January, 2001
All of the reports prior to this one have been
descriptions of Shannon's life as she has told me about it in telephone
conversations. This one, however, is very different because in November
and December I spent seven weeks in Senegal with her. The beginning and
end of that time was with other family members, staying in hotels, doing
tourist things, and traveling the 400 miles between Dakar, Senegals
capital, and Seno Palel, Shannons village. But for three full weeks I
stayed with Shannon in her village getting first hand experience. I took
lots of pictures, so in this 14th Report I will tell of
"Shannon in Senegal" by describing some of the pictures. [PHOTO
INDEX]
Most of Shannons Peace Corps work during the period I
was in Senegal was an AIDS Education Mural Project. I watched the project
unfold through introductory meetings, training sessions, and seeing the
murals appear on the outside walls of buildings. I particularly enjoyed
spending time with the other volunteers working on the project and
listening to them flip back and forth between English, Pulaar, and French
as they joked about all the challenges in their lives -- they dont even
hear themselves do it. What a special group of people! You can take
a look at the website I created for Shannon's AIDS
Education Mural Project.