Will the real Mr Gueye please stand up!

The Dakar Woman's Group handbook - when on your bookshelf it's a relief to have quick access to during emergencies - like my dental tooth problem (resolved!). Yet it's also it's own unique version of the "Lonely Planet" guide to Dakar!!

We've chosen to also use it as a way to explore the city, it's services and the people.  So mid January Manning and I opened it up to page 93 and 94 - and honed in on the section called  "Peintures Sous Verre"- Paintings under Glass. We went through the list of possible artists to visit and fell upon the last listing since it was the one most close to the apartment and we could walk there - The Gueye Brothers - 69 Avenue Blaise Diagne.

I picked up the phone and dialed - "Monsieur Gueye". I might mention that many times for me it's hard to communicate on the cell phone in French - one just because of my hearing loss, two because the French - depending on who you are speaking with - can just be hard to comprehend and three - I'm just not that good at understanding rapidly speaking French. 

After completing the call we got past 2 important points - that I mention I know "Wendy" from the Dakar Woman's Group  and that he was available at his location to meet us. I might add that Wendy (who I've had the pleasure of meeting in DWG)  is a happy go lucky lady with lots of spunk, 6 years living in Dakar under her belt with her family, long blond hair, an Ozzie accent, and wonderful smile. And while her French vocabulary is more on the minimalist side she manages extremely well with the Senegalese making friends with many vendors in some of the most out of the way, not so obvious spots in the streets of Dakar.  She was able to give me some insight before our visit especially around the history of Mr Gueye's father (Mor Gueye) as well as general pricing of the work.

Sous Verre painting is a technique of painting (in reverse on glass) that stretches back to ancient cultures - but here in Senegal it became popularized in particular by one man named Mor Gueye.  He is considered the "master" of this art form - but there are many.  Mr Gueye is a Baye Fall - a very religious order of Islam started by Amadu Bamba. A lot of  Mor Gueye's paintings during his time consisted of different scenes of Mouride life. He is over 80 years old now and apparently has really limited his painting  and has left that now up to his sons and other apprentices. 

Here is an example of one of his works I found on the web - a boy learning the holy Qur'an as an example of the more religious oriented paintings he created.

And another where  he is showing Amadu Bamba overseeing an Abrahamic sacrifice.

So this excursion is taking us on the journey of the 2nd generation of sous-verres painters. We work our way down to this place in which you really have to pay attention to the 'entrance' as it is easy to pass by - as it was the first time we came. This is the view just off the main street.

Since our first trip they have added some signage above the entryway but you still have to be a curious looker to even step inside - if you are in a hurry - you will miss it!!!

Just as we enter we notice on the wall - it says something with a name of "Gueye" and "Sous-Verre" just around the corner so we must be in the right place. 

We introduce ourselves to Mr (Mame) Gueye and let him know what a pleasure it is to meet him. He's a very amiable man.  He introduced us to his brother whose name escapes me and  who was working away along with some other apprentices in the shop.

You can somewhat see that the  image is placed on top of the glass and a thin pen is used to outline the design - ensuring as well the signature goes on first! All the painting is done on the reverse side of the glass from which it will be seen. There is a lot of thought that that goes into every detail - because what is painted on the right when turned over will be on the left. As well,  the plethora of colors are filled-in beginning with those in the front and layering from behind. And after seeing the detail of it all and the time for paint to dry between layers - we know now why Mr Gueye needs at least a month lead time if you want something that is 'not off the shelf'. 

Mr Gueye (left) with friend moving the 'drying' rack in the sun

From his 'front office' space we walk through the passage way to a 2nd space he has where he keeps much of the finished pieces that were commissioned or some on-hand inventory available for sale.  We spent over an hour not only talking about his work and life but all the infinitesimal  options of color and design of what could possibly be commissioned.  Our focus actually was a set of plates and he showed us two as examples that made us, with out a doubt, confirm our decision.  And even more so when we asked about the idea of using a photo of our family to work from.  He will do anything you want.  He actually had a sample of one - a white woman in African garb holding a kora (a stringed musical instrument). OMG - it looked awful. Not the work itself but a white woman trying to look African. No that would not do.  We decided to go with his standard African themes and well known brand look!!

