[FR] [ENG SUB] TRAVEL WITH ME: DAKAR, SENEGAL VLOG (Gorée, Stage, et bien plus!)

Hello everyone! Today I'll be taking you on a trip to my beautiful country, Senegal. (Singing Dora The Explorer theme song) Shout out to Dora! The homie! The beautiful ocean view tells us we've arrived! Hello everyone! Welcome back to my channel! Sorry for the wind. Today I wanted to shoot the video on our terrace because, well, it's beautiful. But I forgot that today was windy and that our decorations would make a lot of noise. So I hope you won't have too much trouble hearing me, let me know if you do. I was trying to give you ASMR, nature sounds but it's an epic fail! My hair is a mess.

Today, I wanted to sit down with you and chat for a bit because I realised that in this vlog there were a lot of images of the scenery, the beach Images of me in the pool, me at a restaurant... Videos like that, and it made me realise that there weren't many videos of me actually speaking. Not enough videos of me talking to you and sharing my thoughts. So today I'm going to sit down, hang out with you guys for a bit and just talk basically. One thing to know about me is that I love, love, love coming to Senegal. Senegal is really the place where I feel most, I don't know, at peace, chill.

As soon as I land, I feel like all my problems disappear. All the problems I had in the US suddenly vanish. They mean nothing to me anymore. I am zen. No stress. Really it's incredible! I love Senegal (ok we get it girl) When you land at Blaise Diagne International Airport. As soon as the doors of the plane open, When you exit the plane and the heat wave HITS you! When the flies start attacking you!! That is when you realise ''OH, I AM HOME! I HAVE ARRIVED! OH!!'' FYI, I got here a few months ago so back then there weren't as many COVID cases. Now the cases are starting to increase so let's be really, really, careful! Be careful. I know we all want to go out, have fun, to party.

I know we're tired of the masks. But, If we don't remain careful and respect the protective measures, it will take longer to get back to normal. So, there comes a point where we have to compromise. Anyways, when I first arrived in Senegal there weren't many cases, nor regulations. But I still isolated myself before joining the rest of my family. I quarantined (is it even a verb?) Initially I lived in Washington D.C, in the US. That's where I studied.

However, when the virus that shall not be named, first appeared I thought, why not go back home? Because I didn't feel like staying in the U.S alone. Mind you, the situation was very different in the U.S and in Senegal. First of all in Senegal, Thank God, there weren't nearly as many cases Let me knock on wood! Oh, Al Hamdulillah! There weren't as many cases as in the U.S. Back then the situation in the U.S was super scary. SO many cases. I thought, there is no way I can stay here any longer. When I tell you I did not go out of my apartment I mean it in the most literal sense.

Even to get groceries, I got them delivered. Even though the supermarket was super close to my place. I wasted money. But I was terrified of getting sick, especially at the begining. At the beginning there wasn't much that was known. So, I wasn't going out at all. I would only go out to, I don't know, throw the trash out. That's it.

That's it! When I tell you I wasn't going out! I would just stay in my apartment alone. Loneliest girl in the world guys haha (Singing French song about loneliness lol) I was so done with it all. So I felt super sad, lowkey (highkey?) depressive. Yeah so I had to go back to Senegal I needed to go home. Back home I would have my family near.

The situation would not be as bad as the U.S so I would not feel as stressed. I would not have to cook!! I won't lie to you, this was one of the biggest factors that led me back home. When I was in the U.S I had to cook right? Because I was living alone. But here I don't have to cook so...

No, no, no. I was like, let me find the first flight to Dakar. But at the time there weren't many flights. Anyways, anyways I ran to my flight. I escaped. I ran away from the mess that was happeining in the U.S. When people say "U.S, U.S, America, America''

I admit there are a lot of good things about the country but, Personally, I feel like there is no place like Africa. No place like Africa. Especially in terms of quality of life. But then again, I am speaking from a place of priviledge which I am aware of. Life is not so peaceful for everyone in Senegal if we're being honest. Guys! I didn't expect the wind to be that strong (chaos ensues) Look at the dark circles I have today. It's mad.

