We'll be Keur for 5 more days so there won't be any new posts. When we get to Mbour we'll set up a flicker page with tons of photos. We'll also summarize the projects at that time. See you soon.
Lauren here, in Thies. I decided I'm too old to do a "family stay," so am in Thies at a hotel with one other adult from our group. I am the 'old lady' who's been doing the garden work with your kids. Officially, I have Aaron, Justin and Marissa in my group, but Taylor and Sydney have helped and many others...and of course, lots of the Senegalese kids! There is a Peace Corps volunteer (Caitrin) here who has been a godsend for the garden as she knows the context, senegalese gardening abit, lives in a nearby village, and thankfully, speaks Wolof. And of course, our Capitan, Jacques Cusin! As a parent also (23 & 19), I mostly want to say how very, very impressed I have been by how well all your kids are doing. They are real troopers and it feels to me that they are learning so much about so many things! This is hard, hot work for us all, and a huge cultural adjustment, and they've really stepped up to the plate. The teachers are amazing also--how lucky the kids are to have such a terrific team to back them up! On Monday, we will be witnessing the elementary school kids' graduation ceremony which should be interesting-- I don't think they will have any of the lion dancers though (photo on blog). The Senegalese school kids speak some French, thank goodness, some better than others, it seems to me. The Senegalese teachers are being taught by our teachers how to use the 'One Laptop Per Child' (OLPC's) and apparently that is going quite well, but I'm the garden lady, so not the expert on that. I gather that a couple of our girls coached a soccer skrimmage today with some of the Senegalese girls-- they'll have to tell you more when they are able, in Mbour (the beach). A bientot!
ps: we've planted more than 30 trees-- this afternoon we'll get the tomatoes in. Thank goodness Jacques is having a wall built around the garden so it all won't be eaten by goats. We're getting good at chasing goats too-- Your kids are multi-talented! The medical clinic is overwhelmed with patients on a regular basis-- Dr. Katerina is a saint!
Lauren here, in Thies. I decided I'm too old to do a "family stay," so am in Thies at a hotel with one other adult from our group. I am the 'old lady' who's been doing the garden work with your kids. Officially, I have Aaron, Justin and Marissa in my group, but Taylor and Sydney have helped and many others...and of course, lots of the Senegalese kids! There is a Peace Corps volunteer (Caitrin) here who has been a godsend for the garden as she knows the context, senegalese gardening abit, lives in a nearby village, and thankfully, speaks Wolof. And of course, our Capitan, Jacques Cusin! As a parent also (23 & 19), I mostly want to say how very, very impressed I have been by how well all your kids are doing. They are real troopers and it feels to me that they are learning so much about so many things! This is hard, hot work for us all, and a huge cultural adjustment, and they've really stepped up to the plate. The teachers are amazing also--how lucky the kids are to have such a terrific team to back them up! On Monday, we will be witnessing the elementary school kids' graduation ceremony which should be interesting-- I don't think they will have any of the lion dancers though (photo on blog). The Senegalese school kids speak some French, thank goodness, some better than others, it seems to me. The Senegalese teachers are being taught by our teachers how to use the 'One Laptop Per Child' (OLPC's) and apparently that is going quite well, but I'm the garden lady, so not the expert on that. I gather that a couple of our girls coached a soccer skrimmage today with some of the Senegalese girls-- they'll have to tell you more when they are able, in Mbour (the beach). A bientot!
ReplyDeleteps: we've planted more than 30 trees-- this afternoon we'll get the tomatoes in. Thank goodness Jacques is having a wall built around the garden so it all won't be eaten by goats. We're getting good at chasing goats too-- Your kids are multi-talented! The medical clinic is overwhelmed with patients on a regular basis-- Dr. Katerina is a saint!
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