The meeting took place at the Arabic School in
Dassilami Soce. The teachers and director set up desks and chairs under a large
tree in the school’s courtyard for us. We got started around 10 am, and ended
around 2:30pm. During this time, we took down basic information about the
girls, interviewed each of them, and had them write a personal essay.
The interviews included questions like, “what the
biggest obstacle in your life?”, and “do you feel like your family is
supportive of your education?”. The essay included questions like, “if there
was something you could change about the Senegalese educational system with
regards to girls’ schooling, what would it be?”
In my introduction letter to my application, I discussed
several ways in which this process was flawed. I’ll outline a few below.
By the end of the morning, I recognized that many of
the girls’ answers were similar or even identical. Part of the problem is that
they could all hear each other’s answers. Beyond that, I didn’t know how to
convey to them that there were no wrong answers, and that I actually wanted to
have them come up with unique and personalized answers. Most importantly,
however, I’m sure they felt quite a bit of pressure to say “the right thing” in
front of their teachers and school director.
Unfortunately, the director and teachers also
influenced the girls’ answers directly. For instance, the director really
didn’t appreciate the essay question’s invitation to critique the Senegalese
school system. At first, I thought that he simply didn’t understand the
question, and I tried to give what I thought was a standard example: girls
should be encouraged/given incentives to stay in school longer, so that they do
not get married too young. The director rejected this entirely, saying that
girls should get married when their parents say so, and that they should never
go against their parents’ wishes anyway. According to him, nothing is wrong
with the Senegalese school system.
His opinion effectively squelched any possible
critical or creative thinking on the girls’ part. They unanimously said, in so
many ways, that success in academic and professional pursuits depends solely on
hard work and compassion for others. They said they could bring about change on
a small scale, by encouraging other young women to follow their lead or
supporting their own children’s education. But they simply did not (or could
not) express an idea for large scale, institutional, and systematic change—because
this kind of change would necessarily challenge traditional gender roles and
ways of life. For example, it might result in women not marrying so young or
when their parents say so. Clearly: a drastic change in the Senegalese school
system is a drastic change in Senegalese socio-cultural attitudes is a drastic
change in the Senegalese school system—etc. And understandably, that’s pretty
threatening to older, highly respected, and male Senegalese citizens.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not defending this
mentality, just trying to understand it. I definitely have a problem with
someone saying that young women should marry when their parents say to, and
that young women should dutifully obey their parents always. I was struck dumb
for the few seconds following that remark, and inwardly seethed for the rest of
the day. But when it comes down to it, there’s no way I can change the
Senegalese school system or Senegalese socio-cultural attitudes in two years of
PC service. That’s not what I came here to do. And really, I want to work with
the girls, not the director. If I can support their education or help them
better their lives in any way, then that’s more than enough for me.
·
Several girls
want to become teachers, a couple want to become doctors, one wants to be a
vendor in a boutique.
·
One girl said
that her favorite class is biology, because she wants to understand how the
heart works.
·
Many have to
walk many miles to get to school every day.
·
One girl lives
in her family’s village, but with a different family. Apparently, her own
family simply did not have enough money to raise her.
·
Money is
definitely scarce. Each girl has up to 14 brothers and sisters, and all their
parents work in the fields.
·
All say that
their families support their education by paying for their school fees,
uniforms, and school supplies. They didn’t cite any other forms of support,
such as verbal encouragement (e.g. “You can be anything you want to be when you
grow up”).
·
After school, female
students are expected to complete many household chores: sweeping, cooking,
caring for younger siblings, doing laundry, drawing well water, etc. During the
farming season, they go to the fields to work alongside their parents and any
siblings 10 years old and up. It is extremely physically demanding work.
·
The girls are
between the ages of 16 and 19. They are quite a bit older than middle school
girls in the States or even in the Senegalese French schools, but I’m not sure
why.
·
I was surprised
to learn that the girls cannot write Arabic fluently. In fact, they were not
able to write even simple phrases like “I want to be a doctor” without
assistance. By means of explanation, I was told that Arabic grammar is very
difficult.