Here he is showing us his 'book' of orders and he's ready to put ours in there. I'm certain there isn't a 'back up' copy of this book. As it runs through my mind from a technology standpoint - he doesn't use a computer to track anything - not that was apparent to us. It's pretty evident that Mr Gueye is doing just fine with pen and paper and he's not lacking any business.  (I do sometimes think at times how technology actually can get in the way and isn't always that helpful - yet then again I couldn't write this blog and share it with so many friends without it.)  During the time we were engrossed in Mr Gueye's story - I received a phone call that I answered but with so much background noise the call and person was incomprehensible to me. I kept saying I was sorry but could not understand. I did not recognize the number.  Maybe 30 minutes later the call came in again but this time opted not to answer it. This little tidbit is important to know.
 

So moving on now to to a bit of Mr (Mame) Gueye's life - his father as I explained before was quite a famous painter so as Mame Gueye explained to us  - he was not a very good student in school and spent a lot of time doodling in his notebook. In the afternoons he would help his dad and eventually dropped out.   He enjoyed painting animals and became quite good at it. Because he learned so much from his father and Mame's technique became even more refined he ultimately took a different direction which was more vibrant colors and more detailed caricature displays of African men, woman and little children in colorful clothing with long or short necks - very different from his fathers subjects. Mame then started getting his own work and commissions and this created a rift between father and son.  That has now since been repaired but it took a long time if we understood him correctly.

His incredible work can be created to be hung on the wall, made into a tray, or a box, or coasters or truly anything you can think of!  Oh yeah, he also does fish and bolts of fabric.

 

After some weeks  went by and I was invited to meet up with Wendy at the Art Market Courtyard to learn and see more of the beads, jewelery and African art shops that are there. And see Mr Gueye.  About this time he should be done with the plates.  Another DWG member, Dorothy, comes along too - she is on her own really neat adventure here like us - but her kids are grown and totally on their own.  We all meet up and as we go in they turn left past Mr Gueye's workshop but I take the time to pop in. I ask Mr Gueye if he is done with our plates and he has to inform me he had not started. I was a bit disappointed but also realized I did not have a hard 'deadline' yet. He tied to explain to me that since we met him and we know this to be true there were a number of manifestations in all parts of Dakar and as well in and around his neighborhood which had an affect on him doing business. He promised me  in 2 weeks on "jeudi" he would have them done.  So after I leave his shop Wendy and Dorothy are in another section of the market and they ask me where I disappeared to. I said to see "Mr Gueye" and they proceeded to ask me where I was talking about and I pointed him out - while I was talking to "Mr Gueye" they were talking to "Mr Gueye"  - the one whose number is in the DWG book that I called. YES there was yet ANOTHER Mr Gueye. So we have S Gueye and M Gueye. And they are brothers too - but I don't know if they have the same mother as I recall "our" Mr Gueye said his father had a number of wives. "Serigne Gueye's" shop is just past and slightly beyond his brother's that we came upon first. So Wendy takes me back to meet "Mr Serigne Gueye" and at that moment  it dawned on me what happened. He's the one that called me and asking where we were that morning when when we were already there and engrossed and had NO CLUE whatsoever there was more than two brothers. We never knew or saw S. Gueye the entire time the first time we were there.  In the DWG book it says "The Gueye Brothers" - that day Manning and I had thought we met them both.  So needless to say I was completely beside myself and totally caught off guard by discovering there was a third "Mr Gueye".  I'm a rather conscientious person and when I put 2+2 together I wasted no time apologizing for what happened. Making him wait and never showing up. Mr S Gueye was very polite an extremely reserve man. He shook my hand and said "c'est ne pas grave". It did make me feel better and yes, I bought some coasters from him (very similar to his brothers) to try and somewhat make up for what had happened. It did take me about 24 hours to get over being thrown for such a loop. 

