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Photo by Elke Schmidt, Senegal Bridge Year Program.

Pre-course assignment

Pre-course assignment
Let me start first by reminding people to go ahead and post their letter of introduction. There many friends and family waiting to know you. We want you to introduce yourself and tell us about your interests coming into bridge year, your projects- those you have been working on and the future ones- and what you are excited about.

Time is flying and in almost two weeks we will be in Senegal. I am sure Senegal has been in your mind this whole summer and there have a lot of questions and trying to guess how and what to pack or leave behind. Again this yak board is here for that ; for people to ask questions….even the instructors. All is geared to get you ready and fully equipped for your trip.
While you are getting ready in terms of stuff to bring we also want you to be thinking ahead and putting some thought about what is there to be learned and discovered. We want you to start focusing on the one of the key element of your Bridge Year ; service. You are right if you think it is too complex or difficult to fully comprehend but we want you start exploring it. It seems to be everywhere, religion, trade, community… so we want you to spot and appreciate it.

Go ahead and look around you in your local communities or country and try to identify the many aspect of service that are there. Is there any form of service that you admire or question, is there any form that you have not thought as service in the first place ? Talk to people who are doing service, what are some of the challenges they are facing, how do they define service ? Talk to the people who are served, how do they feel about it ?

After you explore service in general let us go and narrow down things. You probably have been thinking and talking quite a bit about Senegal/Africa during the summer. Have there been aspect of Senegal that have been strange, interesting that you want to research and introduce to the group ? It could be about politics, economy, history… Did you get introduced to Senegalese music, do you already have a favorite song and musician? Let us share our favorites and start a beginning of the year compilation
We have already contacted all of you and have been able to talk to some of you. You can ask clarification questions via skype if you have any as we expect you to share your answers when we get together. Relax and continue enjoying your families and friends while packing.
Jàmm ak jàmm