Senegal

In the Shade of the Baobab Tree

A 4-week Summer Abroad Program

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Duration
32 Days
Description

Discover true generosity; live with a Senegalese family, learn a new craft, drum and dance, find yourself immersed in a new worldview.

Dates

Jun 28 - Jul 29, 2021

Suggested Ages

15-17

Number of Participants

12

Availability

Open

Begins In

57 Weeks

Land Cost

$7,230

Estimated Flight Cost

$2,235

Dakar

Thies

Kedougou

Dene

Ndem

Temanto Samba

Kolda

Program Overview

You never know what new beauty might emerge in Senegal.

Enter a fortuneteller’s hut and ask a question about your future. Spin and dance with Sufi mystics. Discover fluent Spanish speakers on a mangrove island. Speak with a young man preparing to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to find work in Spain. This country is a collision of influences: French, Islamic, African, and increasingly, American and Chinese. Renowned for its hospitality and tolerance, Senegal makes room for all. We delve into pressing modern social issues while immersing ourselves in deep culture. As we sink into the rhythm of Senegalese life, we see that this place has much to teach us about community, global issues, and our own humanity.

Program Highlights
  • Find a sense of community and home in rural and urban homestays
  • Get completely off the beaten track while learning about Senegal’s many complexities
  • Witness the dazzling cultural and linguistic diversity in Senegal

Our journey begins in Thies, where we get our first…

Enter a fortuneteller’s hut and ask a question about your future. Spin and dance with Sufi mystics. Discover fluent Spanish speakers on a mangrove island. Speak with a young man preparing to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to find work in Spain. This country is a collision of influences: French, Islamic, African, and increasingly, American and Chinese. Renowned for its hospitality and tolerance, Senegal makes room for all. We delve into pressing modern social issues while immersing ourselves in deep culture. As we sink into the rhythm of Senegalese life, we see that this place has much to teach us about community, global issues, and our own humanity.

Program Highlights
  • Find a sense of community and home in rural and urban homestays
  • Get completely off the beaten track while learning about Senegal’s many complexities
  • Witness the dazzling cultural and linguistic diversity in Senegal

Our journey begins in Thies, where we get our first taste of tchieb-u-dien, Senegal’s national dish, and explore colorful markets, dance and drum with local teachers, and begin to examine issues surrouding the term ‘development.’ From Thies we travel to the sandy shores of Dene, where we study comparative religion amongst a community of Islamic scholars, practice French and Wolof greetings and learn new cultural norms, and possibly stay up late drumming and dancing under the stars. These initial days set the stage for an in-depth exploration of issues related to public health, gender, education, social justice, and human migration. Then, in the urban center of Thies, we engage in an urban homestay where we learn about local history, politics, and development challenges. Plunging into the vibrant traditions of a country that is 95% Muslim, we examine how Islam intersects with ancient African religious customs.

Heading south, we watch the flat desert landscape scattered with ancient baobab trees turn into lush, green forest. We trek through the foothills of the Fouta Djallon mountains, visiting Pulaar villages, traditional healers, and environmental activists along the way. We come to rest for a week of homestays, where students live in traditional thatched-hut family compounds. Students spend the day as locals do, working in the fields, milking cows, partaking in drumming and dance lessons, and listening to village meetings. As we sink into the rhythm of Senegalese life, we see that the tradition of teranga (the culture of giving) offers us many lessons about community and the web of connections we share.

Read More Read Less Sample Itinerary

Program Components

5/5
Comparative Religion

Explore unique variations of West African Islam, Catholicism, and animism.

4/5
Development Studies

Engage with gender issues and children’s rights, immigration and unemployment, desertification and climate change, public health and education.

3/5
Focus Of Inquiry

Discover Senegal's rich artistic heritage, explore Sufi mysticism, and learn more about 'teranga,' Senegal's culture of giving.

4/5
Homestay

Spend a week with a family in an individual rural village homestay with very rugged amenities, another week in a semi-urban homestay. Possible stays in additional group homestays in other parts of Senegal.

3/5
Independent Study Project (ISP)

Choose from a wide range of possible topics for mentored study during time in homestays such as drumming, dance, storytelling, gender issues, visual arts, health, politics, animism and more.

2/5
Language Study

Study Wolof, French, and Pulaar through language classes and immersion with homestay families, trekking guides, and Senegalese friends.

2/5
Learning Service

Learn about how our Senegalese hosts serve the environment through reforestation efforts in mangrove swamps and chimpanzee habitats. Give back to communities by dispelling stereotypes and assisting your homestay families with farm chores.

4/5
Rugged Travel

Travel overland throughout through Senegal on public transport, trek on foot through the hills of Kedougou, and stay in communities with little running water or electricity.

2/5
Trekking

Take on a moderately challenging multi-day trek from village to village and discover beautiful waterfalls in the verdant hills of the Kedougou region.

Testimonials

Dragons offered an opportunity to explore and expand my hindered knowledge on foreign countries other programs did not offer. Its mission vouched for an experience to venture off into new regions with new people without having any preconceptions of what one was getting themselves into. The idea of starting with a clean slate (not knowing others) and having the chance to meet and immediately cooperate with others appealed to me. Being on a Dragons trip is a valuable challenge filled with lessons within; one has to learn how to cooperate even if others are uncooperative, one has to adjust quickly to new conditions and embrace the differences between cultures.

Tazca Levitt

Senegal: Under the Shade of the Baobab Tree, 2019

"Amazing and transformative! Eve learned so much about global issues, for example the treatment of women, and deforestation. She became sensitized to how people live outside the U.S. and the challenges they face. All this learning and growing took place within a truly joyful, warm and welcoming environment."

Parent of Eve Senegal: In the Shade of the Baobab Tree

"The trip did an amazing job of giving us the right direction, but not holding our hands all the time like many other programs out there. I have developed as an individual, as a global citizen, and as a contributing member of a community."

Michael Fortenberry Senegal: In the Shade of the Baobab Tree

She really had an amazing experience, Though of course it is hard to know the extent of the impact at this stage, I would say it will be life changing.

Wendy Leisenring Parent of Annie Cohen, Senegal: In the Shade of the Baobab Tree

Sam has an incredible experience. Exactly the one we hoped for. His group was a diverse mix of personalities, his leaders engaged and Sam loved everything in the itinerary.

Parents of Sam Gold Senegal: In the Shade of the Baobab Tree 2019
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