I'm famous...

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're having a great Summer. 'Cause I am!!

Unicef made a video of my group in Senegal. It feels like ages since I visited Africa; I've done so much this Summer. 

I like that the video shows some of the villages we visited and talks about what we experienced. Plus, you can meet some of my new friends. 

Originally, I didn't want to appear or speak in the video. But, I felt I would be the only one who didn't so I finally agreed.  Plus, my mom persuaded me when she said I need to be the voice for the children who don't get to speak. People don't pay attention to the children. They mostly pay attention to politics and celebrities. 

Here's the video. Leave a comment, please. I would like to hear what you think. 

See ya soon!

Progress

Do you remember when I told you about Tostan and how they work to stop FGC?  This is an article I found on Tumblr. 

I think it's great that Tostan and it's work are in the news because I saw how great they are.

5000 Villages in Senegal have renounced FGC because of Tostan....Now Gambia is joining too. 

We saw this woman teach her village about not judging people by their skin color, religion or beliefs. Tostan gave them these cards to help. 

117 Gambian Communities Renounce Female Genital Cutting and Child/Forced Marriage

fyeahafrica:

117 Fula and Mandinka communities in the Upper River Region of The Gambia publicly declared abandonment of the traditional practices of FGC and child/forced marriage. Tostan, the leading NGO in the region dedicated to women’s health and empowerment, organized the declaration ceremony, which took place earlier in June.

Though neither practice is punishable under Gambian law, they have been declared violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of the Child, which The Gambia has signed.

FGC exists in various forms throughout, all in some manner cutting parts of the outer female genitalia. The practice has been traditionally completed in a communal ceremony, often with re-use of the same blade for multiple girls and without anesthetics. Many health complications and even deaths have occurred as a result of the practice, which had previously been endured by almost all Gambian women. Recent studies have concluded that the percent has dropped to between 65-75%, thanks to the work of Tostan and other human rights organizations. Forced and/or child marriage is also a common traditional practice, often resulting in physical harm due to early sexual activity and pregnancy.

Tostan, which means “breakthrough” or “spreading and sharing” in the West African language Wolof, have worked in the region since 2006, engaging communities in various health, hygiene, and community sustainability trainings.

Alhaji AF Jallow, a member of the steering committee, spoke at the ceremony and expressed his gratitude towards Tostan, but also emphasized the importance of communities maintaining their agreement to abandon the practices. Let us all hope that this is not merely a front for the media and that genuine deep-rooted and sustained change will be occurring.

Gambia is a country within Senegal. Long story, but what you need to know is England got Gambia and France got the rest of Senegal.








See ya later! Off to the Jardin D'acclimitation in Paris. 

Final Official Day - Senegal

On Thursday (our last day) we went to another nongovernmental organization called ACAPAS which gives children of the street access to education. The difference between this organization and Wednesdays, is that ACAPAS is a much bigger campus, and it has boys and girls instead of just boys or just girls and they teach everything from normal school, plus life skills. They also provide vocational training (a skill you can use to get a job) like embroidery. All of these things are important.

ACAPAS "School"

While we were there, a former student told us about when he was a poor and uneducated kid, living on the streets. Acapas helped him become a professional football player (for us it’s soccer) and he then became a teacher. He said ACAPAS made him a man. Even though I felt sad for him, I could see the school does a really good job. He is very grateful the school saved him from the streets, and now he’s the sports coach. 

Inspiring story

While he was at ACAPAS

Speaking of sports, at the end of the tour we played basketball with the girls team. They were much older and better players. They had no pity on us!!! Once we got the ball, YANK, one of the girls would steal it. In the end, we scored about 6 points, and the girls about 70 or 80 points. We sure got crushed!! It was fun to play a sport we play at home all the way in Africa.

Tough match

Alexi and Kobe "Oh Yah"

At dinner we had to present what we learned on this trip. I was partnered with Kobe (8 years old and very nice) and James (middle school student and also very nice). We wrote a song about education and sang it to the tune of “On the Floor”. Everybody laughed and thought it was good.

Presentations song

With the President of the US Fund for UNICEF, Caryl Stern...She's the boss (and really cool)!

I felt that I would miss everybody and how fun it was to experience the children of Senegal. But, as much as it was interesting it was sad so I was happy to go home.

My Group

My favorite parts of the trip:

Going to the preschool because they performed for us and I thought it was sweet.

