Preparations Are Underway…..

For those of you who have never traveled out of the country, depending on where you go, you may need additional vaccinations. As it turns out, we didn’t NEED any additional vaccines (there had been a law that ended in December of last year that required all visitors to have a yellow fever vaccine before entering the country), but there are a mess of vaccines encouraged. I went to a travel clinic in Brookfield, as my doctor recommended going there for one-stop shop of all of the vaccines. Travel clinics don’t take insurance, though, and most travel vaccines are not covered by regular insurance anyway. The travel clinic that I went to was nice enough to let me know which vaccines I should get that my insurance would cover, and encouraged me to go to Walgreens or CVS to get those. I was very appreciative to them for that hint.

Today I went and got the final vaccines from Walgreens – Meningitis, MMR booster, and a combo Hepatitis A & B. I have to go back right before I leave to get the 2nd dose of the Hep A/B, and then I’ll go when I get back to finish the 3-dose regiment, but then I’ll be immune for life. That’s the nice thing about the yellow fever vaccine, as well – it’s for life.

Now, in addition to shots, our school is working on collecting donations for the Senegalese school I will be visiting and teaching at. My host teacher has asked for supplies to help students learn English – books, flash cards, and games. So far, everyone is so excited to help.

Additionally, the students are designing a sticker for me to give to the Senegalese students I meet that will symbolize the friendship we hope to develop with them. I’m so excited to see these made and to hand them out to everyone I meet!

The students I teach are going to write postcards to the students in Wolof (the cultural language of Senegal), French (the formal language of Senegal), and English. I will then hand them out to the students, and maybe they’ll write back!

Finally, I am collecting questions from the students about what they want to know about students and schooling in Senegal – I love encouraging them to be curious explorers of our world, so the more questions, the better!!! I always learn the most interesting things when I take student questions along with me! The world is an incredible place, but looking at it through the eyes of young students makes it even more amazing!