Cold Turkey

I haven't been very good at posting in the last few weeks-- but it's for a very good reason. I just returned from a visit to the states, where I met with friends and family and enjoyed all the pleasures of home for a solid 2+ weeks.

It was really a fantastic trip home (there were golf and cigars involved, a plastic tub of mango margaritas, a Tigers game of stickball, strobe lights and even french fries) so I thought I got a good dose of the US to last me for a while. and then it was time to go back to senegal and I started to change my mind.

I won't go into the details, but on my first day back in senegal I missed home more than I expected-- I missed not having to argue with the cab driver about the price before I got in the car. I missed clean streets and pretty buildings and happy smiling faces of people I might actually know. The list really could go on and on. what I really found myself wondering is-- am I completely ready to do another 15 months of this? Was I just joking when I did the first year?

So I propose a new re-insertion method for volunteers. No more cold turkey (it doesn't work and it is just plain painful). Instead, I suggest a slow-drip IV. Somehting that is portable, easy to use and not too disturbing to passersby. A little Wolof thown in here, a little rice and fish here, a casual string of shouted greetings, a chorus of sheep and even the sand from the streets. The most important is that it be entirely constant, so that instead of forgetting we have a nice and easy re-entry...

What this all really comes down to is that I had forgotten for a moment what it is like to live in this kind of poverty. I can only begin to imagine what it must really mean-- but seeing it again here was like seeing it for the first time. I think it is so easy to forget, especially after being here for a while, because people truly do show a resiliency and resourcefulness in their lives. But the reality of it is that poverty is a crushing factor here in senegal. there is no way to measure it based on what food people eat or what people buy for clothing, etc. I mean that it can be crushing to the spirit, creativity and optimism in people. We just had the period of exams for students here in Senegal and I was disappointed and discouraged by what I learned. Widespread strikes in the school systems prevented students from preparing well for their exams and in some cases even meant that the exams were never graded. For many students this means definite failure. The chances of passing are actually so narrow that many never leave elementary school. There are two universities in Senegal. One is highly competitive, with limited space. The other is public and open to all who pass their exams, meaning that classes can exceed 500 students and more. For many the only hope to really get ahead is to win a scholarship to study in Europe or America. Paying their way alone would be literally impossible. Scholarships from the government are so few that only a handful of students can benefit and private sector scholarships are non-existent.

Maybe I am just venting some frustration, but it seems like a one-way street for most people. The obstacles are so huge even to getting an education, that everything else-- job, well-being are like dreams.