Senegal:
A Peace Corps Odyssey
In 1967, having graduated from the University
of Michigan with a B.A. in political science, I set out on what would
be a life-altering adventure. I became a member of the Peace Corps and left for
Senegal,
Africa where I spent the next two years of my life. The years from 1967-1969
were tumultuous in the United States--Martin Luther King
and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated,
the civil rights movement
was in full swing, feminism was waiting in the wings, and American astronauts walked
on the moon for the first time.
I experienced all of these events through an African filter. To this day, I have a "cultural gap" in my American history memory bank. While in Senegal, I had no TV, no telephone, only a very finicky radio and the daily reports from the BBC or Radio Sénégal. English newspapers were nonexistent then and news from the US often reached us weeks after the fact. Senegal was a "new" country in those days, having become independent only in 1960. The information superhighway was a dirt road that ran from north to south, traveled only by overcrowded taxis and pedestrians.
Today, the Internet has put the world at our fingertips. But Senegal remains distant and unknown. There are only a very few sites on the Web for Senegal. In the spirit of giving back to the Web, I offer this account of my two years in Africa. Join me on the voyage of a lifetime.
Peace Corps Training
The Capital: Dakar
Ibel, a remote village
Touba
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