Today was our final day of learning about Senegal before going to our host communities! We learned about Senegalese history and culture, which was fascinating! Senegal is a relatively new country (on its own at least) as it just got its independence from France in April 4, 1960! We learned about the first presidents, and the politics in Senegal.
After this session, we got a training on things we need to know for succeeding in our host communities. There are a lot of things to remember and so many Wolof phrases to practice between now and when we depart- I’m going to be busy practicing them tonight!
Then it was off to lunch! Our lunch location was another gorgeous spot just down a cliff from the president’s house. It was such incredible food!
After our incredible lunch, we headed to the Renaissance Monument. There was some crazy traffic- they have roundabouts, and people come from every direction through them. It’s fascinating (and I’m so glad I’m not driving here).
The Renaissance Monument is the second highest monument in the world. It is awe-inspiring. First, you must climb 198 stairs to get to the base of the monument. It was really cool because when we got to the top of the stairs, it was Muslim prayer time, so we were able to hear several mosques calling people to prayer. It was a very cool moment.
The statue is a man, a woman pointing backwards, and a child pointing forwards. The child is pointing forward to the future and the woman is pointing behind, symbolizing the past. This beautifully depicts the Senegalese belief that even if you look towards the future, don’t forget where you came from. Also interesting to note is that the child is pointing directly to the flame in the torch of the Statue of Liberty in New York City! Also, the monument is made of copper and will eventually turn green like the Statue of Liberty.
After you’ve caught your breath and you have your ticket to go in, there is a guided tour of 3 floors of exhibits about Senegal history and culture.
After you have walked up the stairs for the three floors of exhibits, you go back down the stairs to get into the elevator that takes you all the way to the man’s head, where you get an unbelievable view of the city of Dakar!
After we rode the tiny elevator back down, we took a group photo of us and then went back to the hotel for the night. A few of us ordered appetizers from the hotel restaurant to share and had some wonderful discussions. This is such an inspiring group of educators and I’m grateful for the fellowship and collaboration time! It will be sad leaving them all tomorrow to go out into the communities, but thankfully we will reconvene before leaving for home!
Car Full of Harmony 
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