Intro to Senegal

If you locate Africa on a map and trace your finger to its westernmost point, you’ll find the country of Senegal. Not only is it the westernmost point of mainland Africa: it’s also the westernmost point of the entire (mainland) Old World. This small piece of Africa may seem insignificant, but Senegal is far from it. Before the arrival of Europeans, modern-day Senegal was a land of many tribes, with the largest groups being the Wolof, Fulani, and Serer. The Arabs eventually brought Islam to the region, and their influence greatly increased through jihads. In addition to Islam, the Arabs also brought in slavery, and the slave market quickly started to expand. In the 15th Century, Europeans arrived, with France taking possession of the island of Gorée off the coast of Senegal. This island became a slave departure point for France’s slave trade. Two hundred years later, France finally started to expand into mainland Senegal and took control of much of West Africa. With them came the French language; however, tribal languages remained the most commonly-spoken languages throughout. In 1960, about 100 years later, Senegal finally became free from French control. And today, Senegal is one of the most advanced West African nations and one of only a handful of African countries that have direct flights to the United States. In addition, Senegal will have the opportunity to be the first ever African country to host an Olympic sports event as the 2026 Youth Olympics are scheduled to be held in its capital city of Dakar.

Senegal is located in the Sahel, a transitional region of Africa between the Sahara Desert and the savanna that dominates much of Sub-Saharan Africa. This Sahel region is mostly desert, but Senegal has a distinct advantage as it’s found right beside the Atlantic coast. Unlike most desert countries, a major industry in Senegal is fishing, with Senegalese fishermen being some of the most skilled in the world. Legends tell of Senegalese fishermen taking journeys all across the Atlantic Ocean in their small wooden boats while undertaking long fishing voyages. Certain coastal villages are even known as jumping-off points for migrants leaving Africa for a better life in Europe, utilizing the boating skills of local fishermen. Though fishing is popular, peanut farming is still the biggest industry of Senegal. While Senegal has a better economy than some of its neighbors, it’s still ranked well below the global average, with a couple possible factors being political corruption and the low value of the West African CFA franc.

I was excited as I landed in Dakar to serve with Medical Missions Outreach. This is not my first time in Africa, but it’s my first time in West Africa, a region I have been trying to visit for a decade now. Even more important than that, this marked my first time in a Muslim-majority country and first time working inside the 10/40 Window. For those who don’t know, the 10/40 Window is a region known by many Christians that sits between 10° and 40° North of the equator (in the Eastern Hemisphere). This massive region of the world is where Christianity is most rejected and where missions work is the most difficult. These are the countries where Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism reign and where Christians are often shunned from society, or even worse, face major persecution. But despite the potential dangers that present themselves, this is the region of the world where I’m most passionate about and have the biggest desire to work in. In particular, North Africa and the Middle East are the regions of the world that I would love the opportunity to spend more time in.

After landing in Dakar, we quickly loaded up all of our supplies and headed over to Thiès for the night. Thiès is the third largest city in Senegal and a major industrial city. It’s mostly known for the tapestry-making industry and as a transportation hub for the country. This is why I ended up here: it’s where everyone passes through when traveling from Dakar to the northern parts of the country where we plan to spend the rest of the week. I woke up early in the morning to walk around the city a little bit, and I was already starting to love the energy of Senegal. But after trying to order a croissant and orange juice, I started to wish I had learned a little French before coming. Wolof is the most common language throughout most of Senegal, but you can also get by knowing French. Soon, we were loaded onto a couple buses heading up north.

