Consular Warden Message - February 28, 2008 - U.S. Embassy Dakar

Organization of the Islamic Conference: March 13-14, 2008

The U.S. Embassy in Dakar is issuing this Warden Message to remind U.S. citizens of the upcoming Organization of the Islamic Conference to be held in Dakar on March 13-14, 2008. This event will bring thousands of visitors, among them many heads of state and other foreign dignitaries. Although much is being done by Senegalese police and security elements, events such as this sometimes bring inconvenience and an increased risk of security incidents.

In the days leading up to the conference, Dakar residents should expect an increase in traffic disruption as motorcades ferry participants throughout the city. Due to the increase in police presence, pedestrians and motorists are reminded to have available all necessary documentation and be courteous when dealing with police. As noted in the Department of State’s Country Specific Information page for Senegal (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1013.html),Senegalese law requires that all persons carry personal identification at all times, and all Senegalese law enforcement officials have the authority to challenge suspicious activity and to request personal identification. To minimize inconvenience in the event of theft, the Embassy suggests that U.S. citizens carry copies, preferably notarized, of their passports and other identification documents, rather than originals.

Given the size and focus of the conference, an increase in situational awareness is recommended. Due to increased congestion and security, American citizens may wish to limit unnecessary movement during the event and purchase items such as food and fuel before the conference begins.

Please remember that public demonstrations, political gatherings, and student protests are relatively common in Senegal, both in Dakar and in outlying regions. In the past, these events have sometimes turned violent. Due to the potential for violence, U.S. citizens should avoid political gatherings and street demonstrations, and maintain security awareness at all times. For guidelines on dealing safely with public demonstrations, please see the American Citizen Services page of the U.S. Embassy Dakar website at http://dakar.usembassy.gov/service.html.

Months to Come

Monday, February 25, 2008

While my time here in Senegal is coming to a close day by day, it is far from done. After being in the States for 10 days in early February, attending the West African Invitational Softball Tournament (W.A.I.S.T.) last weekend, and all of last week being taken up by the All Volunteer Conference and COS Conference, I am ready to get back to work. It is nice to feel rejuvenated and having a strong desire to make some positive changes.

At my main site at the Infectious Diseases Ward at Fann Hospital, I am hoping to get back into the nutrition and food preparation side of things. This is an area which I got burned out doing last year, so I am hoping I will see full commitment amongst those involved in the project this year to tackle this. Hopefully, in the end, this project will be looked at as a well rounded one.

Also, I will slowly transition myself out of the gardening portion of this site so the technicians will be better prepared when I leave.

At my new site at the Psychiatric Ward at Fann Hospital, I just secured a small amount of funding that will allow us to nearly double the growing space. While this site will probably have a volunteer at it after me on a small scale, continuing to work with the technician at the site, I want the patients to be more greatly integrated in it by the time I leave.

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is most likely that I will be replaced by a new Volunteer in mid May, so over the next couple months I will be involved in some site development so the future Volunteer will have things to do as well as a place to live. Along with this, once this Volunteer arrives in Dakar, I’ll be working closely with them to try and get them more integrated into the city.

Another Volunteer and I are trying to put together a book on Dakar which will be incorporated into the training of new Volunteers. Dakar is a massive city with little source of compressed information, so we are trying to compress everything together with the Volunteer in mind.

While I am not searching for accomplishments, I am hoping by the time I leave here I can say that I got the job done or showed somebody how to do it instead of just leaving things hanging. Too many people have given up on Africa, I don’t want to be one.

Taxi Fares

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Early on in my Peace Corps service I found it difficult to constantly have to negotiate for prices….whether it be in a market or with a taxi. At times, it was, and still is annoying. The reason for this annoyance is because I’m not Senegalese, and regardless of how hard I try, I never will be…often times adding a few steps to the negotiation process.

With this being said, it has been fascinating as well. Often times, through these negotiations, you strike up relationships (many good and some bad). Also, you learn that Senegal is a customer-based market (different then a customer service based market) in which if one vendor or driver doesn’t agree with your price, another one might…and there are plenty of others. This is not a good thing if you are in a hurry though and luck is not on your side.

While I have always wanted the best price for things, more importantly, I have started to want the fair price….for me and for the seller. Lately, I have been at a crossroads with this approach regarding taxi fares.

I typically break my taxi fares when I negotiate in Dakar between 1,000 CFA, 1,500 CFA, and 2,000 CFA depending on where I’m going. While still being a firm believer in negotiating the correct price for when I’m going somewhere, I have had a difficult time lately trying to determine if that is the fair price.

In the past several months, Dakar traffic and road construction has increased to try and meet the deadline for the Islamic Conference happening in Dakar in early March. This construction has made getting around the city very tiresome. Unfortunately, because the detours and ramifications caused by this construction changes almost daily, you never know how you will be affected.

Some may disagree with my approach based on the fact that once you make a contract (written or verbal) you should stick with it, but lately I just haven’t been able to justify getting out of the cab and paying the negotiated rate. If it should have taken 30 minutes to get home but instead took an hour, with no fault of the driver, especially one as a customer, I honestly feel as a responsible customer, I have a duty to do.

The way many taxi drivers in the city operate is that they have to pay to use the car they are driving that day. After talking to a few buddies, I think the fee in Dakar is roughly 10,000 CFA. On top of that, they must pay for the gas they use, which like in the States, it is high here too. It is not cheap to operate a taxi.

