DC to Dakar

Vital Stats

Kayla H

Annandale, VA

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  • People Doing It 1

The Problem

To give a bit of background, I am a tutor with Heads Up in Washington DC. I have worked with this program for the past 2 years, and during this time have had the opportunity to continue working with the same 10 students who I met as third graders, but will soon be fifth graders. I love my job and the ability to be with these students for 3 hours a day after school to teach literature circle and help them with homework. On Fridays, we have club day, where each respective tutor organizes an activity for their class. I see this window of time as a chance to connect with my kids, even though I'll be an ocean away. See, I am going to study abroad in Dakar, Senegal for the upcoming fall semester. It will be strange to be away from my kids for the entire summer and then the semester, but I concocted a plan to stay close with them and hopefully create a mutually beneficial relationship between the under-privileged area of southeast DC where I work and the sprawling metropolis of Dakar. My plan is to connect my students with other students in Dakar to expand their respective worldviews and broaden their cultural and international understanding. Firstly, my co-tutor will remain in DC working with the kids, so she will be a great mediator to the project. My site director is very interested as well and parts of this project may not only concern my children, but the other children in the program (ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade). In Senegal, I have an internship with a non-profit that funds under-privileged girls' education up to college. The directors of the non-profit know about my interest to work with children and connect them back to my kids in DC. This internship will give me access to work with children and connect them to the students in DC. The specific problem I want to address is the small scope that many under-privileged children have of the world; this can, in turn, leads to a smaller dreams and goals. I have seen it many times; my children don’t believe they are capable of going to college or going abroad. I try to remind them that with education and dedication, it can happen! By getting to know other students from across the globe, both sets of students will be able to gain by learning another society’s cultures, customs and norms. I want to broaden their range and make them feel connected to more than their community, but the world. I want a seminal part of this program to be a joint volunteering day, when, on the same day, each group of students from each country, does a volunteer project. Each set of students can share their story with the other; hopefully, this will help promote a spirit of giving and aiding while also promoting international identities amongst the children.

Plan of Action

I have been creating a detailed plan of action with a timeline and goals to help me stay on track. Once I am in Dakar, I plan to create a pen pal project with the kids from each respective country. I will translate the letters personally (I have a working knowledge of French and will be taking classes on the other native language, Wolof, while in Senegal). If I should run into troubles, I can ask my Senegalese co-workers, professors or English peers in the program to help translate. If need be, I can use a bit of the grant money for help in translation, but I don’t know if this will be required. Every two weeks, I would like to create a five-minute video using software on my computer, featuring the students in Dakar and their daily life, including what their school experience is like. I can upload this to YouTube so my students can watch it on Friday. In return, my co-tutor could send pictures and video of the students in DC to connect them. (Both my co-tutor and I have already created videos for our class, so we are both able to meet this goal). On off weeks, when there is no video, I would like the students in DC to learn more about Senegalese life and culture along with some of the basics such as where Senegal is located, their languages and religion, etc. I can create worksheets before I leave or make them in Dakar and email them to my co-tutor. I would educate the Senegalese students about the U.S. and where my students come from specifically. It would be a wonderful exchange of information between two under-privileged youth. It would allow them to learn more about each other and, during the process, expand their worldview. Another option is to let the students decide what they want to show the others. For instance, I’m sure my girls in DC would love to send a video of their favorite jump-rope game, while the guys may like to share a video of them during performance club at school. I want to give the students some time for free range to share things that are important to them. The larger seminal project is for the students to feel a sense of comradeship, even through an ocean away, through a volunteer day, where both sets of students will work on a project in their community. They can discuss with each other what they want to do, or do separate projects. The fun will be not only in giving back, but sharing stories to a group of students from a different country. This will also shine light on issues in each respective area. To measure success, I will keep an updated blog of all the transactions. A possible option is mini-quizzes on aspects of America or even the cities (DC and Dakar). The rate of letter exchange and level of engagement will give an idea to how well the project is working. Lastly, the success of the culminating volunteer project will be a milestone for the project's goals. Additionally, I am traveling again in the fall of 2011 to South Korea where I hope to be able to do the same thing. I would not use grant money for this trip, but would like to state that I want this to be a longer term program that can have many implications, some I haven’t even thought of yet!

Project Updates

The site director for the tutoring program I work for in Washington D.C. gave the green light for this project. I am working on timetables and descriptions for her to use during the semester. One step forward!

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