Going to the villages to experience what it’s like to live in a remote village and live in a hut.

I liked the people on the trip, especially Kobe, who is really funny.

The food was better than I thought; I got to eat steak and pizza almost every day.

Typical Senegelese meal...I chose steak and Pizza

My least favorite parts of the trip:

I didn’t like going to the second Daara. It was really sad to see all those kids in the one room forced to do something they don’t want to do, and to be near a smelly fish market.

Unicef took us there to be able to tell people what we saw and make a difference.  Unicef promotes child friendly schools, which means schools with a safe and healthy environment.

I didn’t like shaking people’s hands because they are not clean and have germs. The weather was really hot so my face would itch and I couldn’t touch my face with all those germs.

I didn’t like the smell of some of the places which smelled dirty. I’ve never smelled anything like that.

Would I do a UNICEF trip again?

Yes. I think it’s fascinating to see different cultures, and to see how people live with so much less money.

I would want to go back to Africa because it’s beautiful and the people are really nice (they greet you warmly). I am fascinated to see the remote villages and how they get water and survive is interesting.

How can I help these kids?

I can help these kids by raising money and trick or treating for UNICEF.  I could take money from my allowance each week and give it to UNICEF. I could also make an imovie to show people what it’s like in a third world country, what I experienced,  and hope people will realize they really need our help.

Even small amounts of money can save a child’s life.

Thanks everyone for following my blog. I hope you now feel that you have seen Africa though my eyes. Can’t wait to see you all when we’re all back from Summer.

I may post once in a while if I see something interesting or important.

Chi Jama

(Goodbye in Wollof – native language of Senegal).

Leaving hotel Terrou-Bi for the airport

Paris bound

Child Protection Day - St Louis Senegal

 Tuesday night we arrived in St. Louis, about 4 hours from Dakar. Our hotel looked nice, covered in vines; but it was not a nice place to stay. 

Don't be fooled

The rooms were dark, dirty and creepy. We were scared of mosquitos, and the sheets had a blood stain (ick) and seemed dirty. My mom and I slept in our clothes on top of the bed with a scarf covering us. 

Two little monkeys in the bed

We woke up and went to visit a Daara in St. Louis. A Daara is a Muslim school. 

This Daara was located next to a fish market; it was really really smelly and there were a ton of flies. 

Stinky fish market!

Entrance to the school - we're covering our noses

The Daara was only one room where the kids slept and went to school. 

Entering the room

There was no electricity, no bathrooms and they only learned one thing - The Koran, which means they don't learn math, French, reading, Wolof (native language) or anything they would need to get an education to get a job. 

Garbage, goat and flies next to school door

Also, the kids have to go beg on the street every day to get money for the school. They believe children need to suffer to be close to God. Awful and unfair!!

School kids packed in their one room

The side of the room

I felt really bad for the kids that they only learn one thing (memorize the Koran) and have to live together in that room. Every day must be torture. They're not going to get an education, they won't be able to get a job and they'll have to beg their whole lives. 

Next we went to a day care center called Claire Enfance  - where boys who live on the street and don't go to school can come and have a place to stay for the day, play games, and learn about health. They can wash their clothes and take a shower. They even have a t.v.

A boy in the center

All together now 

Game time

 Unicef supports this center. It's really good to have places like this so the street kids have some support. 

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 We then drove to the Tostan center which is an NGO (nongovernemental organization) working in Senegal.  NGO's get their money from donations from people and organizations like Unicef, not from the governement. 

One of Tostan's main causes is stopping FGM. This is when girls are cut in their private parts. It's an awful tradition which doesn't happen in America. 


Why do they do it? It's an old tradition. But it puts girls in danger. They can die and get infections. 

Sad Fact: 1 in 5 girls in Senegal get FGM

Tostan goes in to villages and educates them about Human Rights and let's them decide what to do. Almost always they decide to stop   the cutting. 

Fun Fact: Because of Unicef and Tostan, 5,000 villages have stopped FGM!!!!! 

Here is Keur Simbara (awesome village) we visited that changed their ways. This village welcomed us by singing and dancing.  They performed a skit about Tostan and how it's helped them. 

Dancing ladies

Trible Leader who first said no to FGM and taught other tribes to say no as well

Girls Groovin'

Showing us how they teach each other 

Here I am with a ten year old girl

These people were nice and joyful. They brought us into their homes. They were warm and welcoming. 

