Fellow Stories
True gap year stories from Fellows abroad!
Check out the latest blogs from Global Citizen Year Fellows in Brazil, Ecuador, and India!
Category
Class Year
Country
Dear Applicant…
Alec Yeh
2010-03-22
I remember visiting my college last year. I was walking on the campus with some friends, just taking it all in, when we ran into this extremely peppy, extremely overbearing girl. She asked us, “Are you guys going to be students here next year?” Expecting to make a new friend, we responded, “Yeah. We are....
Read MoreThe New “Mariage à la Mode”
Ananda Day
2010-03-21
Years ago when the French first arrived in Saint Louis du Senegal, male colonists created transient marriages with local women while in country and would return to France, leaving everything, including any relationship title, behind. Going by the name of “mariage à la mode”, these relationships were used by locals to advance themselves through associative...
Read MoreFood Appreciation
Hilary Brown
2010-03-15
During the U.S. training institute we did an exercise to replicate the food distribution throughout the world. For dinner one night only two people eat the usual full, healthy IONS meal. The rest either had a bowl of beans and rice; just rice or in the case of one person a half portion of rice....
Read MoreWhen I leave….
Gaya Morris
2010-03-15
A major question that we fellows have been set out to answer ever since day one is: how much of a difference will we be able to make, if any at all, in each of our host communities and work places? For I think we each left California in September with the idea pretty well...
Read MoreA Poignant Morning at the Maternite
Hilary Brown
2010-03-10
Vaccinating infants, examining pregnant women, giving birth control, checking up on prostitutes and other activities related to reproductive health make up a usual day at the Sebikotane Maternite, where I have been an apprentice for the past four months. As I am not a medical student, my jobs are relatively simple: taking blood pressure, weighing...
Read MoreSpanish Language Milestone
Ian Zimmermann
2010-03-09
Not a doubt in the world, my Spanish language abilities have improved dramatically since arriving in Guatemala a little over five months ago. But occasionally, I still think “god, I’ve been in this country for so long, yet there are so many words I simply don’t know.” Yesterday, though, I headed out with Ricardo, the...
Read MoreMoney, Movement, and (Co)Dependency
Alec Yeh
2010-03-08
Monsieur Ba, my boss at the Traditional Hospital, and I were discussing the Chinese one day. We were talking about foreigners, and in particular immigration. He said something along the lines of, “The Senegalese are everywhere; Europe, Australia, China, the United States. Everywhere.” I responded with, “Yeah. That sounds like the Chinese.” This is where...
Read MoreVitamins, Door-to-Door
Alec Yeh
2010-03-08
Today I was able to see how global initiatives get implemented on the local level. I got to tag along as the nurses of the Poste went house to house to administer vitamins and pills. This doesn’t happen very often; maybe once every three months. It’s a national initiative, provided by, I think, the World...
Read MorePetit par Petit, or Lessons from Pate Diop
Mathew Davis
2010-03-08
I work on a on a small-scale farm in Gorom 2. The owner of the farm is named Pate Diop. He was a policemen for 32 years and began cultivating his father’s farm in. Pate has a huge family. Polygamy exists in Senegal, so Pate supports two wives and I don’t know how many kids...
Read MoreBecoming Ibou Sall
Mathew Davis
2010-03-08
I have many names here in Senegal. Pap Bamba in Dakar, Tala Ngom in Bambilor, but in my village they call me Machu Leye, or my host mama calls me Ibou Sall. I live in the village of Gorom 2, which is apart of the community rural of Sangalkam. Gorom isn’t very big but there...
Read MorePlaying Pharmacy Boss
Alec Yeh
2010-03-03
Today was a big leap at the Poste. I don’t think I have been that productive since the beginning of my experience at the Poste. I was running the pharmacy like a pro today! Not really. I was a pretty big n00b but still. I thought I was rockin’ it. I was never flying solo,...
Read MorePerceptions of race
Gaya Morris
2010-03-01
The other day I happened to stop by Madame Diatta’s first grade class, and was welcomed in as a “scientific specimen” for the lesson she was in the process of completing. The lesson was an ‘initiation scientifique,’ and having sat in on a few of these before I can say that these constitute one of...
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