DEVELOPING TIMES: Senegal Road Trip

Welcome

Mission Statement
Rural Empowerment Initiatives (REI) mission is to collaborate in the reduction of poverty through investment in rural areas and training of local people.

Vision Statement
REI's vision is to treat every created being with dignity, respect and love. We strive to work with those most in need by empowering people to recognize their God given talents, enabling them to make the world a better place and providing them hope for the future.

Our Principles
REI believes that all people are created equal.
REI will develop small to medium businesses (SMEs) as one approach to reach those most in need by creating jobs that build the economy in rural areas.
REI's partner businesses will be led, managed and majority owned by local people.
REI will always seek a triple bottom line of economic, spiritual and social transformation.
REI seeks to build sustainable community-oriented business models.
REI's focus of support is to the economically disadvantaged.
REI will seek attractive market and growth opportunities.
REI will incubate pilot projects with capable management.
REI believes in collaboration. We seek partners whose strengths complement our own in an effort to build well-rounded projects of lasting economic value for the communities in which we work.
REI is inspired by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and is therefore rooted in the Christian faith.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Senegal Road Trip

I just returned from Senegal about two weeks ago.
On this trip, my main goal was to travel to about seven villages in seven days to help develop a reporting system that will better help the partnerships that have been formed between villages and north American partners.
My visit was full of information and many kilometers in a rental car. I was to visit these villages and spend some time with them, encouraging the faithful there,getting a small snapshot of life in the village and get updates on projects and such.
While I visited some villages for the first time, others I had been to before. It was good to meet new friends and build on past relationships.
The road we traveled on were,well should I say horse cart paths. They were winding and interesting. It always amazes me that these people know where to go. I mean there are no signs, no landmarks...just paths that wind through a sub Saharan landscape. Its like they have this built in gps navigation system. I mean all this terrain is similar, it's flat, scattered varieties of trees, that include the famous Boubob tree and very sandy. The days we traveled the furthest distance were on the warm side. In my estimation it was over 100 degrees. When I asked my translator how hot he thought it was, I got a typical Senegalese response, "it's hot". I have learned over the years that it really doesn't pay to ask them about these type of things. Like " How hot is it?" or "How many people are in this village?", because it's all relative. Its either hot or cold or there's many people or not so many people. For a westerner that takes some adjustment with our local weather forecast that predicts our every weather movement. Here its not important.

Traveling to villages in a rural Senegal setting has its moments. Our 'hertz rental car" had no AC and FM if you know what I mean.

You have to keep the windows up when traveling down these dusty roads or you become consumed with very fine dust. So its either the dust or the heat...You know that if you break down...you are going to be doing one of two things. Walking or hitching a ride on a horse cart. You are in the bush where automobile travel is not the norm.
Our car, by God's grace and mercy, never broke down and our travels were safe.