Our volunteer coordinator, Tayib Fall, gives us a recipe for Maffé, a Senegalese dish of meat and rice in a peanut sauce! Enjoy!!

 

 

Ingredients:

-1 kilo of white rice

-1 kilo of meat (beef or lamb)

-1/2 kilo of sweat potato or potato

-1/2 kilo carrot

-One small can of tomato paste

-1 onion

-oil (2 tablespoons)

-Peanut butter (1 cup)

 

The white rice can be cooked in a rice cooker in 45 minutes

To make the sauce, you will do the following:

--Cut the meat into cubes

--In a large pot, sauté the meat cubes in oil until the meat changes color.

--Add onions to the pot.

--When the onions are cooked, add two big spoons of tomato paste. Stir well.

--Add 2 cups of water to the pot and let cook for 10 minutes.

--Chop up the vegetables and add to the pot. Bring to a boil.

--Add garlic powder, pepper, salt and one cube of buillon (mix of spices). Stir in the peanut butter, reduce the heat to low and let it cook until the oil rises to the surface.

--Spoon sauce over white rice and enjoy!!

 

Our second group of two week special volunteers finished their renovation project last Friday, August 12th. In the two weeks that they spent at the daraa in the afternoons, they were able to construct a toilet and shower, and additionally paint the walls of another daraa down the street. Check out some photos of the amazing work this group accomplished!

 

Toilet and Shower construction

Toilet and shower being painted!

Finished product!

The marabout was so happy that he asked the volunteers to take a photo with him and his children!

At the darra down the road, volunteers prepared to start painting

Painting!

Finished!

This past Saturday, 19 volunteers made their way to Dakar to spend the long weekend. After leaving very early Saturday morning, we arrived and did a little tour of the city, visiting the arisinal village, the university Cheikh Anta Diop, and the Renaissance monument.

 

Some volunteers decided to climb to the top of the monument and got to experience a breathtaking view. What’s more, because of our status as volunteers here in Senegal, we were able to avoid the tourist fee and pay what a Senegalese person would pay to visit!

After the tour, we made our way to the beach and took a boat across the water to Ile de Ngor to spend the afternoon lounging around!

Saturday evening we went to Virage where we enjoyed music and a bonfire on the beach!

Sunday morning we got up early to continue our tour, this time on foot! We visited downtown Dakar and saw the Place of Independence, the grand market, the theater, the big cathedral, and the Presidential Palace before making our way to the ferry to go to Ile de Goree where we spent the day visiting.

Sunday evening some volunteers decided to go out dancing while others stayed at the hotel and got a good night’s sleep!!

Monday we left the hotel early to get to Lac Rose, which is about an hour outside of Dakar. We swam for a bit, and laughed a lot as we floated around because of the super high salt content.

We arrived back in Saint-Louis around 5pm and got a lot of sleep!

This past Saturday, our second group of two weekers along with 14 other volunteers, made their way to Lampoul desert. On the way, we stopped to see an old Baobab tree whose trunk was used as a cemetary for the griots who frequented the area.

After arriving at the desert the volunteers settled into their tents before going out into the dunes for camel rides and a walk before the sun set!

After the trek through the dunes, we took showers before having a yummy dinner! After the meal we gathered around the fire to dance and listen the music--one of our volunteers even played the tamtam for us!!!

Because of dancing late into the night, the volunteers used the 2 hour drive home along the beach as time to catch up on their sleep!!

Our second group of 2 week special volunteers have arrived and they got right to work on Tuesday, picking up where the first group left off. In the week between the two groups, a space for the shower was dug out so that the volunteers could hit the ground running when they arrived.

After being explained the project, that they will be building a shower in this daara for the Talibe, the volunteers broke into two groups. One group began mixing cement

while the other began moving cinder blocks whihc were laid down as the foundation of the shower.

Can't wait to see what the shower looks like at the end of the week!!

This past Saturday some of the volunteers went to visit Lac de Guiers, east of Saint Louis. After over an hour on the road, we stopped at an old mosque constructed of sand

 

 

 

volunteers arrived at a large weekly market that is held every Saturday and got to wander through the narrow pathways, meandering through items like fabric, floor mats, produce, and homemade treats.

After the market, we continued to the lake itself and picnicked right alongside. We had to chase some cows out of the water, but then had a lovely lunch.

We saw the factory that processes the water, as the lake is the source of all the water to Dakar. After spending some time lounging at the lake, we got back in the car to go to the city of Richard Toll, a sugar-cane city. We passed by plenty of sugar-cane fields,

and saw the factory when the sugar is produced. Toll in Wolof means field, and so the city was named after a man named Richard who had lots of tolls!!

After seeing Richard Toll, we headed back to Saint-Louis, arriving in time for dinner with the family!

Yesterday, most of Senegal was glued to their television, watching the highly anticipated Lutte match between Tyson and new comer Balla Gaye 2. The match has been advertised on TV for nearly a year, and now the day had come--people held photos of their preferred Lutteur and prayed for him to win.

The program started around 15h00 and consisted of a number of lesser lutteurs battle, before the two grand men took the stage. Each performed their own dance, as is required of all lutteurs before the showdown, which lasted a whole........30 seconds!

The young-ing Balla Gaye managed to toss Tyson on his face, winning the combat. The stadium went wild, and so did the streets of Senegal. People ran down the streets yelling Balla Gaye's name, and cars drove around announcing his victory. Needless to say, the celebration took longer than the lutte itself!!