One week ago I left Dakar for the city of Bloomington after a short layover in Paris. I am going to make you a little summary of the week.
After more than 24 hours of travel with 3 planes I arrived safe in the state of Indiana in the USA. The program started the following day upon arrival. We started with a series of meeting focused on civic engagement and an orientation on medicine for myself. We also visited several institutions academic structures.
The gap between our countries is just astronomical. The university budget of my host university , is 10 times the budget of the state of Senegal.
So far, I have not seen a single garbage on the floors. The community of Bloomington is really open. At all corner of the street, they greet me. People are very friendly and warm. I believe in Dakar, I feel being in Africa. The reality I have started living is different from what I have been seeing on TV. People are respectful and they work hard to succeed.
The word freedom has a very deep meaning here and I am surprised by how people respect laws and the common interest. I realize how far behind we are when I saw colleges far better equipped than our best universities. Students have all the conditions to succeed in their studies. I was sad to see that we have not had similar opportunities but, I reminded myself that our merit is even greater than we have done without any means.
Dear friends, we have a lot to do. And I'm excited to return to Senegal in order to bring our stone to the building of our nation . We will continue to improve the wellbeing of our communities. Africa can be inspired by others and take it’s own way of development. This cannot be done without strong institutions , without a clear and effective separation of powers .
I have never felt so proud to be Senegalese and honored to serve my community .
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