Kaolack : diary of an African experience

April 2001 : No news

Anne and I have had the first interviews, but we have no news from our would-be employers. In fact, they want to be sure they get the financial support of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cooperation) before letting us know. For us, it’s “wait and see”, the project may be postponed or even cancelled.

Late May 2001 : decision time

The project is going to be financed and will last from mid August to end of December 2001. (the initial six-month period is reduced to 5) Decisions must be taken ! Anne is still willing to go and I find myself trapped in a difficult choice : on the one hand, I’d like to challenge myself in something different, to test a methodology I believe in within a totally new context, to bring my modest contribution to a development project, to open my eyes to a different world, to go back to the continent where I was born and to which I had never returned since my adolescent years. On the other hand, I don’t know how I can possibly leave my 3 children (aged 10, 12 and 17) and dear husband in Brussels for such a long stretch of time. Of course, the family discussed the different aspects of the project and for several days I kept asking myself what to do. And suddenly (that’s the right word : a glimpse of a solution came to me all of a sudden) I understood that if I felt torn (and disappointed whatever decision I made) I had “to divide the time by two” and offer the following solution : I would go for two months and a half only, and my younger daughter would accompany me (first, she wanted to, second, my husband would feel less “overwhelmed” by the two older and more independent children). This proposal had the extra advantage that no selection process between Anne and me would need to take place. We would both go one after the other, Anne and I have been friends and colleagues for over twenty years. Everybody agreed. I really felt relieved….

June 2001 : preparation

To prepare a coherent link between the two methodologies selected by the NGO, a French trainer of “Institutional Pedagogy” is invited to come over to Brussels. We hold meetings and he stays in my class for two full days. He takes part in the different activities – he speaks a very good English, he’s also a teacher of Chinese. He seems enthusiastic, we understand each other…

Besides, Anne and I go through all the administrative and medical preparation : we need the approval of our Education Minister to obtain "special mission leave”, we have to apply to the overseas social security system, we need passports, vaccinations, I check the school arrangements for my daughter, etc. Life is much simpler when one doesn’t change one’s habits !

July 2001: French trainees and trainers

My future employers send me to France where I take part in a one-week course on “Institutional Pedagogy”. The other trainees are French primary teachers. Together, we form “a class” and experience different aspects of that pedagogy : “What's new?” (early morning contact with the class), “le texte libre” (free writing process), “l’album d’enquête” (sort of scrapbook of a group visit), “les métiers de la classe” (each pupil is given a specific responsibility in the group), “les ceintures de comportement” (behaviour belts – a carefully thought out system of encouraging pupils to become responsible) , “le conseil de classe” (class council where all the aspects of class life can be discussed and managed using certain rituals)…Although I can’t use all this directly in my adult classes, I find this training extremely interesting : the exchange with all the participants is rich and raises lots of questions “Individuals versus institutions ?” is one of them…

It is decided that Anne leaves Brussels on August 10 and starts teaching a few days after. I’ll join her around October 20th and go on till the end of December. In Senegal, the 21 trainees have been selected after a placement test (level in English) and an interview with the members of the NGO (motivation)