Our final day in the Casamance region had us up early, packing and preparing for our day. After checking out of our hotel room, we grabbed a quick breakfast and concerned for another curriculum session. Jene read her blog from two days earlier and we followed with our blog reading from the following day. It was fun to share out all we had seen with the group. We had a curriculum session to talk about who "our people" are and how we make our philanthropic decisions. It was an engaging and enlightening discussion. The grantees joined us for a briefing at our hotel because the region where they work is too dangerous for us to visit. We met with 12 representatives from COPI, ASIPID, and CADP. They are three separate organizations that united to create peace in the conflicted Casamance region. We heard explanations of the work being done by the directors of the organization and testimonials from the people who benefit from this work. It shed a new light on the effects of the conflict to the people of this region. One of the most moving stories from a young man who works with the youth to bring change. Many of the youth living in the Casamance region are either lured by the rebels forces or the drug trade. This man spoke about dropping out of school and using rap music as a means of promoting peace for young people. He creates support groups that work on using education Asa an later native to growing marijuana. He took out a cd of his music and performed a rap. He told us that his songs are based on political speeches and he performs them all over the region. Bother woman spoke of her starting a small business, tie dying material to make into clothing. She was wearing one of these magnificent dresses. Another man told us of his refugee status in Gambia and the work of the organization to bring him back to Casamance. It was a moving experience to hear how he left his home for a year out of fear and then to return with his family. We said goodbye to our guests and the hotel as we headed for lunch at a. Local restaurant. (I'm sure they yelped this one too, Larry). This was our best meal yet. Such a great vegetarian variety: pizza that was really a quiche, green beans, rice with ratatouille, and fresh fruit for dessert. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our local AJWS coordinator. We all went around and shared what Meram had added to our experience. It was so wonderful having her join us on this part of the trip to share her personal story of growing up int his area and what it is to be a woman raising a family in today's society. We were hurried to the and for our 15 minute drive to the airport. It was very tiny airport and let's just say dealing with 17 people and their baggage cam be a bit challenging, ok maybe more than a bit. After receiving our handwritten boarding passes, going through minimal security, we were escorted to a private, air conditioned, waiting room. Yay for AJWS VIP status. We played two truths and a lie and the shapes game (you can ask about this when we get home. It's more complicated than you think) while we waited to board the very small airplane. We were grateful to catch the only flight of the day out of Casamance to Dakar. Once we got in the air, the flight attendants came around and told us that it was time to land and that we need to put our tray tables up. Once we arrived, we traveled to the beautiful Radisson Blu Hotel. This time, we got a room on the first floor with our own private patio. While many members of the group opted for an evening out in Dakar, we decided to dine in the hotel with some of the staff. It was a fun evening of laughing and telling stories. It felt strange that we could have been anywhere in the world having this conversation. The meal was composed of Asian fusion. We had a cucumber AND avocado sushi role. See Russia, it can be done. (See Eastern Europe blog if you didn't understand that). After dinner we took the long walk back to our hotel room. We will hopefully be going to bed soon because we have a big day tomorrow. Goodbye for now, Shayna and Marci