getting out again in Dakar

Last week I was in the centre of town for a visit to the optometrist, and thought it was a good opportunity to go and see the new museum that I've heard about in the international news (not that anyone here in Dakar seems to know about it), the Museum of Black Civilisation.

Whilst they have still not finished with the top (third) floor, and there is as yet no cafe/restaurant and no souvenir guide book, what is there is pretty good.  It starts with pre-history - various skulls of early humans - and then goes through the development in Africa of various strands of civilisation such as metallurgy, writing, and architecture, with a sizeable section on ancient Egypt (although I noted that the exhibits in this section are copies), a nice collection of key African artefacts such as Benin bronzes, Malian chiwaras, masks, and textiles from across the continent, some modern artworks, and a room on Islam and Christianity in Senegal, the latter room with far too little information but I have a feeling that room might not yet be finished.


I loved the Malian hunter's tunic and one of the Benin bronzes.















One thing that I felt was missing was music - the continent could easily fill a whole room of different instruments, with listening posts for the different kinds of music.  Isn't music an important part of civilisation?


The section on architecture reminded me of how fortunate I am to be so well-travelled.  It referred to a number of places that I have visited such as the pyramids of Meroe (Sudan), the Loropeni ruins (Burkina Faso), Askia's tomb in Gao (Mali) - and inexplicably omitted some others such as the Friday Mosque in Djenne (Mali) and the rock-cut churches of Lalibela (Ethiopia) - which relatively few people have had the good fortune to see.  Some of these being pretty much out of bounds given the security issues across the continent right now.  Speaking of which, this beautiful piece of modern art by Abdoulaye Konaté is entitled, "Non à la charía à Tombouctou".

re-assessing Dakar

So, another update seems to be in order!

I am fine following the mugging, grateful that the two men clearly did not want to hurt me, annoyed with myself that I was carrying more money than I was going to need for the evening, annoyed that none of the people driving past made any attempt to intervene (not even to hoot their horns to try to distract the muggers) and annoyed with the total ineffectiveness of the police.  They clearly had no interest whatsoever in investigating the case, despite my making four different visits to the police station (the process of reporting a stolen phone seeming to be quite bureaucratic) they never once asked me for a description of the two men - they were clearly only interested in getting the paperwork wrapped up.

The other reaction I am left with is one of sadness.  This would never have happened during the time of my first contract in Dakar.  In those days I could go out to watch live music that didn't start until midnight, and walk home on my own afterwards at 4am, with no fear whatsoever of anything bad happening to me.  Now I walk along a street at 9pm, and get told by people that I shouldn't have been there, that I shouldn't walk on my own at night, that I should always take taxis everywhere.  But the population of Dakar is apparently double now what it was ten years ago - and the average age of the Senegalese is 19.  That means a lot of young people looking for work, and there isn't very much work.  & so far as I am aware, no state welfare system for the unemployed, only the support of family and community which of course is weaker in Dakar than it would be in the countryside.  There are also plenty of immigrants from all around West Africa, adding to the pressure to find work, as Senegal is a beacon of stability in the region - but that doesn't mean a beacon of employment opportunities.

Not that I'm excusing what happened, rather just trying to make sense of it, trying to process what it means for my relationship with this country.

getting used to being on my own

I don't really have anything new to say but felt I should add an update on the loneliness bit, as I know that at least one of my readers was a little concerned about me.

Nothing has changed in a practical sense - the friendships with local men had to be terminated as I had anticipated, the man who'd given me his card at the British Embassy never responded to my follow-up message, and I haven't met anyone else to socialise with.  However, I am pleased to report that I no longer feel lonely!  I suppose I've got used to being alone already - and always have things to keep me busy, whether it is work, listening to music, sorting out my extensive photo collection, or just arguing with strangers about politics on Facebook.  & of course my periods of being alone here in Dakar are always interspersed with overseas trips for my work (Cameroon last month, Guinea next week), which are pretty intensive and leave me needing a few quiet days to recover.  I do also have the odd conversation with colleagues in the office here.

The only thing I think I have to watch out for is that having no-one to go out to meet leaves it very tempting to spend all my time inside my flat.  That I must avoid, as I would hate for my time here to come to an end with the realisation that I didn't make the most of it.  So tonight I am off to a bar to watch live music - yes, on my own, but who talks during a concert anyway?

Going in to edit this only three hours after writing it, to admit that I never made it to see the live music, as I was mugged on the way there by two men with a very large knife.  Thankfully I came away with just a large bruise, but without my bag, purse, money, mobile phone, ring and earrings.  I went to the police on the way home to report it (not sure why, really, what will they do?) and they told me I shouldn't have been on that particular road, that it is known to be dangerous.  Well I certainly know it now...