Apologies due

First, I would like to apologize for the months of negligence to this blog. I am still suprised people have found it interesting enough to read/follow so I will do my best to keep it up to date again. I have actually found blogging as a great way to record my experiences and due to my handwriting keeping a journal has just never worked.

Geekcorps Mali

The Geekcorps Mali Team

For those who don’t know, I am now in Bamako, Mali. Upon the end of my first term as a volunteer in Senegal with the Geekcorps, I had the opportunity to apply to be the country director/program coordinator for IESC/Geekcorp’s program in Mali and in the end had the great fortune to be selected. It truly is a dream job for me as I will finally get to pursue my passion for blending IT with development to hopefully help make at least a small difference in Africa. In the future, I will try and elaborate on what exactly our program is trying to achieve. For now, our program website: mali.geekcorps.org (make sure to check out the news section) is a great way to see what we do. I have just finished my first two weeks here and despite the constant smell of burning garbage am starting to adjust well. I have a nice home, an incredible staff to work with and can attest that despite the poverty, Mali has a lot of charm. The depth and diversity of its culture and history alone are staggering.

Fete du Ramadan
My arrival coincided with the end of Ramadan, the month where Muslim’s around the world fast for a month as a testament to their committment in their faith. The end of Ramadan is marked with a huge celebration similar to our Christmas where families are visited and kids are given new clothes and if they’re lucky sunglasses. Moussa one of our local tech geniuses was kind of enough to invite him to share the holiday with his family.

new duds

girl in shadows

View rest of photo set »

Meeting the President

Last week I had the chance to attend the AGOA conference held in Dakar this year. During the conference, President Wade toured some of the exhibits including where I was working. I even got to show him my work so far on Leuk. What was really kind of neat was one he saw that Leuk he yelled at the national tv to make sure they take a picture of my computer screen since it was in Wolof and thus was “really important”.

My project also got covered in this recent article from the department of state.

Galle Nanondiral
One of the reasons I think I decided to pursue a career in development stems from the pride in the work my father started in Senegal nearly 20 years ago. My father helped establish Galle Nanondiral “the House of Mutual Understanding” in Yeumbel a poor suburb of Dakar. In an area devoid of basic resources we take for granted, Galle Nanondiral has become an extremely important center providing community members access to literacy courses, sports (basketball, ping-pong, fooseball, etc), a computer lab and perhaps most importantly a library. In an area where having your own school books is almost an unthinkable luxury, students old and young come to the the center and wait in long lines to study and get ahead. So popular is the center has been known to get over 700 unique visitors on a given day.

What I am perhaps more impressed by is that fact that the center has flourished despite my father leaving. My father and others in his organization believed in empowering Senegalese with the task of developing and managing the center. The center is now run by a Senegalese co-director and Senegalese staff. While developing local capacity is now a popular trend in development, I think it’s notable the center started doing it 20 years ago.

My parent’s with some of Galle Nanondiral’s Staff

The court where future NBA hopefulMamadou Diene a former school drop-out found basketball and the academic support to now attend Baylor University.

Mamadou Diene: From Yeumbeul to Baylor University Freshman big-man from Senegal… Seven-footer with raw talent and high future potential… Gifted athlete will need to adapt to American game… Coaches plan to utilize shot-blocking ability and inside presence off the bench… Rated top NBA prospect in Africa and sixth-best international prospect in world by NBAdraft.net… Head Coach Scott Drew’s first signee at Baylor. HIGH SCHOOL: Would rank among top 40 high school players nationally if a U.S. player, according to HoopScoop… Top player at Babacar Sy Basketball Camp in summer of 2003.

The Library

Think these don’t get read?

An early innovation: egg cartons on the roof to dampen sound

My father with Asseck and old friend and fellow carpenter

Life at DFI

DFI’s Current Volunteers

Working with these two is certainly a chore

Team Leuk

Here’s the start of my personal blog, which I will use to primarly share my trip to Dakar, Senegal with my friends and family.

Please check back for future updates.