Our Taxi

Most of the taxis in Dakar are circa 1970, beat up and broken down.  Thankfully, our team had the same taxi and driver - Guy (pronounced Gee) - every day.  There was no air conditioning in the car, but at least we felt safe with seatbelts! 

Here's the gear shift of probably the worst taxi we rode in.  Our client was in the front passenger seat and didn't think a thing about it!  This is just one example of how different life is (and safety standards are!) in Senegal versus the United States.

 

#ibmcsc senegal

Happy Buses (Public Transportation) in Dakar

There are loads of vehicles on the roads here in Dakar and most of them are taxis or buses.  Public transportation on these colorful buses is a way of life here.  People hop on from the always open door in the back where they pay a nominal fee to the attendant who hangs on the back of the bus.  There are always men hanging off the backs of these buses or sitting on the top where luggage would normally be stowed.  There's no OSHA here!  Goodness only knows how old these things are, but these buses always look happy because of how colorfully they are painted and the very colorful people inside!!

It's also really common to see these white buses (below) around town which seem to be the preferred mode of transportation from Dakar to the small villages in the rural areas.  I was able to get this picture, but for the most part, the Senegalese do NOT like to have their pictures taken, so sometimes it was difficult to capture the scenes of normal life in Senegal.  It's also another great example of the colorful dresses the women wear!

    #ibmcsc senegal

Senegalese Women: their dresses and hair

The women here in Senegal are beautiful with their colorful dresses and matching head scarfs or the amazing braids they have put in their hair. We've learned that, culturally speaking, men have the traditional role of providing for their family (or families, as polygamy is legal here).  And the women who work basically keep all the money they earn for themselves to spend on their hair and beautiful costumes.  We've even heard that some women will spend their money on themselves for beauty and go hungry rather than using the money for food.  It seems on every street corner you can find a "couture" shop where women's dresses and men's Bubas (pronounced boo-boos -- the long sleeved shirts and matching pants) are custom made.  I've purchased 2 "every day" Kaftan's which are long, loose fitting dresses (very inexpensive!) of the popular tie-dyed fabric which are perfect to keep cool in the oppressive heat.  (Well of course I've done my fair share to improve the economy while I've been here!). 

Here is Matti from USAID.  The detailing of her dress was incredible with all the small cut outs around the neckline and the peplin style of the sleeves, waistline and hem.

Stella Monkoun works for our client (H&C Business Technologies).  She spent over 2 hours getting a new braid pattern put into her hair.  I don't think the picture can do justice to the intricate pattern that was woven into her hair...stunning!! 

#ibmcsc senegal

Friday, November 1st - Water Still Not Fully Restored

We're making due with the water shortage here in Dakar.  It's been 4 days now and the routine is to have a trickle of water in the sink and shower from around 6AM - 8AM which is time enough to make myself presentable for the day.  This morning, the trickle was so light that I wondered if I could really get the little bit of shampoo out of my hair...but I managed.  Whoever invented baby wipes is a total GENIUS!!!  Those have been a lifesaver!!  We're all in the same boat and tolerating it well.  Speaking for myself, I don't ever think I'll take a hot shower for granted again. 

#ibmcsc senegal

A bit of OH and KY in Africa?

Check it out!  The longer I stay here, the more I feel like I'm at home!!

#ibmcsc senegal

Petit Déjeuner (Breakfast)

Our breakfast meal is always served in the open air restaurant at the Fana Hotel.  Even in the early morning, the overhead fans are on to move the hot air around.  The food is served buffet style and resembles a European breakfast without the meat.  The croissants are yummy...especially the chocolate ones!  There are always slices of pound cake, plain crepes and hard rolls.  Brown eggs are hard boiled for peel and eat.   Diced fruit - mostly apples, pears and oranges with an occasional mango - plain yogurt and a box of corn flakes round out the menu.  And of course, orange juice, tea, coffee and even cocoa powder for hot chocolate.  Some of the guys in our group are missing bacon and sausage from home, but for me, it kind of feels like what I would make for myself at home for breakfast...fruit, yogurt, toast, coffee...so this meal always feels comfortable for me here!