 We drove home that night - 3 hours and were sooo happy to be at a nice clean hotel. We swam late at night so couldn't write our blog. 

Night Swimming

More Tomorrow!

Health Day - Senega

First we had a briefing at our hotel about Children and Mothers’ Health in Senegal. 

Briefings can be boring....

Sad Fact: 1 child in 11 does not survive to the age of 5. And women who don't get proper treatment at birth sometimes die during delivery. 

Another sad Fact: only 20% of kids get medical care in SenegalL

It took 2 hours to get to our first stop. While we were driving I could see wooden huts and people in tattered clothes. This is a really poor area and I felt bad for the children. Terrible.

Here is an example of a thatched hut and a typical "home". 

We went to a health center, a place which helps deliver babies, gives vaccinations and helps prevent malnutrition. It is small, smelly and hot. It didn’t really look clean; there was trash on the floor.

I got to hold a baby while he got a polio vaccine in his mouth and a shot in his leg. He started crying when I held him, which made me feel responsible for making him cry. It was cool to hold a baby while he was being cared for, but kind of stressful.

Then, we went to an even more remote village to see a smaller health center. The second one had fewer rooms and seemed poorer.  

We were greeted by so many children it was sweet. They were all singing a song with the words “Our friends have finally come” (not exact words). The kids had skin diseases and many didn’t have shoes. Their clothes were dirty and old like they wear the same clothes every day. But they were smiling and had bright faces.

We watched some of the people in our group weigh babies to see if they had malnutrition.

Fun Fact: The only way to tell if a baby has malnutrition is to weigh and measure him.

We had lunch and then returned to the remote village. They performed a play about the importance of hand washing (with SOAP), and I got picked to wash my hands in front of everyone. Right after I washed my hands, everyone celebrated with music and dancing. It was pretty fun and exciting!

As soon as humanly possible we were hanging up mosquito nets. Of course we had to learn how to hang them up.  Mosquito nets are to protect from mosquitos that carry malaria. If you get Malaria you can die or get very sick . We put one in a house which was as small as a room. It had a bed, some cabinets and that’s it. It was nothing like I’ve ever scene before. Smaller than any apartment I’ve ever seen.

The most fun was dancing with the villagers. I felt  intimidated at first, but then I felt more courageous because everyone was clapping.

The hardest thing for me to see was all the kids in their ragged clothes and their faces covered with flies.

If I could tell my friends back home one thing I learned today, it would be how lucky we are to have big homes, families and food.

See you tomorrow!!!

Education Day Re-Post with Pictures

Education Day

We met this morning at 8:30 to get a briefing on the state of education in Senegal and what to expect today.
Fact - only 50% of all children don't go to school.
30% of those schools are temporary shelters and get washed away by the rain.

 Studying a graph (Thank you 4th grade).

Our first stop was an elementary school aided by UNICEF. The school was not how I pictured it to be. The playground was all dirt and rocks. It was dirty with trash on the ground. The bathrooms looked dirty to me, but at least they had separate bathrooms for boys and girls and soap to wash their hands (important!).


This is Fatia - she is 12 years old.

Fun Fact: Did you know Africans clean their teeth with twigs they pick up on the ground? THey don't have toothbrushes or toothpaste...but they have nice smiles.

Sad Fact: Did you know, 3/4 of the children in that school have to beg for money so they can eat. They get out of school at 1pm and spend the rest of the day begging.

We got to paint a mural on a classroom wall. I'm in the background...

They LOVE school so much. In America kids don't like school, but to Africans it is a gift.


Then we went to a preschool - they danced for us. They were so cute!

Most kids in Africa don't go to preschool. This is a special place they are trying to make in more schools.

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Finally we went to a Muslim School called a Daara.
Mom had to wear a scarf on her head and cover her arms.

There were many flies and it smelled really really really really stinky! We weren't allowed to take pictures of the kids there.

All the boys were in one room and girls were in another. They start their day at 4am and end it at 7pm. It's a boarding school which means they sleep there too. They only see their parents one day a month and only get vacation two weeks a YEAR!  Their rooms were small  with thin mattresses like a prison, no windows or decoration.

Twelve kids slept in this room and there is no electricity.

I would not like to go to that school!
Back to the hotel...

Here I am eating dinner with my new friends.

See you tomorrow (Health Day)...