During a long-distance trip between rural towns, a taxi I was riding stopped in the middle way because the car got a flat tire. Flat tires are so rare cases in Japan, but in Senegal, it will occasionally happen several car troubles, includ…

I came to Dakar, which is the capital city. It is only urban areas where are lively relating to Christmas. Big supermarkets and restaurants are decorated with lights and trees. I saw a Santa Claus alone in a shopping mall, so I approached …

The first semester is done. It starts the winter break. Now is in December, but I'm still taking showers with cold water in my house. I'm feeling cold, but only cold water comes out from the faucet because it doesn't have a funtion to warm…

When I come home after my work at elementary schools, I always feel incredibly sleepy. Then I take a nap for sure. Why do I feel incredibly sleepy? My view is that my brain is tired because I'm talking to a lot of people being energetic an…

Senegalese school have subjects including French, math, science, social studies, arts and crafts, music, physical education and Arabic. French and math lessons are given every day. In some schools, the main language is Arabic. Other subjec…

Saturdays and Sundays are my day off. I have basically been invited to Senegalese homes on national holidays, but it was the first time that I was invited to a Senegalese home on a normal day. I was happy and said immediately, "I'll go!" T…

Students in elementary school carry backpacks every day. They always have notebooks, pens, they rarely use the pencil case, though. And then, there is an "ardoise". What's that? When I first heard about it, I had no idea what it was. It is…

In elementary schools in Senegal, student grades are called differently from ones in Japan. Students go to school for six years at least. There is a final test at the end of each year, and if students do not reach the standard score, they …

When traveling long distances from city to city in Senegal, volunteer members basically use "7 plus (sept plus)". 7 is written "sept" in French, which is the same pronounciation as "set" in English . It is almost the same as a taxi. It is …

There is a drum in front of my house. (Left) This drum is a trash can, which was often fallen down and trash was scattered. That's why it had been removed for a while. (Right) The drum has returned! What a surprise, the red lid was install…

In Senegalese classrooms, teachers are not punctual very much. Sometimes a lesson extend the time over an hour. It is difficult for children to concentrate on. One of the reasons is that there are no clocks in the classrooms. Also there ar…

Here is a schedule at an elementary school in Senegal. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: 8:00 - 11:00 Classes 11:00 - 11:30 Breaking time 11:30am - 1:00pm Classes Tuesdays and Thursdays: Schools reopen for classes from 16:00 to 18:00. Children…

The official language is French in Senegal. All public documents are written in French. Despite this, there are many Senegalese who cannot speak French. Especially, most women usually speak in the local language "Wolof". I rarely meet wome…

Physical punishment still remains in Senegalese schools. In Japan, these kind of punishment by teachers are immediately in the news nowadays. Recently I started teaching math and have been to several classes in elementary schoos. I can und…

When I looked at the list of the first grade in an elementary school, the youngest was 5 years old and the oldest was 8 years old in the same room. When I asked the tallest boy in the second grade how old he was, he told me he was 11. In S…

Finger snap. I have one of my memories about finger snap when I was a child in the elementary school. I remember that when I practiced for about an hour to make a big sound with finger snap, the skin of the finger was peeled off. It was so…

I'm going to elementary schools this week. Children are just reviewing previous contents of subjects last year and haven't started learning new contents yet. I was wondering about the children's clothes. Just like in April in Japan（New se…

There was a strange scenery on the first day I went to an elementary school. They were probably children of first grade, and they were riding to school in a taxi. There were four children in the passenger seat of a normal taxi in which the…

Japanese are "rare foreigners" in the rural town of Louga. This is oposite thing that there are few African in Japan. When I walk around in town, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. I can very easily. Whenever I pass by someone, eyes always …

When phone calls are gotten even in the middle of conversations, Senegalese will quickly answer the phone without saying a word and suddenly start a conversation saying "Allô!". Allô means "Hello".In Japan, people would say, "May I take th…

October has arrived. The rainy season is turning into the dry season. Will it really stop heavy raining? I feel a little sad. The weather forecast still shows 40 degrees Celsius, so I think it is time to start feeling the difference of the…

After moving in, I had no furniture in my room, so I looked for a desk and a chair. Actually there were no big furniture stores around here and what I could only found was a desk and a chair that looked like furniture putting in a cafe. Es…

Today is the last day of August. September starts tomorrow. Senegalese children are still in vacation mode as school starts in October. This week, I went to the "Teacher Training Center" to greet my new colleagues. When reading novels in J…

Two pieces of building blocks are placed on the road. What are they? They are for making a football goal. When I walk along the street, I often come across these goals made by children. Sometimes, there is a normal goal with frame. There a…

The 11th of August was a public holiday called Mountain Day in Japan. I had been thinking that I'd like to climb a mountain if Senegal had mountains. Because I used to climb mountains in Japan every year. But it seems not to be mountains i…

Today I packed my belongings to move to the region where I will live. It was the last day to prepare. And I had my hair cut by a peer volunteer. It made my hair very short and I felt refreshed! Among my belongings, one of them is a sticky …

A ceremony was held for all of us, 12 volunteers from Japan. We are going to our each regions assigned, which are in the countryside. Finally, my new life will begin in the region. I've been waiting for this moment. Some of us will leave t…