This weekend was jam packed.
Saturday started off with a visit to Thies to attend a conference regarding the Act 2 Live Project. A pilot project aimed at raising awareness for young people in much neglected issues such as HIV prevention, sexually transmitted diseases as well as general health knowledge. The landscape on the drive there was stunning, a lot of desert and bare Baobab trees (pictured below) which have very thick trunks but very tiny branches.
The conference itself was in a "town hall format" It was interesting as members of the public voiced their opinions and suggestions towards the panelists. Near the end it was a big surprise when they invited me up to say a few words!
Sunday was full as well. The morning started with an outreach march where all volunteers of the Parcelles Assignees Branch went around the neighborhood talking to people about the programs. It lasted for about 4 hours. I am glad I applied sunscreen.
I had a quick lunch with Rene's family. His children kept pulling my arm hairs since they never had seen anyone that hairy!! (I'm guessing) I appeased one of them to stop by letting him play temporarily with my sunglasses. Then it was time to leave again for a soccer tournament hosted by the Y
The soccer tournament was fantastic and played on a field of red sand at the "Don Bosco" soccer camp, a rememnant of a century old initiative by a catholic priest to fund educational centers around the world. An interesting story actually! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bosco.
Each time someone would kick the ball or fell down large clouds of dust would explode into the air. It was pretty dramatic and intense. In the end the Red team ended up winning 2-0. The President of the YMCA of Senegal made a surprise visit to award the prize to the winning team. The photographers sent from the Senegalese newspapers forgot their flash so they ended up asking me for the photos I was taking! Maybe we'll see them in the papers!
Next week I will be going to Thies again and Kaolack from Tuesday to Sunday. Got to go for now! Lots to pack for the road trip!
