By Ilaria Miclet

After spending these first 4 days in Senegal I can say that the part that struck me the most and that I will be able to remember for the rest of my life is the sense of community that I was able to observe. Before arriving here I imagined this word in another way, perhaps because I was used to life on another continent but also because I don’t think it was possible for me to be able to have this sense of family that I encountered here.

I found this concept especially on the first day visiting Bandia’s family, where I could notice how people trust strangers who enter in their home and also how they try to treat you in the best way to make you feel a part of them and integrate yourself in their family.

Another occasion where I have been able to observe it is exactly in these days, where we are located in the village of Kecouta. The first day as soon as we arrived we were welcomed by lots of children who couldn’t wait to play and have fun with us and also by adults who tried to make us feel better by cooking dinner for us and preparing the beds where we would then spend the following nights .

If I can tell the truth, as soon as we arrived I was a little scared about having to spend several nights in a village but thanks to all the people who made me feel part of them and always tried to be available I managed to integrate and have fun together with everyone. One part that made me understand all this even more is when yesterday while we were visiting the village and we stopped where there was an injured child, a gentleman told us that he was happy that we were there and that we were a part of them and their family.

I think that thanks to this experience I was able to understand that if you don’t really live this you will never be able to really understand what it feels like, in fact I don’t think if I tell it to a friend of mine for example he will be able to understand the real meaning of living in a community within a village.

I hope to continue this experience by learning new things and facing new experiences that can make me grow and understand even more what it is like to live in a place that is totally different from what I am used to. I am no longer scared of the unknown.