As we started traveling, I made a few observations. First of all, the road conditions in Senegal are much better than I have experienced elsewhere in Africa. Even Nairobi, which is considered one of the major cities of Africa, has terrible roads. But Senegalese roads seem to be well taken care of, and that was a relief after spending over 15 hours sitting on a plane to get here. Second, the environment became more desert-like the farther north we went. We were traveling to the extreme north of the country, right next to the border with Mauritania which is a country dominated by the Sahara Desert. And it was evident- as we continued traveling, the environment became drier and dustier. Third, Islam has an extreme hold on this country. Around every turn is a mosque with its minaret casting a shadow over its town or village. At the top of each of these minarets is a group of speakers which loudly echo the Islamic Call to Prayer throughout its community at least five times a day. Most Senegalese aren’t super religious- life for most doesn’t stop when the Call to Prayer goes off (though for some it does). But 96% of the population identifies as Muslim, and they hold to their beliefs very closely. If you were to walk around early in the morning, you’d see men walking around carrying beads: there are 104 beads on each strand, which symbolize the 99 names of Allah and the 5 pillars of Islam. They will then recite each of these in their heads while feeling each individual bead as they go throughout town.

After a couple police checkpoints, we reached our first stop of the trip: Désert de Lompoul. Normally on these trips, we have a “fun day” at the end of the trip right before going home. But with the way our flight schedule worked out this time, we had to push our “fun day” to the first day instead. Here, we hopped onto three different trucks which took us deeper into the desert. We eventually arrived at a small resort-type area with tents set up in the middle of many towering dunes. These golden dunes look as if they were taken straight out of a Saharan postcard. Again, we’re not officially in the Sahara Desert, but we’re close enough that I could almost claim this was it. We first sat down for a meal under one of the tents. This meal consisted of rice, chicken, and some vegetables, and drink options included bissap juice and pineapple ginger juice. Both bissap (hibiscus) and ginger are very popular throughout Senegal. While I’m not a fan of straight ginger juice, the pineapple ginger mix was excellent! Straight ginger causes instant heartburn for me, but the pineapple offset most of that. The other common juice found throughout Senegal is bouille, which is the fruit that comes from a baobab tree.

After dinner, I noticed some kids surfing down the dunes on surfboards. Of course I had to go try it, and a decent-sized group came with me. It didn’t look too difficult from the bottom, but carrying a surfboard up one of these giant sand dunes was exhausting! Imagine sinking into the sand with each step up a steep sandy mound as the loose sand fills your shoes, and carrying a giant awkwardly-shaped board that catches every gust of wind, while the intense sun beats directly down on you from above. Once I finally reached the top, the views were incredible! Then it was time to try to surf down, and it was a major fail… At first, I couldn’t get the board to move at all, so then someone told me to try jumping on it. When I did, I slid all the way down the board as it remained stationary and then face-planted in the sand right below it. After that, I realized that if I lay on the board and hold on to the top, it will move, and I actually got some decent speed on the way down. The rest of our group took turns attempting to surf down the dunes, and some were able to figure it out.

After that, I had the opportunity to ride a camel through the desert for a while and then got to drive an ATV to the Atlantic. The ATV was very fun to drive, but there were 2 people on each. At the halfway point, we switched spots, and I did not enjoy being the one riding in back. The desert trails are covered in all these small bumps, and when you’re sitting in back, you feel every one of them. Technically I think you’re supposed to hold onto the person driving in order to avoid most of the pain, but, come on… I’m not doing that! Somehow, I didn’t die on the way back, and I was happy for it to be over. We finally headed back to the buses to continue the trip up to Saint-Louis where we would be working for the rest of the week. We arrived at night, but I could already tell that this is a special city, and I couldn’t wait to explore more of it.

We all got some rest after a long travel day to prepare for the upcoming week of clinics. If you’re not familiar with Medical Missions Outreach, our goal is to spread the gospel using medicine to serve those in developing nations while partnering with a local church. I know what we do is not popular: there are many who hate that we do it. But I’ll never apologize for serving Jesus and caring for those that He died for. I never want to hide why I keep taking these trips. We’re not here to change Senegal’s culture or “Americanize” anyone: in fact, that’s the farthest thing from our minds when we come here. Our only goal is to show the people here that we love them and, more importantly, that Jesus loves them. Make sure to check back next week as I share my stories from our week of clinics in this amazing community. Thanks for reading!