Friday Best

brennapeterson
Apr 19
4 min read

Yesterday was Friday. Fridays in Senegal are mosque days- required for men and optional for women. Fatoumata's school is closed the Friday and Monday of Easter for observance, so we had the opportunity to go to a primary school and nursery. As we were riding to school, I saw the people of St. Louis dressed in their " Friday Best." My eyes glimmered out the car window as they caught bright colors, rich tapestry, careful embroidery, and other adornments on everyone from babies to elderly men. Senegalese are known for being sharp dressers.

The elementary school was inviting, and I felt right at home with the visuals, decorations and other warm touches in these classrooms. While the classrooms were more the size of a large office in my school, the ratios of students to teachers in this private school were much different than the public high school I'm placed at. In the four/five- and six-year-old classes, the ratio from students to teachers is about twenty to two. In what would be our second through fifth grade, the ratio is one teacher to ten students. I was impressed with the focus and respect of the students and their deep desire to learn English. Each classroom we entered, the students stood and waited to be told to sit.

Our team was in their element at the elementary school. We are all elementary teachers and felt right at home. The school we visited was the school Fatoumata's children attend. Her children lit up when they saw her at their school. Her son kept looking out the side of his eye to see her in the hallway and had a big smile on his face. It reminded me of the joy I felt as a child when I would see my mother, a beloved teacher at the school, during my school day. I remember having this internal smile and pride when I would catch her out of the side of my eye for a brief moment. She inspired me to teach.

We taught some greetings, songs ( I'm a Little Teapot, Wheels on the Bus, Head/Shoulders, Days of the Week), read a few books and acted them out, and gave out some donations and small gifts for the students. We also played a few vocabulary games with older students. The deep appreciation of the students and faculty was very touching. In Senegal, teachers must provide ALL supplies for students from their own funds. The first classroom we entered, we taught them how to say hello in English and when they greeted us, they got a smelly sticker. The kids were so excited to participate and meet us. The way they looked up into our eyes and touched our hands... I will remember it for a very long time.

I had a full circle moment in the four-year-old class. When I was in elementary school, my music teacher, Mrs. Stephens had a song game called " Hickory, Dickory, Bumble Bee" where you would do some hand clapping and then sing your name as the bee is passed student to student. She had told us that if we became teachers, she would get a bee for us to use with our class. When I was hired for my fist teaching job, she gave me my own bee. I have enjoyed the puppet and game with my own students for the last nineteen years. I brought my bee to the school and taught it to the students in Senegal. They loved the puppet and the repetition of the game worked perfectly as students introduced themselves in English. I hope Mrs. Stephens knows how incredibly meaningful that activity has been and how many young people ( now globally!) have been impacted by it.

After the elementary school, we moved next door to the nursery. The nursery cares for children ages three months to four years. One caregiver and a helper (mostly for cleaning, food) care for six children. It was so fun to play with the babies and practice both our French and Wolof with play phones and other props with them.

We returned to our hotel for lunch and a very short rest before heading to market. There are different markets for different things. Yesterday's market was the fish and fabric market. We chose fabrics for clothing items we are having made by the tailor. After choosing the fabrics, our host took us to the tailor. He measured us carefully as we showed him pictures of what we wanted. From there, the other group ( being hosted by Fatoumata's husband) returned to the hotel as we moved to the other tailor (Fatoumata's neighbor) to try on the other outfits she had made for us as a gift. Tonight is a cultural event at the school and apparently we are performing a dance for the community. I'm not sure when we are learning this dance. Stay tuned...

We got to meet Fatoumata's children and see her house before returning around eight to the hotel for dinner with the other group. This morning, I had breakfast, and I write this as we are waiting for our ride to the Sustainability Farm.