Sénégal (Summer 2019)

Sénégal (Summer 2019)
I had the opportunity to do a mission's trip in Sénégal with my brother's church for 12 days this summer.  I've included lots of details so read what you want.  Enjoy!:)

Pre-Sénégal
Sénégal is located in the north-western part of Africa and French is spoken there.:)  In order to visit this 3rd world country safely, one should get certain vaccines (meningitis, tetanus, yellow fever) and take medicine against malaria (Malarone).  These cost a lot in the U.S. (over $700) but it's way less expensive in France...  The nurse asked me if I wanted to get the shot against rabies but once I found out it cost $1200, I quickly decided not to take the shot, haha.  (Can you believe it only costs $12 for a dog to get the shot???)  So without protection, I had to beware of stray animals in Sénégal, not have any open wounds around them and not play with them.

Direct flights from LAX-Sénégal cost $2000 and in order to save money and to meet the team at the airport Monday night, I had to plan my flights carefully.  So the itinerary was going to be Sunday, June 23 - Monday, June 24:
LAX-Montréal (Air Canada)
Montréal-Paris (Air Canada)
Paris-Casablanca (Royal Air Maroc)
Casablanca-Dakar (Royal Air Maroc)

You know how it's crucial to be on time?  Well, this trip was a HUGE lesson on time...  (I'll say more about it later.)  The 1st flight was delayed & unfortunately, this was just the beginning of MANY more delays to come...  Once we landed in Montréal, lots of passengers found out that their flights were canceled, including mine.  Because I NEEDED to be in Paris on time to catch the flight for Paris-Casablanca, the new plan was to do Montréal-Barcelona-Paris...  When I FINALLY landed in Barcelona (it was delayed for hours), it made zero sense to go to Paris, not only due to geography but also I was already late for Paris-Casablanca.  So I did not want to go to Paris anymore and just wanted to go to Casablanca or better yet, Sénégal.  I thought my dilemma was going to be fixed easily but instead, it turned into a nightmare.  After countless international phone calls with Expedia (all flights were booked with them) filled with frustration and lots of tears, I reluctantly hopped on the plane for Barcelona-Paris.  (It turns out that if one doesn't show up for a flight, an airline company will automatically think he/she is not interested in that flight AND will CANCEL the returning flights too!?!)  Once I landed in Paris, the representative from Expedia actually called me (he had promised he would and actually did, which I was SO thankful for!!!) and helped me re-book my flights for Dakar.  He told me that I had to pay the difference for the new and old flights and because I was so exhausted and desperate, I didn't care.  What else was I supposed to do, sigh...  Anywho, I landed in Paris around 5 P.M. on Monday and he was able to book me a flight for that same evening but because it took quite some time for him to book the flights and for me to make my way to the right terminal, it was impossible for me to print my boarding passes.  SIGH.  So the rep ended up booking me new flights AGAIN and a hotel room for the night.  That was extremely kind of him and I'll forever be thankful that the Lord sent me this angel.  He not only was professional and patient but he was super kind too.  I still don't understand why Expedia paid for the hotel room (it was Air Canada's darn fault!!!) but I will definitely complain with Air Canada.

Expedia paid for this delicious breakfast BUFFET at the hotel so I definitely loaded up, if you know what I mean...;)

The hotel's waiting room filled with cool lights is where I took a wonderful nap before my flight Tuesday night.

24 hours after I landed in Paris, I finally took the flight Paris-Casablanca Tuesday night and then Casablanca-Dakar.  These flights were late too but I was fed on both flights around 8 P.M. & 11:30 P.M.!?!  After 3 continents, 5 countries and over 48 hours later, I FINALLY landed in Dakar, the capital of Sénégal on Wednesday morning around 1 A.M.  At customs, the employee spoke to me in French (with an accent) and when I misunderstood him, he said to me, "Vous n'êtes pas réveillée" (you're not awake), LOL.  My brother was there to greet me and we took a taxi to get to our lodging, Hallelujah.


Bonoba, Le Lac Rose
On Wednesday morning, I finally met the entire team, which was made up of 18 people, from 3 different churches in Paris, including my brother's.

Our mission's trip began that afternoon when we made our way to the village "Le Lac Rose".  For the next 4 days, we were dropped off at the village of Bonoba where there's a school.

Some nice, burning sand... in the desert.

We only did this slope once, phew.

Inhabitants of this village get water at wells.

Houses are made up of just 4 walls made out of stones, no roofs.

The 1st thing that marked me when we got to the village was the children's warm welcome!  When they saw us making our way to the school, they ran toward us, on hot, burning sand, to come shake our hands!!!  We were so touched by their friendly gesture!:)

Our goal was to do VBS (vacation Bible school), which included singing, Bible stories, skits, games, and arts and crafts, to encourage the teachers, and to provide medical care.

Listening to these children sing was literally music to my ears, haha.  They sing with such passion and heavenly voices that I couldn't help but tear up because though they have nothing, they do not complain but sing joyfully.  Senegalese children can sing oh so beautifully!!!

55 students in a class, 1 teacher.

This is the classroom where my partner and I lead arts and crafts.  

Here are 50+ children showing off their arts and crafts.:)  There were 10 adults helping 50+ students...  I was so embarrassed because usually, there's only 1 teacher teaching, not 10!  But I was so thankful that these adults had my back & came to our rescue when we needed help!  This was definitely 1 of my favorite moments of the trip: coming together as 1 family, for the greater good of everyone.

Our mission trip with the teachers of the school.  They are such friendly, hard-working teachers!  Several of them left the comfort of their homes to come teach at this school.  How inspiring is that???

