I have left Dakar. In some ways, I can’t believe that my ten weeks here are already over, but in others, the day I first arrived in this warm, sandy city seems so long ago. My team has accomplished a lot during our time here–in addition to producing a great report on the potential for USAID to construct a network of local capacity building organizations, we composed four short success stories that feature the work of local organizations (some day these may be on the USAID/Senegal web site!). The documents we [...]

Typically it’s the 5:30a.m. call to prayer that first wakes me up in the morning, but this week what I describe as a marching drum circle has been consistently interrupting my slumber shortly after 4 a.m. Why this pre-dawn clamour? It’s Ramadan, and these drummers are waking up those who wish to eat before the sun rises. Ramadan started almost a week ago, and it has been neat to experience life in this predominantly Muslim country while the holiday is being observed. Ramadan is a month-long holiday which celebrates the [...]

On our last morning in Saint-Louis, Sam and I ventured out to the peninsula, an area much less frequented by tourists. There is a fishing beach on the outer shore, and with its abundance of colorful fishing boats (pirogues), it looks a lot like the Yoff fishing beach. Shortly after stepping on to the beach, a local man greeted us and asked us what we were doing in Senegal. Sam and I had already been asked several times if we were with the Peace Corps, a group of people of [...]

Today is a great day. After lots of hard work and long hours, my team is turning in the draft of our final report to USAID. We are quite pleased with how it turned out. We sent surveys to 101 organizations, received over a third of them back, and then held almost as many interviews. We met with nonprofits, associations, and businesses from one to 20 years old who currently do development projects in Senegal or support organizations who do. What we found is that there is a lot of [...]

The first evening in Saint-Louis, Sam and I took stroll around the island for the sake of exploring and getting a little exercise. As we walked along the river, groups of children kept flooding out of the side streets onto the road where we were walking, seemingly playing some sort of game (I was reminded of games of capture the flag played in my youth). Thinking nothing of it, we kept walking. We started to hear drumming coming from the center of the island and decided to investigate. Here we [...]

“Plage de Yoff” (Yoff Beach) on a sunny afternoon. One of our local friends recently took us to the fish market in Yoff, very close to where we live. This (and not the grocery store!) is where the locals buy their fish. Barracuda, grouper, shrimp, and many other kinds of fish and seafood of various sizes and colors cover rows of tables. To get the best prices, it is best to bring a local with you. And thankfully for us, they will clean the fish for you while you wait. [...]

“Equipe Senegal” (Team Senegal) near the USAID/Senegal office on our first day of work. We have just begun our third week of eight working with USAID/Senegal on a local capacity development project. USAID has a global goal of channeling 30% of its total budget through local governments, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), and businesses by 2015–currently the figure is 13%. This doesn’t mean that local organizations aren’t actively involved on USAID projects already: the current trend is that major Western NGOs like World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and other giants are awarded [...]

Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula, the most western part of the African continent. Senegal completely surrounds The Gambia. (Map from www.cia.gov) Senegal is just 14 degrees north of the Equator, about the same latitude as Honduras and Nicaragua. This means warm, tropical weather for everyone, and lots of sunscreen for me! Since my arrival at the end of May, the weather has consistently been in the low 80s during the day and the low 70s at night (no rain yet!). We are told that [...]

Our apartment is on the third floor of this building. Several horses hang out nearby during the day, helping transport supplies for the construction and brick-making in the area. My team moved into our Dakar apartment one week ago, and we have been enjoying getting to know the area. We were fortunate to find, with some help from a local friend, a great furnished four-bedroom apartment which will serve as both our home and office for eight weeks. The showers may be cold and the kitchen small, but we are [...]

A family eating a lunch of beef, vegetables, and rice in the Senegalese fashion. Each person takes food from the middle and puts it on the rice in the “triangle” in front of where they are sitting. On my first day here I already had a chance to eat the national meal of Senegal: Ceebu jën. Also known aspoisson et riz in French or fish and rice in English, this Wolof dish is comprised of marinated fish with spices, onions, peanut oil, and sometimes tomato sauce. I have also eaten Maafe, a [...]

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to go to a Senegalese wedding celebration. Though I wasn’t at the ceremony itself, it was a great place to absorb a good dose of Senegalese culture. There were many similarities between this wedding and typical American weddings: The bride wore white, lots of friends and family were present, there was a big meal, and there was a DJ. What was different? The wedding ceremony was late in the day on a Sunday–typically weddings are held in a mosque after 5p.m. prayer [...]

I just arrived in Senegal and things are going great. Thankfully, I am remembering enough of my French to navigate life here so far, and I’m sure it will only improve with practice. My host family is wonderful, and this morning I played “cache-cache” (hide and seek) and “un, deux, trois, soleil” (like red-light green-light) with some of the children. Here is a photo of men playing pétanque (similar to what you may know of as bocce ball) across the street from my host family’s home. They were at it [...]

This summer I am spending ten weeks Senegal, a small country in West Africa on the Atlantic Ocean. After a two week homestay, I will be doing a project for USAID/Senegal with three other students in my Master of Development Practice program. We will be working with USAID/Senegal’s Local Capacity Development Team to assess the capabilities of local capacity builders. What is capacity building? Generally speaking, “organizational capacity” refers to an organization’s ability to do what it sets out to do effectively and efficiently. “Capacity building” is a process aimed at strengthening an [...]