Ajarama from my corner of the world !
Hello Everyone !
I hope all is going well stateside!
Here in Senegal I have been very busy planning various women empowerment related events, such as a girls soccer tournament most recently. I worked with my local mayor and two wonderful Senegalese work partners, one male and one female, to put on this tournament. It was a fantastic event over two days where middle school girls on four soccer teams played each other all the way to a final shootout.
Four Volunteers came to help me to put on the event and cheer on the phenomenal girls playing. I even got to give a speech at the end of the match on why I wanted to help organize the tournament and why it is important for girls to be able to play sports.
I also was lucky enough to be able to go to an initiation ceremony with many other Volunteers in southwestern Senegal a few days ago. It took place in a community where the Bassari ethnic group lives; they are Christians in a predominantly Muslim country. The initiation ceremony celebrates young males' transition to adulthood and is complete with dancing, special attire, and a wrestling match for the young males. While we got extremely dusty on the way to Kedougou, which is where the ceremony took place, it was totally 100% worth it! Also, if this isn't a perfect soap commercial, I don't know what is!!
The Bassari people are Christian, so they are able to drink alcohol, unlike Muslims who are not supposed to drink at all. Below is my friend Jacquie, who I was happy to catch up with at Bassari as she lives far from me in Northern Senegal, whereas I live in Southern Senegal in the Casamance.
Other than that, things are going very well! I will soon be going up to Thies, near the capital city, for a Work Zone Conference. I'm a Work Zone Coordinator for my mini district, Velingara, which comprises eight volunteers. We collaborate on projects and help each other out whenever needed. The conference is an opportunity to improve Peace Corps Senegal as an organization and make it more effective for development in Senegal.
Thanks for reading, folks, and I can't wait to catch up with you in person in November 2019!
Love love LOVE,
Sophie
I hope all is going well stateside!
Here in Senegal I have been very busy planning various women empowerment related events, such as a girls soccer tournament most recently. I worked with my local mayor and two wonderful Senegalese work partners, one male and one female, to put on this tournament. It was a fantastic event over two days where middle school girls on four soccer teams played each other all the way to a final shootout.
Four Volunteers came to help me to put on the event and cheer on the phenomenal girls playing. I even got to give a speech at the end of the match on why I wanted to help organize the tournament and why it is important for girls to be able to play sports.
I also was lucky enough to be able to go to an initiation ceremony with many other Volunteers in southwestern Senegal a few days ago. It took place in a community where the Bassari ethnic group lives; they are Christians in a predominantly Muslim country. The initiation ceremony celebrates young males' transition to adulthood and is complete with dancing, special attire, and a wrestling match for the young males. While we got extremely dusty on the way to Kedougou, which is where the ceremony took place, it was totally 100% worth it! Also, if this isn't a perfect soap commercial, I don't know what is!!
The Bassari people are Christian, so they are able to drink alcohol, unlike Muslims who are not supposed to drink at all. Below is my friend Jacquie, who I was happy to catch up with at Bassari as she lives far from me in Northern Senegal, whereas I live in Southern Senegal in the Casamance.
Other than that, things are going very well! I will soon be going up to Thies, near the capital city, for a Work Zone Conference. I'm a Work Zone Coordinator for my mini district, Velingara, which comprises eight volunteers. We collaborate on projects and help each other out whenever needed. The conference is an opportunity to improve Peace Corps Senegal as an organization and make it more effective for development in Senegal.
Thanks for reading, folks, and I can't wait to catch up with you in person in November 2019!
Love love LOVE,
Sophie
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