After weeks of protesting and rioting about current President Aboulaye Wade's decision to change the constitution and run for a 3rd term in office , the big day finally came on February 26th. There were 14 candidates, 12 men and surprisingly 2 women. The rioting resulted in 9 deaths and divided regional capitals all over Senegal. Much of the population wanted to see Wade step down, but there were still plenty (i.e. my regional capital) that continued to support the president. Even my very own family was divided, half supporting candidate Macky Sall and half supporting Wade.
During the last year of his presidency, old man Wade (seriously 85 yrs), tried to create the position of Vice Presidency. The scam was that he would name his son VP and then step down, making his son President. Senegal caught on and said absolutely not!
All over West Africa/North Africa there have been tumultuous political problems or coups in the last few decades. Libiya, Guinea, The Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Mali, etc....everyone was saying that Senegal was different, but to be honest we were all walking on egg shells, praying that Senegal would succeed in safe democratic elections.
Some of the Senegalese people that I've talked to did not vote on Feb. 26th because they were scared to go to the polls. Many people who I have asked who they were voting for said that it was between them and God. Everyone was trying to prevent violence in their communities.
I was in village for the actual election. (Peace Corps had banned all travel to regional capitals.) The actual process on a village level was quite interesting. The voting in my area took place at the local elementary school. Voters walked into a room, guarded by armed military personnel, gave their ID's and voters cards to a person that checked the validity, then another person recorded the voters information in a book. Next, the voter picked up 14 slips of paper, each with a name and picture of a candidate and an envelope. They went behind a black curtain, put the picture of the candidate they were voting for in the envelope and disposed of the rest. Lastly, they brought the envelope out and put it in a sealed plastic container. Voila! Not as exciting as I thought it would be, but interesting nonetheless.
The next day it was announced that Wade recieved 34.8% of the votes and Macky Sall recieved 26.5% of the votes. As neither of these was a large enough percentage to declare a winner a runoff between the two candidates was scheduled for yesterday, March 26th.
Yesterday was very calm. Besides the fact that there was no public transportation, in the bush you could have easily forgotten it was election day. Voters were quickly in and out of the polls, even less exciting than round 1. At around 10pm, I was at my neighbors listening to thewolof election broadcast at an obsenely high volume (if it's not loud you are not in Senegal) when the winner was announced. Of course I didn't know what they were saying, but half the compound was happy and the others just went about their buisness. Macky Sall was declared president of Senegal!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/world/africa/president-concedes-race-in-senegal.html?_r=1
I am proud of Senegal, holding onto it's democratic ways in the midst of its politically troubled region. I did not want to see Wade overruling the constitution once more, and therefore reigning over my family and friends here for another 6 years. It was time for a change and I hope that Sall is the guy who will work for what Senegal really needs, grassroots support and development.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Tambacounda's Race for Education
After months of careful planning, countless attempted, failed, and successful meetings with local government officials and companies, a billion e-mails and phone calls, many lessons learned and so much excitement and stress, the "Tambacounda Race for Education," was finally made a reality. Check out this pre-race shot of the Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's) who participated.
On March 4th, 2012, Tamba locals, including policemen, firefighters, military personnel, government officials, students and enthusiastic runners, joined forces with Peace Corps Volunteers from all over Senegal to raise money and awareness for girls' education by flooding the streets to run 5, 10, or 21k (half-marathon)'for the girls.'
People came from as far away as the capital Dakar, an 8-10 hour uncomfortable public transportation ride, to participate. One of these people was Djibby Sow, an all around amazing guy and marathon champ who represented the organization, Malaria No More (dedicated to erradicating malaria), in the NYC marathon last year. Here he is finishing the half-marathon in 1 hr. and 14 min.
The day of the race I was purely content. It became obvious that we had succeeded, not only in raising money for girls' education projects and scholarships, but in our bigger goal of getting people talking about girls' education and the obstacles (early marriage, forced marriage, money, housework, local gender attitudes, etc.) Senegalese girls face in receiving an education. We did radio shows, passed out and hung oodles of fliers, spoke in our villages and at schools and then swamped the Tamba streets race day, leaving people asking, "why are they running?"