#ibmcsc senegal

Keeping Clean

My home for the past 3 weeks as been the Fana Hotel in the Yoff district in Dakar.  It's a hotel, but it has felt more like a large apartment building where everyone knows their neighbors by name.  I do believe living here has given me an experience of Senegal that a normal business hotel could never have done.  Just outside of the open air restaurant is this "washing up" station equipped with hand sanitizer and paper towels.  I've been kind of neurotic about using my own hand sanitizer and "wet wipes" to keep my hands and face clean..there's so much dirt, dust and sand flying around it's really hard to keep clean. 

#ibmcsc senegal

Peacock in the neighborhood

I'm amazed at all the animals (and now birds) that just seem to roam around this city.  Several of us were walking though our neighborhood the other night after work headed to the local grocery story when we happened upon this peacock just roaming around.

I'm not sure why these things surprise me anymore.  Seeing this peacock certainly seems much more normal than what we experienced last night in our taxi coming home...2 large, long horn steers (I'm not lying..I couldn't make this up!) were roaming though traffic and nearly side swiped our taxi with their huge horns as they decided to charge across the street.  It was getting dark so I didn't have my camera out to get the picture.  But I have my 2 teammates as witnesses!  This place is crazy!  More and more I'm beginning to chalk things up to the local expression "Welcome to Africa!". 

#ibmcsc senegal

Village shops around Dakar

During my time here in Dakar, there have been a number of times when we've passed by roadside stands selling whatever fruits and vegetable are in season.  Right now, it seems that watermelons, limes and what look like grapefruit are everywhere and of course bananas.  Peanuts are being roasted in shallow pans with sand while the women constantly stir the nuts the over small grills.

But when we passed these little roadside stands, it brought a whole new meaning to going to the Butcher shop for a fresh cut of meat.  Remember, the average temperature is around 88-90 degrees right now.  Burgers anyone?

#ibmcsc senegal

Monday, October 28th - Precious Water

Back in September when we were preparing for this CSC trip, we had been notified of a malfunction in the water pumping/pipeline equipment supplying Dakar with water...and the city was without any water supply for 3 weeks...that's 3 weeks in 90+ degree heat.  The water was restored just 2 days prior to our arrival, thank heavens!  In fact, when we arrived to our hotel, the swimming pool was totally empty because all of the water had been used for the hotel guests.  Well, today we were notified by the US Embassy that Dakar will again face a water shortage starting tonight at midnight and lasting into the weekend.  The Senegalaise des Eaux (SDE - the water utility) will be making permanent repairs to the temporary fix of a few weeks ago.  The shortage is predicted to last three to five days.  So, I've filled my laundry bucket and trash can with water to flush the toilet and purchased several 5 Liter jugs of drinking water and plenty of baby wipes!  I'm pretty sure I won't get to take a shower over the next few days, so don't expect any head shot pictures!!   I'll keep you posted!

#ibmcsc senegal

Sunday, October 27th - Lake Retba or Lac Rose (Pink Lake)

This place is such a cool natural phenomenon!  The lake is named for its pink waters (no joke!), caused by an algae (Dunaliella salina algae to be specific) in the water that produce a red pigment that uses sunlight to create more energy which turns the waters pink.  (I Googled this to make sure I understood it!) 

The color is particularly visible during the dry season, which they're just beginning here in Senegal.  The heavy rains during their rainy season has raised the water level of the lake, so the pink isn't quite as visible right now, but there is no denying the high salt content of the water which, like the Dead Sea, allows people to float easily.  The lake also has a small salt collecting industry...and LOTS of local artists selling their wood carvings and beaded jewelry in small shacks lining the shore.  The water level was still so high that there were large sand bags sitting in the shallow water acting as a pathway so that all the shacks could be reached by the visitors.  I had a blast bartering with the shop keepers for good prices on all my treasures.  I improved the economy of the Pink Lake area and put a nice dent in my Christmas shopping!!

