Scholarship Update
November 14, 2011
One of my main projects with-in the Sukuta community is
developing a sustainable scholarship program. There is no doubt there is an
incredible need to support education with-in the community. Often public school
fees are more than a parent’s monthly salary. When the choice is between eating
food and paying school fees education will take a back seat. This reality pulls
the plug on the future of many bright and hopeful children.
Knowing these cases are out there is one thing. The trick is
finding them (needed vs greedy) and sometimes then of course sometimes they
find you. On Saturday, I had such an experience.
A Wolof woman came to our compound sometime after lunch. She
and her son had left Bakau (an hour away by transport) early in the morning and
came to wander the streets of Sukuta after hearing a rumour there was an
opportunity for scholarship; 3 hours later she and her son were directed to our
compound.
She came prepared – official invoices, report cards and the
like. Her son was 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the class
(typically 40-50 students) for every subject. The Father was out of the picture
and even when he was around she didn’t see the school fees as a priority. She
had been trying since the summer to get her son back into school.
Speechless, it is hard not to do what you can.
Last night we held a meeting for all students and parents
outlining expectations, the vision and the importance of taking the scholarship
opportunity seriously as to allow it to move forward. At this time I have over
30 names of students both young and old looking to improve their education and
the list is continuing to grow. At this time two thirds of them are already
covered for the remainder (thanks to many of you and your support) and we are
working to manage the remainder. It is exciting to think of the possible impact
not only for the students but for the whole community.
Hoore Nagge
A couple days back I was ask for a contribution to buy some
meat. With the arrival of Tobaski there is a lot of slaughtering happening
right now so I guess meat is cheaper and being I live on the verge of
vegetarian while here I decided to go in for it. When I got home last night
there was a very big pot with a very big fire under just outside my door.
Taking any attempt to practice my Fula I asked.
“Hida defeh, ko
Hondun ni?” (lit – You are cooking, what’s this?)
“Hoore nagge” was the reply.
With some effort I pieced it together - Lets see…in the
village I had learned ‘nagge’ is cow now the question was what was ‘hoore’ – oh
yes ‘head’. Hmmm.
Needless to say lunch today was adventurous.
Tobaski
For all my visits to predominately Muslim nations I had yet
to experience a Tobaski and this I blessed to experience my first. Here are a
few observations from the outsider’s view point:
As explained to me, Tobaski is the celebration of God
providing a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of sacrificing Ishmael his son
(the teaching in the Kor’an differs from the original Hebrew/Jewish scriptures
where it is Isaac Rachel’s son). There is a special prayer and then sacrificing
of a male animal whose meat is to be eaten and shared in the following three
days. It is said to bring blessing to the family.
The concept of atonement or forgiveness was surprisingly not
a theme I encountered. From what I understood, this is viewed more as a task to
do among many by which you receive blessing and can continue to work towards
favour during the Day of Judgment. Again this is a central theme in the Hebrew
Scriptures.
Tobaski is not unlike Christmas in feel on the days leading
up to the feast. Markets were packed and traffic was a nightmare as people
(mainly woman) bought new dresses, shoes and hair for the event* –. The men are
primarily charged with purchasing a ram. I can be a great cause of grief and
embracement if a family unable (particularly if you have had in the past).
The days of Tobaski are spent visiting, from a social
perspective the days are about spending time together, there is little else on
the agenda. From this perspective it is easy to see why it is such a valued
holiday, particularly in this culture. Where ever possible people will travel
to their home’s to visit their home villages.
I can not explain much about the prayers or slaughtering in
the morning as not being a Muslim I was only able to attend informal
festivities that followed. The day again like Christmas is spent with family
and friends sitting around eating copious quantities of meat. From afternoon to
evening I ate 6-7 courses with meat, a sharp contrast to my typical diet here.
Couple of other notes was the sharp debate over the correct
day of Tobaski. In the past Mecca
would pray and then the following day the remainder of the world would follow.
A modern movement has spawned to synchronize the dates, however, it met sharp
conflict and it was easy to see where one allegiance stood (dead ram, live
ram). For me it was an interesting window into the religious thought of the
faith.
All said I was glad to experience it first hand.
* the hot item was the real human hair for braiding. I saw
one box said to be selling for equivalent of over $200US
When China
met Africa
There is a lot of discuss with China’s
recent interest in Africa. The Gambia
is no exception. In a lot of ways the relationship it a natural fit, China has money, Africa doesn’t, Africa has
resources, China
is looking for resources. Granted there are some concerns. Both China and Africa
and are cultures driven of by prestige and status, they understand how to
scratch each other back.
From extravagant birthday parties to building fancy
parliament buildings, from many perspectives it resembles crafty bait and
switch operation. With-in the boarders of this small country, mahogany is
quickly becoming extinct. In my short time hear I walked past many lots of the
precious wood being packed into containers. The promise of quick easy money and
few rules or regulation seem to keep the locals and traders all smiles, as a
passed such a lot yesterday with a man handing out money like it grew on trees.
When departing from Canada, a close friend had handed a
documentary on this very topic. “When China
Met Africa”. The documentary focuses on the
country of Zambia,
its copper fields, road building and farming operations.
So I invited a number of my friends both local and
international over and we had a movie night. Naturally, we started watching
“Cool Runnings” (which turned out to be a good pick) and later the documentary
which I highly recommend.
Following the documentary, we went on to have a 30 minute
discussion about what we saw. Some of the main points of discussion included
effective communication, proper planning and respect in understanding one
another. Some shared stories of personal experiences that resembled some of the
scenes with-in the movie.
At the end of the night we spend time in both Muslim and
Christian prayers. In all things feel people left somehow enlightened, somehow
encouraged and somehow challenged.
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