My year of service for IFESH is about to come to an end. I will be returning to the United States on 14 June 2010. I have had an amazing and life-changing experience working here in the Fatick Region of Senegal, and so before I return, I want to share a review of all the different work I have done for IFESH.

However, before doing so, I would like to give thanks to all of my Senegalese colleagues, coworkers, and friends, especially the English teachers, those at the PRF in Fatick, and the participants of my English course. I have been truly welcome in your country and I hope that I have managed to teach at least a fraction of what I have learned while being here. I have enjoyed myself and I have enjoyed success in my work, and neither of those things would have been possible without your hospitality and cooperation. (Et je veux dire que le Sénégal est vraiment le pays de la Teranga. Je penserai tendrement à vous pour le reste de ma vie et j’espère que nous serons ensemble encore – très bientôt.)

Now, as for discussing the results of my work, first I would like to share a summary of my acheivements.

Summary of Major Achievements

- Worked with 300 beneficiaries from a variety of sectors, providing a total of 5740 person-hours of training, for an average of 19.13 hours of training per person; successfully incorporated the majority of the AEFA Program’s cross-cutting themes for “in-service teacher training” into my work

- Conducted training activities in remote areas, thereby providing access to training for teachers who would not otherwise be able to attend the sessions

- Built a strong relationship with the host institution (the PRF Fatick) and the Fatick Office of Academic Inspection; built a highly positive image of IFESH in the education sector in the region, paving the way for future opportunities and success

Teacher Training Activities

- Conducted 32 individual teacher training activities, equaling 35 days of seminars and workshops, thereby providing a total of 210 hours of in-service teacher training to teachers from a variety of teaching disciplines

- Worked with 263 in-service teachers, providing a total of 5128 person-hours of training, for an average of 19.49 hours of training per teacher

Community Outreach Activities

- Co-founded a new Community-Based Organization, « Organisation communautaire de base pour le revitalisation des mangroves et la préservation de la biodiversité » and helped to build momentum and plan for a project to create a community-managed nature preserve to expand and protect the mangroves and biodiversity in the Fatick Region

Teaching Activities

- Provided 60 hours of English-language training to NGO/CBO workers, government officials, educators and other Fatick community members, covering a wide range of topics, including HIV/AIDS awareness and gender equity

Expansion Activities

- Collected and organized extensive amount of contact information for NGOs, CBOs, and organizations that support the advancement of women, laying the foundation for the expansion of IFESH activities in the Fatick Region and for partnership-building with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

- Built network of contacts and organizations that will provide many opportunities for collaboration in conducting teacher training activities in the project years to come

Improving Available Resources Activities

- Planned, prepared, set up, and established usage, security and maintenance procedures for a Community Resource Center at the PRF in Fatick, enabling the CPIs and future IFESH volunteers to conduct trainings focused on ICT

As for the details of these accomplishments:

Teacher Training Activities

During the course of the 2009-2010 academic year, I organized and conducted a total of 32 teacher training activities. Of these, I held 2 full day workshops for teachers from throughout the Fatick Region, 6 department-wide full day seminars, an IFESH-funded three-day seminar for untrained (“vacataire”) teachers, and 23 full day workshops for the 8 different “mixed training cells” of teachers of English within the region. In total, I conducted 210 hours of teacher training.

Departmental Seminar Series: Shaping the Way We Teach English (SWWTE) – 3 Departmental Seminars

Subtopic 1: Reflective Teaching

Subtopic 2: Developing Reflective Teaching Journals and Collaborative Journal Sharing Procedures

Subtopic 3: Student-centered Learning and Learning Strategies

Participants: 137 In-Service Teachers of English

Dates: 11 December 2009 – 15 December 2009

Training Workshop Series One: Teaching Methods for Success (1TMS) – 7 Individual Mixed Training Cell Workshops

Subtopic 1: Preparing Students of English for Tests

Subtopic 2: Using the National Curriculum for Lesson Planning

Subtopic 3: Differentiated Learning Activities in English classrooms

Participants: 114 In-Service Teachers of English

Dates: 9 January 2010 – 22 February 2010

“Vacataire” Teacher Training Seminar / 3-Day IFESH-Funded Seminar: « Initiation à la conception et à la mise en œuvre d’un projet pédagogique »