I am supposed to have lunch with a friend for the first time in forever. We tried to find a place with not too many people because I am scareddd. So, I pray that it won't be packed. I'll take you with me! Ooh lah lah! The girl is sweet! Sweet like candy! Sweet like sugar itself! Ooh la la, look at my model poses! Naomi who? A model! Eh ndeyssane, Diallo Poulho waye! (This is why I am always late) (On our way to ''La Plage'' Restaurant) You'll appear in my vlog It's cold at night! So cold! You don't even need the AC. Are you vlogging? Yes, I am! He was selling my grandpa's book ''Ambiguous Adventure'' by Cheikh Hamidou Kane There were way more people than I expected so I was kinda panicking The following morning I did a few strecthes just to pretend like I'm a sporty kinda gyal.

Btw, you're about to see the worst squat of the history of squats in 3,2,1... I have no right to not take squats seriously. My butt situation is very concerning. My 2021 resolution: to leave the little booties, small booties team (Amen!) Yo! What is wrong with this lighting?! I don't know why it's so light. It's making my skin look yellow I don't know how to change it so we're just gonna have to deal with it. So today is going to be an exciting day because we're going to Goree Island! My cousins called me this morning and asked me if I wanted to go to Goree with them.

And of course I want to go! How could I say no to Goree?? So they're coming to pick me up, then we are going to eat at La Piazzola I believe And from there we'll go straight to Goree Island! Let's go! First things first though, do you acknowledge my swag? Look at my hat! Oh la la Hip girl! I love this hat so much. A lot of my friends made fun of that hat, but I personally love it! It's actually reversible. I don't speak French anymore What was the French word again? 0:10:11.267,1193:02:47.295 How do you say reversible in French again? *mind fart* It can be worn both ways.

But the other side is torn so I can only use one side. I bought this hat a few years ago at a market in Istanbul, Turkey. I forgot the name of the market. It's the big bazaar/market in Istanbul near the Blue Mosque for those who know the city.

Yep. That's where I bought it. It's been a while since I bouhgt it. But it's still almost intact. Oh la la (how many times do I say oh lala?? chile) On our way to Goree Island Bruh Senegalese people are all entertainers I swear lol Good bye Goree Island! Internship Day at Samu Social Senegal Hello! Sorry about the image quality it's super early here. While watching my vlog you might think that all I do is go to the beach or the restaurant Or to the pool. But that's not at all what my days mostly consist of. Actually, like I told you, I'm super scared of getting sick so I barely go out.

So, I can count on one hand the amount of times I went out on non-essential outings. And that goes for the entirety of my stay in Dakar. So yeah I don't just spend my days at the pool.

I am currently doing an internship at Samu Social Senegal. And I wanted to tell you about it because it's an NGO that is close to my heart. Because I've been volunteering there for a few years now. For those who don't know, it's an NGO that takes care of homeless children. These children are called talibe in Senegal. This is nothing new to you if you are Senegalese.

We know how big of a problem it has been for so many years, too many years. Aand for those who aren't familiar with the issue, there are tens of thousands of homeless children in Dakar. It's one of the first things you will notice when in Senegal. There are many people begging for money in the street. Among those people, a lot of them are children. So we have a big problem when it comes to homelesness among children.

These children end up in the streets for several reasons. Some of them ran away from their family homes due to domestic abuse from family members. Others end up in the streets after running away from ''daaras''.

How could I describe a ''daara''? It's kind of like a religious school. The kids live there. So it's basically like a religious boarding school. There, you are taught religion and the Qur'an.

These schools have been around for a very long time, and not all of them are problematic. Especially in my grand-parents'days. A lot of the men used to go to those daaras, but there weren't as many issues associated with daaras as today.

All of this to say that some daaras are great, with teachers that do their job correctly. Teachers that teach well and take care of the kids as they should. But there are also some daaras, if we are being honest, with teachers that abuse of their ''power''.

