Keaton Scanlon

Keaton is passionate about the outdoors--whether that means camping, scuba diving, or watching a good sunset. She is the editor of her school newspaper, plays soccer, and is a passionate advocate for disability rights after having worked with those with disabilities for most of her teen years. She loves cooking vegetarian food, enjoys music festivals, and has a particular soft spot for the saxophone. Her goal is to learn about the non-profit sector in third-world countries, as well as to discover as much about herself as the world around her.

Walking and Watering

Keaton Scanlon

2014-03-27

I can happily say that since moving to Thiabekaare, I have gotten to work more with the land than I ever have in my life before. Once the harvest season ended, around November, and all of the corn, peanuts and cotton fields were picked dry, we moved into the gardening season. I enthusiastically started my...

A Day at the Killay

Keaton Scanlon

2014-01-11

As harvest season in my village here draws to a close, I have been spending much of my time out in the fields. The exact amount of corn I have shucked, cotton I have picked and peanuts I have pulled have been lost weeks ago, forgotten by all but my blistered fingers. However, one day, my sister told me...

To the Beat of the Drum

Keaton Scanlon

2013-10-10

After the long and sweaty bus journey from Dakar, I walked through a seemingly endless maze of corn-fields and got my first glimpse of my new host-stay village of Thabekare. With my backpack bumping me as I walked, I passed hut after hut before coming to my family’s own compound. I smiled at my host father who shook my...

Seas of Change

Keaton Scanlon

2013-08-26

While this summer has been a beautiful one for me, it has also been a time in my life in which I felt like I was constantly behind. I was behind in my summer work, behind in my language-learning, fundraising and my blog, behind in packing and behind in juggling two jobs, family time, friend...