Visit to Senegal

Zambian delegation at eLearning Africa Conference in Senegal

Doing things for the first time can be interesting and a bit unsettling! Such was my frame of mind when I made my first visit to Senegal, a Francophone and a Muslim nation. From 26th to 30th May last week, I travelled to Senegal to attend the 4th eLearning Africa Conference. I travelled under the invitation of UNESCO and the sponsorship of Commonwealth of Learning. I was invited to present a paper on Distance and e-Learning in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector in Zambia.

I got to Dakar from Lusaka via Johannesburg. Lusaka to Johannesburg took 2 hours by air. Johannesburg to Dakar took slightly over 8 hours. We arrived in Dakar at 01 00 hours. To my surprise and delight there was someone waiting for me at the airport. Though it was 01 00 hours, there were a number of people selling foodstuffs, sim cards, foreign exchange and other products. This was my first introduction to Senegal. A nation bursting with people that are eager to make a living by going the extra mile! People that are enterprising and realise that earning money is not done while you are lying on a bed thinking of the lucky winning numbers in a lottery. Agriculture is the main stay of the economy. Senegal has a population of 12.7 million. The major languages are French and Wolof. Wolof is also spoken in Gambia (the cousins to the Senegalese). Senegal sits on the Atlantic Ocean, at Africa’s most westerly point between Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania, with The Gambia almost entirely enclosed within it. Senegal enjoys a steadily warm, year round climate, with a short rainy season between the months of June and October.

Le Meridien President, Dakar

During my stay in Dakar, I was accommodated at the Hotel Fana in the Alamides area near the Leopold Sedhor Senghor Airport. The airport is named after the first Senegalese president (also an accomplished poet) who ruled from 1960 to 1980. Senegal is one of the nations that has had peaceful transitions of governments in Africa. Abdiou Diouf was the next president followed from 1980 to 2000. From 2000 to-date Abdoulaye Wade has been the president. Wade has been one of the architects and prime movers of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).

My first day was spent doing registration and shopping for Senegalese clothes at the market. Registration was done by the organisers with students (in lovely green t-shirts) from higher institutions. We were assisted by a very helpful local lady (with a Zambian mother and Senegalese father) to buy the right materials at a good price. The Senegalese material is very good. Here I must make a defence of buying and wearing West African and other African clothes. Some say it’s copying West African clothing. But when we wear Western suits aren’t we copying them? What’s wrong of wanting to be African. Some say that West African clothes are too flashy and showy. Perhaps because of them being shiny and having laces and all, but African attire is generally that way and very colourful. The times I’ve worn African attire outside my country my white friends have commented that they are very good and colourful. I believe if we resolved as Africans we could easily replace the Western suits and clothes as office wear and elsewhere. We are just obsessed with them but our own African clothes are better by far. At least for us!

As we moved in Dakar we saw a lot of construction going on. This is of houses and office buildings. Senegal is quite developed. I understand that it is one of the advanced economies in Western Africa along with Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana and Nigeria In the evening, I joined the COL director, Joshua Mallett, and two ladies from Ghana and Jibril from Cameroun based in Burundi on a discussion of a project in Community Health Nursing by Distance Learning. This project is taking place in Ghana with Jibril (another name for Gabriel!) providing IT expertise and translation from English to French. COL are providing support to this project. After the discussion, we had dinner together. The meals during the Conference were excellent. They were a mix of French cuisine and local dishes. I drank some baobab drink and some local red drink which was very nice. One thing about Senegal is that they have a very good diet. The people there are generally tall, both men and women! They are not obese as we see around these part of Africa. They eat mostly fish and rice, vegetables and fruit.

Gabriel with conference delegates

On 27th May, the pre-conference events commenced. I attended the 3rd UNESCO-UNEVOC African TVET Summit where I also presented a paper. The following day, the Conference was officially opened by Abdoluaye Wade, the Senegalese President. He stressed the importance of e-learning as a way of combating the very high costs of attending traditional and exclusive higher learning institutions in the Western world. Wade speaks his mind. He is a focussed leader who knows where Senegal is and needs to be. He has a passion and vision for Africa. He is also a skilled negotiator that has been involved in a number of peace initiatives in Africa. The eLearning Africa had over 1300 participants from most African nations and other nations outside Africa. Sessions were both in English and French. The venue was Le Meridien Hotel very close to the Atlantic Ocean.

La Goree Island, Dakar

The last day (29th May) of the Conference had a plenary session, some parallel sessions and a debate on eLearning. On this day, we (Joshua, Josiane, Maya, Defa and I) went to Île de Gorée. What a combination! A Ghanian/Canadian, a French, an Arab, a Senegalese and a Zambian. In one ship with one purpose to see la Gorée island. This is an island on the Atlantic Ocean where slaves destined for America and Europe were kept before the ships arrived. Seeing the little dungeons where slaves were packed like sardines feels one with sadness. Sadness at the fact that people could be so inhuman to fellow humans! A total of 20 slaves were put into a very small room. The slave masters lived on top and the slaves downstairs. Slaves who were weak and sickly and did not get any better were thrown into the Atlantic Ocean to be food for sharks. The island receives lots of tourists who want to take a trip back into memory lane and have a feel of what the slavery was all about. Other activities on the island include eating at the restaurants, swimming, visiting the museum and purchasing of the art works and other products. Truly a visit to Senegal is incomplete without a visit to this island. The island was chosen because of it being on the most westerly point in Africa which was close to the Western world. Today sadly, many illegal migrants use Senegal as a departure point for Europe.

One can go on and on about Senegal. I learnt a number of lessons during my visit to Senegal. I’ll share these later as I’ve run out of steam as I’m still recovering from jet lag and it’s a few minutes to mid night. I’ll share the lessons in another blog. Suffice to say that my first trip to Senegal was interesting and one that makes you look forward to returning! I made a few friends including one from International Baptist Church in Dakar who was able to get me some gospel music in French and local languages.