#ibmcsc senegal

Saturday, October 26th - Saly (Resort)

 Now I understand why some people say they come to Senegal for vacation!  On Saturday, we spent the day in Saly (also called Sali or Saly Portudal) which is a lovely seaside resort area on the Petite Côte of Senegal, south of Dakar. It's the top tourist destination in all of West Africa....and there are good reasons why!  Once you get inside the walls of one of the resorts, it's a little piece of heaven, just like you'd find at any lovely sea side resort in the US, Mexico or Europe.  It was just beautiful and so peaceful!!  A real switch from all the noise and chaos in Dakar.

That's Nalini Munuru (left, from India) and I (right) lounging on the beach!  It was so beautiful and peaceful on the sandy beach that we stayed outside all day.  But the resort had a lovely spa area as well...quite posh!

#ibmcsc senegal

Thursday, October 24th - Most Hilarious Yet

I've seen some pretty strange and comical sights while here in Dakar, but this one just made me burst out laughing.  We (my team of Sandra, Susanne and I) were in our taxi yesterday afternoon on the way to meet some wonderful folks at USAID.  I looked over and this is what I saw.  Need I say more?  A man and his sheep!

#ibmcsc senegal

Wednesday, October 23 - Roadside Security

It's mind boggling to think that I've been in Dakar 2 weeks already.  I'm noticing that I'm far more comfortable with all my surroundings by now and things aren't quite as shocking as they were the first few days I was here.  I've gotten used to the sights and smells that I found so very shocking the first couple of days here.  In retrospect, I was no doubt in sensory overload!! 

Now, I can observe other happenings in the city.  As an example, on Wednesday and Thursday of this week there has been a meeting here in Dakar of the West Africa Monetary Union where all of the presidents of the West Africa nations are gathered.  All along our normal route to work, every few hundred yards there were armed guards lining the streets.  In fact, there seem to be armed guards everywhere in this city right now.  Every so often flat bed trucks roll by filled with miliary guys sitting in the back in the open air.  We've been given strict instructions not to take pictures of government buildings or any kind of government personnel.  So, I won't be taking any pictures, but you can envision uniformed police and miliary with large weapons (machine guns maybe?...I'm not good at recognizing one gun from the next) strapped across their bodies.  Quite a site!

#ibmcsc senegal

Sunday, October 20th - The Reserve of Bandia

OK...for those of you who were wondering if I'm going on Safari while here in Senegal, the answer is yes!  We spent this morning at the Reserve Bandia.  I've included a link here because there is some nice background information on the work that Reserve has done since 1997 to reintroduce endangered animals.  Since this area is coming out of their rainy season, the foliage was lush and green which made eye-spying animals a bit more challenging, but you'll see that we got "up close and personal" with a few!

Chris took me to see the Lion King at the KY Center a couple years back for my birthday.  The opening song Circle of Life keeps rolling around in my mind.  It was a really wonderful morning in the fresh air, sunshine and quiet of such a large open space in Senegal.   

   Reserve of Bandia:  http://www.reservedebandia.com/welcome.html

   #ibmcsc senegal

Saturday, October 19th - Ile de Goree (Goree Island)

The 14 of us loaded into a couple of taxis (I'll write more on those later!) and headed to the Port Authority to catch the 10AM ferry to Ile de Gorée or Gorée Island.  The island lies off the coast of Senegal, opposite Dakar.  It was a short, 30 minute ride on the water and the morning was already hot and the sun was shining brightly.  As we approached the island, I was struck by all the colorful buildings that looked so warm and welcoming - there were lots of yellow, green and blue buildings - covered by fuchsia bougainvillea.  Breathtaking!  There was a fresh breeze blowing off the ocean and the air felt clean. 

 
But the history of this small island nothing but tragic.  From the 15th to the 19th century, it was the largest slave-trading center on the African coast.  Over 6 million died on this island.  We were greeted by our guide who was proud of the fact he had met several players from the NBA when they did a training camp in Dakar!  We started winding through the narrow paths passing building that were once used as Slave Houses.  Our group toured the inside of one of the houses which was stark and small.  The lower level was for the slaves and the upper level with large balconies only for the Masters to look down.  There is no way I could even imagine the atrocities that occurred on this island.  The whole island is a A UNESCO World Heritage Site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/26).  All of the Slave Houses lined the water and each had a "door of no return" through which every slave passed onto a waiting ship.  It was from that same door in February, 1992 that Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness for Christians involved in the business of selling human beings.  It was a very moving morning.

