Teranga

Well, I’ve been back in Canada now for a few days and have had a few days to settle in. Among the most exciting things I’ve done was cooking a vegetarian dinner for myself and a few friends: much appreciated after months of eating fish and meat. And in my few days here I’ve been asked several times how my time in Senegal was. And I’m always at a loss with where to begin or how to describe and usually end up not really explaining myself very well. I hope in reading this blog you’ve come across a slightly more comprehensive account of my stay, and in summing it up I’ll tell you about my last day in Dakar, having tea in the home of my peanut saleslady, Mariama Diallo.

Walking home from school through the Baobab neighbourhood, I was often tempted to buy the sugar-coated or salted mini-bags of peanuts sold from tables on the side of the street by various women. Because I’m a creature of habit, usually taking a particular route home, I frequently stopped to buy peanuts from Mariama, chatting with her briefly about the weather and telling her what I’d been up to since last I passed by.

I had promised to stop by once more before leaving for Canada, so on the night before my departure I stopped by to say goodbye. On hearing that I was leaving so soon, Mariama was disappointed as she had wanted to prepare something for me before I headed home. Since I was leaving the following evening, she suggested I could pick something up at her house. So, leaving my friend Peter to guard her table, she led me through the streets to her small home, introduced me to her daughter, and told me I could pass by any time the next day to collect what would by then be ready for me. (Since Mariama would be travelling the next day, she wouldn’t be there to see me, but her children would).

Come three the next afternoon, Lucy and I headed over to her home, where we were greeted by her son Ibrahima who was in the process of making attaya. He welcomed us in, asked us to sit down, and then made the final two cups of attaya, sharing them with us. During the lengthy brewing of tea we chatted mostly about their family and his sister, living now in Belgium, also covering our experiences in Senegal and my thoughts on heading home.

After an hour or two, as we got up to leave, Ibrahima handed me a bag containing the gifts his mother had prepared for me: a large bag of peanut nougat brittle, and another bag of sugared peanuts. The amount of peanuts in the bags by far exceeded the entire quantity that I had purchased from Mariama in my six months of walking by – her generosity was unbelievable.

Being so welcomed into someone’s home, I was struck by how much the experience personified the Teranga hospitality of which Senegal is so proud. By this philosophy, a stranger should be able to walk into any home in the country and be treated like an honoured guest. Of course with the modernization and urbanization of the culture, the practice of Teranga has been modified and in some cases left by the wayside, but is evidently still existent.

While life in Dakar was not a haven, often accompanied by frustrating interactions where I felt like I was treated more like an opportunity to make money than I was treated like a human being, I also came across several examples of this Teranga attitude. It is these examples that I will remember, that I am trying to learn from, and that I endeavour to replicate as I make attaya for my friends and family here at home. And that is what I leave you with now. Thank you for following me along on this trip, and thank you to the Rotary Foundation and my sponsor Rotary District 5360 and the Rotary Club of Red Deer for giving me this unparalleled opportunity.