Senegal in Syllables
Naomi Wright
May 3, 2011
Over the past months, I’ve occasionally jotted down little haikus in my journal. Perhaps you’ll get a different perspective on my life in Senegal from these mental musings. I have drunk friendship, Brown-olive, thick with sweetness, From a glass teacup ————————————————– Sneezing and smiles: The same in every language. Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Eeeee! ————————————————– Beans make...
Read MoreMalaria, Know More
Naomi Wright
April 25, 2011
During some of my first weeks in Senegal, when I was living in Dakar, my four-year-old host sister didn’t come down for breakfast one morning. In response to my worried inquiries, her mother shrugged and nonchalantly indicated that the girl was sick, “Elle est malade, c’est le paludisme.” Malaria. I was shocked. Though I was...
Read MoreFatim and Nafi (Help) Cook Lunch
Naomi Wright
April 18, 2011
Over the last six months, I’ve become well acquainted with the national dish of Senegal, “Ceebujen”. When I have a free morning, I help the women of my household cook the fish, rice, and vegetable dish for lunch. In this video, Nafi, another GCY Fellow stationed in the same village as me, help her mother...
Read MoreOpen Your Ice
Naomi Wright
April 6, 2011
My family in Senegal supplies the surrounding community—the village of Leona, about 1,000 residents—with ice during the hot months from April to November. It’s not the family’s main source of income; we only make 100CFA ($0.20) per block of ice. In fact, we probably wouldn’t sell ice at all, but we’re the only family in...
Read MoreOn the Road
Naomi Wright
April 5, 2011
Every morning I finish breakfast by 8:15 and change into my running clothes: a baggy t-shirt and spandex capris. My attire rides the line between cultural appropriateness and physical comfort (my knees must be covered yet I live in the hottest region in Senegal, where even early in the morning, the heat begins to waver...
Read MoreBrave New World
Naomi Wright
March 24, 2011
I’ve read many books over these past few months, including Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Madeleine Balchan, another GCY Fellow, had read the same book in high school, the following is an excerpt from a discussion we had about the parallels between the book and our GCY experience. Naomi: Brave New World is set in...
Read MoreVegetarian’s Dilemma
Naomi Wright
March 1, 2011
Among other things, I gave up vegetarianism when I made the decision to spend a bridge year in Senegal—or so I thought. Factory farming, my chief objection to meat in the States, isn’t practiced in Senegal and I didn’t want to be disrespectful to my host family’s culture or hard work to put expensive meat...
Read MoreYou Say You Want a Revolution
Naomi Wright
February 18, 2011
In recent weeks, I’ve watched as people my age took to the streets of Cairo to uphold the idea of liberty. It’s made me wonder, would the youth of America take such radical action in the face of similar injustice— would they even notice the injustice in the first place? I come from a generation...
Read MorePortrait of an Artist
Naomi Wright
February 9, 2011
After I’d landed in Dakar, I slowly found myself craving modes of self-expression.
Read MoreGlass Half Full
Naomi Wright
January 19, 2011
As I approach this day, the monumental half-way point of my Global Citizen Year, I can’t help feeling like Keats’ Endymion, for though there are “many and many a verse I hope to write, I must be near the middle of my story.” Senegal will be home for only three and a half more months;...
Read MoreHome
Naomi Wright
January 11, 2011
The morning was exactly as it always is, nothing unexpected, nothing disquieting. But that is exactly it: I feel completely comfortable with my family, in my home in Leona, Senegal.
Read MoreDevelopment, Up Close and Personal
Naomi Wright
January 9, 2011
To say the least, the past weeks have been a crash course in the intricacies of international development.
Read MoreA Healthy Dose of Realism
Naomi Wright
December 28, 2010
“The work we do is hard. If it were easy, it would be done already.” –John Wood I heard this statement way back when, in San Francisco, from Room to Read founder, John Wood. He was referencing the efforts of his organization to expand education opportunities in developing countries. As I lay in bed today,...
Read MoreLife in Leona
Naomi Wright
December 13, 2010
“So… what exactly have you been doing in Senegal?” I’ve heard this question posed in various ways by my parents, teachers, friends. I’ve tried to articulate it several times, and nothing has really done justice to my experience thus far as a Global Citizen Year fellow. So, here’s my answer: a mash up of my...
Read MoreBissap Revelations
Naomi Wright
December 6, 2010
I am freshly showered—out of a bucket—and my Senegalese mother is waiting for me: we are going to the fields. Sun streaks through mosquito net, making lace on the mosaic tile floor. “Fatima Jow!” My host mom’s voice booms my newly-acquired Senegalese name. I shout Yaay! the Wolof word for mother, poking my head around...
Read MoreAlong for the Ride
Naomi Wright
November 30, 2010
What the heck am I doing here? Thinking two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, I raised my eyebrows at the car attendant gesturing animatedly, ushering me into the cave-dark of the canopied truck. I confusedly crawled in on all-fours. Sitting: knees nearly to chest, splay-legged, passenger in front wedged between,...
Read MoreBiidéo
Naomi Wright
November 11, 2010
Have you ever watched the stars rise? The sunrise, sunsets, oh! Everybody’s watched them. But the stars? A mournfully beautiful practice. And so ancient! Those That Came Before stared at these same stars; the points of light might be dead for all I know, burnt to the blackness of sky, their memory-light still hurtling, hurtling: a...
Read MoreChange in Routine
Naomi Wright
October 29, 2010
I wanted to write a little summation of my time here in the big city, especially because it’s likely my access to the internet will be quite limited for the next month. I’ve spent the last few hours trying to mock up an outline, but my mind-voice keeps giggle-whispering, I leave Dakar in four days…...
Read MoreFeeling the Flow
Naomi Wright
October 25, 2010
There is a point when matter is so cold that all molecular motion ceases completely: Absolute Zero. For the last four years of my life, I’ve been in crisp control of my brain, keeping it in that exact state of ultimate stillness. Don’t misunderstand me, I have felt feelings and thought thoughts. However, each was...
Read MoreAll That Glitters
Naomi Wright
October 9, 2010
In French, the word for trash is ordure: the remains of a destroyed or broken up something, now worthless and fit only for disposal. To contradict my previous post, the last four days have left me feeling, well, trashed. As I lay stewing in a pool of sweat this morning, trying to will the power...
Read MoreComplimentary Contradictions
Naomi Wright
October 4, 2010
Even at nine in the morning it’s 75°C, so I welcomed the realization that the shower’s “hot” knob didn’t mean there was hot water. Nevertheless, its coldness shocked me when I raised the nozzle to my face. I breathed in, sharply. For whatever reason, it was in that moment that I understood what fifteen hours...
Read MorePerfect Stranger
Naomi Wright
September 29, 2010
Having been challenged to find the story of one of the estimated 15,000 people living on the streets of San Francisco as part of “Five Dollar Day,” I chose to sit down next to James. When I saw him hunched against a scraggly tree on the corner of Seventh and Market Street the only things...
Read MoreWho am I?
Naomi Wright
September 21, 2010
At 4:46 PM on Monday, September 20th, I sat down with the intent to answer that question. Lounging in the welcome shade of Petaluma oak trees, I struggled to find even a reference point for where to begin. Should I look to my past? My circumstances up till now—people I’ve known, things I’ve experienced, places...
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