel to Matam together on Sunday and he asked what my goals were that I wanted to accomplish with my internship. I replied with something of the likes to I want to understand what it takes for a small non-profit organization to run, how it operates, how it raises funds- I want to help with the projects that Ngaari Laaw is working on- I want to know if working with a small non-profit is what I want to do with the rest of my life, figure out what I want to do after I graduate- I want to improve the lives of the women I will be working with by bringing them awareness (I also mentioned trying to empower them- but this idea was quickly shot down). My answer was "unacceptable" he said "I want to know what you want to accomplish, what you are telling me is some sort of vision, you are to broad". So my assignment was to come up with real goals by Saturday that I could share with him and two of the other men who will try and help me accomplish my goals best possible. I really respect that he wants to hear what I want to do here and that I am not just here for him to tell me what to do and use as an assistant.  My original thoughts of empowering these women and showing them that there is more for a woman to do with her life than clean, cook, and raise children Ouman explained was out of the question and I can actually see why- although that doesn't mean that in my spare time I won't try to give them a voice, even if its just a little. Oumar explained that it is so engrained in there traditions that men go out and work and bring in the income and the woman is in turn provided for and has time to do all the house chores. In such a region as Fouta the people are not looking to be liberated from their way of living, they are looking for ways to improve upon that way. It means that I will not be informing these women that an education is important so you can work and provide for yourself, it means helping them start a plantation or making them aware of different forms of birth control to prevent HIV/AIDS- simpler things that will change the quality of the life that they are already living. Now that I have a better understanding of what I can achieve here my goals have become more simplistic yet at the same time much more effective. This is truly the experience I have been needing to realize that making a difference doesn't necessarily mean uprooting long standing traditions or battling corrupt politics, those things take years and years and since I am only here for four and a half more months, I'll be making a difference on a level that I can accomplish and probably be able to accomplish much more on a day-to-day basis.  Maybe one day I'll be able to change the grander scheme of things but for my time here I'll be helping with the smaller things which is A-O-K by me :)