West Africa 6-Week Semester: Youth Leadership, Arts, & Culture
Location
- Senegal
- Dakar
Length
4 - 26 weeks
Need-based funding, General grants/scholarships, 529 Plan eligibility, BIPOC funding
Health & Safety
Oct 30, 2024
Dec 16, 2021
20 travelers are looking at this program
About Program
Experience one of the most vibrant and welcoming countries in the world. Connect with inspiring artists, local youth movements, and diverse community members. For students interested in exploring an artistic craft or skill, working with Senegalese youth, and gaining exposure to complex social and environmental challenges and solutions.
Scholarships and college credit is available.
Video and Photos
Diversity & Inclusion
Unfortunately, discrimination based on race, ethnicity, national origin, and skin tone exists in different forms all over the world. In some destinations, especially rural or ethnically homogenous areas, people may not have had much exposure to racial diversity. As such, people with certain physical characteristics may experience unwanted attention. Most commonly, this might include staring, insensitive comments, people taking your photo (with or without asking), or attempts to touch your skin or hair. Black students traveling in parts of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa have often reported higher levels of unwanted attention than their peers. White students traveling in parts of Asia and Africa have also reported receiving unwanted attention. Students are encouraged to communicate with staff if they feel their personal boundaries are being violated or if they feel unsafe or uncomfortable in any situation. We encourage you to believe your peers if/when they share experiences like this with you.
Social, cultural, religious, political, and legal attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community vary around the world. According to the Global Acceptance Index, average levels of acceptance for LGBTQ+ people around the world have been increasing since 1981. However, many countries where Dragons operates programs may have social discrimination or even laws against being LGBTQ+. We have safely supported LGBTQ+ students in all of our program areas, and provide specific cultural and geographic advice to help students stay safe on course.
In some cases, students may be advised not to speak about their sexual orientations and/or gender identities with local contacts (such as homestay families, ISP mentors, language teachers, and guest speakers) due to safety concerns. Likewise, transgender and non-binary students may have to choose to present outwardly as male or female in certain contexts during the program. In other cases, “coming out” to some or all host community members may be a safe choice.
In some cases, students may be advised not to speak about their sexual orientations and/or gender identities with local contacts (such as homestay families, ISP mentors, language teachers, and guest speakers) due to safety concerns. Likewise, transgender and non-binary students may have to choose to present outwardly as male or female in certain contexts during the program. In other cases, “coming out” to some or all host community members may be a safe choice.
For students with neuro-differences (such as dyslexia, ADHD, ASD, TS, and dyspraxia), it is important to be aware that neurodiversity is likely viewed differently abroad than at home. People might not be familiar with labels or terms that are very common where you come from. If you struggle with lots of external stimuli, you should be prepared that you will be in some environments that are louder and busier than what you are used to.
If you are a student with a physical disability, you might encounter challenges around accessibility than you have at home. Many of the places we travel at Dragons don’t have building codes or other regulations in place to support people with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. You may need accommodations or support that you don’t usually require in your life at home.
Impact
Dragons defines responsible travel as travel that is culturally conscious, environmentally responsible, and focused on developing meaningful connections and mutual respect in the communities to which we travel. Over the course of Dragons 25+ year history, we have cultivated long-standing relationships with respected community leaders, academics, social entrepreneurs and professionals involved in environmental and cultural preservation. In the more than 20 countries in which Dragons has operated, we have steadfastly adhered to minimum impact travel, an accurate and informed understanding of place, and the realization of maximum benefit for the communities we visit.
Dragons believes that we need to shift the way we think of volunteer travel. Instead of focusing on “service work”—on the idea that short-term volunteers can contribute to communities abroad—we advocate a paradigm shift: we choose, instead, to focus on “learning service.”
Learning Service is a holistic experience that combines an intimate and authentic engagement with the local community, the study of effective development, and the contribution to an established community-driven project. It is the process of living, working alongside, and humbly absorbing the culture of those being served while coordinating closely with project managers to understand the trajectory of the project, from inception to completion and beyond. It is an acknowledgment that often it is the volunteer who stands to gain as much or more from the work. And it is a commitment to making contributions that create positive impacts in the communities coupled with the humility to always listen and learn first.
Learning Service is a holistic experience that combines an intimate and authentic engagement with the local community, the study of effective development, and the contribution to an established community-driven project. It is the process of living, working alongside, and humbly absorbing the culture of those being served while coordinating closely with project managers to understand the trajectory of the project, from inception to completion and beyond. It is an acknowledgment that often it is the volunteer who stands to gain as much or more from the work. And it is a commitment to making contributions that create positive impacts in the communities coupled with the humility to always listen and learn first.
Program Highlights
- Learn about the history of the Atlantic slave trade firsthand at the Island of Goree, and engage with local youth activists and artists who are creatively wresting with complex histories of slavery and colonialism and fighting for greater global justice.
- Visit an artisanal gold mine in Kedougou and study how the hunt for precious metals and resources impacts the environment and draws migrants from across West Africa to these risky industries.
- Trek across lush rolling hills in southern Senegal and visit indigenous communities fighting for cultural survival and for the preservation of their languages and traditions.
- Immerse yourself in multiple homestays from rural villages to more urban settings. Tend to animals, participate and contribute to the community garden, shop in bustling markets, and learn about the lives and livelihoods from your new family members.
- Immerse yourself in multiple homestays from rural villages to more urban settings. Tend to animals, participate and contribute to the community garden, shop in bustling markets, and learn about the lives and livelihoods from your new family members.
Program Dates
Application Deadline
Program Dates
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Questions & Answers
Staff Interviews
These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.
At the beginning you will, to better understand and learn cultural norms and language then as you become more comfortable the instructors challenge you to be more independent. The last part of the trip before transference phase it expedition phase where the students lead the trip themselves, it’s a culmination and application of all their learning and was really rewarding for me.