Subtopic 1: Planning and Conducting Classroom Activities

Subtopic 2: Developing Learning Objectives for National Standards

Subtopic 3: Lesson Planning

Subtopic 4: Classroom Management Techniques

Subtopic 5: Effective Student Assessment

Participants: 49 In-Service Teachers of a variety of subjects

Dates: 8 February 2010 – 10 February 2010

Assessing Learning Revisited: 1-Day Workshop for Teachers of “Terminale” Classes

Subtopic 1: Review of principles for Teaching and Learning English in Senegal

Subtopic 2: Current Beliefs about Testing in the Senegalese Context; Identification of Assessment Concepts

Subtopic 3: Aligning Tests with the National Curriculum

Subtopic 4: Involving Students in the Assessment Process

Participants: 10 In-Service Teachers of English

Date: 4 March 2010

Language Learning Concepts: 1-Day Workshop for “Vacataire” Teachers

Subtopic 1: Priorities of Teaching English in Senegal

Subtopic 2: The Four Language Learning Skills

Subtopic 3: Using the National Curriculum for Teaching English

Participants: 28 In-Service Teachers of English and French

Date: 6 March 2010

Training Workshop Series Two: Classroom Management (2CM) – 8 Individual Mixed Training Cell Workshops

Subtopic 1: Managing the English-language Classroom: Theories, Approaches, and Useful Strategies

Subtopic 2: Teaching English in Large Class Settings

Subtopic 3: Strategies for Building Student Confidence in Speaking, Reading, and Writing English

Participants: 134 In-Service Teachers of English

Dates: 9 March 2010 – 22 March 2010

Training Workshop Series Three: Strategic Teaching (3ST) – 8 Individual Mixed Training Cell Workshops

Subtopic 1: Creative Development of Teaching & Learning Materials

Subtopic 2: Collecting and Using Student Feedback for Success

Subtopic 3: Methods for Checking Student Comprehension

Participants: 137 In-Service Teachers of English

Dates: 16 April 2010 – 6 May 2010

Managing the Classroom: 1-Day Workshop for In-Service Teachers of English from Foundiougne Department

Subtopic 1: Dealing with Classroom Challenges

Subtopic 2: Managing Classroom Language

Subtopic 3: Managing Classroom Activities

Participants: 52 In-Service Teachers of English from the Foundiougne Department

Date: 30 April 2010

ATES Writing Workshop: 1-Day Workshop for In-Service Teachers of English from ATES branch of Foundiougne

Subtopic 1: Strategies for Teaching Writing Communicatively

Subtopic 2: Challenges to Teaching Writing in the Senegalese Context

Subtopic 3: Using and Teaching the 11 Sentence Paragraph

Subtopic 4: Modifying the 11 Sentence Paragraph

Participants: 18 In-Service Teachers of English from the Foundiougne Department

Date: 15 May 2010

FASTEF Research Seminar: 1-Day Workshop for “Vacataire” Teachers Enrolled in Credential-Bearing Online Training

Subtopic 1: Strategies for Writing a Research Paper on Pedagogy

Subtopic 2: FASTEF Research Paper Outline

Subtopic 3: Using and Teaching the Eleven Sentence Paragraph

Subtopic 4: Collecting and Citing Electronic Sources

Participants: 20 In-Service “Vacataire” Teachers of English from throughout the Fatick Region

Date: 25 May 2010

Community Outreach Activities

Since arriving here in Fatick, I have helped to restart and build momentum for a project to create a community-managed nature preserve to maintain and expand mangrove forests and preserve biodiversity in the Fatick Region. I collaborated with a pre-established Community Council, a Community Outreach Specialist, an Environmental Scientist and local government officials to assist in the design and implementation of the project.

As a result of preliminary research and planning, I suggested and helped to oversee the founding of a new Community-Based Organization, « Organisation communautaire de base pour le revitalisation des mangroves et la préservation de la biodiversité. » The first meeting of the CBO took place on March 12^th, 2010, with 15 members of the community. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the vision and mission of the project and to establish candidates for the various board positions of the CBO.

I also held a series of strategic planning meetings to further this work. I met with Macky Sall, the mayor of Fatick, to introduce the concept, secure his approval to move forward, and to discuss strategy options for seeing the project to fruition. I also had a series of meetings with Lansanna Goudiaby (CPI for Spanish at the PRF Fatick, the co-founder of the CBO, and a member of the “Community Environmental Council” of Fatick) in regards to reaching out to the community to expand project support.

Currently, this remains a work-in-progress, but I feel very positively about the impetus and momentum I helped to create. I strongly believe that this project will move forward in the years to come. Also, I must say, given that the primary focus of development  is on economic and educational improvement in the economically challenged Fatick Region, a project focused on environmental protection and improvement is something that must be given time.

