Summer internships, global security, and "Ganja Farmer"

I’m sitting in a cafe, writing this blog post, thinking about all the work I have to do for my classes here and applications for summer internships back in the States, all while trying to process the trip to St. Louis we just came back from. I literally feel like I’m being pulled between my life as a student, my life back in the U.S. as a young adult almost in the real world, and my life in Senegal, trying to experience this place for all that it is. Which part of me will win?

St. Louis is a city south of Dakar, which has remained in its colonized state since Senegal gained independence from France. You walk around and if you didn’t hear the language people were speaking, you would think you were in New Orleans or truly any other French colonized space (hey, the French have their brand). As we spent the past couple of days learning not only from our SIT professor, but also a professor from Université Gaston Berger, I had to try and keep my head on straight from all the incredible knowledge we were inundated with. One thing that stood out in particular was the peninsula of St. Louis which holds one of the richest neighborhoods on the island, but upon looking at this neighborhood, you would not believe that for a second.

There were kids running everywhere, clothes hanging on clotheslines, one-story houses; really nothing to indicate wealth. However, the visiting professor told us that the reason it is the richest neighborhood is because everyone works: men and women in order to sustain their families. The men work primarily as fishermen, a job that might not seem like much, but profits them immensely. It was at this moment that the visiting professor questioned our perception of wealth and poverty and how this is so deeply rooted in a Western point of view that outlandish, ornate displays of wealth and success are the only ways to indicate such. How crazy is that? To think that we can actually use our money for things that we need or to give to others what they need? That we don’t have to have a big house with a grand staircase, or a diamond-bezeled watch? You mean we don’t have to put on a show for the benefit of others, when all we get is an obscene bill at the end of the month?

Another incredible point this professor brought up was the question of global security in this area. As a Muslim country, Senegal is assumed to be heavily influenced by jihad, and thus perceived as an unstable country. However, what is incredible about Senegal, as my SIT Study abroad program brings awareness to, with its theme of global security and religious pluralism, is that Senegal is a stable country, despite its dominant religion. But that’s where this Western study abroad program is wrong; Senegal is not so secure. There is a huge problem with coastal erosion, especially on this peninsula, knowing that it will completely disappear in 10 years. Coastal erosion is a natural occurrence. It is not caused by people. It is not caused by religion. How does this change our perception of global security and what security actually means?

Senegal, like every other country in the world, is not secure if we’re talking about all facets of security: natural and human induced. But why do we only address the latter when talking about global security? Why do we only look towards the people and their religion when deciding if a place is secure? What about things that are out of human control? Is it because we need to blame someone for our world’s problems, but can never blame ourselves?

How do we start to change our mindset of what global security really means? Is there even an idea of security if natural causes are at play as well, causes we cannot control? I think the first step is to stop playing into the system. You know, “the system,” that we always talk about in the Western world. No one knows who comprises “the system,” but we’re told to be afraid of it, to hate it, to defy it! Guess who the system is though. It’s us.

It’s the humans that make up the Western world. The people who decide that college students need to be spending more time working on summer internship applications than focusing on their actual studies. It’s the people who decide that the dominant religion of a country determines the safety of said country. It’s the people who make it a rule that you have to display your wealth in order to be respected in society. I’ve had enough of this stupid “system” crap. It’s honestly so gosh darn tiring. I refuse to let my mind be occupied by worrying about summer internships instead of walking down the street, listening to “Ganja Farmer” by Marlon Asher (such a great song please look it up), and taking in my surroundings.

So, going back to the introduction of this blog, no one side of me is going to win. They all are going to coexist peacefully, because I am not playing into the system today. I am not getting sucked back into the Western mindset; not today at least, and not for the rest of the time I’m here, I hope.

So, how are you going to do it? How are you going to stop playing into the system and just live?