During my week in rural Senegal my perceptions of community and understanding of Senegalese culture deepened dramatically, perhaps moreso than in 2 months of living in Dakar. It was clear immediately upon my arrival that the week of rural life would differ drastically from my Dakar life. The realization that I would be isolated from other CIEE students and my Senegalese support network was both thrilling and terrifying. But by the end of the week I was surprised at how deeply one week of true immersion, interaction, and observation had deepened my understanding of Senegalese society and culture.
Above all my week was defined by viewing people not just as individuals but also as members of a community. My complex within the micro-village was comprised of Alassane’s extended family. Reflecting on all of the people I met, I have no idea where they fit in the family tree. While discussing this observation with Alassane, we stumbled upon the topic of how people’s positions within the family are not the most important thing. The important thing is that they are family. As an outsider, my natural inclination was to figure out each branch of the family. But after a couple of days in the village I realized that it was more important to get to know the people themselves, as individuals who contribute to a larger community because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who is related to whom and how. Each morning, the emphasis on family was reinforced by going to each household of family members before leaving for the day’s activities and wishing them a good morning.
Meals seemed to not be eaten based on parents/children and people who live in the same home but based on who happens to be in the house when it is time to eat. Tasks are shared by people in a way I cannot recall ever having seen in the United States. For example one of my family members, Ngoné, started braiding my hair with extensions one night. The next night a family member from a nearby village was visiting and she continued the job. The next afternoon two other family members finished. What in the United States could easily turning into a competition for territory (“I started it, how dare somebody else take over for me!”). The time taken out of their evenings that they took for an almost complete stranger still leaves me with the sensation of being welcomed into the community
Even amongst people who were not members of the same family the same blurred lines of individual identity versus identity as a member of the community. I spent two days at the Case de Santé observing and helping to open up the center in the morning. As I sat in the exam room none of the patients questioned my presence, demanding privacy. As the woman who works at the center spent the afternoon weighing young children and examining their records people were everywhere but nobody seemed to have any problem with that, unlike in the United States where people expect private examination rooms for themselves or their children. I noticed the first patient at the center walked in, was treated, and left without paying. When I asked about the system of paying, she told me that people who can pay, pay. Those who cannot pay however are not refused treatment. The cost of their treatment is noted and the center is later reimbursed for having taken on a social case.
The day I spent at the preschool/kindergarten, which was actually only a morning with class starting 9:30ish and ending before 1 o’clock, epitomized for me the importance of being a member of the village, a student, and a member of the global community. In a room filled with children ranging from around 4 years to 6 years old, I of course stood out because of my age and my color. However every child came and greeted me by shaking my hand, though some of them did it with a great deal of fear in their eyes. At the end of the day there were 4 students, 2 girls and 2 boys, who interacted with me in a way that will forever stand out as one of my memories from this semester. With the two girls on my left and the two boys on my right they touched my skin then touched theirs. They touched my fingernails then touched theirs. The girls moved my hand and arm and the boys mimicked the girls. All the while I could see on their faces the realization that even though I look different, I work the same way they do. Their faces were so intense as they processed our differences and similarities and I am certain those few minutes will be some of the most profound of my experiences abroad.
Prior to the week of my rural stay I knew intellectually that community is important to Senegalese and that people take precedence of time and one’s own priorities. I knew that hospitality, terranga, is of great importance. But it was not a concept I had fully experienced in Dakar. At the end of the week I was happy to return to Dakar, to my family, but the emphasis on membership in family and community is a lesson which will return to the United States with me. Alassane and I discussed how the true value in travel, in experiencing different cultures and lifestyles, is in sharing them with other people thus truly making a difference in the world. The lessons about people and community from my village will be one of the first things I share as I reflect on my semester abroad.
