Merry Christmas everybody!
Oh what a wonderful christmas I have been having in Senegal. You know, christmas doesnt exist for muslims so most people here dont know it exists. On Dec 23rd in my regional town, Kedougou, we had a student protest go down. Apparently the teachers went on strike and the students rioted because there is no work for students in Kedougou and its hard for students to make money and live if they dont work. So the students put red bands on their heads and burned down the government buildings of Kedougou. They burned the Governers house, the Prefects house, the tribunal. They also destroyed the police station and most of their vehicules. Then they got really excited and started tearing up the market place and other random buildings in the city center. The post office was injured; but thankfully not burned. Yes so in the morning of the 23rd my friend and I were biking to town to go to the internet but decided to turn around when we saw the crowds of students and a car and a house on fire. We told the others and we put ourselves under house arrest. The military came eventually and several people were injured and a couple died.
Of course all the volunteers were safe bacause our regional house is outside of the city center and we were a good distance from the riots. On the 24th we ventured out to see the situation and we got to see the military, several different branches, swarming the city. We saw groups of students just waiting. We saw the burned down police station, tribunal, prefecture and the post office damage. Things were still pretty on edge so after reporting to the big boss we were told to leave kedougou. SO now we are in the next city over, Tabacounda. Its nice here, we can go to the market here and buy food without worrying about what is burned down.
What happened is a real setback for the government of kedougou. A lot of documents were burned along with the buildings. A lot of our partners have severe damage to their homes. Its unfortunate.
Christmas in Tamba was nice. We watched Love Actually and Christmas Vacation and we had a big dinner cooked by the Tamba volunteers. I dont know when we will get to go back, hopefully soon.
My week in the village was good. I didnt do a whole lot. I dont have time to talk about it now because I only have 5 minutes till time runs out.
So... I hope you all are having a Merry Christmas :)
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2 comments:
I have to say that when I got your message, I got really concerned. And although I am deeply sad for the people injured, the people who died, and the burnt documents, buildings, and homes... I am very thankful that you and your friends are ok. Were the people in your village deeply affected by this as well?
This is a setback for the government.. :( My heart goes out to all those affected by this uprising.
Unfortunately, it is things like this that make you realize how lucky we are to be American. That doesn't help make things better where you are... but is there really anything we can do??
Anyway, keep us updated. You're all in my thoughts...
Hope I get to talk to you today :) I've been counting down the days...
xo <3
Merry Christmas Sheila!
Hearts,
Bean
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