Lunch time was spent together at an ocean side restaurant.  There were 2 pelicans at the restaurant clearly comfortable with the tourists!

Goree Island is now a bit of a retreat/resort and is home to a thriving artist community.  There are some incredible paintings depicting typical scenes of Africa...2 of which will be in my baggage coming home!!  (Of course I had to help improve the local economy!)  The female shop owners are quite assertive with their sales tactics and bargaining for good prices are expected. I also bought  2 simple dresses of cool, light cotton which are quite practical in the heat here.  I bartered with the shop keepers and settled on a price of $8 each including a small "gift" of a necklace and bracelet...quite a bargain!

Before spending a little time on the beach, I went to the small Catholic church on the island built in 1830 (by slave labor) and named after St. Charles Borremeo.  About 30 percent of Goree's residents are Catholic which is a much higher percentage than the rest of Senegal which is 95% Muslim.  I have to admit, that I had not yet been in a church since my arrival 9 days ago.  I got tears in my eyes...I felt at home.  

It was a really wonderful day of fresh air, sunshine, reflection, learning, shopping, laughter, and prayer.  What more could you ask for? 

Virtual Visit of Goree Island:  (http://webworld.unesco.org/goree/en/screens/21.shtml)

#ibmcsc senegal

Friday, October 18th

Thursday, October 17th - Settling In

I'm absolutely delighted that so many of you have been keep up with my adventure!  There have been some real challenges with our internet connections so I'm feeling a bit behind on my postings.  And pictures are taking forever to upload here.  So, I'm using my Facebook page to post captions and pictures as well.  So feel free to take a peak!  My account on Facebook is Malisa Hartung.

Stay tuned...more is coming I promise!!

Wednesday, October 16th - Tabaski Holiday

Tuesday, October 15th - 1st day at our client's office

The tall pink building is the office building for our client H&C Technologies and where I'm working during the day.  H&C is the local Senegal business representing the Small & Medium Enterprise Toolkit (SME Toolkit) for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IBM.

Monday, October 14th - Kickoff Day

1st Weekend - Sat. Oct. 12th & Sun. Oct 13th

Saturday and Sunday seem to have run together a bit.  Everyone has finally arrived into Dakar and we all have our own travel adventure stories:  lost luggage, sprinting to connecting flights, missed connections, screaming babies...you get my drift!   For me, it was scribbling my thoughts on any available sheet of paper for these blog entries, borrowing someone's laptop to post my Friday blog and hoping that my laptop could be fixed once in Dakar.

We are a team is 14:  7 men and 7 women from 7 countries:  Belgium, Canada, China, India, Japan, Switzerland and USA.  Together, we spent most of Saturday afternoon on a bus tour of the city of Dakar, getting our bearings on the city.  There is construction going on everywhere, but not like we know it with cranes and fancy motorized equipment.  Many job sites still use ropes and pulleys to move buckets and pallets to upper floors and horses are hitched to pull carts.  Most is new construction but there is a realization that space is limited in the city so reclamation of older, abandoned structures is beginning to take place as well. 

The city is really crowded right now in preparation for the Muslim holiday of Tabaski.  It felt pretty strange driving thru the narrow market streets that went on for blocks and were completely packed with people practically touching the bus as we rolled through.  The fabric colors are amazing and the women are absolutely beautiful in their brightly colored dresses.  I have no idea how they can stand the heat and humidity and still look so lovely.  But the aromas....well, the aromas are certainly different than my backyard in Louisville! 

On Sunday morning we all participated in a community service project to clean the beach of a local fishing village.  Frankly, I was shocked by the condition of the beach area...there was garbage everywhere.  The ocean and views are breathtaking, but the beaches are not.  Environmental awareness is just beginning to take hold here.  In less than 1 hour, 20 jumbo garbage bags were filled.  We could have gone on for hours more and still there would be trash to collect.  The leader from the village spoke to us when we were done expressing gratitude and giving us hope that our efforts have set an example that will continue into the future.  Fingers crossed!

