Day 20

People carry things on their heads here. I don`t, it isn`t my style, yet.

I should probably start by clearing the air a bit. The Daara isn`t exactly what I thought it was. anything I told you before is probably wrong. I was wrong because my boss told me about it in French and because it was during an interview and I wanted to get the job I pretended like I understood her completely and didn`t ask any questions for clarification. The information has since been clarified. Daara means home in arabic (I think), and the idea is that families

who didnt havent enough money to raise their children would send their kids to a Daara which would take the children in, teach them the Qu`ran, and then let the kids hit the streets to collect money for the Daara. The Daara de Malika is not that kind of Daara, it is a modern Daara that receives its funding from IGOs and NGOs and whoever else is willing to help,so that the kids can go to actual school instead and can stay off the streets.

There are about 50 kids living here in this Daara, and I am one of six volunteers. There are also teachers, cooks, maintenance people and friends of the Daara that keep things running smoothly.

Pictures.

Heres a picture of the grounds. There are some neighbourhood kids and Daara kids playing soccer. Sand is everywhere. Other than sand, there is also a couple of classrooms, the library, and the woodworking, ceramics, and sewing rooms in this picture.

Here`s a picture of some of my coworkers and I, we visited the Ile de Goree, which is an island just off of Senegal which was used as a final holding place for African slaves that were going to be shipped to the Americas. The island was used for this purpose for about 300 years. There was no escaping, they would keep the slaves there and fatten them up so that they could be sold for a high price. To make sure that disease did not spread, they would throw any really sick slaves into the ocean and let the sharks take care of the rest. I dont mean to be insensitive, visiting the island was quite an experience, but the picture is unfortunately not really about the history of the island at all but is instead a picture of us with a cool looking background.

The kids have decided that my nickname is Messi, as in Lionel Messi the prolific futbol player for Barcelona. Why is that my nickname? I`m not sure, but they may think that all white people look alike, and they`ve seen a picture of Messi once or twice. It probably also has to do with the fact that his hair is longer than average as well. Beyond that, I have no idea.

Here`s a picture of some of the kids having lunch. I cant really describe the meal. but it wasn`t bad.

This is a picture of some of the kids dancing. Some nights they like to sing and dance and play drums with whatever objects they find. I can be found in the background of this photo astutely studying their dance moves. I will master them.

This is a good picture of Quackpack.