Goree Island

Last weekend Roch, Annie, Tidiane and I visited Goree Island, the island where African men, women and children were brought to and kept for months at a time before their departure for a life of slavery in the America's. 

The house of slaves was built in 1776. Built by the Dutch -it is the last slave house to date in Goree, the first ones date back to 1536 and were built by Portuguese, the first Europeans to set foot on the Island in 1444. For three and a half centuries, people were tracked, hunted down, ripped out of their native land like the roots of time. It is on this brutal deportation of millions of black people that most of the New World built its political, economic and social foundations.

The slaves, these men, women and children were released only once a day to satisfy their needs, generally within this house. The hygienic conditions were revolting.

This small house contained between 150 - 200 men, women and children who had to wait for very long periods of time, almost three months before being transported abroad on ships. The highest mortality rate in the house was among the children.  The children were crammed exactly like in a tin of sardines.

The door of no return. This door is where the slaves were loaded onto the ships.

Roch in the men's room.

The women's room. It was bigger than the men's and children's room. A woman's value was based on the state of her breast and on her virginity. The slave traders had sexual relations with the young women. If a young women got pregnant she was released in Goree or in another city of Senegal.

Looking on to where the slaves boarded the ships.

A narrow hallway. Its all unimaginable. So hard to fathom.

The island...

 The island was very beautiful and peaceful. The architecture was colorful and rustic.But it has now become a tourist haven. People nagging you to buy something every where you go. Who can blame them, its there way of living and of feeding their family - but it just makes it more difficult to comprehend the history that took place.

Day 1 of shooting Documentary about family planning

A few photos from Day 1 of shooting our documentary about family planning in Dakar and the experiences of adolescents and young women and men. This day was fun, humbling, insightful, maddening, and inspiring. Good times.

Marieme, 23 year old single Mom of two kids with two different fathers. She first got pregnant at 16, unaware of contraceptives. She has a job, no partner, no help from family. She lives with her two kids in a one room apartment. She appeared so young to me. So timid. Even physically she was small.  She displayed such innocence. She just sat quietly, taking direction from us, answering our questions. She dreams of finding a husband and traveling. I couldn't help but juxtapose her life to mine as I sat listening to her.

Marieme's house.

Inside of Marieme's house during the interview, with her daughter looking on.

Preparing another interview.

Umy, another interviewee willing to share her experiences and insight into her family planning choices and knowledge.

A modern family in Dakar. Umy and her husband. They have one child, wanting to have no more than two children at most due to the financial burden. Watching football in there one room apartment.

Just an innocent onlooker :) 

Next we will be heading to health centers, speaking with a Gynecologist, a midwife, a Muslim Imam and more adolescents.

The beautiful town St. Louis (Pronounced St. Lu-ee)

 Had the opportunity to conduct focus groups 4 hours north of Dakar in the beautiful and historical coastal town of St. Louis.

Ocean front Mosque. Seriously, the water breaks just on the other side.

Crossing the bridge from one island to the other. Heading to the high school for the focus groups.

What I looked like after my hour walk to the high school. I was sweating pretty profusely!

High school where I held the focus groups.

My hotel beach. The ocean was so warm.

Breakfast. Juice and coffee. Had to take it easy, my stomach wasn't feeling too superb.

The nun walking had just stopped and kindly asked me if I was lost... I said no, just captivated by the architecture. She drew a big smile and kept on walking. Sometimes its the little moments and brief interactions that turn out to be most memorable.

More insight from Dakar's youth... and another working weekend.

Conducting a focus group on Saturday morning, the first day of Ramadan - presenting new sexual health elements of conseil-ados.com website. The purpose was to see what the youth thought about the sexual health content presented on the website, including what they thought of the images, the use of comic strips, interactive online quizzes and scenarios, and whether the information was clear and informative. I was also trying to get a better understanding of their internet utilization habits in general and how and where they acquire and search for sexual health information.

Every focus group is different. Some are more talkative. Others less. The one that took place this morning was more challenging than others. While the participants were students, age 15 - 20, most had a really difficult time expressing themselves in French. It was hard to watch them struggle when it was their turn to talk, literally stuttering and searching for words. After the first 15 minutes, I decided to carry on the rest of the time in Wolof, the spoken language of the people in Dakar. Even so, the participants were shy. This experience such a novelty for them - getting asked their opinions and to express themselves, to say how they feel, what they think, what they want. It was honestly hard to watch and listen. Part of me felt happy to literally give them a microphone. The other part of me was aching inside, feeling the emotions build up in my throat, as I listened and watched and posed questions. These kids live a hard life, having to traverse the daily struggles of modern poverty in Dakar. Not knowing what they will do after high school. Yet they are so kind and polite. So patient.
 They speak of being grateful to have the opportunity to hear the radio show we played for them (the radio show I'm evaluating), discussing menstruation. After listening to it the girls mentioned they did not even know some of the basic information presented in the show. The boys said they would go home and tell their sisters what they had learned.

These youth lack so much information and opportunity! I think back to all my education, to my opportunities, the spoils of knowledge provided to me - and here they are, on a Saturday and Sunday, given nothing in return but some information and a moment to express themselves, and they are thanking me!?
It is truly difficult to comprehend these massive disparities of life, of the world, when they are right in front of you. People say it all the time, but it really does change you. It alters your way of thinking, of seeing the world and how you will choose to go about living in it.

Focus group. One down...

First focus group! I was the note taker, though I couldn't participate or take many notes because the conversation took place in Wolof, the local language, but it was great to observe.

These girls were too young to participate, so they had to just sit and observe... waiting patiently for the free lunch.

The guys...

The girls. The girl in white had to have me wait so she could apply make-up before taking this photo. They know how to pose.

Good times, but tiring. Always like hanging with the youth. Fascinating.

A Saturday in Dakar

Close-ups of veggie and fruit stands never get old to me.

Just a random walking pic. I always feel like I have to sneak photos in before I get the glares from the locals.

Yes I bought one.

Walking the market.

My favorite part of the day. Drinking Senegalese mint tea, my new must have. We sat on this bench at a makeshift cafe on the side of the street for 2 hours, drinking, talking, watching the life taking place on the street around us around. Here is where we also decided that we would make a short documentary about polygamy in Senegal.

View from our bench. The man sitting here is the barista.

The other customers sitting to my right were laughing at me for being so excited to drink the bag water.

Largest cathedral in Dakar.

Senegal's White House. We got to see the changing of the guards.

Potatoes with spices. Delicious street snack.

Curiosity.

"Les Raps" - The rapid cars / cheap public transportation.

This was the best day I've spent in Dakar so far and my one month of being here. Got to walk around the city, explore the downtown, the big weekend market, drink Senegalese mint tea, people watch, take photos, chit chat - completely unaware of time. Simply wonderful.