Ottawa to Dakar, Again

I am feeling a strong sense of déjà-vu. How many blog posts have I written from the air en route to or from Dakar? The anticipation and excitement I feel as the plane leaves the runway and turns toward Africa  never diminishes, even on this, my eleventh trip to volunteer with Maison de la Gare.

Checking in our 32 bags at the airport n Montreal

The very first time I made this journey, with my father in 2010, I had no idea what to expect. It would have been impossible to really understand what I was flying toward even if I could have known what awaited me in Senegal. Now, even though Maison de la Gare is a familiar second home, and the talibe children it serves and the friends we have made are a familiar second family, the experience, the challenges and the rewards are still different every time

Talibes in the Maison de la Gare garden

First, the deal to close the land purchase for the Maison de la Gare welcome centre was confirmed. Then, the walls went up, the plumbing went in, the classroom skeletons were built. Then, a garden was conceived, planned, and built. Then, the plumbing was re-done and the walls re-built (and lessons were learned). Then, the classrooms were finished and the library and offices were added. Next, an infirmary was planned, a grant was applied for and obtained (thanks to the Canadian Embassy in Dakar, and some Canadian architects, Civitas, who donated the required blue-prints at the eleventh hour) and an infirmary built. Now, regular transport and delivery of medications obtained from Health Partners International Canada is regularly part of our mission. Then, wifi and a computer program allowed the talibe to discover the world and connect with friends abroad. The library was expanded. An emergency transition shelter was built and furnished for talibes in trouble (thanks to another grant). A karate program was established. The vision of Maison de la Gare president Issa Kouyate ever broadens, and there is ever more to do.

Maison de la Gare, the infirmary

This time the experience we are anticipating will, again, be as never before. This trip was to have been a mission of 16 Ashbury College students and 3 teachers (and myself), planned and organized by my daughter, Rowan Hughes over the course of two years. The tickets were bought, the medications ordered,  the karate gis were donated, the itinerary was confirmed, the vaccinations were obtained, the bags were packed, and then, devastatingly, the trip was cancelled at the last minute, just weeks before our planned departure. Concern about security risks outside of Senegal, in other parts of West Africa was too much for the college to digest. But, we are nevertheless on our way! Our planned group of 20 is now a group of 6. We may be diminished in numbers, but not in enthusiasm, or commitment to make a difference with people that have asked for our help.

It was a challenge to re-arrange the trip last minute, but our motivation to make it work was great. The talibe of Maison de la Gare are expecting us, and we do not want to disappoint. Excess baggage allowances needed to be obtained to transport the 20 boxes of medications (a Herculean task achieved with the help of my father and Ashbury College). Tickets abandoned by the students who would not be continuing with the trip needed to be transferred to others who would join the trip. Last minute vaccinations had to be obtained for the new members of our group. The itinerary needed to be modified to suit 6 instead of 20 people. One family of an Ashbury student was so determined to enable their daughter to experience this potentially life changing opportunity that Katherine is not only coming with us despite the cancellation,  her father, Martin, is joining us as well! Other students and parents, unable to re-organize with such short notice will surely be future Maison de la Gare partners and volunteers. Some of them, as devastated as we were by the cancellation, have made generous donations to Maison de la Gare. My sister-in-law, Karen and my niece, Alicia are also on this flight, two more LeRoy's on their way to Maison de la Gare for the first time.

We have an ambitious agenda. But, we are an ambitious group motivated by a desire to make a difference, each in our own way. Personally, I hope to help enable others to their own potentials to help themselves and others. But, I also know I cannot help but be personally changed, as I always am, by the opportunity to spend time with the amazing, resilient, beautiful talibe children of Saint-Louis. Each of us will experience Senegal and getting to know and work with the forced begging boys of Saint Louis in a different way. I have no doubt this experience will leave it's lasting mark on each one of us.

Let the adventure begin, again...