Today marks an important day during our time here. It marks the first day we attended Waranka GR, the local school we will be doing service with for the next week or two. Before that we took a little visit to Africulturban just a little bit down the road from the school. At around 9 am we boarded the bus after breakfast and made our way towards the site. Once inside of Africulturban we had a chance to listen to a discussion/lecture by of the most well-known and popular rappers within the country named Matador. He talked and expressed about his own personal goals and why hip hop is a huge thing for him and why hip hop is such an important feature to be use such as combating certain social and political issues taken place within Senegal. It was something we all didn’t take for granted. Just being able to hear what one if not the most famous rapper in Senegal has to say is a special experience on its own and shouldn’t be spoiled. Following the discussion, we also had a chance to tour the facility was well including getting an inside look at the main studio and listening to some of Matadors songs including some unreleased ones. Following the visit, we made our way towards Waranka GR around 1pm. As soon as we pulled up, I could tell there was excitement. Both the teachers as well as the students greeted us and welcomed us with open arms. After we got settled in it was time to organize the activities for the day. Some groups did arts and crafts while others did smaller games. During that time my group took part in soccer and I can tell you one thing, i was not in the best shape. Nonetheless everyone had fun as we played six on six games with the kids swapping in and out each game. The day concluded with some more activities before departure, dinner at SIT and finally a good night’s rest. Looking forward to seeing what’s in store for the rest of the trip!
Senegal: Culture and Service 