Although many of us African ELFs are more than halfway through our 10-month contracts, we had our mid-year conference April 23-25 at the Al Afifa Hotel in downtown Dakar. The conference was held in the same location last year, so some of the renewing ELFs were familiar with the hotel and the area of the city where we were staying. In my opinion, the hotel was a bit pricey for the amenities we received, but then again I am much more frugal than most.
Anyway, Jamie and I arrived with enough time to check into our new room at Al Afifa before the conference started. We also had time to take advantage of the “free” breakfast. This was a point of argument – we were told by some people that breakfast was included and by others that we had to pay for it. In the end, we had to pay for it...even if we didn’t take advantage. On Thursday morning, we thought we’d save money by eating some pastries at the bakery around the corner only to find out that we were still paying over $7 USD for the hotel breakfast that we never ate! Oh well...
After breakfast, we checked into the conference room and were greeted with name tags and big, cold bottles of water. Things started promptly with an address from the Deputy Chief of Mission, Sandra Clark. We continued the morning by quickly introducing ourselves and our projects. Many of us had met at the pre-departure orientation in Washington D.C. in August, but other renewing fellows and off-cycle fellows were not there. In total, there were about 20 of us.
Anyway, Jamie and I arrived with enough time to check into our new room at Al Afifa before the conference started. We also had time to take advantage of the “free” breakfast. This was a point of argument – we were told by some people that breakfast was included and by others that we had to pay for it. In the end, we had to pay for it...even if we didn’t take advantage. On Thursday morning, we thought we’d save money by eating some pastries at the bakery around the corner only to find out that we were still paying over $7 USD for the hotel breakfast that we never ate! Oh well...
After breakfast, we checked into the conference room and were greeted with name tags and big, cold bottles of water. Things started promptly with an address from the Deputy Chief of Mission, Sandra Clark. We continued the morning by quickly introducing ourselves and our projects. Many of us had met at the pre-departure orientation in Washington D.C. in August, but other renewing fellows and off-cycle fellows were not there. In total, there were about 20 of us.
The first session of the morning was about working with youth and the Access Microscholarship Program. I participated in this panel since I have been working with Access students about once a month. We shared activity ideas as well as challenges that we have faced. This session was in preparation for our afternoon activities which involved working with the Dakar Access students.
After lunch, we got into two big, white mini-vans and headed to where the Access Program is held. The students (about 90 of them) were already there with their teachers eating lunch. They were eagerly anticipating our arrival and had prepared some awesome skits about various environmental issues. After the performances, we shared our personal experiences about how we each try to be eco-friendly (i.e. using reusable bags, carpooling, turning off the water while brushing teeth). We played some Activate! English games with most of the students while a few others painted some banners.
After lunch, we got into two big, white mini-vans and headed to where the Access Program is held. The students (about 90 of them) were already there with their teachers eating lunch. They were eagerly anticipating our arrival and had prepared some awesome skits about various environmental issues. After the performances, we shared our personal experiences about how we each try to be eco-friendly (i.e. using reusable bags, carpooling, turning off the water while brushing teeth). We played some Activate! English games with most of the students while a few others painted some banners.
I should probably mention that all of these activities were about the environment in celebration of Earth Day. We had a contest to see which class of students could collect the most plastic bags/bottles from the school grounds as well as fun physical activities (tug of war appropriately renamed “tug for the Earth”, three-legged race). Finally, we planted some trees in the school courtyard. I was hesitant about whether or not the trees would survive because there were scrawny and the school’s courtyard looked like a desert. But apparently, a special species of tree was chosen that will thrive in this environment. Maybe they’ll send us some updated photos in the future so we can see the growth (or lack of)!
The afternoon tired us all out, but we had something to look forward to: a white elephant gift exchange! We got back to the hotel around 6:30pm, freshened up, and met back downstairs in the pool courtyard. The hotel graciously set up tables for us. We ordered pizza, but were asked to buy our drinks from the hotel. I was going to have a cocktail until I found out it was more than $10 USD! What happened to the 50 cent beers I can buy in Ethiopia?!
The afternoon tired us all out, but we had something to look forward to: a white elephant gift exchange! We got back to the hotel around 6:30pm, freshened up, and met back downstairs in the pool courtyard. The hotel graciously set up tables for us. We ordered pizza, but were asked to buy our drinks from the hotel. I was going to have a cocktail until I found out it was more than $10 USD! What happened to the 50 cent beers I can buy in Ethiopia?!
For the gift exchange, we all brought something from our respective country that was $20 USD or less. Then, we each drew a number (1-19). Number one had to choose any gift from the table. Number two had the choice of taking the gift from number one or choosing any other gift on the table. Number three could choose the gift from number one or number two or choose any other gift on the table. I think you get the idea. However, there was a rule that a gift could only be stolen three times. If you were the third person to steal a gift, it was yours to keep...otherwise it was at risk of being taken at any time. I was happy to get my lucky number: 13. I was close to the end, but almost too close. It was best to have a number in the middle so you could see many of the gifts before they had been stolen three times. There were a lot of really cool items: a wooden bowl with brightly colored fish from Mozambique, a leather jewelry box from Cote d’Ivoire, a beautiful scarf from Mauritania, wooden statues, and more! I ended up with a lovely giraffe statue from Namibia. How perfect (I love giraffes)! The hotel even made us a free pizza to prove that theirs was as good as the stuff we ordered (it was alright).
Most of us called it a night after hanging out til 10pm. It had been a long day after all and there was more to come early the next morning!
Most of us called it a night after hanging out til 10pm. It had been a long day after all and there was more to come early the next morning!