In the afternoon all 14 of us did some team building exercises to get to know each other better.  Sandra Di Quinzio (from Canada), Susanne Janssen (from Switzerland) and I will be a team to develop a market penetration plan for the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Toolkit  - www.smetoolkit.org - in Senegal.  More info to come on our project!  I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we meet our local clients and work begins!

#ibmcsc senegal

Friday, October 11th - Senegal at last!

The flight was fairly bumpy at times, but on the whole, uneventful...exactly the way I like trans-Atlantic flights!  Because our flight landed at 5:45AM it was the only arriving flight at that time so getting thru Customs was quite easy.  (And my luggage made it safely as well after several tight connections!)  We were met by our in-country host Mamour Ba - what a blessing!  It was quite overwhelming to walk through all the men trying to  "hawk" their services on arriving travellers at the airport exit...and we were in the dark no less!

We have safely checked into the Fana Hotel in Dakar.  As I walked out of the front door of the hotel after unpacking my bags I saw this gentleman gathering grasses to feed his horse.   

#ibmcsc senegal

Thursday, October 10th - Departure Day!

Today is departure day!!  The butterflies in my stomach from the day before were raging in the morning.  It felt a bit surreal that this day has finally come....I`ve been anticipating it since July 2012 when I found out I had been accepted into the CSC.  When I arrived at Washington Dulles Airport for the last leg of my flights, I finally meet 2 colleagues - Dean and Suren - who have been merely voices over the phone for the past 3 months of preparation for Senegal.  I take comfort in knowing that I`ll be with them given our flight arrives at 5:45AM in Dakar and it`s sure to still be dark outside. 

Oh...and did I mention that my laptop CRASHED during the night last night while doing one last backup before I left (just in case something happened when I was there).  Little did I expect that this would happen while still at home!  Well, that pretty much rattled my nerves, but I took many deep breaths to remind myself this is simply a huge inconvenience and nothing more.  No one is hurt, everyone is safe...it`s just a broken PC!  I will figure out how to get it fixed with my IBM colleagues in Senegal.

I`m just going to hang on and enjoy the ride...and expect the unexpected!!

#ibmcsc senegal

1 day and ..... butterflies!!

As I'm finishing up packing my bags tonight, I'm giving more thought to the expectations that have been swimming through my mind over the past few weeks of preparations.

I have a flurry of emotions and loads of butterflies today...

I'm convinced this will be an experience of a lifetime!
I'm mindful of how emotional I can be...too tender hearted for my own good sometimes. 
I'm anticipating seeing a city that bears no resemblance to what I've experienced in my life.
I'm anxious to meet the clients I'll be working with.  I'm quite impressed by their enthusiasm and passion to help entrepreneurs in Senegal.
I'm expecting to see a city caught between the past and future....rich in tradition yet hungry for advancement.
I'm expecting to fumble around with the French language...but that's OK!
I know I'll miss being home with Chris and the cats...but I know they are very capable of surviving without me! 
I'm GRATEFUL for all the prayers and support of dear friends and family who have encouraged me along this journey so far.

 I'm ready to go....let the adventure begin!

#ibmcsc senegal

2 days and counting!

2 days and counting!  Today's challenge is to wrap up all my "normal" responsibilities both at work and home and shift my focus to packing for a month. 

I'm determined to be as minimalistic as possible...but we'll see how that goes!!  Senegal is entering their Dry Season, so the temperatures will likely be hot and humid.  Today's high in Dakar is 86F/27C. (I'm trying to start thinking of temperature in terms of Celsius vs. Fahrenheit)  Thankfully Summer clothes are light! :-)

A package of IBM "goodies" arrived today for me to take with me and share among the Corporate Service Corp (CSC) team for our clients and others we meet along our journey.

#ibmcsc senegal

4 days and counting!

4 days and counting!
Setting up my blog and getting a bit of practice! :-)
#ibmcsc senegal