STRIKE! (stuck on campus)

Senegal & Education

Right, back to the study part of study abroad. So, for the past while or so the teachers of senegal have been on strike. Among other things, the government claims to have paid them, but they have received approximately no money. The strike went on for quite a long time, about two weeks or so, but it seems to have been resolved, at least for the present, well see what happens going forward.

This week, instead of the teachers being on strike, its the students. ENEA students (ENEA is the campus Im studying on) went on strike and locked down the school, in protest over disintegrating school facilities, poor conditions in the dorms, etc. As part of their strike, they've shut down the entire school. The campus is closed off by a cement wall, but normally there are numerous gates/driveways to get off campus. However, the students padlocked all the gates shut and wont let anyone on or off campus, so Ive been stuck here since this morning.

Inchallah, Ill be able to leave later though. As for as strikes go, its quite the peaceful strike, its just annoying being stuck on campus so long.

As far as the students complaints go, I believe I mentioned this before, but dorm rooms on Senegalese campuses routinely put about 6-8 students in one tiny room with 2 beds and infrequent power (although that last part isnt specific to dorms). The facilities can't at all be compared to American facilities and are close to falling apart in some sections. The students have been petitioning the school officials about this since November, but havent seen any response whatsoever, so their aggravation is understandable.

Travelling around Senegal:

Like i mentioned I already had spring break. For photo documentation of all the many insane amounts of pelicans I saw, check out facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=380124&id=667818503&l=5625c6d55e

Also you will note, I've made some progress in figuring out how to post pictures on the ol' blog, so on the side are some choice photos of the beauty that was Djoudj/St. Louis/surrounding areas.

On Saturday, I will be leaving Dakar for Kaolack, where I will be working with APROFES (Association pour la Promotion de la Femme Senegalaise...or for my english speaking readers, association for the promotion of the senegalese woman), an organisation which works in villages in the Kaolack area to empower women. Ill be there for about a week volunteering for them, and then it will be back to Dakar, for a hopefully strike free rest of the semester.

Travelling around Senegal, by the way, means taking a sept-place from the Gare Routiers Pompiers. If you went to the Gare and didnt know what you were looking at, you'ld probably think it was a junk yard for old trashed cars. FALSE. Those cracked junked up rusted excuses of station wagons are still running. The sept-place we took to St. Louis was possibly the most ridiclous "car" I have ever been in. Legitimately, before we left, the driver had to pick up the door and put it back on the car. Like re-attach the door. Personally I feel like at that point, it's time to say goodbye and scrounge up the money for a new car, but evidentally I am wrong about that.

About halfway through the 260 km ride to St. Louis, our sept-place broke down, which apparently is to be expected. The road to St. Louis is literally composed entirely of mechanic shops, a testament to the age and state of the cars being driven there.

So...we'll see how the drive to Kaolack goes, hopefully well!!!