It's common for parents to send their children (mainly boys) to those ''religious boarding schools''. They send their kids there so they can learn about religion. Sometimes parents send their children there because they do not have the means to take care of their children. While in those daaras the children would normally be housed and fed. And at the same time they can get an education. So a lot of parents end up chosing that option for their kid.

The problem is that some of those teachers who are supposed to be responsible for these children and to teach them, abuse of their power. So some children end up being victims of their teacher's violence. It's physical and mental abuse. And so what else can these children do but run away? They can't stay at the daara anymore due to fear and to the violence their teachers inflict on them.

They can't go back home as well, either because of the situation at home or the fear that their parent will take them back to the school. So, they end up in the streets. So now we have tens of thousands of homeless children roaming around the streets of Dakar, They are not going to school. They are not working. Their lives are at a standstill. They aren't moving forward. Aand these are children we are talking about. I've seen children as young as 5 years-old. Others are 18,20. There are kids of all ages. The children also come from all regions of the country.

Additionally, many of them are from neighboring countries such as Guinee Conakry, the Gambia, Mali... I believe a great majority of these children come from neighboring countries to Dakar. So we end up with a big problem, Homeless children with no shelter, education, food and no hope in their future. So what can we do to help them? It's to the point where it has become normal to see children in the street. It's like part of the landscape now, it's so terrible. When they see one of them, people just give them a bit of money and then go on with their day while the kids remain in the streets.

It's such a big issue that's been existing for so long, that we as a society ended up normalising it. It's almost become normal to see children in the street, although it is anything but normal. So a few NGOs like Samu Social Senegal that takes care of these children. They have for mission to bring the children back to their family homes when possible by organising mediations with the family. They also try to ensure that children can go back to school, and/or find a professional vocation.

The center at which I work, well, it's an internship, I volunteer there. It is called Samu Social Senegal. The center hosts homeless children. Sometimes the children come by themselves to the center since they are familiar with it, Sometimes we go directly to the children, and suggest for them to come to our center. If they accept the suggestion, they can come to the center and sleep there, eat there, Anyways, it's a big center with a lot of structures. There are social workers who stay with the children the whole time. They play with them, talk to them. They try to learn more about the children's families and what brought them to the street.

There is also a psychologist available to all of them. There's a medical clinic, which is where I am interning. I shadow doctors and nurses. We also have activities called ''maraudes''. During those ''maraudes'' we go to the sites in the city where the children stay.

We take an ambulance and go there with a social worker, a doctor or nurse and, well, me. So we go directly to the children and give them milk, food. We also bring water and soap so that they can reduce the risks of transmission of the disease. Well we try to reduce it as much as possible, since it's really hard to contain it in homeless populations. We also bring them masks for the same purpose. Since we have doctors and nurses in our team, if any of the children are hurt or need a medical consultation, we can provide them with health care directly wherever they are. So we're trying to do what we can but, It's really difficult because there are too many children. Where do we even start?

Resources are lacking, there aren't enough structures developped specifically to address this problem... But as I said, we're doing what we can. So, yep. Just showing the children that we are here for them and to visit them everyday, already means a lot to them. I will talk about all of this in greather lengths in another video because this is such a complex topic to cover .

It's a really serious topic so I don't want to rush it. I can't speak French anymore, it's crazy. I don't want to... I want to talk about it in more depth, so I'll make another video just about that specifically. That video will be about Samu Social Senegal and the situation of the homeless children in Dakar. As you can tell by now, it is a huge problem. I will add links about the NGOs and about homeless children in the description box below. So that you can understand the topic better and perhaps be able to help in the future.

Eating ''tiep bou djen'' (national dish) at 9pm because, why not?? Anyone else dances when the food is good? UNO with the fam! (BEWARE: this game can break family ties!!) My sister: ''That's it, I give up'' Me: Don't lose hope! I didn't win so I won't post the rest of the game lol Thank you for watching! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed it :)

2021-03-29 23:34

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