Wade concedes to Macky!

A surprising update! Wade has officially conceded to Macky Sall. This is a wonderful thing for Senegalese democracy - transparent, fair elections and an unpopular president who stepped down gracefully. 

Election Day, Round 2

Thought I'd write a quick update on the current political happenings in Senegal, given that it is Election Day. As many of you may have read about, this year has been relatively unstable for Sénégal, a country which has a longstanding history of peaceful democratic governance since its independence from France in 1960. However, this is an election year, and the current President, Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, made a series of unpopular political decisions beginning in June that have led to mass protests throughout the country, particularly within the past couple months as Election Day has gotten closer. Much of the unrest stems from Wade's decision to run for a third term, despite a law that he, himself, set in place to limit the Presidency to two terms. He claims that because this law was passed during his first term in office, he's entitled to run for yet another term. Given continuing allegations of corruption and mismanagement of his presidential power, many people are against Wade being allowed to run at all.

So it is in this climate that Senegal goes to the polls today. The country has a two-round election system, where a candidate needs to win a majority of votes (50% or more) in the first round; otherwise the two candidates with the top number of votes continue on for a second-round run-off. The first round took place February 26th, with incumbent Wade receiving 35% of the votes and challenger Macky Sall, a former member of Wade's party Parti Democratique Sénégalais, receiving 26% of the votes.

Its about 7:40 here and the polls are reported to close around 8:00pm. Early estimates seem to show Macky in the lead, however, these reports are not verified and official results will not be available until later on this week. So far, the day has been peaceful, with no real reports of protests or violence. Its sure, though, given Wade's unpopularity, that a victory for him tonight will continue to bring unrest and mass demonstrations.

I will try to post updates on the results as the week goes on. 

Reflections on my time at ASBEF past the half-way mark

These past couple months have served as a wonderful opportunity for me to confirm my interests in public health and community-based programs. The elections have meant that I haven’t been able to study that much in the classroom (my sociology classes have still yet to start, and my French classes were temporarily suspended until the elections were over), but my time with ASBEF has totally made up for it. This confirmation also couldn’t have come at a better time, as I am in the process of deciding where I should spend a ton of money to go and get my Masters in Public Health. Its nice to know that even though I shall be in debt up to my eyeballs for the next 20 years or so, I am pursuing something that motivates and excites me.

On a personal level, these past couple months have been a way for me to delve into trying to understand professionalism in a different culture and language, and how to find the happy medium between other people’s way of getting work done and how I’m used to doing it. While this sounds like a minor thing, I can’t begin to tell how much it has helped to focus on this. I feel so much more like a working member of the team, instead of a foreigner with a separate code and separate set of rules and expectations.

On an organization-wide level, projects are developing and developing fast.  To the left are a couple pictures of a soon-to-be “Coin Jeune” or “Youth Corner” being developed by the MAJ group in the Dakar’s suburb of Guédiawaye. The suburbs typically have less access to healthcare and are quite disconnected from the city of Dakar itself. One of the MAJ Guédiawaye members lives in Thiaroye, a neighboring suburb, and recently acquired a vacant space on the first floor of his apartment building. We thought some of the money raised could go towards turning this into a mini youth center, where weekly education sessions would be held related to reproductive health topics and where youth could come with health problems and be referred to nearby clinics free-of-charge. Here is a MAJ member leading a preliminary community meeting in the vacant lot with neighborhood youth to brainstorm ways in which the space could be used.     

Other projects on the horizon: a pilot project with a local community organization working with young maids in the city. These women often work long hours and quit school early as a result – meaning that they typically receive little to no reproductive health education. We’re hoping to start a 2-month pilot program with these women within the counseling center created by the community organization. Every Sunday, MAJ members plan on leading discussions on reproductive health at the center, and the funds I have raised will go towards the preparation of these sessions.

And finally, MAJ members and I have started another communication project this time with MAJ members in Guédiawaye. With the funds raised, we purchased another PC for the MAJ Guédiawaye branch, and next weekend, a MAJ member and I are leading another training session on social media. Super excited!

I will try to be better about posting updates as programs develop. There is so much left I’d still love to be a part of before I leave, and there are only 4 months left before I have to go home. Time is flying!