So now two more weeks pass and "our" Mr Gueye calls to tell us our plates are ready.  "Jeudi" arrives and we walk to his shop and literally when we ready to walk in we get a call from the school - please come and pick up the kids toute de suite - apparently there was some new manifestation at the school - not related the presidential election - but teachers in public schools who have been striking all year and kids have not been able to attend school. With Parker and Addison's school being private, the teachers were not on strike - but they've been a target for protesters. So today was not the day to get our plates.  Two days later we finally made it back for the unveiling of our ten plates. When Mr Gueye unwrapped the newspaper - Manning and I were just in awe of what he (and his apprentices) had achieved. We were elated, euphoric, exhilarated and speechless and kept telling Mr Gueye that. My heart was literally palpitating

In thinking back about that plate with our own 'Africanesque' faces - now I couldn't imagine for one second eating off a plate with our caricature on it that looked SO wrong. So I can only say we were THRILLED with the results, knowing that we will use them with much pleasure - and be reminded of fond memories of our time in Senegal.

 Mr Gueye (of the three) please stand up!

 

Moussa and Rhissa

I first met Moussa at the Dakar Woman's Group Christmas Holiday Bazaar back in November. 

I do remember a passing thought - it was the least 'Christmasy' holiday craft fair I had ever attended - here I am in Dakar, Senegal and it felt like summer!!  Don't get me wrong it was a fantastic venue of all things African hand crafted or designed with an African flair which I appreciated. Just because there was no snow (well okay so I don't see much of it in Berkeley unless I drive to it in Tahoe), no nip in the air, no Christmas trees, no Santa's nor any piped in holiday music - my pocket book did not discriminate.

 

So who is Moussa - Moussa is a Tuareg from Dabaga a town in the  Agadez region of northern Niger - from Wikipedia "The Taureg are a Berber people with a traditionally nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa".  His specialty is hand crafting jewelry  (necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, bookmarks, spoons, and more) out of silver, ebony and other beautiful stones with very distinctive designs.

Here's the story. I buy a ring from Moussa that I'm just enamored with.

Shortly there after the DWG event I'm walking in my neighborhood and I see a guy that looks like him - or at least distinctively wearing the white and indigo clothing. His scarf was covering his mouth - yet honestly - it was like our eyes locked - as I thought I've seen those eyes before.  As well hanging from his neck a very unique pouch that I recall him wearing at the craft show. He stopped and I walked closer and then he unwrapped his scarf to reveal more of his face and I realized "it was him". I was so taken aback at that point  (It's a "small Dakar" at times) I showed him my pinky finger - because adorned on it was his ring.  He was so happy that he held his hand out to shake mine and kind of pulled me in for a somewhat of a bear hug. It certainly caught me off guard.  He proceeds to explain to me that he shows his jewelry at a local gallery in the neighborhood and doesn't live to far from our neighborhood. As one thing lead to another I find him inviting me and the family to visit him in order to see where and how he makes his jewelry. So Manning, the twins and I make our "field trip" for a Sunday afternoon.

He explains we should meet him at the bus stop near the Clinque Du Cap - which I'm all too familiar with (a blog post I have yet to write up but it's been on my mind to do a story which occurred many months ago about the 'security' dog who resides within the property, me, our landlord and his brother the doctor). But this post is all about "the field trip"

We meet him at the Clinique and start walking up the road past this incredibly large  abandoned building - Palais de Justice.

From there past a large lot where a Demm Dikk bus depot exists and finally the place Moussa calls 'home' It's a conglomeration of working areas, cooking areas, a pen for sheep, chickens running around and  many lean-too type sleeping spaces made of wood with corrugated roofing. Before we started our tour I got this shot of these guys sitting around prior to stepping into this encampment - some told me they live there and are bus drivers for the Demm Dikk. 

Moussa showed us around including where he sleeps. And what I remember most was a bed like cot and maybe a trunk or two on the right of this lean-too ish space along with another bed on the left where someone else sleeps - complete with mosquito nets. On one level it's the simple life with few "things."  Yet as a nomadic person who moves between Senegal and Niger months at a time just for work - it doesn't seem all that simple working and being away from his family.  The reason for being in Dakar - he explained - tourists stopped coming to Niger because of Al Qaeda. Yet another topic to research and with the Mali coup and now Guinea-Bissau - it's a topic of conversation that is more present by being here in Africa ....

