Reflection and Thoughts
My parents’ visit here in Senegal was something that I had been looking forward to since last March. I didn’t know how everything would work out, but ended up going better than I could have ever imagined. One of the most important things I gained from the visit, besides a few needed pounds, was that it provided me with a different prospective of my life here in this country. Also, it gave me a chance to reflect on the past nine months and better appreciate my own life.
When thinking about a Peace Corps Volunteers role in a given assignment, I feel that you have to realize it is unconventional and far more than just a job…its so much more. For me, the work that I do at the Hospital Fann garden is only a small portion of what I do here. To better explain that, one of the three goals of Peace Corps is “to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,” which is something I find very important. While letters, phone calls, pictures, and the amazing and thrilling literary updates found on this site (some of you may call it a blog) assist in accomplishing this goal, my parents’ visit not only allowed them to get a small glimpse into the lives of the Senegalese people but into my own life here as well. Being able to share my life here is something I think of as a privilege…to have family and friends have a chance to see it for themselves is vital to their own understanding.
My parents visit here allowed me to see a far different side of Dakar than I am used to as well as the importance of integration. Most of the places we ate and spent the night at cater to the wealth surrounding the international community that comes into Senegal or lives within Dakar, not to the typical Senegalese person…in a sense, that is a shame, but in the world of business, that is a reality. While in these places, I typically tried to use wolof (its getting better), the local language I know, instead of French (don’t really know it) or English (places like this have multilingual staff), and made several positive relationships with hotel and restaurant staffs because of it. Most people were all taken back by it. I think that the relationships created by it, made my parents’ and my visit more personable. It was really cool because a few nights after my parents flew back to the States, I went to a restaurant we had gone to several times, and the waiters asked where my parents were and we had a great conversation. I honestly believe that their care was due to my ability to partially communicate with them in one of their native tongues. We were taught about the importance of relationships and I really can see that now. Instances like this make my challenging two year assignment shine and worthwhile for me.
While Senegal may be a poor nation struggling to reach the modern age, its people are vibrant, typically welcoming, and very rich in culture and family. Coming from the States, the evidence of poverty is far greater here than back home, but also much different. It has not been until recently that I have come to realize how lucky I am. Lately, every time that I have passed kids, families, men, women, and/or elders who have very little on the street, I have had difficulty in composing myself. Walking downtown late at night and see women and children sleeping on the sidewalk is one of the toughest scenes for me. While it is not a matter of feeling sorry for people, it is recognizing that we are all human and wishing that I could help them all out…knowing that you can’t is a difficult concept to comprehend.
The things that I am doing here are not Saints work. They typically are not difficult. I don’t do a whole lot when it comes down to it. I have much control over the things I do. With that being said, I also don’t have to worry about my next meal, a roof over my head, free access to a pool, my health care, money to pay for things, and the list goes on. One of the hardest things for me to grasp is that the people I interact or work with everyday struggle each and every day with just the basic needs of life…It is tough to grasp that.
My parents visit here allowed me to see a far different side of Dakar than I am used to as well as the importance of integration. Most of the places we ate and spent the night at cater to the wealth surrounding the international community that comes into Senegal or lives within Dakar, not to the typical Senegalese person…in a sense, that is a shame, but in the world of business, that is a reality. While in these places, I typically tried to use wolof (its getting better), the local language I know, instead of French (don’t really know it) or English (places like this have multilingual staff), and made several positive relationships with hotel and restaurant staffs because of it. Most people were all taken back by it. I think that the relationships created by it, made my parents’ and my visit more personable. It was really cool because a few nights after my parents flew back to the States, I went to a restaurant we had gone to several times, and the waiters asked where my parents were and we had a great conversation. I honestly believe that their care was due to my ability to partially communicate with them in one of their native tongues. We were taught about the importance of relationships and I really can see that now. Instances like this make my challenging two year assignment shine and worthwhile for me.
While Senegal may be a poor nation struggling to reach the modern age, its people are vibrant, typically welcoming, and very rich in culture and family. Coming from the States, the evidence of poverty is far greater here than back home, but also much different. It has not been until recently that I have come to realize how lucky I am. Lately, every time that I have passed kids, families, men, women, and/or elders who have very little on the street, I have had difficulty in composing myself. Walking downtown late at night and see women and children sleeping on the sidewalk is one of the toughest scenes for me. While it is not a matter of feeling sorry for people, it is recognizing that we are all human and wishing that I could help them all out…knowing that you can’t is a difficult concept to comprehend.
The things that I am doing here are not Saints work. They typically are not difficult. I don’t do a whole lot when it comes down to it. I have much control over the things I do. With that being said, I also don’t have to worry about my next meal, a roof over my head, free access to a pool, my health care, money to pay for things, and the list goes on. One of the hardest things for me to grasp is that the people I interact or work with everyday struggle each and every day with just the basic needs of life…It is tough to grasp that.
I apologize if some of this does not make sense or sounds weird. Basically, I just wanted to get out my thoughts and reflections on my life here
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