Monday, March 27, 2017

March 27, 2017
Ok, here is the update:
I took care of my yellow fever shot on the 18th at which point I also received 4 typhoid pills--1 to take every other day for 8 days, and my malaria prescription. I had to return on the 20th for my hepatitis A shot. It wasn’t too bad.

We are staying at a hotel in Thies which is called, when translated, The Magic Croissant. I love that name!!!

We have a tentative agenda where there are several opportunities to speak with different groups about our questions. So this is the official question I submitted:
How do students with disabilities, girls, and immigrants have access and equity in their education?

I found my adapter today, so that’s good too. And it will work with the system in place in Senegal.

I made phone calls to the 4 villages that feed into my high school and explained what this fellowship is about and asked if they had any items that they were willing to donate as gifts to the people in Senegal. A BIG shout out to Lisa Anthony in Franklin Park for a VERY generous donation. Thank you! Rosemont contributed too--thanks so much. And River Grove is gathering items as I write--thanks so much for your enthusiasm!

And between the 3rd and the 27th, there have been many steps along the way, but today is T minus 3 weeks and there is still much to do!
March 3, 2017

Yesterday I found out I am going to Thies, Senegal!!! I found out my partner teacher is Margeret and our host teacher is a high school English teacher who goes by the name, Pape. I also just got my Senegal travel book in the mail. BIG day! It’s feeling more and more real (which means I am getting more excited and more anxious about preparations)! I’ve been working on my question and I want to focus on access and equity in education as it relates to students with disabilities, immigrants and language acquisition and gender (girls). I put whatsapp on my phone and got Skype straightened out and my twitter account fixed too. Now it’s time to schedule SHOTS. YIKES!