After we get the tour of this communal space he takes us to where he and his other Nigerian colleagues work which likely makes being here together easier. I think he tried to explain to me they represent a cooperative  from various towns in their region. Before he introduced us to his 'team' I got this shot of this little girl outside the work space. She was quite intrigued by all of us - how often do westerners show up here? I think not very often.

We get ourselves tightly packed in the back and if I remember one of the boys had to sit on Manning's lap for us to all fit.  Note the small anvils, torches and hammers - it gets hot in this space!   And of course you don't get together with people in Senegal without being offered Ataya and accepting! So as Moussa prepares the tea we watch all his colleagues work while also noticing the sheep that meanders about outside. 

Addison was given a chance at trying his hand out.  You can see the tiny amount of square space on the anvil they do their work on.

 

Moussa and Rhissa

And of course they were proud to show off some larger pieces they had created.  Not to mention their effort at trying to sell me some more. I kindly declined and it's a delicate discussion when you can't 'escape' easily and you've already enjoyed one round of tea.  And then they start showing the boys a few bookmarks. By the end we had negotiated for one bookmark that Parker really liked but truthfully I am the one using it!

 

 

By the end of our "field trip" I did have a proposition that I was sure they would be eager to take up. I thought about how I loved my ring with ebony and silver - maybe they could make a special bead for my Pandora bead necklace - not that I have that many beads - but certainly I liked the idea of having one specially handcrafted and designed bead from Africa made just for me!  This is where Rhissa comes in - he was the guy that was going to make the bead. You might be thinking - why would I even have this jewelry with me - well I just wore it like people wear bracelets or necklaces or rings or even eyeglasses - along with my wedding ring. As a few woman who run shops on our street started to inquire as it is their nature to do that here - and I'd come to discover that perhaps it was not helping to wear the ring and necklace in order to integrate in the neighborhood - so I finally opted to tuck it away (which I have to admit thankfully the first bonne  we 'fired' never found where I had placed it). In other wards dim the spotlight if you will.  However, for this occasion I brought it with me to show them what I was after in terms of this bead. It was a fascinating experience having to show them the clasp and the size of the hole required as some beads slipped on and others the core of the bead screws on.  They seemed marveled by the whole concept. I discussed the shape of the bead with Rhissa and the size trying to show them I wanted it somewhat proportional to others that it would be next too. Instead of having a ruler of sorts with millimeter tick marks to just measure the size of the hole of a few of the beads I had to agree on the size - he pulled out various things in his tool box to test a bead if it would go through the hole or not and that is how he calculated the size. It was quite absorbing for me to watch his process.  I suppose it doesn't matter how you get there but that you do!   After that, I was confident we were on the same page with the design and bead - I knew it was out of my hands at that point (along with the advance) and all I could hope is that given my best effort in French with them all - it was going to result in something I had envisioned.

Two weeks later I returned by myself  - yet nothing happens until after a round of Ataya - 

 

Then Rhissa does his final polish of the bead 

and with sheer delight presents me with it. You can see by his smile how happy he was with the results. I was elated myself!  So I wasted no time restringing the beads on to show him how it looked.  

Here I was thinking - this experience was the craziest yet oh so memorable of many we've had here. I'm  sitting crossed legged in this small work space drinking Ataya,  I just had this one of a kind ebony and silver bead hand crafted for my necklace by Rhissa - a Taureg from Niger, temporarily living in Dakar, Senegal in Africa. What more is there to say?!

The World is Watching...

It's a new day with a new president and a new chapter 

for the country.

 It's neat to be here.

 Happy Independence Day to Senegal.

Out with the Old ....

quoted on the internet - This gargantuan billboard for (former) President Wade, overlooked the beach and a main motorway in Dakar. Luckily for (incoming) President Macky, square centimetres of billboard space does not necessarily translate into votes.

 In with the New...