(Some of the many school-aged girl participants finishing the 5k. This is what it's all about!)
Change here happens, 'seeda, seeda, tutti, tutti, dong-ding, dong-ding,' little by little, but in order to get the ball rolling people need to start talking and they are! During out pre- and post-race ceremonies, local government officials, educators and Peace Corps staff all spoke on the issues of girls' education. It was inspiring to see people in positions of power or respect speak up for those who have little voice here in Senegal, but who are the face of the future.
This project has been my baby for the past 5 months so seeing it all come together was satisfying to say the least. Here is a photo of me finishing the half-marathon with my PCV support team. I couldn't help but smile seeing all of the Senegalese kids, PC staff, PCV's and other runners joined together for the cause.
I am proud to say that the "Race for Education," will now be an annual event. We have earned the respect and support of local government and companies, as well as, that of Peace Corps Dakar. That, along with all of the lessons learned and mistakes made this year, will make next year epic! We have already had a planning meeting for next year and the brain juices are flowing.
Thank you to all of you who donated to and supported our cause. Donations are still being accepted at: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-CFD (Write "Marathon for Education" in the comment section please.) Also, if you have Oprah or Ellen connections, we are still into harassing them to come and support us next year. If you haven't seen this video, check out how we tried to get their financial support and presence at our event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8xgXyXBo4 (Since I can't upload videos from here, you'll have to check it out on youtube. It's worth it and will give you a glimpse of Senegalese life and the students you are supporting!)
On March 4th, 2012, Tamba locals, including policemen, firefighters, military personnel, government officials, students and enthusiastic runners, joined forces with Peace Corps Volunteers from all over Senegal to raise money and awareness for girls' education by flooding the streets to run 5, 10, or 21k (half-marathon)'for the girls.'
People came from as far away as the capital Dakar, an 8-10 hour uncomfortable public transportation ride, to participate. One of these people was Djibby Sow, an all around amazing guy and marathon champ who represented the organization, Malaria No More (dedicated to erradicating malaria), in the NYC marathon last year. Here he is finishing the half-marathon in 1 hr. and 14 min.
The day of the race I was purely content. It became obvious that we had succeeded, not only in raising money for girls' education projects and scholarships, but in our bigger goal of getting people talking about girls' education and the obstacles (early marriage, forced marriage, money, housework, local gender attitudes, etc.) Senegalese girls face in receiving an education. We did radio shows, passed out and hung oodles of fliers, spoke in our villages and at schools and then swamped the Tamba streets race day, leaving people asking, "why are they running?"
(Some of the many school-aged girl participants finishing the 5k. This is what it's all about!)
Change here happens, 'seeda, seeda, tutti, tutti, dong-ding, dong-ding,' little by little, but in order to get the ball rolling people need to start talking and they are! During out pre- and post-race ceremonies, local government officials, educators and Peace Corps staff all spoke on the issues of girls' education. It was inspiring to see people in positions of power or respect speak up for those who have little voice here in Senegal, but who are the face of the future.
This project has been my baby for the past 5 months so seeing it all come together was satisfying to say the least. Here is a photo of me finishing the half-marathon with my PCV support team. I couldn't help but smile seeing all of the Senegalese kids, PC staff, PCV's and other runners joined together for the cause.
I am proud to say that the "Race for Education," will now be an annual event. We have earned the respect and support of local government and companies, as well as, that of Peace Corps Dakar. That, along with all of the lessons learned and mistakes made this year, will make next year epic! We have already had a planning meeting for next year and the brain juices are flowing.
Thank you to all of you who donated to and supported our cause. Donations are still being accepted at: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-CFD (Write "Marathon for Education" in the comment section please.) Also, if you have Oprah or Ellen connections, we are still into harassing them to come and support us next year. If you haven't seen this video, check out how we tried to get their financial support and presence at our event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia8xgXyXBo4 (Since I can't upload videos from here, you'll have to check it out on youtube. It's worth it and will give you a glimpse of Senegalese life and the students you are supporting!)
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