Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog.  I have been here in Senegal for one month, and so I decided it was time that I started blogging.  I hope you enjoy my posts, which will focus on my work here in Fatick, Senegal.  I look forward to your questions and comments.

However, before I report on what is happening here, I would like to take the opportunity to say “thank you” to those of you who have given me so many kind wishes and so much support in this endeavor.  It was not easy for me to decide to come here, even though I have always known that I would work/live in Africa for a time.  I am lucky to have a great family and many good friends, so it was very hard for me to give all that up, if only temporarily.  In fact, I would not have been able to come here at all without the help of three individuals: my step-dad Russ, my mom, and my girlfriend Shari.  The last few years have been tough for me, and I would not have had the means or the strength to do this, to be here, without them.   Russ, thank you so much for letting me come back home when I needed to.  Mom, thank you for always believing in me and telling me that I can do anything I put my mind to.  Shari, thank you for being there for me when things get tough, for supporting me as I chase my dreams, and for never letting me forget who I really am.  I love all of you very much, and please know that I am eternally grateful.

Now, for the first edition of my blog, I will start with the basics, “what am I doing in Senegal?”

Where do I live?

I live in an apartment in a place called Fatick, which is:

1. A Region of Senegal (similar to a state or province) – Region de Fatick
2. One of the three Departments (similar to a county or a parish) in the greater Fatick Region – Département de Fatick (the other two are Foundiougne and Gossas)
3. The capital city of the Fatick Region – Fatick

So technically, I live in Fatick, Fatick, Fatick, Senegal (which is kind of like saying “Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, USA”).

Where do I work?

I work at a place called the Pôle Régional de Formation à Fatick (PRF).  Loosely translated, it is the “base for travelling trainers of middle and high school teachers in the Fatick Region.”  I work with 16 travelling pedagogical trainers (Conseillers Pédagogiques Itinérant [CPIs]), plus our Coordinator, a security guard, and a driver.  Each CPI is the trainer for one of the subject areas taught in middle and high schools here in Senegal.  There are two CPIs for French, Math, and Physics/Chemistry at the PRF in Fatick, and one for the other subject areas.   Here is a list of the staff:

Maba BA, Coordinator of PRF Fatick

Lamine DIOUF, Chauffeur, PRF Fatick

Moussa DIOUF, CPI, Mathematics

Mouhamed EL MOCTAI DIAYI, CPI, Arabic

Lansana GOUDIABY, CPI, Spanish

Oumol Fadly NDIAYE BA, CPI, English

Abdoulaye NDOUR, CPI, Earth and Life Sciences

Cheikhou NDOUR, Security Guard, PRF Fatick

Diokel NGOM, CPI, French

Ousmane NGOM, CPI, History and Geography

Mamadou NIANG, CPI, Physics and Chemistry

Demba SARR, CPI, Philosophy

Bassirou SENE, CPI, French

Elisabeth TRAORE, CPI, Art Education

Abdoulaye WANE, CPI, German

Not Pictured:

Abdoulaye FAYE, CPI, Physics and Chemistry

Birame FAYE, CPI, Physical Education and Health

Moussa FAYE, CPI, Mathematics

What do I do at the PRF?

First, get a bit of background info here: http://www.ifesh.org/news/25/59/Alumnus-to-Train-Teachers-in-Senegal

Then please read the sections that follow:

Support: Complementing and supporting the activities and trainings already planned for teachers of English in the Fatick Region for this academic year.  In this regard, I will travel with Madame Ba, CPI, English to schools, meetings, seminars, and trainings.  I will help her prepare and analyze documents for the scheduled trainings (pretests, posttests, questionnaires, informational handouts, etc.), and conduct teaching pedagogy and English-language usage workshops.  I will be a travelling trainer of teachers.

Expansion: Increasing the number and the impact of the trainings and activities for this academic year by securing additional external funding and planning multiple-day workshops for each of the three departments of the Fatick Region.  I will seek funding (in the forms of grants, awards, and other financial resources) to expand and complement the activities planned for this academic year (including class and cell visits, organizing a “festival” for the English Clubs, conducting seminars and trainings, and providing teaching and l earning materials for the teachers of English).  As required by IFESH and USAID, I will seek to ensure that at least 160 teachers of English will receive a minimum of 24 hours of pedagogical training through these activities and additional resources.

Capacity Building: Researching, developing, testing, and refining a guide that will allow teachers of English to better utilize the “national curriculum for teaching English” (a rough translation) in their lesson planning and teaching.  I will collaborate with Madame Ba, CPI, English to assess the needs of the current teachers of English with regard to improved use of the national curriculum.  I will then analyze the collected data and develop a draft document that is intended to close the gap between the “theory and practice” of using the national curriculum.  The document will be a tool for teachers to use in developing their own teaching and learning materials, specifically those that will allow them to pull from the ample information available in the national curriculum.  Strategies to use locally available materials as teaching and learning materials will be an area of primary concern.  I will then conduct a workshop (or series of workshops) to test the effectiveness of the draft document.  Then, after testing, I will revise the document according to the collected feedback.  Although I will initially create this document to support the work of teachers of English, the underlying framework will be widely applicable, so that the guide can be translated into French and then used for training in other subjects.

Community Outreach: Collaborating with a community outreach specialist and an environmental scientist to support and provide knowledge management services for a project to create a community-managed nature preserve in the mangrove forests along the rivers in the Fatick Region.  Part of my requirements for IFESH and USAID is that I must participate in activities that support the work of community-based organizations (CBOs).  I have agreed to provide English language documents that will expand the potential pool of partners and resources for this very important work.  I will seek to incorporate elements of HIV/AIDS education and gender-mainstreaming in this work as well.

Teaching: Organizing and conducting bi-weekly English-language training sessions for nonprofit professionals, educators, local government officials (including health, safety, and administrative employees), and other interested parties.  These sessions will focus on spoken English, as many of the people who will receive this training already read English with proficiency.

I am very excited about all the different work I will be doing, and I believe that with the help of my colleagues here at the PRF, I can make a positive and meaningful contribution to the training of teachers in Senegal, and be an agent for positive change here in Fatick.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you find time to comment, ask questions, and share this blog with others.