Sunday was the 2nd round of voting for the country to finalize the outcome for the presidential election.  The day was calm. All the contentious energy had been expended with the riots in the first round. We are still amazed that we saw the unfolding of those riots right outside our door. The results of that first round eliminated 13 opposition candidates down to 1 - Macky Sall.  With all the opposition support behind Macky - it was up to the Senegalese people to declare their intentions. The polls closed at 8:00 and we turned on the television to watch one of the 4 channels we get.  At around 9:30 this ticker came across the tv screen and from what I could translate - I "thought" it was saying that Abdoulaye Wade had contacted Macky Sall to congratulate him. It was showing numbers already coming in - in favor of Macky Sall - 3 to 1. Just about that same time we started hearing honking and hollering. And some firecrackers. We decided to investigate - thinking maybe there would be people congregating at The Place de L'Independance but as we walked to the end of our street and looked over - it was actually quite empty. All the 'excitement' we saw on the tv was taking place in another neighborhood where Mr Sall lives - to be expected of course. However, at that corner was a night guard for a building listening to the news. I think his smile speaks for itself.

The following day I captured a number of newspapers at the kiosk.

And on Monday - while walking around - while I may not have understood anything in Wolof or very fast speaking French - you could always catch either the name Macky or Wade - yes the change in presidency was the talk of the country!  We don't quite understand when if any - an inauguration takes place and in what form the 'title' is officially handed over - but we'll keep you posted. If anything I had better get a t-shirt in the market to commemorate the occasion.

*********************

(story from the NY Times)

A Turbulence-Free Election in Senegal

Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Supporters of Macky Sall were celebrating his lead in early counting.

By ADAM NOSSITER -Published: March 25, 2012

DAKAR, Senegal — The elderly president of this West African nation conceded defeat after elections here on Sunday, a rare example of a prompt and peaceful political turnover in a region tormented by coups and leaders who refuse to give up power.

President Abdoulaye Wade headed to cast his ballot in Dakar on Sunday.

The challenger, Macky Sall, and his wife, Marieme Faye, cast their votes on Sunday.

Election workers tallied votes at a polling station in the Medina neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal.

For months, the president, Abdoulaye Wade, who has been in office since 2000, had appeared to be going the route of his regional peers in proclaiming his invincibility and seeking a third term in defiance of a constitutional limit of two.

But that quest appears to have failed. The Senegalese Press Agency reported Sunday night that Mr. Wade had called his opponent, Macky Sall, a onetime protégé of his and a former prime minister, to congratulate him on his apparent victory at around 9:30 p.m. local time.

The seaside neighborhood around Mr. Sall’s house rang out with the cheers of his supporters, loud horns and blaring music. State television — hitherto a propaganda machine for Mr. Wade — showed scenes of jubilant crowds packing the streets downtown here in the capital to celebrate Mr. Sall’s victory.

Mr. Wade’s attempt to cling to power — the latest in a succession of such efforts by West African leaders — had aroused fierce opposition in this small coastal nation with a tradition of playing by democratic rules.

The runup to the first round of voting in February had been punctuated by protests, which were small in scale but determined, and marked by a large coalition of opposition politicians vowing to unseat the president.

In addition, Mr. Wade’s age — he is at least 85 but probably older and is among the last of the independence-era African politicians still active — had provoked Senegal’s youths into an independent opposition movement that coalesced around fiercely critical rap songs. Two of this nation’s defining characteristics — its young population and its distinctive musical culture — were mobilized against Mr. Wade, who showed increasing authoritarian tendencies.

As a result, Mr. Sall had been favored for weeks to beat Mr. Wade in Sunday’s second round of voting.

Mr. Sall, a 50-year-old geologist-engineer who is as subdued as Mr. Wade is flamboyant, finished second in the first round, with 26.6 percent to Mr. Wade’s 34.8 percent.

But more than a dozen other contenders had united behind Mr. Sall, urging their followers to vote for the challenger, and analysts had not expected the president to increase his first-round total enough to defeat the man whose early political ascent he had nurtured.

As it has often done in the past, Senegal seemed once again, on Sunday, to be providing a calm lesson in democracy to its turbulent peers in the region. Mr. Wade apparently wasted no time in conceding defeat. Just last week, a troubled neighbor that seemed to have righted itself democratically over the last two decades, Mali, appeared to tumble back into military dictatorship following a successful coup.

Senegal is one of the few nations on the continent never to have experienced a military coup. At least twice in its history, the military had an easy opportunity to seize power. But it did not do so, and the army here is considered firmly in the democratic camp. In addition, free elections have been held here since the late 19th century.