Teaching Activities

From November 2009 until May 2010, I organized and conducted bi-weekly English-language training sessions for nonprofit professionals, educators, local government officials (including health, safety, and administrative employees), and other individuals interested in improving their ability to speak English. The course took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9pm in the conference room at the regional headquarters of the Agence Nationale de Conseil Agricole et Rurale (ANCAR), the National Agricultural and Rural Advisory Council. The Regional Director of ANCAR, Mr. Jean Charles Faye, provided me with access to the ANCAR conference room, as per an in-kind contribution to my efforts here in Fatick. In total, I conducted 30 two-hour training sessions, for a total of 60 hours of training. During the 30 classes (60 hours of training), we covered all of the following topics:

Phonetics and Grammar

Everyday Life: Family, Sports, and Food

Education and Leadership

International Development and North/South Politics

Global Food Crisis and the Fight against Poverty

Environment and Sustainable Development

Strategic Planning and Project Management

Monitoring & Evaluation

Agriculture and Rural Development

Community Development Strategies

Human Rights, Peacekeeping, and International Security

Gender Issues and Violence against Women and Children

Public Health and Health Education: HIV/AIDS and Malaria

Finance and Economics

Business Reporting

Telecommunications

Expansion Activities

During the 2009-2010 academic year, I have sought to lay the groundwork for expanding the work of IFESH in the Fatick Region, including finding possibilities for partnerships, opportunities to conduct trainings, and opportunities to contribute to existing projects and programs. 

In regards to building partnerships, I have collected and organized the contact information for most CBOs, NGOs, and “Women’s Support Organizations” in the Fatick Region. With this information, the IFESH volunteer for the 2010-2011 academic year should be able to reach out to a number of organizations, and thereby help to fulfill the AEFA program goal of “identifying and nurturing linkages with organizations in the Fatick Region and Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).”

Another important aspect of my work this year has been based on working with other organizations to conduct trainings, and I believe that continuing to do so will be critical in realizing the goals of the AEFA program in Senegal. I was invited, collaborated, and conducted trainings in cooperation with all of the following organizations/institutions:

- Senior Regional English Language Fellowship, Bureau d’anglais, Ministère de l’éducation

- ANCAR – Agence nationale de conseil agricole & rurale (National Agricultural & Rural Advisory Council)

- The World Bank

- International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP), International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

- British Council of Senegal

- Association of Teachers of English in Senegal (ATES)

- CNFC – Coordination Nationale de la Formation Continuée (National Office for the Coordination of Professional Development for Teachers)

- FASTEF – Faculté des sciences et technologies de l’éducation et de la formation (Senegalese National Teacher Training Institute, formerly École Normale Supérieure)

As well, this year I have been in contact with those implementing other USAID-funded education programs in the Fatick Region.  One major project that I collaborated with, USAID/PAEM, effectively ended 31 May 2010, but a new project is currently being developed to pick up where it left off, and there is another major project already underway:

USAID/EDB: Programme Éducation de Base: Focused on improved middle school curriculum; increased involvement and government support for education with the participation of Parent-Teacher Associations; increased access to wireless Internet services for teachers and students; strengthened contribution of the private sector in education

Improving Available Resources Activities

During the 2009-2010 academic year, I prepared, organized and setup a Community Resource Center at the PRF in Fatick. Because IFESH (via the AEFA program) donated 5 computers, chairs, computer desks, and energy storage/surge protection devices, as well as a printer and wireless internet signal expander, I had the opportunity to create a Community Resource Center at the PRF in Fatick. Thus, I organized, oversaw physical improvements for security, and thoroughly cleaned the conference room at the PRF (which was a major undertaking).  I also coordinated the delivery of the donated items, ensured that arrangements were made for assembly of the desks, set all the computers up, installed necessary software, and verified that all of the equipment was in good working order. Finally, I collaborated with the Coordinator of the PRF to establish thorough usage, maintenance and security procedures for the newly created Community Resource Center.

A Closing Word

I am very proud of these achievements, but they are not mine alone to claim. It is amazing what you can accomplish in a little over 8 months when you have the levels of support and cooperation that I was lucky enough to receive in Fatick. A lot of planning, work, and collaboration went into making these things possible. I certainly would not have been able to do all of it without the support of my colleagues and coworkers at the PRF in Fatick, the USAID Regional Offices (thanks Latyr!), the Academic Inspection, the Ministry of Education, and most especially the teachers and participants in my classes and workshops. I am very grateful for the opportunities, guidance, and assistance that was provided to me, as it enabled me to flourish in my work and to be comfortable in my temporary home. I will never forget this experience, and I will never forget my home in Senegal.

Merci Fatick, merci beaucoup.