Ever heard of or even packed shoeboxes for "Operation Christmas Child"?  The 2 villages we visited received some!:)

My brother, Eric, used his gift of making bread to teach the women of the village to make focaccia bread, which requires little ingredient.  However, they admitted that though it can be easy to make bread, sometimes, they cannot even afford to buy flour.  So sad.

Chef Eric & the women of the village

Delicious focaccia bread for breakfast

Gorom
The next village we visited was Gorom where we stayed for 3 days.  The camp was run by "Jeunesse en mission" ("Youth with a mission"), a nonprofit organization whose focus is to get youth involved in missions.  Our task here was to serve the owners of the camp by cutting trees, planting seeds and painting walls.

Our meeting place for devotion time in the morning, meals, hang outs, etc.

The camp has a health clinic that was donated by Japan!:)

Day 1 of painting

Day 2 of painting: before

Day 2 of painting: after

Day 2 of painting: done!

Each child in the village was excited to receive a shoebox from "Operation Christmas Child".

Group photo with the local missionaries

Dakar
Our mission's trip began & ended in Dakar.  Life in the capital of Sénégal is very different: there are lots of people everywhere, traffic, buses filled with passengers to the max, noise, etc.

African Renaissance Monument
After drinking soda daily for 10+ days and only running twice, running up those 200 steps was a challenge: I actually had to stop, sad.

Sleeping in mosquito nets was... interesting.  The nets had holes so we had to make sure to "plug" them.  Sleeping on top with that net right above me was suffocating so 1 night, I decided to sleep on a chair because I couldn't breathe.

Food
We ate lots of rice, chicken, fish, mango & watermelon but that's okay, Senegalese food is super tasty and the fruits are oh so sweetly delicious!:)  While everyone lost weight, I gained weight because I ate everything I usually don't eat: rice, bread, soda.  (I have never drank so much soda in my life.  I shouldn't have had it but it was there so I drank it, tsk, tsk, tsk.)

Yassa poisson (fish)

Yassa poulet (chicken): super flavorful!

This dish was shared amongst 6 people: Senegalese people usually eat with their hands (right hand only) but we were given spoons, which was super gracious of them.:)  So to eat, you make a little triangle in front of you and eat but you cannot reach across to get something.  

Thiep bou dien (fish)

Seafood & vegetables

Shrimp, alloco (fried plantains, yummm), vegetables

Specialty from Burkina Faso with fish

Fish with alloco (fried plantains)

1st time having Brazilian BBQ: sooo good!

Braised beef noodle soup (Chinese)

Giant piece of watermelon

1st time having corossol (soursop): it's green on the outside, white & mushy on the inside with big, black seeds.  I actually really like this fruit that tastes like sour pineapple!

Animals
There were your typical animals, dogs & cats (there were 6 of them living at the "hotel" we stayed in Bonoba, pure torture) and then those:

Dromedary

Skinny lambs

Skinny bull

Lesson

I learned a ton during this mission's trip and the common theme for all these lessons was time.  I had planned all my flights carefully and "perfectly" so that I could catch all flights in a timely manner yet interestingly enough, every single flight I took during this trip was delayed!?!  Even my flights Dakar-Casablanca and Casablanca-Paris were delayed, sigh.  I'd like to think that the Lord was trying to show me that though I had planned everything "perfectly", it might not have gone smoothly due to the fact that I was relying on my strength...

The other lesson related to time took place when I was in Gorom.  In the afternoon, we were given a couple of hours in the afternoon to relax because it was too hot to work outside (cutting trees, planting, painting).  So we just hung out indoors.  That was a challenge for me because I am not used to do nothing.  I had a hard time enjoying the free time we were given.  But what I realized is that the concept of time is basically nonexistent there.  I don't even recall seeing a clock in Sénégal.  They don't ever hurry to do things because they do not need to.

Final thoughts
1) I LOVED this mission's trip.  Not only could I feel God's presence there, whether it was seeing joy in children's eyes while singing or the teachers' selfless love for their students, but I could see His presence in the midst of us.  My brother's church supported me financially since my airfare was quite expensive.  And though our team was made up of 3 different churches, we all worked so well together, bonded and got along beautifully.  I miss the team so much.
2) Though my biggest challenge during the trip was the lack of hygiene (think squatting toilets and not so great showers), I totally want to return to Sénégal.  The probably, however, is that the mission's trip usually goes there in the spring, not in the summer.  So I hope that they will go in the summer next year so that I can go back!!!
3) The main reason I want to go back is because I was so touched by the teachers' love for their students.  When I was in Bonoba, I couldn't believe the lack of resources they have to face on a daily basis.  Several students asked us, "Can you give me a pen?  Can you give me paper?"  That was heart-breaking.  I couldn't believe they don't even have those things that we take for granted on a daily basis.  I had plans to gather as much resources as I could and send it to teachers over there, however, I found out something shocking: 1) whoever receives a package in Sénégal gets TAXED on whatever they receive!?! 2) the post office over there opens packages!?!  SIGH.  So this means that the best way to support them is: 1) pray; 2) send "money" to them in an envelope; 3) purchase things over there and bring it to them; 4) bring things over there in suitcases BUT don't put too many of the same things in the same suitcase or employees at the airport will thing we're trying to do business.
4) If you're thinking of doing some mission's work in a country where you don't speak the language, don't let that stop you.  E. and K. are both missionaries over there and they don't even speak good French.  They left their comfortable lives between 3-7 years ago and though they struggle a little bit with communication, they joyfully serve over there.  How humbling is this?