Definitive results from the second round of voting are not expected until later in the week, but already Sunday night Mr. Sall was heavily outscoring Mr. Wade in numerous polling places, according to the official Senegalese press agency. Mr. Sall even defeated Mr. Wade in the latter’s own voting station in one of the capital’s upscale neighborhoods, by nearly four to one, according to the press agency. Politics here is often a matter of unswerving loyalty and unquestioned allegiances, and Mr. Sall earned an exile in the political wilderness when he violated those codes. On Sunday, he appeared to have gained revenge — a prospect savored in recent weeks by the protest movement.

Stolid, soft-spoken and deliberate, and from a working-class background in the provinces, Mr. Sall angered Mr. Wade nearly five years ago when, as his hand-picked president of the National Assembly, he summoned Mr. Wade’s influential son, Karim, to explain himself over the management of a grandiose Islamic conference here in the capital.

“He told me, ‘That was a political error, and political errors must be paid in cash,’ ” Mr. Sall recalled in an interview at his home last month, describing how the incident had led to his dismissal.

Mr. Sall is promising a more subdued style of governing, less spending on prestige projects of limited value to a largely impoverished population, a strict limit of two terms and greater attention to agriculture. Most Senegalese work in the country’s fields and farms, yet it still imports most of its food, partly because Mr. Wade has neglected agriculture in favor of spending on new highways and a modern airport, among other things.

“The current administration wastes a lot of money,” Mr. Sall said in an interview on Saturday. “I’m for a style of governance that is more sober and efficient.” In addition, institutions such as the Parliament and the judiciary have largely been rubber stamps for Mr. Wade. Mr. Sall promised a change, “a new republic, in which the equilibrium between institutions is respected.”

Mr. Wade, who is French-educated with numerous university degrees, had at least 200 ministers over the course of his 12-year rule, six prime ministers and was sharply criticized for projects like spending $27 million on a towering statue to the “African Renaissance” on a hill overlooking Dakar.

“Senegal, in a transparent election, has proven once again that it is and remains a great democracy, a great country,” Mr. Wade’s press secretary said in a statement Sunday announcing his concession.

Quietly, Mr. Sall criticized his former mentor’s grandiose style — long motorcades of expensive cars, a new state airplane, big-ticket spending — in the interview in his home last month. He suggested the contrast with his own style would be evident.

“His problem is organization,” Mr. Sall said. “He doesn’t adjust his ideas to reality. He’s a dreamer, and he thinks he’s the most brilliant of all the chiefs of state.”

Disillusion with Mr. Wade and his high-spending entourage was evident at polling places in the capital Sunday.

“They live in luxury, and we are struggling,” said Ibrahim Diedhiou, a shipping agent who was voting at a school in the seaside Mermoz neighborhood. “They do nothing to create jobs,” he said, alluding to an unemployment rate Find Friends that in some estimates surpasses 50 percent.

“We must have a break with this immobilism,” said another voter, Amadou Mustapha Gaye, a secretary to a school principal. “Wade is stubborn. He’s built some bridges, but our measure of development is potable water. We gave him everything. And now he’s hung on for 12 years.”

Prohibited! Prohibited!

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919);
26th U.S. President

************ 
(little warning - this blog post may be slightly uncomfortable to read - but it contains courage too - but not from us)

When we first started at Sainte Jeanne D'Arc - we were 'given a heads up' by friends back home about the French system (who were familiar with it) in terms of how one drops kids off at the gate and that's where your involvement ends. We did honestly think it might be different here since we were in Africa - but it's not. Because of that dynamic engaging with parents requires more creative ways individually. I'm not sure whether to say we are sad or disappointed or just making an observation -  recognizing that for us  the sense of school community never seemed to materialize.


Which leads me to mention that Ecole Bilingue - Parker and Addison's school back in Berkeley - from our view - has a strong, warm, unique and welcoming community relationship with parents, students, administrative staff and teachers - of which we will certainly look forward to embracing upon our return.

Putting that aside, Parker and Addison have made friends and we know the education is a very good one. And we also know beyond the school itself - the parts that make up the whole are the entire year's adventure and global experience we are having.

