Salaam aleekum! Welcome to the final blog post of my UNESCO fellowship in Dakar. This summer has absolutely flown by, and I cannot believe how little time I have left here.
Through my internship with IIEP-UNESCO in Africa, I am continuing to support projects in several African countries, such as a chapter on equitable and inclusive education in Sierra Leone; education sector analyses in São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola; a project focused on strengthening social cohesion in Guinea-Bissau; and a mid-term review of South Sudan’s education sector plan. With each project, I am developing new skills and continuing to improve existing ones. I’ve enjoyed exploring both quantitative and qualitative research methods through extensive literature reviews and the computation of key indicators. Two of the biggest takeaways from my work with IIEP-UNESCO in Africa so far have been the importance of collaboration with national partners and the value of creating a strong evidence base for educational planning. I have reflected on these concepts in a theoretical sense in my coursework, but through my work this summer, I now have an even more substantive understanding of how crucial each of these aspects is for education policy and development.
Although I think I could spend years here in Dakar and still never experience everything it has to offer, I have done my best to explore as much as possible. One of the most impactful experiences was a visit to the Île de Gorée, an island off the coast of Dakar that served as a central location for the Atlantic slave trade. The island is beautiful, but also rife with difficult truths. Walking through the carless streets surrounded by colorful colonial architecture and smelling the blossoming flowers, it’s difficult to comprehend the sheer magnitude of human suffering inflicted here. Outside the House of Slaves, one of the remaining structures that was used to hold enslaved people before they were sent to the Americas, my tour guide described how this island shifted from Portuguese to Dutch to English to French colonial powers. 400 years, he told us; that’s how long the Atlantic Slave Trade lasted. To put that number into context, the United States only recently celebrated its 250th birthday. As an American, I had learned about slavery and the role it played in building our country, but this was my first time viewing it from the other side of the Atlantic. This tour was a sobering reminder to me that this institution has roots spanning centuries deep into our shared human history and ramifications that still ripple through society today.
At the back of the building is the door of no return. This was the final threshold through which enslaved people would cross before being loaded into slave ships heading across the ocean, a journey many would not survive. Continuing our tour, we passed a school which the tour guide explained was the Maison d'Education Mariama Bâ, a prestigious all-girls boarding school founded by the first President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and named after Mariama Bâ, a Senegalese feminist author. As I watched groups of schoolchildren in their uniforms exploring the island, I imagined what dreams they may have for the future. The memories of this island’s tragic history permeate the air. But the few hours I spent there also sparked hope that while we should never forget the pain, maybe we can learn how to grow together in peace, balancing truth and beauty like Île de Gorée itself.
A few weeks after my excursion to the Île de Gorée, I spent the day at the Musée des Civilisations Noires, or the Museum of Black Civilizations. As I moved through the massive museum, I learned about the evolution of the first bipedal humans in Africa, contemplated Cheikh Anta Diop’s theories on African cultural continuity, and marvelled at the haunting life-sized sculptures by q Ousmane Sow. My visit to the museum was a powerful opportunity to expand my worldview regarding black civilizations and African history.
Since coming to Dakar, one of my favorite activities has been sitting on the shore and watching the surfers crashing through the waves. Instead of continuing to be just an observer, I recently decided to join them and take my first-ever surf lesson. I came into the experience with low expectations regarding my ability, but ended up surprising myself by standing up on the board a few times. Of course, I would almost immediately fall off each time, but thanks to my very patient instructor, supportive friend, and community of fellow surfers, I always felt encouraged to get back on the board.
As I near the end of this experience, I have to express my gratitude to all the wonderful people that I have met here in Dakar. The warmth and generosity with which I have been welcomed into communities of friends, colleagues, and neighbors has made even the difficult parts of this summer feel worth it. I will miss everyone I have connected with here, but it’s my sincere belief that I would always rather miss someone than never have met them.
This has been an absolutely life-changing summer, both personally and professionally, and I cannot wait to return to D.C. to share everything I have learned with our GW community!
Camden Thorngate is a current M.A. Candidate in the International Education Program at the George Washington University. Her research interests are education in emergencies, international education development, and peace education.