June 21, 2015
Another life changing evening in Senegal
Father’s Day in Dakar, Senegal
After resting the afternoon on June 21st in
Dakar, Senegal after 16 some hours traveling (this was a short trip, as most of
our trips take around 40 hours), I decided to go for a walk around the area of
the hotel. I emptied out all of my pockets except for my phone and some money.
Up the street to see what was up there. Pretty run down, lots of people walking around
so that is a good sign. I crossed over
the street and followed a lady carrying a bucket on her head, a bucket in her
hand and baby strapped to her back.
Down the street, back toward the ocean. A few pharmacies, no grocery stores, lots of
metal gates like in Tajikistan. Crossed
over to the other side of the main street and started to head back toward the Amdre
Hotel.
The street before the hotel, there was a group of people in
the middle of road and 50-60 small kids, 6-15 years old; very dirty, no shoes, and
clothes in a tater. Reminder, the world
is a harsh place to live. How quickly we
forget the real world, the real hunger, the real need for help around the
world.
I stopped and just observed. A group of people were handing
out bread and tea to the small children, AND the taxi drivers, AND anyone who
was in need of a drink and bread. They offered the gift to anyone who would
stop. This went on for at least 45
minutes. The kids looked like they had
not eaten in a long time; this was a real act of kindness happening right
before me. There were four adults who
seemed to be making sure as many people could get the bread and tea as possible.
Everyone got a piece of bread and cup of tea. I asked one of the adults if they spoke
English and they did. I asked for the
leader, who was one of the adults wearing white. This group gives out bread and tea to the
homeless, the young and older kids, the taxi drivers and anyone in need. I told them that I was working with growers
up north to help them grow more food for their families. That brought on a lot of positive fist crunching
and high fives by all of the adults in the group.
It was the young kids that were the heart puller, so frail,
munching down the bread and tea as if it was their last meal. It was heart tearing to see the condition of
the kids. The ”bread” group said they are also
a humanitarian group, as I. They are
working with the poor people in Dakar and I am working with the poor farmers of
St. Louis. Kindred souls.
My heart is full tonight.
My wallet is less full. They got
10,000 CFA, but don’t get too worried, that is only $20USD.
We are so spoiled and so blessed to live in America. This is one reason I go to these different
countries. 1 – to help them grow more
food for their families; 2- to observe
and be reminded that we, in America are so blessed; and 3- we need to NOT forget the poor, the
needy, and the rest of the world. My mantra
– helping one family at a time, one pruner at a time; one loaf of bread and one
donation at a time.
FIG. 1 – Spotted cucumber beetle activity is very elevated this week. A mild winter combined with high temperatures over the past few weeks could be to blame. Close proximity to neighboring grass fields can affect detection levels as well. This graph shows trap counts so far this year compared to 2009, and to a 10-year average (1999-2009).