At the start of the school year there was clearly a learning curve for us all - an indoctrination on how things work "school-wise" as Addison would come home on occasion and be told he had to re-copy a paragraph or multiplication table 5x or even 10x. No, Parker never seemed to get this same type of  'assignment' - he did have a different teacher.  In some cases the task was short and sweet. Other times it was long and painful for Addison to be on top of other work he had - not to mention trying to settle into being the new kid on the block - in Dakar/Senegal/Africa.  We tried to seek out a few parents who could explain this 'exercise' to us of which we were told that it was 'punishment' for behavior <whether disruptive or not up to speed>. It was clear parents we were able to communicate with on this subject did not agree with the method but no one seemed to take a stand for change.  Clearly there must be more productive or useful exercises that would have some learning value than wasting time copying for the sake of copying!  (Yes - it was explained - that's just how it's always been here).  Of course, at first we thought who are we to question this or even talk to the school on this topic?  It's an interesting higher degree equation of African, French, Senegalese, Catholic, and developing world culture.

So now we know fast or slow, real or perceived disruptions are a red flag for 'punishment'.  Eventually things did settle down.  And we opted to take up the suggestion by Addison's teacher that she come and do some tutoring. Seems to be a thing all kids do here.  (Maybe it's because they don't go to school all day? I have no clue but we figured it couldn't hurt). So with these weekly tutoring sessions (both Parker and Addison) we were able to get to know the teacher (Madame S.) a bit better - and she was able to get to know us better too! And we do think it helped bring them along in their classes.

During the week of March 11th we found out that the Madame S was attending a conference and that the secondary teacher, Madame G, 'moved to the head of the class' and used some new (old?) techniques to discipline the children.  Addison shared with us that Madame G actually slapped a student in the face with her hand. He told us she yells at all the kids and is "mean".  I was horrified to hear this report and not sure what to do or think?  


The next day I ran into a girl in his class in one of the little grocery store  here that dot our neighborhood and I asked her what she thinks about this teacher?  She kept using the word "mechant" and "gifle" which means "wicked" and "slap".  I started to cry - what is wrong with this teacher - this Madame G, this school and do they even know about this?  What do the kids think and what goes through their minds when they see their friends 'hit?'  What kind of fear for learning is now being generated.  We know we are foreigners to this culture and can't go around muscling our way in as Americans with the answers of 'what is right and what is wrong.'  But this seemed to require 'some' type of action.'  But we were not sure what until it was clear the next day.  The next day Addison returned home and told us his friend was hit with a ruler in the face.  Addison's response to us was "In America - this person would go to jail for child abuse" - extreme or not with his comment - there is no question parents, school administration and/or law enforcement would be communicated to accordingly, and depending on the situation - action would certainly be taken!!  Here in Senegal it is hard to say or know. But certainly at this juncture - we could not sit by and do nothing.


So, we decided that it would be best to meet with the Directrice  first and tell her our concerns.  (Since we didn't know the relationship between these teaching colleagues - Madame S and Madame G., we thought it would be better to go direct - maybe that's why she's called "The Directrice").  However, when the main teacher (Madame S.) came to our house for the weekly tutoring session, Addison decided to share with her what he saw - it certainly was troubling him on some level.  Madame S's response simply stated (in French but translated to us by Addison) which was quite comforting and telling -  "She should not be doing that."  

At the end of it all - Manning had a very receptive meeting with the Directrice and was asked to write a letter detailing the facts and situation - which of course Manning obliged. It was evident she herself was troubled by it not only as the Directrice but as a parent herself (and was likely thinking she was relieved her children were actually attending a different French school in Dakar). I also made mention that if Madame S has any other reason to be out of the classroom - Madame G should not be left to her own with the kids. I think a point she had not considered - but realized now!

It's hard to know what kind of disciplinary or course of action if any will be taken by the school. We do think our comments were taken seriously  as after the latest tutoring session with Madame S, still in disbelief of what occurred during her absence - her final words to us about the incident were -  "Interdit! Interdit!"

And of course we're proud of Addison for speaking up to his teacher and finding the courage on his very own to voice his concerns for his fellow students and friends who do not deserve this kind of treatment.  Tres Bien!

Simply Stated...

in wrapping up our time here..

 

It was a grand adventure in the Sine-Saloum