Finally, It's Up and Running

It has been smelting hot in Dakar. The daytime temperature hovers around 95° F with almost 95% humidity. And on top of that there is no breeze. But all the heat and discomfort associated with it could not dampen the enthusiasm of the volunteers who worked tirelessly to filter the beach sand to collect sand of a specific grain size. The sand is the most important component of the filter. Using wrong grain of sand in the filter may not remove all the soap and detergent from the water which may result in the failure of the filter.  The volunteers used home-made sieves with special screens to collect the specific kind of sand needed for this filter.

Here is the fully functional filter. This is the final product of all the hard work of many young volunteers of BanlieueUP group. 

Big Community Meeting

Any community project cannot succeed unless the community has accepted it and has become part of it. This project is no exception. To share information about the project and engage the community members in discussion, El Hadji Abou Gueye and the officials of the NGO BanlieueUp invited the residents of Banlieue neighborhood. The meeting was attended by almost 150 community members. After sharing information about Mandela Washington Fellowship program, Achal gave the presentation about the filter and discussed its benefit to homeowners as well as to the community. The response was overwhelming. Community members were excited and eager to learn more about the filter. The meeting went on for about 2 hours. Here are some pictures from that big community meeting.

Meeting with the national leader

Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio is a highly liked national leader in Senegal. He was the Foreign Minister of Senegal from 2000 to 2009. Currently, he is the President of the Institute for PanAfrican Strategies (IPS). The meeting was attended by Dr. Gadio's advisers, many community leaders and activists. The meeting was planned for one hour but went on for almost two hours. Dr. Gadio was very impressed with the project and it's potential to save water and money to the families. This project will also help the environment and support local economy to grow. He has pledged his full support to the project and offered any help from his office to make this pilot project a national success.  

Here are some picture from that meeting at Dr. Gadio's office.

Presentation to volunteers

It's Sunday, September 27. It's volunteers' first day of training. About 30 volunteers have gathered to understand the project and their role in the project. The plan was to share the whole project with the volunteers, discuss it's social and environmental implications, and answer any questions volunteers might have. Almost all volunteers are under the age of 30 mostly between 20 and 25 years. Our auditorium was open street in front of El Hadji's house. Volunteers were seated in the chairs on the sandy street with enough room for pedestrians to pass through. Everyone was excited to be the part of this presentation which they want to convert into a movement.    

At dust the program started. El Hadji pulled out his brand new Epson projector set on a small table. The wall between his front door and window became our screen. It took me about 20 minutes to go over the slides. I spent most time on the slides that depicted the model in action. PowerPoint's animation can really bring boring slide into life. After the PowerPoint presentation, it was time for question and answer session. I was not expecting many questions.But contrary to expectations, I was showered with questions. Volunteers were not taking my presentation at it's face value. They was excited but interrogative. How do we know water is clean? How will you check the quality of water? What if someone accidentally takes a sip of the processed water? Is there any bacteria in the clean water? How can you so sure about the quality? The questions kept coming..... One would think that in a neighborhood where people don't have even many basic necessities, they may not care about these environmental and health issues. This was an eye-opening experience. At the same time it was gratifying to see that people do care about their communities and their health. They may not have the means but they are fully aware of environmental issues. Their enthusiasm and desire to come and participate is a sign that the good times are ahead of these neighborhoods.

First day at work

Arrived in Dakar in the wee hours of Saturday after about 8 hr flight from Washington, DC. El Hadji was waiting for me just outside the baggage claim area with his friend. I was welcomed by the hot and humid Dakar as soon as I stepped out side the airport building. El Hadji had secured a nice one bedroom apartment for me. We drove straight to my apartment and checked in. My apartment is on the forth floor. There are no elevator so we took steps to my apartment. Not too bad. I kind of like it for my cardio health.

In the afternoon, El Hadji picked me up and we went to Dakar downtown. It's absolutely empty. Barely a car or two. El Hadji explains that it is a religious holiday so people are enjoying the day with their families. He asked me to enjoy this once-a-year time when the downtown streets ate so empty. After taking some pictures, we went to a nice restaurant in the heart of downtown for my first lunch in Senegal. I ordered vegetarian Chinese noodles and blended juice for a drink. The food was very delicious. I loved every bite of it. 

After lunch, we drove straight to El Hadji's residence in the suburb of Guediawaye and met with his family. After a brief introduction we walked to the meeting site. A large number of volunteers and local residents were waiting for us. We received an enthusiastic and hearty welcome by the gathered residents and volunteers. Everyone was exited to see me there. They see it a sign of hope that things will change. The meeting went for almost hour and a half. Senegalese tea was served. It tastes very different from the black or green tea. Some sweet spicy taste. At the meeting all communication was in French. El Hadji had arranged an interpreter who translated everything in English for me. But you don't need any interpreter to understand the language of love, friendship and hospitality. Senegalese hospitality was on display. 

After the meeting, more introductions and then El Hadji took me to a Pizza place. I ordered a veggie pizza. I was very delicious. I might go back and try it one more time before I return to the US. Now enjoy some pictures from my downtown trip and the meeting on Saturday.

       

Off to Senegal

I am leaving for Senegal toady. I will be arriving in Dakar, Senegal, early morning on Saturday.