Horray! Our first full night of sleep in three days. We woke up feeling refreshed and ready for our day's adventures. We woke up, showered and arrived at breakfast to eat with the group. It was basic but still delicious, kind of like our breakfasts in the Amazon. Bread, cheese, yogurt, and tea or coffee. Shayna was having yogurt so we asked one of the waiters for honey. He brought over a bottle of honey. Shayna immediately noticed something crawling around in the bottle. It wasn't long until we realized that the honey bottle was covered with little bugs. Gross! Having lost our appetite, we headed to our private room to start the curriculum session. We learned about how to be a sensitive and respectful tourist in a place that is completely different than our own home. We met in hevruta, small learning groups to discuss the gap between the privileged and the impoverished. It left us with more questions than answers and made us excited for what lay ahead. Senabu, one of the leaders of USOFORAL, translated to let's hold hands, met with us to talk to us about her work in the region and how she is helping women especially to become empowered to bring change to their communities. Since there was a language barrier, we have had a translator with us. We got in the van with Senabu and headed to one of the communities that USOFORAL supports. Two hours on dirt roads! What a journey! On the way we saw pigs, goats, chickens, cows, dogs, cats, and of course many people just hanging out by the side of the road. After an hour and a hoax ride, we spotted a gathering of women singing and dancing. We learned that this was the village we were stopping at and the women were there to welcome us. There were probably about 75 women that came to shake our hands, give us hugs, and invite us to dance. After our 10 minute "dancing parade" to their village, we found many more, probably 100 people, awaiting our arrival. We sat in a big circle, luckily in the shade, and learned about USOFORAL and their work in the community. We heard from many speakers through two translators - from Wolof, the local language, to French, and finally to English. When the women came up to speak, they were all adorned with necklaces, trinkets, and scarves, as they became the spokesperson for all of these women. What a cultural experience! Beyond words. Babies and children were passed to the arms of our fellow travelers and the many children in the village sat watching and playing in the background. After listening to many inspiring stories, we broke into two small groups to tour the village homes and community garden. The homes were made from very basic materials. There was no furniture, except for maybe a bed. There were maybe four small rooms off of one large room. There could be up to 20 people living in these small homes. The patriarch of the first home, the man, told us about how he had fled his home because of the rebel conflict and made his way to this village after increased threats and many deaths in his family. Another woman told us how she was holding three babies in her arms when the rebels attacked her village and threatened to kill her if it weren't for the babies in her arms. Her baby is now 18. They have found refuge in this village, away from the land mines and the conflict. We saw one other Muslim home with a family praying. The man invited us in to tell his story. His neighbor had been murdered by the rebels and had his home ram sacked while he was away, so he knew that he needed to flee. He has one of the larger structures to house him, his 18 children, and his two wives in a five room home. There was no electricity or running water that we could see. The community garden is a partnership between the seven villages. During the conflict, the villages had separated and didn't trust each other. Working together in the garden created a connection and relationship between these separate tribes. The garden was incredible and expansive. Each family has a plot that they can use to grow for their family and sell it to other outside villages. The women told us how, because of the dry season, they have to carry water from a well and water the plants by hand. Our guide, Abdu talked about the women being the strongest members of the community. They work the hardest both physically, and as caretakers for their families. Wes aid goodbye to the villagers and ate a wonderful box lunch en route back to Zinguichor to meet the governor of the region. Another very enlightening experience, as he became more and more animated as he talked about what he is doing to solve the conflict and how much America has stepped in to help. After a long talk and some photos with him, half of the group continued on to a crafts market, of course we went to get a taste of the local culture. We came back to the hotel for some FaceTime with the grandparents and about an hour to rest. At dinner, we were joined by a well known journalist from the region that in 1987, had an interview with a rebel leader, that got him kicked off of the radio station. It was quite a story. The Dollinger blog is not complete without food, so our meal of lentil soup, polenta, string beans, homemade chips, fries, fruit, beef and fish was quite delicious. We were completely satisfied. We then headed back to the room for some blogging. Good night (for us). Stay tuned for more! Marci and Shayna