SENEGAL. On the way to school. Anna Obiols & Subi

Transcription

1 SENEGAL On the way to school Anna Obiols & Subi

2 SENEGAL On the way to school Anna Obiols & Subi

3 Aminata is an African girl from Senegal. She lives in a small village with houses made from clay bricks dried in the sun. Around the village, there are a lot of BAOBABS, trees that look like they ve been planted upside-down, because their branches are shaped like roots. The trunk of the baobab tree can grow so large that a whole house would fit inside. 2 3

4 Although Aminata s house is large, it seems small for so many people. Her mother and father live there, with her father s second wife, his third wife, her brothers and sisters, the other wives children, grandparents In this country, people live in large EXTENDED FAMILIES. Very early in the morning, the girls of the household line up one behind the other to brush and BRAID their hair. 4 5

5 Then, Aminata has to help her mother bring water from the well. There is no RUNNING WATER in her house, and every day she has to walk quite a way to fetch it. When she reaches the well, she washes her hands and face with the fresh water and then fills the container and the flask she is carrying. She rests for a while and then returns along the same path. 6 7

6 When she reaches the house, she leaves the water on the patio at the entrance. Then one of the long-awaited moments of the day takes place. She eats breakfast with the whole family. It smells so good and I m so hungry! She says happily. They all SIT DOWN IN A CIRCLE around a large bowl full of food. Bon appétite! Says grandfather. And they all start eating. 8 9

7 At half past eight, when everything is clean and tidy, Aminata takes her things to go to school. Her mother gives her some fruit to take to the house of her auntie, who lives in a nearby village. She says goodbye to her family and goes to the corner to catch the TAXI BROUSSE, the colored van that takes her to school. Her brothers aren t big enough to go to school yet, but they are really keen

8 The taxi brousse stops in the neighboring village, but nobody is there, because today is a public holiday. Aminata gets off for a moment to give the fruit to her auntie and watches the whole community preparing for the festival. There are enormous saucepans for cooking rice, colorful dresses, amulets, masks and TAM-TAMS She knows that when night falls, they will all dance to the beat of the drums and perform ANCESTRAL DANCES around the fire

9 She climbs back on the taxi brousse and then she goes through a NATIONAL PARK. There are six national parks and about thirty nature reserves in Senegal, protected natural areas that are used for studying and researching the animals and vegetation of the region. She likes watching carefully to see which animal surprises her the most. Some days it s the buffaloes, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses and today Oooooooooooooh! The driver had to brake suddenly because a herd of gazelles crossed the road

10 After the shock, the vehicle continues on its way. Just like every day, she stops in front of a handicrafts center, where the sculptors are carving wooden figures. Since a few days ago, Aminata observes a craftsman who carves giraffes. He has a large collection. There are also craftspeople making BATIK. It is a technique for printing cloth using beeswax, which requires a lot of patience

11 The next stop is at the bus station. The taxi brousse fills right up and is bursting. It is jam-packed! Through the window, Aminata glimpses women selling mangoes, bananas, pots and pans, sandals, peanuts. And everything you can imagine

12 They are going along a narrow road, when suddenly: OOF, PUFF, SCREECH! The vehicle stops abruptly after a strong shake. One of the wheels is punctured. Everybody has to get out and wait for the driver to change it. With the new wheel, the taxi brousse still won t work. Aminata starts to worry because she knows that she won t get to school on time, so she starts walking as fast as she can

13 When she has gone no further than one hundred meters, she meets Uncle Moussa riding a bicycle. Although he s going in the opposite direction, he takes her part of the way. Aminata comes across women carrying their children on their backs on their way to work in the fields. Hello, she says to them in WOLOF, their language, as she waves at them

14 I ll leave you here! Her uncle tells her as he brakes. Thank you very much for the lift, Moussa, I ll continue on foot, she replies giving him a big hug. Aminata leaves the road and takes a short cut along a dirt track. The short cut runs along the coast and she follows the path at a quick pace

15 Without stopping, she observes that there is a lot of activity on the beach. The FISHERMEN are arriving with their boats full of fish. There are men dragging the nets onto the sand, women piling up the fish, trucks ready to carry them, buckets here and boxes there Because of the taxi incident, she has very little time left. That s why she runs the last part of the way

16 Finally, she reaches the school. She is tired, but pleased because she did not arrive late. Today is history class. The teacher tells them about GORÉE ISLAND, where the House of Slaves is found. Although this topic always saddens her, she thinks that everybody should know what happened to prevent it from recurring

17 During the break, while some classmates play OWARE with some stones and hollows made from clay, she amuses herself with a car that she built with Ibou and Maimana. Our car has turned out very well and the best thing is that it works! She cried excitedly

18 AMERICA EUROPE ASIA Dakar AFRICA AMERICA SENEGAL in the world Senegal AUSTRALIA

19 Learning more Senegal is a Country in West Africa. It seems to be divided in two, because there is another country in the middle: Gambia. French is the official language, although very few Senegalese use it in their daily routines. The most widespread language is Wolof, spoken by the most people. Transport and basic services such as health and education are also inadequate, as they don t have enough economical resources. The capital city is Dakar and the official currency is the CAF Franc. The Senegalese people are very religious and 34 sometimes they combine ancient magical rites In Senegal, there are a wide variety of ethnic The flag consists in three vertical stripes: with Islam, which is the predominant religion. groups. The main ones are the Wolof, Serer, The country s musical wealth is very important. 35 A green one, a yellow one and another red one with a five-pointed star in the middle of the flag, which symbolizes the opening of Senegal to the five continents. Some are animists, that is, they believe that objects have a spirit and they place great importance on magic and dreams. Senegal is a poor country from an economical point of view, though it is very rich in culture and history. Fishing is the most important activity and resource in the country. After this, there is tourism and peanut farming. Mandinka, Peul and Jola... Families tend to be large extended families, as polygamy is common, that is, the husband has several wives, each of which has children. We can also mention that in Senegal, almost everybody has a relative who has emigrated overseas. More than two million Senegalese live dispersed throughout other countries. Among the traditional instruments, we highlight the djembe or drum, the kora, a small guitar with 21 strings and the balafon, a wooden xylophone. On Gorée Island, situated 3 km from Dakar, the House of Slaves is found, currently converted into a museum. In 1978, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as a global symbol of suffering. Water and electricity are scarce. Many Senegalese houses don t have running water and they have to go to fetch it from wells and sources, like Amanita, the main character in this story. Power cuts are common and they have to use candles for lighting.

20 Author: Anna Obiols Illustrations: SUBI -Joan Subirana- Design and layout: Gemser Publications, S.L. Gemser Publications, S.L El Castell, Teià (Barcelona, Spain) ISBN: XXX-XX-XXXXX-XX-X Printed in China All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner. We, Subi and Anna, have always liked traveling very much. When we travel, Subi always carries a drawing pad in his backpack and Anna has a notebook and pen. He takes photographs with his heart, which guide the scenes he has to draw. She describes with her gaze what her heart tells her to feel. When we traveled to Senegal, we were overcome by a mixture of uncertainty and dreams. It was the first time we had set foot in Africa. Senegal has left us with a memory of warmth and human simplicity. The image of the women who can carry everything on their heads with a sense of balance that makes you shudder, the boys and girls playing in the street, the taxi brousse that breaks down and does not complete its journeys. In Senegal rhythm and time take on a different dimension. People are never in a hurry despite the needs they may have and many are capable of living daily life with happiness that is hard to explain.