Kolda Day 4

Another early start to a full day! We traveled out to the schools deeper into the region. These remote schools were a mixture of US AID projects and local construction efforts.

In Senegal, when a village wants a teacher they have to first build a school and then ask the government to send them a teacher. The teacher is assigned to a school, they do not get to pick where they want to go. If this was how the U.S. conducted business I don't think there would be many teachers.

The fist small village we visited had a US AID project construction for the main building which consisted of an administrator and a very small library. However, it was meticulously clean and well taken care of. The one laptop for the school (which had over 600 students from the village and surrounding villages) was powered by a solar collector. The school itself had no electricity.

Playground--Soccer is played everywhere

The school principal and school library

Books are scarce even ones in French..English ones are even harder to find. Like at schools everywhere, bikes are "carefully" placed where they belong :)

Thatched walls and roof make a classroom.

Students make what they have work for them as best they can.

The guard/groundskeepers hut. He gets to live on property.

The drinking fountain! When you get thirsty you go tot he well for water.

The students are always eager to get a picture with us. We usually have about 20 before the headmaster/principal chases them back to class.

Then we were off to a rural elementary school. This school had over 650 students. I was very excited as I love elementary kids. The excitement and ever present smiles younger kids have make teaching so rewarding for me. Tinty teaches high school so this would be a new experience for her. Me?? I would be in my element and loving it!!

Love the little chairs!

Kindergarden teacher

Alas, the kids were not at school when we got there. :( However, I got to ask more questions about how elementary schools worked and how kids are taught. The staff was really nice and even though they were ready to go home allowed us a bit to explore their classrooms and ask questions. The similarities of the student hand made decorations and scribble art made me miss my minions at home a bit more today.

A brief 20 minutes drive down a path (not road...path) and we arrived at the areas high school. There the English club had created a performance for us. Mixing poetry, culture and English they gave a stunning performance that I would put up against a drama club play from home.

Afterwards, we got to answer questions from the students about school and life in the U.S. which surprised them as Tinty and I are from different parts of the U.S. (She is from New Jersey) so we had different experiences and cultures.. not just one. I have to think that I too have made mistakes in assumptions like this in the past.

On the way out, I was asked by the principal if I could look at his computers. It seems that my technology interest was a known factor on our tour. I gladly offered to help. Again, there was technology present but not set up or anyone taught to use it. A NGO had sent dozens of computers and a server tot he rural school. But it had remained in boxes as no one knew how to set up a server, or router. The materials had stayed in boxes for too long exposed to the elements. Mice had eaten the cables and wires inside the computers and power supplies, parts of the computers had corroded from the ever present dust and heat. Once again, a gift had been given without proper instruction of training for the local teachers to try and put them together on their own. Where we would simply "Google" a question the lack of internet precluded even this simply source of information. I had the unfortunate task of letting the teachers and principal know that their computers were beyond repair.

On a small humors note..the mice did eat the computer mice so maybe there are cyborg mice running around in Senegal.

On the drive back we stopped to see some of the rice fields by a village near the road.

​ Locally produced mud bricks to build new homes.

As, we came back to Kolda we stopped at the market for some supplies and to get the kids new beds. The market was a whole new experience. Watching the bed maker construct a bed from bamboo and wire was really cool. We got to see it made start to finish in a short amount of time.

The market itself was an overload on the senses. I loved it. The hustle and bustle of the crowd, the exotic smells, and the new things. I could have spent the entire day there.

After the market, we got to get some much needed rest. I had a feeling we would need it for the next day. :)