Settling in

I've now been in my apartment in Fann Hock for a few days, and am getting used to my new surroundings. The area is lively, its close to the university and there is a large student community here. It has a very different feel from central Dakar, more relaxed and much less hustle. I'm having to get used to a whole new set of sights and sounds - being woken in the morning (or is it the middle of the night) by the call to prayer, the flocks of birds at dusk and dawn, and the street scene - football everywhere, taxis, horse drawn carts, 4x4 s, buses and the 'transoprt en commun' ( a small 'bus', invariably packed inside and often with people hanging on outside) - all weaving around each other - see pics.














Also spent some time at the Voile d'Or beach over the weekend with Cyrille and his sister Carole - the weather is very hot and sticky at the moment, so it was lovely to have a chance to cool off in the sea.
On the work front, I have now met the Regional ICT director, Alpha Bah. He's is going to be away on leave for a few weeks so we've spent some time discussing project work I can make a start on while he's away. There is a range of ICT projects/initiatives being looked at by the different countries within the region. The initial task is to assess progress/status and to identify those which we should prioritise, which will mean liaising with the different country offices, such as Mali, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea-Bissau and Central African Republic. Should be interesting!

Finding accomodation

Monday - into the office and spent some more time looking for accommodation. The admin assistant, Bety, pointed me in the direction of an expat web site, and from there I found a few places that were in reasonable areas and which I could pay for without having to rob a bank. The best way to reduce the cost is to take a room in a shared apartment – which has the added advantage of having someone to talk to in the evening. So after a bit of phoning around went to see Cyrille's apartment in Fann Hock - it's basic but clean and secure - and it has internet access which is definitely a bonus for keeping in touch with home. So from Wednesday I will be taking a room in Cyrille’s apartment in Fann Hock. Cyrille is from Cote d’Ivoire and speaks about much English as I do French – so the conversation should be interesting, if somewhat limited, but I'm very much looking forward to moving out of the hotel and into a room of my own.

A Dakar Weekend

Spent some time at the beach over the weekend – Dakar is on a peninsular and so the sea is never far away, and there are beaches within a few minutes walking distance of the City Centre. The beach scene is pretty lively, at least it is where I was on Sunday, with picnics, wrestling, and incredibly skilful football amongst a heaving mass of people – see pictures. The sea is teeming with fish – the preferred method of fishing on the beach seems to be simply scooping the fish out of the water on to the sand and then skewering them with a stick! The city itself is transformed on a Sunday, from a heaving, smoggy, jostling mass, to a quiet almost genteel place. However by Sunday evening everything was getting back to normal, traffic everywhere, street sellers laying out their wares, and the beggars and pickpockets back in action. Lively and bustling, certainly not boring!

First days in Dakar

Arrived safe and sound in Dakar, 8pm Thursday evening. The airport was complete mayhem, but eventually got through and was very pleased to see my name amongst the many cards being held up amongst the large crowd behind barriers at the airport entrance. Homere, the wfp driver, took me straight to the hotel, which is in the city centre, about half an hour from the airport. It had been a long day and I was ready to crash out. Next day - into the wfp offices to meet everyone and start some of the admin stuff, set up bank account etc. Also started the process of looking for an apartment - looked at one in Fann Hock, just outside centre of town and close to the beach, very nice but expensive so need to check out some others. The climate in Dakar at the moment is very nice - warm but with a cooling breeze. The streets are crowded and it's impossible to walk more than a few yards without meeting a new 'friend' who wants to sell something - the favorites being phone cards and watches. No mosquitoes - so no need for insect repellent, but what can you use to keep the street sellers at bay? I'm working on it.

It starts here

Well - the adventure is about to start. It's been a just a few short months since I saw a posting on the Vodafone UK intranet site looking for volunteers to work with the UN World Food Programme - and now here I am sitting in Madrid airport waiting for the final leg of my journey to Dakar, Senegal. For the last 3 days I've been in Rome at WFP HQ - the UN is TLA (three letter accronym) mad, so please forgive me if I drop some in without explanation. These initial 3 days were a briefing session for the 4 volunteers, myself, Salma, Marco and Ayten. It was great to meet everyone and to get to see more abot what WFP is about. The highlight of the briefings for me was to go to the situation room, to see where WFP co-ordinates it's response to crisis situations and in partcicular to see a video and pictures of some of the fantastic work in Darfur- very moving.
My flight departure has just been announced - so here we go!