The U.S. State Department Visit

Friday, April 21, 2017

We started our day with a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Dakar. The security there was very intense. We had to check in with our passports and our names had to be submitted in advance so there was a crosscheck. They took our phones away so no pictures could be taken inside or outside of the embassy. We had badges, security check and escorts to the one room we could enter. It was all very serious and very formal. The room was a typical conference room with flags of both countries, podium, projector, chairs, tables and pictures on the wall. The pictures date back to 1960 when Senegal first became an independent nation. There were 8 pictures of the Senegalese presidents with our presidents from Kennedy to Obama (Carter was missing).

The U.S. has a healthy relationship with Senegal. We have between 220-260 peace corps volunteers in agriculture, agroforestry, and health. It's one of the biggest peace corps programs in the world. In addition to that, there are over 200 employees in 19 agencies and each agency is working toward common goals: to advance democratic values, promote peace and security, promote economic growth and health, and improve trade and development.

While at the embassy, we met with the Senegalese Minister of Education, Aminata Ndiaye.She shared that there is a plan to develop reading using local languages to learn basic skills before learning other languages (most people are fluent in 3!). English is a mandatory language to learn and they study it from 6th-12th grade. There are challenges in teacher training with a lack of opportunities. Also, most classes are at a minimum, 45 students up to 100 in a class. There are limited resources to equip schools. However, there are increased opportunities for in-service training with teacher advisors. ATES (Association of English Teachers in Senegal) is the equivalent of our NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English). They are very involved in promoting English through professional development, exchange visits, affiliation with other countries, and the biggest thing I have seen--English Clubs. These English Clubs made up of students are very active throughout the country with meetings, festivals, competitions, and what they refer to as Opening Day (although it's not at the beginning of the school year--several are coming up next week). Our host teacher, Mouhamadou Sadibou Diouf (who goes by Pape Diouf.), is the president of ATES and has done much to promote English language learning.

Pape Diouf is in the brown and another club sponsor for the middle school is in blue. High school students visiting the middle school were encouraging the younger students to continue their English studies.