As a result, the combination of responsible consumerism and little standard in negotiated prices during a time of grand influx has made me much softer in paying what I feel is the ‘fair’ price, not the negotiated price at the end of the ride…I wish my wallet always agreed.

COS Date

Sunday, February 24, 2008

During the COS Conference, we were supposed to declare our end date with Peace Corps. While on paper I have a date, it might change though. Guess the best thing for me to say is that I’ll see yall sometime this summer?

COS Conference

Saturday February 23, 2008

For the past 3 days, I’ve been involved in a conference at the Hotel Fana in Almadies (area of Dakar) regarding the close of my service. All the volunteers remaining here in Senegal from my stage attended. Out of the 36 that arrived in Philadelphia in March 2006, 27 attended the conference.

The conference, led by former PCV Nicole Dewing, consisted of a lot of different components. The first day was mostly a sense of reflection of what each of us had done (large and small). This is interesting because we each have had unique and differing experiences. Also on the first day, we started thinking about how we could turn these experiences (large and small) into positive components for future use, such as a resume or Peace Corps related paperwork. That evening, we had a panel discussion at Club Atlantique with former volunteers living in Dakar followed by a reception with the RPCV community living in Dakar. It was really interesting to see the RPCV community in Dakar come together. There are roughly 50 – 60 former Volunteers living and/or working in the city.

The second day was most mostly spent learning how to fill out all the paperwork needed to complete our service. This paperwork pertains to medical, financial, programmatic, and bureaucratic maters. Thursday evening, about 10 of us met a group of study abroad students studying in Dakar to answer questions about our experience as Volunteers.

The feedback sessions took up most of Friday. While the security session occurred on the first day, we dealt with programs, medical, administrative, and training feedback on Friday. These sessions were very beneficial and hopefully everyone involved in Peace Corps/Senegal will continually strive to make it a respected and valuable organization in Senegal.

Friday evening came around with a COS celebration ceremony at our country director’s house. I don’t think any of us were disappointed in the hospitality. Speeches were made by some Volunteers and staff congratulating and thanking everyone. Also, superlatives were passed out, in which I got….best go to person.

It is a shame that things are coming to a close…I wish I could stay a lot longer. The past two years here are something I don’t think I could ever regret. The people I have met, spanning numerous nationalities, have been amazing. The emotions felt through the roller coaster haven’t made me sick in my stomach but stronger in my head. There have been challenges that most of the readers of this site will never experience or possibly understand, which is difficult but I wouldn’t change for the world. After two years, I’m proud to be able to call myself a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer.

W.A.I.S.T. 2008

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

This past President’s Day weekend was the 35^th annual West African Invitational Softball Tournament (W.A.I.S.T.) in Dakar, Senegal. Twenty Eight teams and nearly 600 individuals from all over West Africa competed. Out of these numbers, 13 were Peace Corps teams from Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Benin, and Mali.

Every year, this tournament is something Volunteers and ex-pats alike look forward too. The weekend is full of exciting softball, great hot dogs, and time to socialize. The days are filled with softball games and events are organized during the evenings.

This year, my team, Peace Corps/Dakar, better known as Corps de la Plage had a good run, unfortunately due to some technicalities in the tie-breaker rule, we did not make the playoffs. We managed to go 3 – 1 in the round robin but due to the strength of our bracket, we did not clinch the playoffs.

Because our theme was beach related, our uniforms were blue life-guard style tank tops with board shorts for some and shorter style shorts for others. Also, we managed to get a few props to go along with our theme which included an inner tube, whistles, tanning oil, and kite.

The night time events included a welcome party at the American Club on Friday, a W.A.I.S.T. party at the Marine House on Saturday, and an awards banquet and after party at the International School and American Club on Monday. On Sunday night, my buddy Kris and I hosted the Jimmy and James Sunday Night Grandslam at the Oceanium. We had been putting it together for the past several months and managed to draw more people than last year, totaling roughly 350 people, mostly Volunteers. It was wildly successful and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, my experience with W.A.I.S.T. is coming to a close for the time being, but knowing the tradition that is behind it, several more generations of Volunteers and ex-pats will be able to experience this great weekend for hopefully another 35 years.

Dakar Rally heading to South America for 2009 after terrorism canceled '08 race

Monday, February 11, 2008
Dakar Rally heading to South America for 2009 after terrorism canceled '08 race

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Associated Press

PARIS -- Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 edition of the Dakar Rally, which was canceled this year because of fears of terrorism in Africa.

	The 2009 edition of the Dakar rally will last 17 days and travel through Chile and Argentina.

Organizers said Monday the race will start in Buenos Aires on Jan. 2 and finish in the Argentine capital Jan. 18. The full route will be announced Tuesday in Argentina by Patrice Clerc, who runs the company that organizes the rally. This year marked the first time that the 30-year-old rally, one of the biggest competitions in automobile racing, was called off. The threat of terrorist attacks pushed the element of risk to levels organizers deemed unacceptable. The roughly 550 competitors were to have embarked on a 16-day, 5,760-mile trek through remote and hostile dunes and scrub from Portugal to Dakar, Senegal. The race, once known as the Paris-Dakar, was canceled following warnings from the French government about safety after the al-Qaida-linked Dec. 24 slaying of a family of French tourists in Mauritania. Eight of the competition's 15 stages were to be held there. Organizers promised that the cancellation did not mean the end of the Dakar race.

Currently in Atlanta till February 11th. I am hoping to update this site with a handful of new posts when I get back home to Dakar and things slow down.